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.

Lessons from Tebow

I know not all of you are football fans, but we can all learn lessons everywhere when we look for them. I am a fan of Tim Tebow, the rookie quarterback for the Denver Broncos and Florida Gator (like me). Tebow was a two-time college championship winner and was awarded the prestigious Heisman Trophy in only his sophomore year. In Gainesville and the greater “Gator Nation,” folks thought of him as a kind of football super hero. Great intensity, leadership, and a warrior on the field. He’s also a down to earth person who loves God and his family.


While he has amassed great accolades and went in the first round of the draft, Tebow is far from perfect. Many thought he would go in a much lower round of the draft due to his throwing style. Many questioned if he could play in the NFL at all as a quarterback. Hmmm, I seem to remember some of the same nay-sayers with former Gator and Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith (the NFL’s all time leading rusher). They thought he was too small, too slow. He was just determined and set records that still stand today.

Bottom line, Tim Tebow inspires me to accomplish things. One of his high profile team mates commented that his style and delivery may not be pretty, this guy is “magical.” I agree. He inspires his team mates. He inspires followers. The game this past weekend was in Miami and the Dolphins fans were cheering for Tebow (the other team)! His jersey, #15, is the #1 selling jersey in the NFL.

Here are a couple of lessons I’ve learned from Tebow:

1. You don’t have to fit the mold or have the best “mechanics;” be passionate and work hard— don’t let anyone say you can’t do something. You might just succeed and inspire others along the way.

2. In a “bad boy” athlete era, Tim Tebow is respectful talking with the media, respectful of opportunities and of his team. Kudos. Be respectful and you’ll get that back a hundred fold.

3. Being the best (as defined by others) or having the best grades doesn’t mean you’ll be the best leader. It also doesn’t make you the best producer. So what if you are a little different. Play your game. Work at it and play hard and with heart.

4. This guy would literally pick the team up on his back if he could. His most memorable speech came after a loss at Florida when he said he’d let the team down, but nobody would ever work harder than him. He took responsibility and then worked his butt off.

5. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Share your passion and you will find like minded people and earn respect. Tebow went on mission trips as a youth and still thanks God. Like it or not, you gotta respect him.

6. He is passionate about this game. Find something you love and commit to being your best. It won’t always be easy and you won’t always win, but there is joy in it.

Football fanatic (like me) or someone who doesn’t know what pigskin is, these are some great lessons. What have you learned from someone that you didn’t expect to learn from? I’d love to hear some other words of wisdom from unexpected sources!

Planning an Event? Using Internal vs. External Speakers

Whether you are planning a client conference or putting together an employee retreat, you are probably working to line up speakers and fill the agenda. How do you decide when to use internal or client speakers versus hiring an outside speaker? Here are a few tips:

1. If you do an annual client conference and you have internal resources that are subject-matter experts AND are good speakers, add them to the agenda. Okay, you should probably ask them first!


2. Have a client who is knowledgeable AND a dynamic speaker? Invite him or her to speak.


3. We recommend you mix up internal and external speakers – it adds depth to the agenda. Do make sure you have a large number of sessions that add value for the attendee. They should leave the event thinking they got more than their money’s worth!


4. Bring in an outside keynote speaker to either do a motivational address or hire an expert speaker to talk about industry trends that your attendees might not have learned. Get them excited about the future and thinking about what your firm should be doing now to plan for the future!


5. If you are doing an employee retreat, you may also want to bring in an outside speaker—either on some specific topic as an educational speaker or as a motivational speaker. It’s a change of pace from listening to the same internal folks year after year, and can bring new perspectives. It can also tell employees that you think they are important.

No matter what, do your research on your presenters—nothing is worse than an interesting topic delivered by a boring speaker! Tell us about the best (or worst) speaker you've ever heard. We'd love to hear your story! If you have questions, feel free to contact us at info@theexpertspeakers.com.