Meeting planners handle all details before and during business meetings, including location, reservations, audio-visual equipment, and attendee registration. They must stay within budget and ensure the purpose of the meeting is met. Feedback from attendees helps improve future meetings. Travel is often required.
A meeting planner handles all the details before and during business meetings or conventions. Meeting planners decide meeting locations and make all reservations. They book not only meeting space, but make arrangements for speakers and vendors. Planners should ensure that all necessary audio-visual and computer equipment is in place for the meeting on time and in working order. A meeting planner attends the meeting to greet participants and address any issues, and distributes and collects participant feedback cards.
Tracking meeting outcomes is an important part of being a meeting planner, and many planners distribute feedback cards to attendees. Good planners are always trying to improve their skills. Feedback from meeting participants can help the planner find problems he or she missed so that the same mistakes are not repeated in future meetings.
The purpose of the meeting must be remembered by a planner as he makes all the arrangements for the event. For example, if a corporate meeting was being held with the main objective of introducing a new company product to senior managers, the planner would try to find speakers who had more knowledge about the item. Depending on the product, he may also arrange for the products to be distributed by an assistant at an appropriate time during the meeting. At the event, a meeting planner can feature speakers on a platform or stage.
Meeting planners must make all arrangements for events within their assigned budget. To avoid cancellation or other fees, the meeting planner must be adept at allowing the appropriate amount of time to reserve space and services. He or she must also understand contracts and how to choose the best bid from among the bids submitted by many different companies. Meeting planners are usually required to have at least a bachelor’s degree.
Attendee registration is carefully handled by a meeting planner. Meeting planners must inform attendees of meeting times as well as arrange accommodation and transportation for employees attending out-of-town meetings. Planners must also ensure that informational items such as trade show brochures are printed correctly and delivered on time.
Travel is a big part of many meeting planners’ careers. Most planners stay in good hotels, as corporate seminars are often held in attractive surroundings. However, planners must monitor setup details as well as planned events during the meeting, and it is often necessary to start work in the morning. A meeting planner must always remember even the smallest things, like making sure name tags arrive on time and are accurate.
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