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Jill Stone

Your Meeting Matchmaker Fairy Godmother

How to Plan the Olympics 101

planning

Planning the Olympics is not as difficult as one may think. All you have to do is find an entire city that is willing to host it. And really, the cities usually come running to you, so it’s not like you actually have to go out and find them. Next, book all the hotels in[...]

Error Free Events Part 1

Error Free Events

Those who attend, but do not plan events, are rarely aware of the millions of details that must come together in order to make them happen. It is a real test in sanity to successfully put an event into motion and not get lost in the planning. Even the best of us can at times,[...]

Be Seen at a Conference, Part 2: During and After

be seen conference part 2

In my last blog, I discussed what to do before an event in order to prepare for positive media attention. Now we are going to see what you need to do during and after the event. During The Conference While the conference is happening, you need to be working it. Make it a point to[...]

How to Lose an Audience in 10 Ways

How to Lose an Audience

I was recently at a conference, Destination Northeast, and listened to a presentation given by Shawna Suckow of SPIN Senior Planners Industry Network.  She talked about ways in which you could lose your audience, and I wanted to share some of her thoughts with you below.  Then, of course, I had to throw my own “spin”[...]

The Streamlined Meeting Planner

Streamlined Meeting Planner

You do the job of three people; this is a meeting planner trait that cannot be denied. As a result, you are always looking for a way to streamline. Here are some things that will get you there! Networking: You are great at setting prime networking opportunities for your attendees, but are you spending time[...]

Destination International

Planning an overseas meeting can be quite a daunting task as there are several unique challenges and many unknowns. But you can do it; Meeting Planners are pretty invincible!  Here are some tips to help make the most of your international meeting planning. International Inspection:  You will definitely want to check out the location before[...]

Be a Tip-ster

You may have heard that TIPS was originally an acronym for To Insure Prompt Service. You may even have heard that tips were once given before service; the bigger the tip given up front, the better the service expected.  According to Snopes, however, the word “tips” actually “slipped into the language as underworld slang, with[...]

Year of the Meeting Planner

Okay, not really. It’s actually, according to The Chinese culture, the Year of the Snake, most specifically the Water Snake. We tend to call people who are untrustworthy, or sneaky, or all around slimy – snakes. But this is not the case at all when it comes to the astrological aspect. Instead, snake people are[...]