WHAT DOES A MEETING PLANNER
DO?
Share your experience and win
valuable prizes
CIMPA wants to hear about what you do as a
meeting planner. Please
complete this form and you will be entered to win one of valuable prizes:
Here’s an excerpt from the diary of Andrea
Sigler, PhD
President and CEO, CIMPA
The site was selected, flights booked, speakers hired, brochures and promotional
materials sent out, attendees registered. Anxiety Day had arrived: the day
before Opening Program.
Registration wanted to know – should they accept the Russians’ rubles? AV had an
urgent message: there was no internet connection in the ballroom. The
photographer was not happy with the LCD projector and accused me of tight-fistedness.
The French complained that the chicken at the pre-conference luncheon was taste-
free. The British could not find the registration room – and complained that
this meeting was disorganized; the Americans were not happy that the
pre-conference seminar was 5 minutes late. They, too, complained that the
meeting was dis-organized. None of the tours suited the Mexicans and complained
that the meeting was dis-organized. It seemed like everyone with an eyesight
problem, hearing problem, spouse problem, boss problem, happiness problem, anal
problem – any problem at all - complain that the meeting was dis-organized. The
staff was distraught.
I wondered aloud – where could I buy a hitch-free, inflexibly organized meeting?
Does one exist at all? The Americans looked at me with disgust in their eyes.
“Too late for a refund – unfortunately”, I mumbled.
I woke up at 3 in the morning, having dreamed that I had died. I felt a dreadful
anxiety – sure that nobody there loved me.
It is at this time – lying alone, staring into the darkness of the night, that
you experience this terrible undefined fear. It seems all the major form of
mental illness from which you have suffered – the delusions of grandeur,
hypochochondria, the suspicion that the chef’s food may be poisoned and might
send all the attendees to the hospital at the precise time your keynote speaker
for which your sponsor has paid thousands of dollars is due to speak - suddenly
looms
The alarm clock screeched and jumped – and I tumbled from the bed. Gulped a
quick cup of coffee and ran to check set-ups. Miraculously, things unfolded like
they were supposed to. A little delay here and there – sure, but that was
because people wanted a little more from the speakers. I stopped and thought
what a miracle it was that this meeting was able to bring all those people from
remote corners of the world together. What a miracle that within the small,
fancy hotel ballroom, people were able to share their vast, diverse worlds with
each other – worlds that sing and excite; worlds that cry and comfort. People
understood and connected. This, after all, is the purpose of international
meetings.
Then someone smiled at me and said “Good job”. That made it all worth it.
ON TIME
Me -
Most meeting planners I know are anal about time. They almost hyperventilate
when a session goes over 2 minutes overtime. What's with these people? If a
speaker has excited the audience and would like to take 5-10 minutes more,
wouldn't that all be to the good?
Guru-
Aaah! But if you allow that to
happen every session, your schedule will be a mess. At the end of the day, you
will be running over an hour late.
Voice of Experience: It
does not happen every session. Some speakers exciter and some bore. Some topics
are subject to a lot of discussion and some are straightforward. Some sessions
will run overtime and some will end before the allotted time. At the end of the
day, it all evens out.
Jump up and down with your
2-minute sign if you must. But don't shoot the speaker with a poisoned dart.
Your audience may want that speaker back.
CIMPA wants to hear about what you do as a
meeting planner. Please
complete this form and you will be entered to win one of valuable prizes:
