Picture This:
The speaker demanded two wireless mics and a sound check 1.5 hours before the program. The planner is thinking, “That’s an extra $150 per wireless microphone, plus we now need to have the AV guy to set it up which is $60 an hour. Our other speakers don’t have these requests. She also requests a stage, backdrop and 8 foot screen. Next, she will ask us to polish her tiara. What’s up with her?”
Your out of town speaker, keeps asking you questions about the audience he will be addressing in his full day customer service program. “It is annoying. We hire him to do his program, not to evaluate the personalities of everyone here. I feel like I am doing more work , than he is doing. Argh!”
Do you ever wonder why your speakers are adamant about trivial details? This is the time to ask professional speakers “why?” Plus this is a chance to share with your speakers the scope of your job as a planner and how the speaker fits into the big picture.
This is first time planners and speakers get to hash out their confusion about each other’s job and how to make each other look great for the client.
Santa’s Gift is this program
Friday, January 9, 2009, 2-5pm NSA Meeting
Columbia Tower Club in Seattle
Meeting Planners Are from Mars, Speakers Are from Venus!
Creating the Speaker/Meeting Planner “Love Connection”
Like Fred and Ginger, Franklin and Eleanor, even Kermit and Miss Piggy, Meeting Planners and Speakers have a classic relationship but frequently “Just don’t get it!” when working together. Like many a romance, we often fail to ask important questions at the beginning and assume we know each others’ needs, often resulting in a Ricky and Lucy explosion on Event Day:
Meeting Planner: ”Speaker! You got some splainin’ to do.”
Speaker: ” Waaaaaaah!”
And vice-versa. Truthfully, both Meeting Planners and Speakers want the same thing: a successful event with raves from audience members and clients requesting encores. Here’s how we’ll get it every time!
Within three hours, we’ll address the essentials of this partnership, and explode the myths on both sides of the speaker hiring question. This is an opportunity for professionals on both sides of the contract to get instant clarity and an edge over their competitors. In both panel and town hall formats we’ll address such burning issues as:
Meeting Planners:
- What are your responsibilities as a meeting planner?
- Where does a speaker rank in the hierarchy of venue, food, etc?
- What makes an ideal speaker?
Speakers:
- Which information is vital to get from the planner?
- Why floor plan, seating arrangements and food service affects your presentation.
- How other activities and topics in the schedule affect your program.
In addition to our discussions, we’ll have the opportunity for a few speakers to do a mini-showcase and get immediate feedback from people with the power to hire. Both Mars and Venus will leave with immediately applicable tools as the planets spin once again in sync—-and accomplish their shared goal of a memorable and compelling meeting for every audience, every time. That’s amore!
Register here at www.NSANorthwest.org, info@nsanorthwest.org
Meeting Planners $20
First Time Guests $40
Returning Guests $75
Jolene the Fun Specialist LLC
jo@FunSpecialist.com
www.FunSpecialist.com
425.489.1073
National Speakers Association Northwest, President
