The keynote speaker at this year’s Event Coordinators’ Workshop, Mr. Jim Hooker, expanded on his keynote address with a breakout session titled “Excellence Through Design and Décor.”
When creating an event, he advised, keep both the design (the overall purpose or theme of the room) and décor (the actual pieces) in mind at all times so they are in line with each other.
A successful event requires just as much behind-the-scenes work as décor and design consideration. At the Event Coordinators’ Network’s 4th Annual Workshop: Rising to the Next Level, one breakout session in particular, Policies and Best Practices in Meeting and Event Procurement, led by Ajay Patel and Sharon Jackson of Business Services, focused on that critical planning.
While there is plenty of specialty software on the market for event planners, at Georgia Tech a lot of our work is done in Microsoft Excel. That does not have to be a bad thing, though. Excel can do amazing work for an event planner; you just have to know the tricks. One trick I have fallen in love with recently is Conditional Formatting.
Conditional Formatting allows you to highlight cells that follow a specific rule. The function can be found under Format in the menu bar or on the Home Ribbon.
From time to time, we'll highlight some of the new services or products provided by our approved caterers and vendors so everyone can partake in the experience. For our first post, we had the pleasure of joining our friends at Barrelhouse for a tasting of their new catering menu.
When planning and executing an event, it is easy to overlook some of the simpler items. In this post, I wanted to highlight a few simple actions that event planners should make a habit at all of their events but are easy to neglect.
If you’re like me, you’re constantly concerned with the following three questions regarding meal selection: (1) Can I accommodate all special dietary needs; (2) Are my catering choices fitting (and tasty) for the event; and (3) Will I have enough to feed all my guests? I list a few tips to help you (and me!) answer all the above questions when choosing our next menu.
I think the only three letters I dread more than TBD are CMP. The CMP stands for Certified Meeting Planner, a highly regarded designation in the events industry. I often tell others that it is similar to a PhD in the events world due to the level of work and dedication it takes to achieve. The CMP is administered by the Convention Industry Council (CIC) and has provided a standard certification for meeting professionals for the past twenty-five years.
Albeit a few days after Mother’s Day, I thought this post might be a great opportunity to honor my mom for something she does best – making others feel special. My mom never misses an opportunity to ensure we feel loved. I’m inspired by my mom’s actions to see what I can do within our events to make others feel special and leave them with memories they won’t soon forget.
To say that April is a busy month at Georgia Tech would be an understatement, but how else can you describe it? It is not just the end of semester, but the end of academic year with the end of fiscal year looming right behind it. However, we cannot move into the calm until we evaluate our past actions. Laura touched on a post-event evaluation in her previous post, Summertime…and the Living is Easy. I’m here to look a little deeper into the process – the who, the what, and the how.
The end of last week marked the culmination of three of our large annual events. While the general purpose and goals remain the same year after year, we strive to bring a new, fresh approach to each every spring, which I admit isn’t always easy. However, this year, we thought about a few new ideas to bring new vitality and life into traditional annual events.
