The Honorable Andrew Young addressed an annual conference of MPI in Atlanta. He said, “I see you and your role in our world as much more important than you do… Meetings are important; … meetings are where ideas are formed; … meetings are where vision is shared; meetings are where people come together, and that is no simple task.”

This is a high view of meeting planning and I share it! Face to face meetings are at the heart of what it means to live in a world looking for meaning. Those of us who hold a high view of meeting planning will give special attention to the following:

• Know the Group and Design the Meeting Accordingly. Very few times can we plan the same meeting for two or more groups. Each group is unique and deserves special care.
• Plan Ahead. If we wait until the last few months to begin preparations, we can expect a more costly and less attended meeting. It will fall short of everyone’s expectations.
• Focus on Clarity of Vision. Make sure that the vision is sharply focused and that it is something desired by the anticipated participants. Remember that “without a vision the meeting will perish.”
• Select the Appropriate Venue. Some meetings can be held anywhere. Some have a vision that can best be realized in one special venue.
• Design the Program. Most programs have two types of objectives: organizational and participant. The organizational content includes business matters. Participant objectives are directly related to the individual’s needs for information and/or skills. Clarify which is the primary objective of each meeting and design accordingly.
• Keep the Action Going. Remember that the time to stop something – both in planning and delivery – is when participants want to do it again. Keep the meeting flow tight and anticipation high. This will make for a high energy experience.
• Take Risks. Try something new and different which adds interest and energy. Taking risks is often hard for planning groups. My view is that meeting professionals are called to lead the planning group into taking risks. Without risk, life and meetings are flat.
• Be Realistic in Budgeting. Meetings that are worth the time of each person who attends and worth the time and energy we professionals give to them, must be underwritten financially. Unless we professionals are realistic in budgeting, we shortchange participants, our client and ourselves.
• Market, Market, Market. It’s a fact that low marketing results in low participation. A major part of the budget should be set aside for marketing. Use the internet, direct mail, brochures, newsletters, radio, television, newspaper, posters, DVD’s. Allow ample lead time so that interested participants may clear their schedules.
• Be Safe. Make a personal check of the meeting venue so as to be assured that the participants will be safe and that any emergency may be cared for immediately. Be sure that insurance is provided and clarify all aspects of the coverage, circumstance under which the coverage is in effect, and the benefits of the coverage.
• Be a Team Player. Once the venue has been selected, establish a relationship with the principles of the site so that a team relationship exists before and during the meeting.
• Prepare for Murphy’s Law. Anything that can go wrong will.
• Consider Transportation and Parking. Pay attention to transportation issues. Many times we assume that the participant will handle everything themselves. This is often true, but even the private auto has to be put somewhere. If travel is by air, bus or train, negotiate meeting saver fares for participants and ground transportation from the terminal to the meeting venue. If travel by private auto, plan for ample parking with attendants on duty in the lots.
• Setup the Meeting Room. Appropriate square footage per attendee with allowances for aisles and required distances for projection of audio-visuals must be calculated. Be clear about the best setup to accomplish the vision of the meeting. Know the venue restrictions regarding signs attached to walls and food being brought in by attendees.
• Check the Audio Visuals. Any equipment may malfunction. Be sure the supplier has planned for backup with spare bulbs, microphones, and carts.
• Have Fun with Food and Beverage. Review the agenda to assure that leisurely or rushed schedules are adequately accommodated and that food is not only healthy and tasty, but that the presentation is appetizing with sparkle. To assist with budgeting issues, ask for an inclusive price on all food and beverage requirements.
• Evaluate. Collect evaluations throughout the meeting. Tally the data and summarize in a report which becomes useful for rating the success of past meetings and for planning future meetings.
• Account for Everything. As bills begin to arrive, detailed attention must be given to reviews, adjustments, payments, and accounting. Each day, prepare a financial report which becomes the data for the final financial report.
• Remember the Follow-up. There are a multitude of issues to cover after the meeting is over. Include them in the initial plan and execute them diligently, no matter how tired we are.
• Say “Thank You.” Write thank you notes with creativity and energy. The list of persons to thank includes the planning team, suppliers, speakers and volunteers.

Kirk McNeill, CMP
McNeill Meetings & Events
P.O. Box 1857
West Jefferson, NC 28694  USA
336-977-9249
Fax 336-846-5291
kmcneill@ammc.org

If you stretch a rubber band between the thumb of your right hand and the thumb of your left hand, tension is created. You feel it.  If you spread your thumbs far enough, the rubber band will break.  If you relax and bring your thumbs together, the tension will decrease and the rubber band will hang limply on your thumbs.

The tension created when a vision is held up against present reality is like the tension in the rubber band.  The vision pulls present reality forward and present reality resists.

Vision

A vision embodies a deep sense of purpose.  It captures our imagination and appeals to lofty aspirations of doing something meaningful, having an impact, making a difference.  It evokes images of personal hopes and calls for alignment and commitment.

 Present Reality

Present reality is things as they really are.  Present reality is often hidden so as to help us feel better.  A continuing task of persons who creatively vision possibilities is to see things in the light of truth so that present reality is clear.

 Creative Tension

Creative tension is good.  It is always present in settings where persons want to participate in creating movement toward a vision.  It naturally pulls present reality to new accomplishments.  Without creative tension, life is flat.  Without creative tension, bridges would collapse. Without creative tension, organizations are caught in a vicious cycle of trying to balance resources and budget.  Without creative tension, meetings plateau and decline in registration and energy. 

Creative tension always seeks resolution.  Persons who want status quo (things as they are) struggle to hold fast to present reality.  This happens with Boards of Directors and Committees in organizations that need meeting planning services. 

Persons who commit to a vision stretch toward purposeful hopes of possibilities.  Sometimes creative tension translates into emotional tension such as frustration, anger or depression.  This usually leads to a compromise of the vision in favor of present reality. 
When visionary meeting planners hold the tension, it will naturally resolve and move towards the vision.  This movement toward the vision provides the opportunity to stretch toward a new vision (an even deeper sense of purpose).  It provides the opportunity to pull present reality to new highs by tightening the tension again.  
 
Invitation, Enrollment and Alignment

Visionary planners and leaders of client organizations invite others to enroll in (commit to) the vision and help shape it into an even deeper sense of purpose.  They know that they can be custodian or steward of the vision, but they cannot enroll others.  Each person is free to (and has a right to) choose and each person freely enrolls in visions of choice.  Any attempt to enroll another person in a vision will result in complicity rather than commitment.  This is what is going on in many organizations for and with whom meeting planners provide services. Hierarchal leaders often give orders to enroll persons in the hierarchal leader’s vision.  The result is a half-hearted “yes” of complicity rather than an energizing personal commitment.

Visionary Planners

Visionary meeting planners believe in people and possibilities.  They work with their clients and companies to set up conditions through which persons are empowered to align and to be co-creators of the vision. 

They see the greatness and possibilities in other people and through continuing affirmation keep the creative tension tight.  They call forth the best from people.

Peter Senge, a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pioneer in the field of learning organizations and author of The Fifth Discipline, sees leaders as “visionaries who see possibilities and orient themselves toward creating rather than maintaining…and instill this orientation in others.”  To him, I am greatly indebted for much of my learning in this field of visionary planning.

The Twenty-First Century Planners

 Visionary meeting planners of the Twenty First Century will need to hold a creative tension with present reality.  Organizations in the Twenty First Century will seek meeting planners who are visionary and who stretch the rubber band of creative tension and lead meeting planning with a deep sense of purpose. 

Kirk McNeill, CMP
P.O. Box 1857
West Jefferson, NC 28694 USA

El honorable  Andrew Young impartió una conferencia de MPI en Atlanta y dijo: “yo los veo a ustedes y su papel en nuestro mundo mucho más importante de lo que ustedes lo ven… Las reuniones son importantes, … las reuniones es donde se forman las ideas,… las reuniones es donde se intercambian las visiones, las reuniones es donde se encuentra la gente y lograr eso no es una tarea fácil”

Esta es una visión de altura de la planeación de eventos y yo la comparto. Las reuniones cara a cara son el corazón de lo que significa vivir en un mundo en búsqueda de un significado. Aquellos de nosotros que mantenemos una alta visión de la planeación de eventos, daremos atención especial a lo siguiente:

Conozca al grupo y diseñe la reunión de acuerdo a este. Muy pocas veces podemos planear el mismo evento para dos o más grupos. Cada grupo es único y merece atención especial.

• Planee por adelantado. Si esperamos hasta los últimos meses para empezar los preparativos seguramente tendremos una reunión más costosa y menos atendida; estará por debajo de las expectativas de todos.

• Tenga claridad en la visión. Asegúrese que la visión este enfocada y que sea deseada por los futuros participantes. Recuerde que sin visión, la reunión está condenada al fracaso

• Seleccione la sede adecuada. Algunas reuniones se pueden llevar a cabo en cualquier sitio. Algunas tienen una visión que solo puede ser alcanzada en una sede en especial.

• Diseñe el programa. La mayoría de los programas tienen dos tipos de objetivos: Organizacionales y del participante. El contenido organizacional incluye asuntos de negocios. Los objetivos del participante están directamente relacionados a las necesidades individuales de información y de adquisición de habilidades. Clarifique cual es el objetivo primario de cada reunión y diséñela de acuerdo a ello.

• Mantenga la acción. Recuerde que el momento para detener algo- tanto en planeación como en desarrollo- es cuando los participantes lo quieren hacer de nuevo. Mantenga el flujo del desarrollo de la reunión muy estricto y con mucha anticipación. Esto creará una experiencia altamente energética.

• Tome riesgos. Trate algo Nuevo y diferente que agregue energía e interés. Aceptar riesgos es difícil para la planeación de grupos. Mi visión es que los profesionales de las reuniones deben planear tomando riesgos. Sin riesgo, la vida y las reuniones son aburridas.

• Sea realista al presupuestar. Las reuniones que merecen la inversión del tiempo de cada persona que asista y que sean dignas del tiempo y la energía  que los profesionales les damos, deben ser financieramente sanas. Si no somos realistas en el presupuesto estamos engañando a los participantes, a nuestro cliente y a nosotros mismos.

• Promueva. Es un hecho que la baja promoción trae como consecuencia una baja participación. Una gran parte del presupuesto debe ser destinada a la promoción. Use el Internet, el correo directo, folletos, boletines, radio, televisión, periódico, posters, DVD´s. Deje tiempo suficiente para que los participantes agenden el evento.

• Asegúrese. Haga una revisión personal de la sede de la reunión para confirmar que los participantes estén seguros y que cualquier emergencia se puede atender de inmediato. Revise que exista una póliza de seguro y verifique la cobertura y los beneficios de la misma

• Participe en el equipo. Una vez que la sede ha sido seleccionada, establezca una buena relación con el personal de la misma de tal forma que exista una labor de equipo antes y durante el evento.

• Prepárese para la ley de  Murphy. Cualquier cosa que pueda salir mal, saldrá mal.

• Considere Transporte y estacionamiento. Ponga atención en materia de transporte. Muchas veces asumimos que los participantes resolverán sus asuntos por si mismos. Esto a veces es cierto pero hay que pensar que inclusive, el auto particular tiene que ser guardado en algún sitio. Para quienes viajan por vía aérea, por autobús o tren, negocie tarifas especiales y transportación terrestre desde la terminal a la sede del evento. Para los que viajan en auto particular planee estacionamiento suficiente en la sede.

• Monte el salón de sesiones. Debe calcularse un espacio adecuado por participante, con pasillos suficientes y distancia adecuada para las proyecciones audiovisuales. Entérese de la restricción de la sede para colocar señales en las paredes y de las políticas para introducción de alimentos por parte de los participantes.

• Revise el servicio audiovisual. Cualquier equipo puede funcionar mal. Asegúrese que el proveedor tenga equipo de reserva así como focos y micrófonos.

• Disfrute seleccionando alimentos y bebidas. Revise el programa para asegurarse que el entretenimiento y los momentos de esparcimiento estén acomodados adecuadamente y que la comida sea no solo saludable y de buen sabor  sino que la presentación sea apetecible. Para bajar costos, pida precios que incluyan toda la comida y bebida

• Evalúe. Recoja evaluaciones durante la reunión. Haga un reporte resumido que sea útil para calificar el éxito de eventos anteriores y para planear eventos futuros

• Contabilice todo. Conforme las cuentas llegan, debe ponerse especial atención  en las revisiones, ajustes, pagos y contabilización. Diariamente prepare un reporte financiero que sirva para el reporte financiero final.

• Recuerde el seguimiento. Hay una multitud de asuntos que atender una vez que la reunión terminó.  Inclúyalos en el plan inicial y ejecútelos rápido, sin importar que tan cansado esté.

• Diga “gracias”.  Escriba notas de agradecimiento con creatividad. La lista de personas a quienes agradecer incluye a su equipo de trabajo, a los proveedores, a los conferencistas y a los ayudantes voluntarios

Kirk McNeill, CMP
McNeill Meetings & Events
P.O. Box 1857
West Jefferson, NC 28694  USA
Email: kmcneill@ammc.org