Education

Prove Your ROI: Writing a Post-Conference Report

Presented by Michele Wierzgac, CMM

Writing a clear and compelling post-conference report is as important as the flawless execution of the conference. How do you structure a post-con so that the reader can find the information quickly? Are the conclusions and recommendations derived from the post-con accurate and clear? Report writing is an essential element in demonstrating return on investment to senior management. In this session, different report structures and various elements are discussed that could be included in your post-con. Attendees learn to identify the elements of a post-con report, which elements effectively communicate ROI and how to write an impactful executive summary. A part-time professor at Kendall College and frequent guest lecturer for numerous colleges and universities, Michele Wierzgac has been recognized by MPI as a Top 5 speaker, preferred leadership retreat facilitator, and one of the seven founding chancellors to comment on current business trends and deliver visionary leadership.

3 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: A. Strategic Planning

The 10Ks of Personal Branding

Presented by Kaplan Mobray, Kaplan Mobray, Inc.

Ever wonder when you leave a room what people say about you? For many of us, there’s a gap between how we think we’re perceived and how others actually see us. At a time when many of us are soul searching and experiencing unprecedented change, having an identifiable brand greatly impacts how the world views us. People who make themselves positively memorable are the ones who are most often hired, promoted, valued and positioned for opportunity. As you look to keep your job, regain employment, gain new clients, keep clients or possibly change careers, ask yourself—what you are doing to make yourself positively memorable? How can you polish your style to make an impression that reflects the real you and positions you for career success? Hailed as electrifying and thought provoking, this session, based on Kaplan’s 10 principles to building an effective brand, offers case studies and exercises that will help you identify your strengths and passions and create a brand for yourself that is positive and unique and positions you to excel in your career.

Dealing with Stress to Increase Performance

Presented by Dr. Jeff Ashby, The Summit Group

A growing body of research indicates that stress negatively affects our productivity, concentration, problem-solving, decision making, communication, physical health, relationships and sense of well-being. Organizations that deal effectively with stress employ individuals that are more flexible, more productive and live longer, happier lives. This presentation will explore where stress comes from, what stress does to us, and what we can do to ensure more productive and healthier organizations, work groups and personal lives. The founding principal and president of Summit Performance Group, Dr. Jeff Ashby is director of the Ph.D. program in counseling psychology at Georgia State University and a licensed psychologist. He has more than 18 years experience consulting on team dynamics, communication, leadership, and stress management in both corporate and nonprofit settings.

10Ps of Presenting

Presented by Kaplan Mobray, Kaplan Mobray, Inc.

Presentation skills are not only necessary for keynote speakers. Meeting planners often find themselves in front of a crowd or even the C-suite needing to get a point across. Delivery is essential to making a presentation count, and this presentation helps attendees learn to present ideas in a manner so they are received. Saxophone playing, motivational speaker Kaplan Mobray brings an electrifying energy to his workshops to help people tap their authentic selves and to channel their passions into deeper meaning in all their personal and professional pursuits. Anyone can apply these simple but potent principles to live their brands and have better lives.

Integrated Mobile Marketing

Presented by Chris Rash, Collinson Media

Mobile technology has become a must for meetings. Everything from travel to itineraries to session schedules can be accessed in one place with the right app. Attendees learn what’s available, which mobile apps are best for meeting planners and how to leverage the right technologies to enhance your event. Chris Rash, vice president, consumer marketing and digital solutions for Collinson Media and Events, is a strategic marketing and brand consultant with experience in media and brand planning, marketing analytics, social CRM, search marketing and optimization, mobile strategy development and more.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: A. Strategic Planning
 
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Event Contracts and Negotiation Strategies

Presented by Nathan J. Breen, Esq., Howe and Hutton
This session focuses on simple ways to maximize clarity and minimize risk when negotiating contracts. Attendees learn how to identify and address common contract problems, risks and approaches to the allocation of liability. Discussion surrounds common challenges to a variety of contract issues, specific clauses and provisions that are of particular concern in hotel and convention center contracts, and other hospitality related agreements.

CSR Conference and Event Trends

Presented by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP, Collinson Events

For years it was all about dates, rates, space. Today’s companies are focusing on sustainability, technology and profitability. This session focuses on the trends that are redefining the market, leading planners to a new focus on results. Learn how CSR innovation, new contracting best practices and meeting technologies are putting new life in established programs. Kevin R. Johnston, CMP, is the executive vice president at Collinson Events and has produced events globally for Fortune 500 companies and international associations for more than 25 years. He is current president of Green Meeting Industry Council Atlanta.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: A. Strategic Planning

In-Event Marketing: Beyond Signage

Presented by Chris Rash, Collinson Media

Signage will always play a major role in promoting in-event happenings and keeping meeting attendees informed, however, with the advances in mobile and location-based technologies, a whole new world of marketing and communications opportunities are available to the event planner willing to make the leap and try some new technologies, sometimes even at a lesser cost. Chris Rash, vice president, consumer marketing and digital solutions for Collinson Media and Events, is a strategic marketing and brand consultant with experience in media and brand planning, marketing analytics, social CRM, search marketing and optimization, mobile strategy development and more.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: I. Marketing

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Meeting Design: The Walking Tour

Presented by John Nawn, The Perfect Meeting

This guided walking tour of Collaborate Marketplace discusses the attendee experience and how it might be enhanced. The attendee perception of different signature expo experiences is reviewed using design tools and techniques and opportunities for improving the expo experience are identified. Excursions are limited to 20 people. Guide John Nawn is founder of experience design firm The Perfect Meeting, which focuses on optimizing the meeting attendee experience.
He specializes in developing more engaging educational programs and networking opportunities for meetings of all sizes, is a long-time industry veteran and former executive with PCMA.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: G. Meeting or Event Design

Communicating with Impact

Presented Dr. Jeff Ashby, The Summit Group

In nearly every human endeavor, what you say and how you say it determines the outcome of events, either positively or negatively. Effective communication is easy to recognize but hard to reproduce. This presentation explores the difference between outstanding communication that builds trust, inspires vision, relates vital information effectively and enhances teamwork, and the style of communication that produces the opposite. The founding principal and president of Summit Performance Group, Dr. Jeff Ashby is a tenured professor and the director of the Ph.D. program in counseling psychology at Georgia State University, a licensed psychologist, and has more than 18 years experience consulting on team dynamics, communication, leadership, and stress management in both corporate and nonprofit settings.

Recertification: Keeping Your CMP Designation

Presented by Monique Montoya, Convention Industry Council

For more than 25 years, Convention Industry Council has defined new levels of professionalism through its Certified Meeting Professional program. CIC certifies individuals through an internationally recognized certification program that evaluates the competency of meeting professionals. Learn about the changes to the CMP program that went into effect for examinations beginning in February 2012 and how they affect recertification. Topics include the new CMP International Standards, the recertification application process and requirements. Monique Montoya is a program manager for CIC.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: J. Professionalism

You’re on Social Media—Now What?

Presented by Crystal Washington, CWM Enterprises

Getting on social media is easy; figuring out what to do once you’re on it can be a challenge. This high-energy presentation outlines how to use social media to network, grow a following as an industry expert and become a greater asset to your company. Attendees learn how to create an online personal brand that gets results, a posting strategy that saves hours and drives participation, and how to measure social media progress. Crystal Washington is a marketing strategist, social media consultant, keynote speaker, and co-creator of Socialtunities, a social media instruction brand. Her corporate clients refer to her as a social media therapist.

Reducing Costs with Policy Development

Presented by Ashely Muntan, CMP, Symantec Corporation

The menacing increases in air travel costs and continual decreases in corporate travel budgets are a daily burden for corporate meeting planners. This session covers budgeting, policy writing and implementing, being a good corporate steward, and developing corporate buy-in. Ashely Muntan, CMP, is an event marketing manager for Symantec Corporation. With more than 11 years in the industry, she project manages large events and takes pride in acting as the team “storytelling champion” and seeing projects come to fruition.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: D. Financial Management

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Writing Killer Conference Session Titles and Descriptions

Presented by Jeff Hurt, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

Did you think the primary purpose of most conference session titles, descriptions and learner objectives is to get a conference participant to attend a session? That’s incorrect. Meeting professionals spend countless hours on the room setup, F&B, hotel negotiations, speaker selection, AV and other conference logistics. Yet little time is spent on crafting the best session titles, descriptions and learner objectives. A lot rests on conference session descriptions. How well you convey what—and how—content will be available to attendees may be the deciding factor in whether they register in the first place. We can do better. In this session, Jeff Hurt discusses the best practices for writing session descriptions and titles, identifies the primary purpose of a session title, and explains the EMV Headline Analyzer and how to use it. Director of education and engagement for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting and author of one of the most followed meeting industry blogs, Hurt is an expert consultant on planning, marketing, and executing conventions in new and creative ways. His ideas to rethink education, engagement and design help planners create conferences people want to attend and leave informed and ready to take action.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: G. Meeting or Event Design

The Rx for Catering Medicine Cabinet

Presented by Claire Gould, Rx for Events

In this session for seasoned planners, complex scenarios are analyzed to learn how to maximize banqueting dollars while getting a better quality menu. Case studies, menus, trends and plate presentations are reviewed. Attendees learn to work more effectively with contracted venues resulting in a better event. Claire R. Gould is founder of Rx for Events and Rx for Catering LLC, which has created and designed events for major corporations in over 30 countries including many Fortune 100 companies as well as privately held corporations, institutions and associations. She has more than 28 years experience in hotel management, catering sales, exhibit management, event marketing and meeting planning.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: G. Meeting or Event Design

Drape Your Event in the New Black

Presented by Jeff Hurt, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

It’s the power of story. A recent report showed that nine out of 10 organizations market with content regardless of their size or industry, and 62 percent of those B2B marketers use events as an important tactic in their marketing strategy. In fact, face-to-face events were the third most popular form of content marketing behind social media and articles. During this session, attendees discover how to transform their events into a storytelling factory, engaging prospects and customers in all the right channels with the right messages. Events become a memorable content marketing experience. Director of education and engagement for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting and author of one of the most followed meeting industry blogs, Jeff Hurt is an expert consultant on planning, marketing, and executing conventions in new and creative ways. His ideas to rethink education, engagement and design help planners create conferences people want to attend and leave informed and ready to take action.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: I. Marketing

Email Marketing with a Purpose

Presented by Chris Rash, Collinson Media

The Direct Marketing Association estimates the ROI of email marketing efforts to be around $40 : $1. Are you getting $40 back for every dollar spent building your relationship marketing efforts via email? With all the buzz around social media and emerging marketing vehicles such as mobile and online video, some of the most effective tools in your arsenal are being ignored or under appreciated. This session addresses ways to reinvigorate email-marketing efforts and recapture the relationship that is missing from so many email efforts. Chris Rash, vice president, consumer marketing and digital solutions for Collinson Media and Events, is a strategic marketing and brand consultant with experience in media and brand planning, marketing analytics, social CRM, search marketing and optimization, mobile strategy development and more.

1.25 clock hours toward CMP-IS Domain: I. Marketing

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