Help for Event Planners

Event planning is all about the details. And keeping track of those details can be a challenge – not to mention very time consuming! This month, The Expert Speakers would like to pass along some of the tools that we have either used ourselves or heard about from others that might make your job easier. Here goes!

1. Super Planner (http://howardgivner.com/super-planner-iphone-app#content) is an inexpensive mobile application specifically designed for event professionals. It helps track food and beverage counts, room configurations, staffing needs, AV, and more. This app won the 2011 Special Events Magazine’s Gala Award for Best New/Innovative Event Product/Technology.
2. Track references to your event using Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts). It’s free and allows you to set up multiple alerts on the keywords or phrases you’d like to track. Note that you can use key phrases by enclosing the phrase in quotes and exclude certain words by using a minus (-) sign before them. You can also check out the Alerts feature on Social Mention (http://www.socialmention.com).
3. Add a live stream of mentions about your conference to your website using Social Mention’s Real Time Buzz widget. (http://socialmention.com/tools).
4. Accept credit cards at your event without a bank merchant account using your mobile device. Square (http://www.squareup.com) that provides a card reader that turns your mobile device into a credit card machine. They charge a per-transaction fee plus a percentage of each transaction.
5. If you need to share large files with other planners, try DropBox (http://www.dropbox.com). This tool offers free file sharing for up to 2GB of data or professional plans are available. This tool gets around many company email limitations.

We hope that some of these tools will help make your job easier. Check back at the end of July for a few more ideas! And remember, if you need a speaker, call The Expert Speakers at 919.850.0605.

Jeanne Frazer | Marketing Speaker Author

Jeanne Frazer and her team of speakers have significant experience speaking and writing on a variety of marketing, management, and motivational topics. Our passion is helping the underdog succeed without breaking the bank. This is reflected in the workshops and seminars we conduct across the U.S. on topics including public relations, integrated marketing, branding, niche marketing, strategic planning and various management and motivational topics. These sessions have been presented to law firms, associations, and education groups, among others. We also work with clients to create and present custom seminars or workshops to meet their specific needs.

Why The Expert Speakers? Our speakers will:

1. Motivate and inspire individuals and businesses to discover their strengths - the "core truths" about who they are.
2. Teach you how to refocus on high value activities that get results, whatever your budget level.
3. Make marketing and management concepts easy to understand and implement.

In addition to speaking engagements and writing marketing focused articles, books and other materials, we offer marketing coaching and mentoring services to small and mid-sized businesses, and service professional practices looking to expand and grow the skills of their managers and staff. Contact us today at 1.919.850.0605 to learn more or watch our video now.

Marketing Speaker

I wanted to say that I get so energized when I'm asked to speak to a group. Especially when you have great feedback and input. Last week I spoke to the Raleigh Chamber AM group on the 5 Myths of Creating a Marketing Plan and Budget and last night I spoke in to the Charlotte Business Professional group on Using Social Media and the USPS to Create Customers. Both of these groups had a variety of industries represented and they were engaged in the process and had great questions.

If you have any marketing questions or comments, please ask. This blog may not be an in person event, but it can still be a learning forum.