The Secret's Out: Top Meeting Planners Reveal Their Best Tips

Recently, I reached out to my personal network of associates and asked a small group of meetings planners to describe what makes their events particularly effective and/or memorable. The ideas that were submitted show that there are a number of common ingredients for a successful meeting or event. Chief among them are:

• Organization skills
• Creativity
• The ability to challenge established ways of doing things (aka: thinking outside the box)
• Thinking from the perspective of the participants

We've compiled some of the best ideas that were submitted in hopes that you'll learn a new idea to make your next meeting or event a hit. Here, then, are our picks for the top six ideas:

1. Stick to the Plan

Several people noted that one of the best ways to have a successful meeting is also one of the simplest. That is to create an effective agenda, and then stick to it. If the leader and the group get off track, little is accomplished and participants become disenchanted and less likely to participate (or attend) future meetings. This tip seems so obvious, yet it's often ignored.

2. There's More to Life than Golf

Many longer meetings and events include downtime in which attendees are invited to participate in group social activities. In the past, these activities most commonly included sports such as golf or tennis. Nowadays, there is a perception that these activities may be too exclusionary.

Several good ideas were submitted for alternative activities such as sightseeing, spa days, Nintendo Wii tournaments, card and game tournaments, treasure hunts, and other types of team-based activities (for instance, staging a mini-Olympics).

3. Model the Behavior You Expect

If you're having difficulty getting people to regularly attend meetings, to participate fully, and to exhibit the right levels of enthusiasm, look to your organization's executives. They need to model the meeting behavior expected of all participants, such as arriving on time, staying for the full meeting, and mingling and networking. If they aren't doing these things, others may believe they're exempt from these responsibilities, too.

4. Keep Attendees Informed

One meeting planner said that when he stages multiday events (i.e., where all attendees stay at the same hotel or conference property), he prepares an evening newsletter that is then hand-delivered to each person's room. This is a great way to remind people of the next day's activities, along with any potential changes in schedule. The newsletter doesn't have to be fancy and can be partially prepared in advance. All you need to do is photocopy it for distribution shortly before bedtime.

5. Go Green

There are many ways to make your meetings and events more environmentally conscious. Some ideas that were submitted include:

• Using notepads that are spiral-bound on the side (instead of legal pads that are bound at the top). This makes it easier for participants to write on both sides of the page - and a request for them to do so can be given by the moderator at the beginning of the meeting.
• Photocopying all handouts on two sides of a page
• Monitoring the air conditioning and heating
• Using erasable whiteboards instead of flipcharts
• Facilitating carpool arrangements to get people to and from the meeting
• Having water in pitchers, rather than pre-poured in glasses; that way, people will only take as much as they'll actually drink.

6. Shake up Seating Arrangements

To encourage people to sit with someone different than normal, one meeting planner had attendees pick a number from a basket when they entered the room. This number determined where they were to sit during the meeting.

Up for Discussion

Do you agree with these tips? Disagree? Also, do you have anything to add to this list?