Being an Association Management Company (AMC) staff member and attending a client’s annual conference is like killing two birds with a single stone. It allows me to apply our best practices to benefit the client while learning from this event and sharing with our other client associations.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of assisting with one of our client’s annual conferences in Orlando. I have in depth experience in the dental laboratory industry in my almost 9 years at PIAM and it’s exciting to carry knowledge and experience from this to one of its state component members. Continue reading AMC Model Benefits Clients During Conference Season→
Annual convention’s and fundraising go together like peanut butter and jelly. Whether you are fundraising for your association’s foundation or maybe you are raising money for a charity, you are probably asking your attendees to donate, donate, donate.
At one of our client’s most recent Annual Convention and Trade Show, we incorporated the following activities and increased our fundraising revenue.
Is your meeting getting stale? Are your attendees getting bored with the same events year after year? Here are five creative ideas to breathe life into your opening reception or party. Continue reading Breathing Life into Your Opening Reception→
I recently attended a client meeting in Chicago along with over 35,000 attendees. With that insane amount of people basically overtaking the city, pretty much every person I saw was a potential networking opportunity. The sales people that I attended with were practically salivating at the world of prospective clients and never seemed to have enough time to meet everyone. Yet, for me, I am an editor/writer that works from home. The loudest and most people-intensive day of my week is Thursday, when both the trash and recycling truck swing by my house. Admittedly, being in a scenario where I am expected to drop into a room packed with strangers and network forces me outside of my comfort zone. It is part of my job, however, to establish connections and potential authors and nobody said it was easy. Continue reading Nervously Networking→
In two months, I’m getting married. After 16 months of planning, researching every element, and working with family and friends to make it all happen, we’re just 60 days away. To say that my fiancé and I really utilize social media is an understatement. We use it to share our adventures, our quirky interests, and connect with loved ones. And sometimes, like it or not, social media is the quickest way to disseminate important information.
In these last 16 months, our wedding planning has taken a similar approach to branding as your next important event, product roll-out or association milestone. Continue reading Two and Through!→
In 2004, in just 6 short weeks, Florida was hit by 4 major hurricanes – Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. I was working for another association at the time, busy planning our Fall Seminar & Expo. Of course, staff was keeping tabs on the storms, but no one expected so much damage. Continue reading 3 Easy Tips for Preventing Disasters→
Going to a “networking” event can oftentimes feel like you’re going to a sales convention. Determining what someone can do for you, and pitching what you can do for them. But how do you (or your association/business) make an event more subtle on sales and more about genuine connection? The folks at Hyatt Hotels showed me how when they recently hosted an event in Tallahassee before the Florida Society of Association Executives’ Education Day. Continue reading Getting Your Name Out There→
