With Spring well on its way, it’s prime season for corporate events.  Our event planning roundup for April is chock full of great information from dealing with cancellations to getting attendees jazzed about the event.  The icing on the cake is a new FaceBook feature sure to find favor with the corporate meetings set.

Tips to Cut That Food & Beverage Budget Down to Size

Although it’s traditionally one of the high ticket items for any event, food & beverage can be cut down to size with these eleven tips from the experts.  While some of the suggestions are quite obvious (like “shrink the coffee cup size”), others are not only ingenious, but also clearly the result of painful experience, while still others are counter-intuitive.

And done right, your attendees will never know you cut a few corners on the event. Author Chris Freeman with Kansas City Catering is even willing to put people’s guilt to work, recommending that you:

Use servers rather than offering hors d’oeuvres buffet-style. People tend to take only one item when served by wait staff, but help themselves to more at a buffet table. Buy enough so everyone gets three to five pieces….

But we found his suggestion of placing the water bottles and juices in ice baths the best of all.  Chris says he’s found that folks aren’t quite as willing to slip an extra into their bag when they’re dripping wet!
http://meetingsnet.com/food-amp-beverage/11-tricks-spending-less-fb

Eight Great Ideas for a Nature Themed Event

Outdoor events become more popular every year.  And even when your event can’t be outdoors, a nature theme can help bring it inside.  Here event planning experts share some of their best inspiration for nature-themed events.
Author Alesandra Dubin has her own way of explaining it:

The word “organic” may conjure images of rustic, down-home event details—but that’s far from the only way to interpret a nature theme. Event producers can also use materials found in the natural environment to create a sense of refinement, sophistication, and even opulence.

At a late March event, Patina Catering of Los Angeles incorporated the theme into everything from the chairs to the name tags.
http://www.bizbash.com/8-elegant-ways-to-interpret-a-nature-theme/los-angeles/story/32007

Stoked When They Arrive; Happy When They Leave

Everyone in event planning wants their guests to enjoy the event—that’s what keeps them coming back.  And it’s better yet when they arrive on a high note.  The experts at Eventbrite created a two-part series to help make sure they arrive happy and leave happy.

Event professionals know there are a million things to do for a successful event.  And even the most seasoned of them tend to focus on the “big things”.  That’s not the best approach says Tricia Rosetty. In fact, she says:

Organizers often laser-focus on getting the big ticket items right—things like headliners, on sales, or merch. But we’ve found that spending a little extra time on the details can make a huge impact on your attendees’ experience.

As an example, she points to the ubiquitous entry ticket.  It’s often the first place attendees look for information on a number of event details—start time, dress code, hashtags, refund policy. Customizing the ticket with these critical details can drastically reduce any “day-of” confusion for attendees.
https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ds01-how-to-make-sure-customers-show-up-stoked-and-go-home-happy-part-i/

New Facebook Feature Finds a Home With Event Pros

Recent updates to Facebook Live, the live video streaming tool for Facebook, make it something worthy of serious consideration for event planners.  Included in the new features is live streaming from event pages, allowing organizers to target the content before, during, and after the event.

Bizbash interviewed three live-streaming experts to learn more. Joel Comm is an author and digital marketing strategist; Brian Fanzo is co-founder of BackLamp, which builds digital strategies for brands to integrate live streaming; and Ryan Bell is also co-founder of Backlamp and creator of Summit.Live, an annual event for digital creators.

Comm and Fanzo see key differences between Periscope and Facebook Live, with Comm saying:

Periscope gets these drive-by viewers because they’ve got the discoverability aspect to it. But your numbers peak early and then they tend to fall off, whereas with Facebook Live I’m seeing my numbers consistently increase the longer I’m on. That’s really powerful.

Fanzo added the powerful observation that:

With Facebook live streaming you are streaming to people that already know, like, and trust you. They’ve either liked your page, they are following your personal account, or they’re in a group or an event that you are hosting or a part of.

http://www.bizbash.com/why-facebooks-video-updates-matter-for-event-pros/philadelphia/story/32013

An Event Planner’s Nightmare: The Canceled Event

It happens sooner of later to every event planning professional: the client cancels.  No matter how much time you’ve invested or how great the event would have been, you have to move on.  Writing in Special Events Blog, event planner Jennifer Taylor makes her key point first:

Handling a canceled event requires a fine balance of safeguarding your business and understanding the reason behind the sudden change.

She suggests specific cancellation clauses in your contracts that reduce refunds the closer to the event the cancellation occurs. Another key piece of advice is to have your contract reviewed by an attorney or business coach to ensure it is ‘iron-clad’.

Her firm reviews cancellations on a case-by-case basis.  In the case of a death or medical issue, she notes that her firm is usually sympathetic.

There may still be opportunities to book the time/space with another event.
http://specialevents.com/blog/how-bounce-back-canceled-event

It’s Going to be a Great Few Months

With the change in the weather, the event planning world is abuzz with activity.  There was so much more news that wouldn’t fit, but you can count on another helping next month from your friends at Luxury Restroom Trailers.
And remember, from north of Seattle to Southern Oregon, we proudly offer the largest and most luxurious fleet of rental restrooms.  Give us a call today!

From cybersecurity to RFID, our March Event Planning Roundup has plenty of technology; but, we’ve got your social and legal bases covered as well.  You’ll want to be sure to check out Is Your Event Accessible? Because accessible events aren’t just nice, they’re the law.

New Rule May Impact Travel-Based Incentives

A rule designed primarily for the financial services industry may have negative unintended consequences for the meetings industry, causing two industry advocacy groups to object. As proposed by the Department of Labor, the rule would require all financial sales representatives advising clients on individual retirement investments to act as “fiduciaries,” meaning they would be required to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own in recommending financial products. This fiduciary responsibility therefore also requires disclosing any potential conflicts of interest, such as commissions or incentive contests. Rather than having these potential conflicts disclosed, some companies might decide instead to change their compensation structures, possibly eliminating commissions and incentive programs altogether.
(http://meetingsnet.com/financialinsurance-meetings/rule-could-limit-incentives-prompts-industry-response.)

Any reduction in incentive travel opportunities may also reduce the number of face-to-face meetings where financial services employees can receive in-person education to develop advanced skills, learn about new regulations, and develop professionally…

The groups cite a 2014 study by the Incentive Federation showing that 74 percent of U.S. businesses use non-cash rewards to recognize and reward key audiences in the form of incentive travel, merchandise, or gift cards, while 46 percent of those businesses running non-cash programs include incentive travel as an award, spending $22.5 billion per year.

Social Media Tips for your Next Event

You know social media is an important way not only to promote your event, but also to communicate with attendees while they’re there. In 10 Ideas to Make Your Event’s Social Media Better (http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/tips-for-better-event-social-media) you get tips on what to do before, during, and after the event. Author Christina R. Green is a big believer in social media saying that it:

makes people interested, inspires people to join, and increases excitement surrounding your event. It’s much too important to do half-way…

Green goes on to note that “…social media is one of the best ways out there to reach your ideal audience for a minimal investment.”

Is Your Event Accessible?

Professionals event planners know their events must be accessible for all attendees and presenters.  It’s not just a legal obligation, it’s the right thing to do.

And we were sure pleased when author Shawna McKinley remembered to include ADA-compliant restrooms in her list of things you just can’t forget in 20 Tips for a More Accessible Event (from http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/accessible-event).  Her tips cover everything from site selection to printed materials, the event space, registration, and so on.
But instead of quoting the author for our blog, we instead quote Stevie Wonder—as she does in her article—imploring everyone at this years Grammy’s:

…to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.

We are proud to offer fully ADA-compliant models in our line of luxury restroom trailers.

Big Win Using RFID at a Music Festival

One of the newest technological advances in event planning, RFID, still has some professionals scratching their heads as to how best to apply it to their event. At the Snowglobe Music Festival in Lake Tahoe, California, organizers implemented RFID technology and saw faster fan entry, reduced fraud, and increased customer satisfaction.
Jeffrey Lesan, SnowGlobe’s CMO noted that:

It was such a tremendous relief for customer service… …for the first time ever, we didn’t get any complaints about the box office.

(From https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/how-snowglobe-used-rfid-technology-to-pull-off-a-flawless-festival-ds0c/).

Cybersecurity for Your Meeting—Have Enough?

We all read about the massive hacks occurring all the time.  And those are huge sites and firms that spend millions on their networks and security. How can you possible keep your meeting secure?  Should you even care?
Post author Shimon Avish, Global Account Director, BCD Meetings & Events, points out that people don’t like to talk about cybersecurity at meetings, even considering:

the risks that ignoring it poses to a company’s intellectual property, reputation, and financial wellbeing.

He points to a presentation by Michael Robinson, a cybersecurity professional and professor in cyber forensics at Stevenson University, outlining three typical vulnerabilities as:

• By standing up a portable Wi-Fi network
• By using a portable cell tower
• By using a Bluetooth interceptor

Any of these technologies are simply acquired. (From http://meetingsnet.com/risk-management/how-cybersecure-your-meeting).

Rounding Up Our Round Up

From new technologies to age-old courtesies, this month’s post spanned the huge subject of event planning. But it stresses the importance of keeping up to date.
At Luxury Restroom Trailers, we are a high-end boutique restroom company and a decor, special event & wedding equipment rental company.  But we always keep up to date with the latest ADA restrooms, green processes and methods, and we offer the only luxury 8-stall unit in the area.
Give us a call today.