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How to Get a Liquor Sponsor

Getting a liquor sponsor doesn’t mean finding someone to keep you from taking another swig of vodka. That’s a different kind of sponsor. For event planners, securing a liquor sponsor for an event can be a great way to keep costs down, and drive attendance up. But landing one of these deals definitely isn’t easy (unless you have a close connection; close like your brother owns Ketel One). Liquor companies won’t just sponsor any random event so for most party-throwers, securing free alcohol will require creativity and persistence.

Who to Target

First, carefully think about your event and what your target audience / attendee demographic will be. The main reason any company will agree to sponsor an event is for publicity and exposure. If the event you’re throwing is for a budget consumer brand, high-end dealers like Grey Goose and Patron aren’t likely to sign on board. The most important thing to highlight is why the audience that is attracted to your event is a perfect fit for the liquor company’s target market. Understand what the potential sponsor is looking to do brand-wise and market-wise and think about what’s in it for them, not you. If there is some way to demonstrate (or beg and convince) that promoting at the event will allow the sponsor to reach either new or more potential customers than they could on their own, you have a compelling case that stands a chance.

Lesser-known companies that are looking for a chance to build their brand can be great targets. There are tons of new alcohol companies that spring up every year, but few of them become household names at the bar. If you’re throwing an event for an up-and-coming, trendsetter crowd, why try for an established brand that’s old hat? An unknown, emerging liquor may not only be easier to secure, but a better fit for your event’s image. Similarly, urban brands like Alize are usually trying to get their name out, and therefore more prone to consider event sponsorship. As a final technique, do some good ole’ fashioned research – are there alcohol companies that are coming out with a new product, trying to expand to different customer markets, or hurting for sales and looking to revamp their image? Any of these scenarios indicate the company could be open to a potential sponsorship opportunity if presented in the right way.

How to Go About It

Once you have the pitch strategy down, it’s time to act on it. The most direct way is to directly reach out to liquor companies and have them connect you with the rep that covers your market. Restaurant, bar, and club managers are also good sources for finding out the names and contact info of liquor and distributor reps. If there are liquor brands these establishments are currently doing promotions for, even better – it gives you a starting point for identifying receptive targets. If the rep actually agrees to a meeting, being creative in how exactly the sponsor will gain exposure is often critical to sealing the deal. Promotional tie-ins like co-branding the event on all marketing materials, putting the sponsor’s logo on the event / host company’s website, meeting halfway and having the sponsor pass around free samples but not host the entire event, are all ways to create a win-win for both parties. Keep in mind who, why, and think innovatively about the how, and you might just have a shot (pun intended).…

Event Planning Process: How To Use The Online Event Registration Software For Best Results

For an event planner, it is very important to start the process of event planning smartly. After the first meeting with the client, you should invest time creating a presentation for the second meeting wherein the client is given information regarding the shortlisted venues for the event. When going on venue-hopping, you should keep the client’s monetary capacity and the style in mind. A good homework is required so that you can explain the pros and cons of selecting the venue to the client.

The site visits can be planned once the contract is signed. You would be accompanying the client to the different sites. It would be useful if some preliminary information can be served to the client about the venues, you intend to visit. The client can then consider and the schedule for venue hopping can be decided.

Sub venue

Also, shortlist locations to be used as sub venues. If the main event venue closes at a specific time, you can schedule an after party in the second location. You can use the online event registration software for such purposes. Using the automated process cuts down on the workload and gives you more time to do all the running about for selecting venues.

Events Page Customization

Once you have signed up for the online process, you can create the online event registration page in minutes. The page can be customized according to the look and feel of your website. You may customize the online forms for registration that include the questions along with multiple input options.

The Calendar of events

The online calendar option helps you to check the dates of the event with the client. You can get update the attendees about any change of plans via the online registration software programs. The automated results feature allows you to offer instant information to multiple attendees at the same time.

Data collection and Reporting

Although selecting the venue is an action that requires a lot of precision, the other aspects of an event planner’s activities cannot be ignored. You can choose the data that you must collect from the registration forms through a web interface. The registration pages and the attendee data are found online 24×7. You get reports on attendees, sales and registrations at no initial cost.

Payment Facilities

The online event registration tools helps online processing of all major Credit Cards, Checks, Pay Pal, and Purchase Orders. The client can also opt to use the Merchant account for collecting payments. The event planner can use the online ticketing system for selling tickets as well as marketing the event. Tools for increasing ROI and also free tools for marketing like email marketing, surveys, connectors to the social media, the calendar tool and so on increases attendee participation. For a conference or an event where you need to register multiple attendees you can have more than one booking options. The participant information for the individual or the group can also be collected.

Thus, online event registration can be a safe, hassle free and breezy affair with the top-notch solutions from firms that provide event planners with immaculate services.…

Do Not Overlook The Importance of Handheld Metal Detectors

There aren’t many devices that can boast the ability to actually save a life and more often than not these products are tragically overlooked. When you consider how affordable many of these life-saving devices are and how extremely easy they are to use it makes their lack of use that much more tragic. Take seat belts for example, so often we hear of fatal auto accidents involving someone losing their life because they failed to do something as simple as reach over and put their seat belt on. Helmets are another potentially life-saving device that goes overlooked all too often. In my knucklehead state, Illinois, the law requires you wear a seat belt but does not require you wear a helmet when operating a motorcycle. As is to be expected I see a great number of motorcyclists cruising about town with their hair flowing in the wind. Should any of these people get in an accident their chances of survival drop immeasurably because they chose to not wear such a helmet and I pray that these people understand the risks they are taking before it is too late.

Handheld metal detectors are no different than seat belts and helmets in so much as they are an item that can easily be implemented to ensure people’s safety but are all too often overlooked. I have been to more than enough events with multiple unknown attendees, where no security scanning device of any kind was used at the door. This to me seems ludicrous, especially in a day and age where random acts of gun violence can take place anywhere at any time and to anyone. Even if a promoter cared little for the safety of his or her attendees or put little value in human life it would still behoove the promoter to implement security scanning devices like handheld metal detectors so as to avoid the possibility of a potential lawsuit resulting from someone being hurt or killed by a weapon at their event.

Handheld metal detectors also offer not only a more thorough security scan than the old ‘pat down’ method of checking for weapons but also a much faster and socially comfortable method of scanning entrants into any event. If you have ever been to a concert, sporting event or any large gathering where the entrants were being patted down by hand by security you are all too well aware of how long the process can take and how uncomfortable it might be for both the event attendees and the security personnel as well.

So please, if you are planning an event of any size and you know there will be attendees whom you do not personally know, acquire an affordable and reliable handheld metal detector.

Stay Safe,

Carl Vouer…

Creating a “Social Event”

Now more than ever, meeting, and conference planners are integrating social media into their events. Social media has created an environment where events are becoming in a sense “more social”, where interaction occurs not only during the event, but before it begins and even after it ends. This provides a higher ROI not only for the organizer (in promoting the event) but also for the attendees (networking & business connections). Here are some ways to create a “social event”.

Before The Event

Generating Buzz

Before your event begins you want to let people know your event exists. The best way to do that is by generating buzz. A few ways to do this are to create event pages on social media networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Encourage attendees to join by promoting a sweepstakes where a prize is given to one or more random attendee that “joins” the event. These sweepstakes can be extended onto Twitter as well, where you can ask attendees to tweet about the event. Create a twitter hashtag to easily monitor comments about your event. Note: be sure to read the promotion policies on the social platform you decide to engage in.

Creating these social networking event pages not only benefits you as an event holder but the attendees as well, as this will notify them of others attending the event. Also, when the event ends, they can then check these pages again to find contact information to reach out to someone they met at the event.

Involve the Attendees

The whole point of a “social event” is to essentially be “social”. Engage with the attendees before the event begins. For example, ask them to vote on who they want to speak at the event, what snacks or refreshments they prefer, or even the location they want the event to be held at, etc.

There are many websites out there that offer polling, but why give your attendees more work when they can just vote on the social media platform you’ve already established for your event? LinkedIn offers a built-in polling system while Facebook requires you to install an app to your profile.

During The Event

You can further involve your attendees by taking questions from Twitter posts that include your event hashtag. If you aren’t taking questions, continue to monitor the hashtag regardless and see what your attendees are saying about the event. Don’t be afraid to reply to tweets!

Upload short clips and pictures from your event as it happens using Twitpic and Twitvid. This will allow you and your attendees to engage in a dialogue about the event as it occurs. It could also bring about the potential of engaging with people who couldn’t make it to the event or even generate interest in those who might want to attend next time.

After The Event

When the event ends, you will want to follow up with your attendees. You can either contact them individually or if you want to continue to be “social”, start a discussion on Facebook or LinkedIn to involve everyone. Ask for feedback, such as what their favourite part of the event was, what are some areas of improvement, etc.…

Event Planning Careers – Help Planning Corporate And Family Events

If you have indulged yourself in making arrangements of any event then you would be aware of how much hard work and stress it takes to make the event come to life. A location has to be decided that is affordable yet approachable for the guests, a food menu that has to be picked up and delivered on time, decorations have to be made at the place of event, catering and lighting services has to be hired and the list goes on. All of this cannot be handled by an ordinary person unless he is skilled in event planning.

And to become skilled you need to have a good experience and some certifications in this field. Therefore, most people do not arrange parties or business meeting on their own; they appoint event planners who organize their event in the best manner.

Some events are really important for people that they want to make them last forever. For example, wedding is a type of occasion that has to happen at least once in everybody’s lives and they all want it to be memorable. They want every arrangement to be perfect, the cake, food, lighting, catering etc if anything goes wrong the whole arrangement is ruined. Besides that, many parents wish to make their kids’ parties exciting and fun but unfortunately they cannot as they are so busy in their professional lives that they do not get enough time to do so. In today’s world there are millions of companies that have expanded so much that they need to keep organizing different events time to time so that they can maintain their status. All these people depend on event planners because they trust their capabilities and become relieved that because there work in the hands of professional, it will become successful.

We can see many famous event managers who have done splendid jobs that is why, more and more people are diverting towards appointing event managers instead of organizing their events themselves. Event managers can transform their events into something that they never imagined. They can create an impressive image on their guests and provide them excellent experience. Whatever your budget is an event planner will try to fix everything in it because he has all the knowledge that is needed. Thus they also save your precious time.

Event planning careers have become highly reputable and demanding, so if you want to pursue career in it then you should not hesitate do so. However the requirement is that you need to be systematic, creative and interested in this field.…

The Difference Between Ego And Excellence

One of the least understood behaviors is what most of us refer to as being egotistical. While some individuals voice much bravado and appear to be applauding themselves and patting themselves on the back continuously, someone with a truly healthy self image does not find that type of self praise necessary. The reality is that if someone speaks about achievements in order to demonstrate experience and expertise, and they were real achievements, that is not bragging, but if someone exhibits false bravado and overstates his achievements, then it is simply self promoting. Walt Whitman stated, “If you have done it, it ain’t bragging.”

1. There is often a huge difference between mere experience and true expertise. Just because someone has had some experience, it does not mean he has learned sufficiently from it, for it to provide some advantage or expertise. I’m sure we have all met people who appear to be egotistical, whose behavior ends up being more based on insecurity and the need for attention, applause, gratitude, etc., than it is related to any type of superior knowledge or expertise. For example, in politics, when a politician points to his record, it can either be a case of bragging, or true excellence. Was he actually the cause of the positive results? Were there actually any positive results at all? Especially as it relates to politics and politicians, there is often a distinct line that gets blurred between true achievement and excellence, versus falsely taking credit or distorting one’s achievements. This is caused partly by convincing one’s self that they were actually excellent and actually believing it, a desire to win and election, political spin, ego or false ego, or being delusional.

2. I have been involved in the event industry for well over thirty years. During that time, I have come across quite a number of people who thought of themselves as being event planners or event experts, while the reality was that they, at most, chaired a program, event or a committee, and perhaps got involved in certain aspects of the event planning process. Therefore, when it comes to event planners, while I can state that I will guarantee cost savings and superior event planning and superb results, that statement is not bragging but rather the facts based on my years of experience, my gained expertise and knowledge, and the results I have consistently achieved. On the other hand, it is bragging when someone who perhaps was involved in previous events but does not possess the prerequisites to be considered expert, claims to be an event expert.

Bragging is only offensive when it is untrue. Otherwise, it may be merely a recitation of the facts. In either case, however, it should be done with tact and without being offensive.…

Make a Plan to Get Into an Exciting Career As a Conference and Event Planner

Are you looking to find your first career? Or maybe you already have a career but would love to embark in a new and exciting career path? How would you like to enter the fast-paced and exciting area of conference and event planning?

Conventions, events and meetings are one of the fastest growing segments of the economy and encompass multiple aspects of all industries. Event planning courses have as an objective to show students a broad range of knowledge and processes, administration skills and practical tools that will assist them in dealing with situations within a conference and event planning related career.

WHAT ARE THE PERSONAL QUALITIES OF A CONFERENCE AND EVENT PLANNER?

A conference and event planner is a special type of individual. It is essential to carry the qualities of being outgoing, charismatic and certainly energetic. An event planner will play a huge and dynamic role within the organization for which he/she works.

WHAT DO EVENT PLANNING COURSES ENTAIL?

A good conference and event planner program should leave graduates with the following skills and knowledge to successfully step into their professional careers:

The knowledge and skills necessary to handle conferences and events for a variety of business sectors

An introduction to the planning and coordinating the logistics of events

Professional skills including how to negotiate, the decision making process, working in a team, communication skills, customer service skills, leadership, research and problem solving techniques

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Applications

Event planning courses will usually involve the following areas of study:

Business correspondence

Business essentials, financial management and math

Negotiations and contracts

Business presentations, supervisory skills and verbal communications

Conference and event management

Customer service skills

Event marketing

Business writing and grammar skills

Human resource management

Intro to internet

Employment skills

Management fundamentals

Marketing and sales

Microsoft Access, Excel, Outlook

Microsoft PowerPoint, Publisher,Word and Windows

Project Management Fundamentals

Graduates of event planning courses can find employment in a varied number of great settings. They find exciting work in the sector of tourism, trade and professional associations. They can also seek employment in convention and conference centres, government agencies and conference and event planning companies. In addition, the skills learned in event planning courses are transferable to other sectors of employment. This makes it the ideal diploma to have as graduates can look for employment opportunities not only within the industry, but in other sectors of employment as well.

Careers that event planning courses can lead to include:

Conference and Meeting Planner

Conference Services Officer

Convention Coordinator

Event Planner

Special Events Organizer

Trade Show Planner

There’s no reason to shy away from an exciting and new career! Event planning courses can be your ticket to get there!…

Benefits Of Event Planning Training

Event planning is a vast industry and many people are associated with it nowadays. Event planners have taken the responsibility if managing the event of their clients and put all their efforts to make it successful. Event planning is interesting and fun filled for those who are social, friendly and fun loving; such natured people enjoy their profession as hobby. As people are becoming more conscious for perfection, the challenge for professional event planners has raised. Every client wants something different and creative in their events.

There are different courses for event planning offered by many institutions that help the students to groom them and learn better skills and basic etiquettes about the event planning. These courses are very beneficial for those who are interested in this field either who are professionals or who prefer to arrange their home events by them.

In event management and planning training the students get to learn new skills and basic etiquettes about the event planning that helps to groom their talent.

The students who take event management courses are given demonstrations and practical tasks to perform as the part of study which gives them more confidence.

Many students exchange their new ideas and special skills while attending the course; that helps them to learn more.

There are different fields in event management planning and you can opt for the specific line you want and get to learn about your field.

People who are not professional can groom their talent and step into the professional field to earn and learn.

If you are certified, you can be recognized well in the market and can expand your business by being certified.

You get more job opportunities, big companies in this field hire their staff for assistance and of course everyone would prefer to have a qualified person associated with them.

While taking an event management and planning course, students are offered internship as part of their study, and this is the best time to gain an experience.

People who have not done any course might have good taste and new ideas but these courses teach you how to coordinate and deal with vendors and make clients satisfied; and you learn about marketing as well.

These courses make you aware of the competition in the market and you get to know your professional rivals (who are studying with you) and their skills which help you in professional life.

Certification of event planning course gives you a confidence to enter into the professional life.

There are many benefits in taking event planning course, so if you have the aptitude you must go for that.…

7 Tips for Successful Event Planning

Event planning is not an easy task. It requires step-to-step process to be executed perfectly. At times it also becomes stressful. To make it less stressful, seven tips are given below that can help immensely.

Planning of event should start as soon as possible. Sooner you start planning, better the results will be. Think carefully before putting any idea in execution. This will help in putting action plan in order. Working out time and money to complete particular event will help. Think about human resources, committee, how much your profit will be, and whether it is viable or not.

If you are planning big event then you will need more human resources. In such condition, pull out a team together which can help you complete big event successfully. Once you have action plan and team ready to execute it, half of your work is done.

Budget is a very important element in event planning. Cost related to marketing, photocopying, equipments, human resources, and other hire charges should be taken into consideration while deciding on budget.

Listing everything will help in order to make your plans work easily. Make lists of everything and anything that you are trying to do in event.

Marketing your event is essential if event is targeted to be profit making. Things like targeted audience, flyers and posters, places for marketing, and online marketing are essential tactics for marketing of any event.

Venue of the event is crucial. Selection of venue depends on things like date & time, area, disabled access, budget and deposit, tables, seats, and catering facilities.

Last but not the list, whether should be considered in event planning because all your plans will go in vain in case of bad weather if you have not taken that into the consideration.…

Event Planning: How You Can Find the Best Catering Service

To make an arrangement for catering services seems to be boring for most people, although it can be the most fun part when it comes to planning an event.

Know the best caterer

It is important to choose a trusted and known caterer in your area. Although it is also good to experiment on caterers but it’s not really an ideal and practical approach in searching for the best caterer. For instance, a good catering service should always prepare 10 or more plates depending on the amount of food and the chance of arrivals of unexpected guests. This applies in drinks as well. A catering service with not much experience may not anticipate this from happening.

Select a catering service that is actually renowned in your locality for providing the best food and service. You may find some either very costly or very affordable but still can give the same level of service. If you no not have any idea on which caterer to choose, you can always ask your neighbours or friends or even call an event planner who can suggest one.

Set appointments

Normally, a good catering service will set an appointment and let you taste the food that they provide for most events. However, most catering services do not offer this.

Discuss the theme of the event

Discussing the theme of the event is a very essential element in planning an event. Make sure that the food is related to the theme of the event. With this, the caterer can decide whether they will accept the job or not.

Down payment

It is best to always give 50 present of the cost prior to your big day. With this, they will have funds to utilize in purchasing the ingredients. However, there are some who can be paid right after the party.…