Business Issues
« Previous EntriesFour Tough Challenges that Make Sustainability Easier
Saturday, July 16th, 2011Earlier this month, a colleague shook up my thinking about green meetings with an idea that could shift any organization’s sustainability program in a more practical direction.
And here’s the twist: the surest way to simplify our industry’s approach to sustainability might be to sharpen our focus on the toughest sustainability issues we face.
Thanks for this [...]
Building a Better Platform
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011Our son, Adrian, is a software developer, and frequently brings us his observations on the IT business. Sometimes, those observations hit closer to home.
A conversation a few months ago had to do with a hardware manufacturer that may be nearing its sunset. It’s a company that once shone brightly, but is being overtaken by more [...]
The Conference Your Conference Could Be
Thursday, June 9th, 2011If you could reach a wider audience with your next conference and deliver a far more engaging, immersive experience onsite, would you want to?
How you answer that question—and the steps you’re prepared to take to set a new plan in motion—may not be as obvious as you might think. Your response will tell you how [...]
Building an SMMP: Partnership, Collaboration Needed on All Levels
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Collaboration is essential to implementing a Strategic Meetings Management Plan (SMMP), so “don’t try to do it yourself,” warned Carolyn Pund of Cisco Systems in a Tuesday morning session at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress.
“Change occurs when people believe change is necessary,” Pund said. “If you can make a value proposition that’s strong enough, they [...]
Play to the Positives of Workplace Politics: Workshop
Monday, July 26th, 2010Workplace politics have overwhelmingly negative associations for most people. “Frustration,” “dysfunction,” “stress” and “unaccountability” were just some of the terms participants offered during a Monday afternoon workshop at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress.
David Bancroft-Turner, founder of the Academy for Political Intelligence, noted that businesses suffer when people don’t trust each other. Reduced productivity, decreased morale [...]
Drive Branding, Align Meetings with Business Needs
Monday, July 26th, 2010Like advertisers, meeting professionals should learn showmanship to drive branding and help sell the value of meetings, said Kate Lastinger, founding partner of Metaphrasis Group, during a Monday morning session at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress.
Teresa Bria, managing partner of Phase to Phase Strategy, said, “People aren’t considering meeting planners on that strategic corporate level, [...]
Measuring Business Benefits Communicates Value of Meetings
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Building professional capacity through face-to-face meetings is a cornerstone of the meeting planning industry, a field often praised for delivering intangible, values-oriented benefits to businesses and professionals. Theresa Breining, principal of Breining Group LLC in Encinitas, California, told participants that for the industry to progress and survive—especially in a challenging economic climate and an increasingly [...]
Case Study: The Better Buildings: Better Business Conference
Friday, July 23rd, 2010Name of Conference: Better Buildings: Better Business Conference
Host Organization: Energy Center of Wisconsin
Dates: March, 2005
Location: Wisconsin Dells, WI
Objectives:
The annual Better Buildings: Better Business Conference seeks to make midwestern United States homes more energy-efficient by delivering hands-on training workshops, technology demonstrations, and building science education to homebuilders and contractors. The Energy Center of Wisconsin conducted a [...]
Case Study: The NASC Sports Events Symposium
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Name of Conference: NASC Sports Events Symposium
Name of Organization: National Association of Sports Commissions
Dates: Annual, most recent April 13-15, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio
Objectives:
Through its annual NASC Sports Events Symposium, the National Association of Sports Commissions keeps its members up to date on trends in the sports events industry and how to maximize their resources when [...]
Meetings that Change the World
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010All this month, The Edge will carry advance and onsite coverage of MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress, July 24-27, 2010 in Vancouver. Posts are linked to an online community produced for MPI by Fusion Productions in partnership with The Conference Publishers, Clever Zebra, and master of ceremonies Glenn Thayer. Join the discussion today!
At any hour [...]