Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are two important ways to promote your business to online customers.

I read this great article on search engine optimization and wanted to share with you. One thing to note is that you can be found on search engines by doing a little work on your website. You don’t need a ton of money to be next to your competitor online. I have been trying to tell the world about how important it is to do a little work on your website and then seek out some low cost solutions to be found. One low cost solution is to find “portals” that aggregate and build community like Hereschicago.com.

Hereschicago.com provides a “doorway” into your business from visitors from Google, Yahoo and MSN in addition to a host of other “niche” search engines. Oh yes, there are over 300 “other” search engines out there delivering targeted traffic to Hereschicago.com and ultimately your business. Ok, I am off my high horse for now. Take a good look at the following article. This is exactly what I recommmend doing to make your website be found on the internet.

SEO requires making your site search-engine-friendly, and SEM involves targeting potential customers by purchasing relevant keyword ads on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Alta Vista.

SEO: There are many ways to optimize your site so that search engines will list your site higher in their rankings. Start with the following:

Links from other sites: Search engine spiders move from site to site across the Internet by following hyperlinks. The more high-quality and high-trafficked sites you have pointing to your site, the more important the search engine will think you are. Make sure to register your site with directories such as Yahoo, (Hereschicago.com) and the Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.org).
Internal links: Make sure your site is well-organized and easy to navigate. A site map will help visitors – and spiders – nawigate your site.
Metatags: Metatags are hidden HTML directions for Web browsers or search engines. They include important information such as the title of each page, relevant keywords describing site content and the description of the site that shows up when a search engine returns a search. Make sure your metatags accurately describe your content.
Keywords:Spider likely words or phrases that users might type into search engines to find your site. Make sure your content contains those!words or phrases, and include them in the title portions of your site and in relevant content.
Search engine optimizers: Businesses often enlist the help of optimizers who specialize in improving the visibility of their clients’ sites. Among other things, they’ll register your site with major search engines, list it in the appropriate directory, write optimized content for your site and recommend changes to your site architecture.
SEM: The more targeted your advertising, the higher your ’’conversion rate.’’ Conversion rate refers to the percentage of ads that actually convert to sales or some other desired action (such as registration). One way to ensure that your prospective customers are qualified is to buy ads according to specific search engine keywords that a user might submit. For example, if you’re selling a Minolta 60X digital camera, buying the keyword ad ’’Minolta 60X digital camera’’ will most likely give you better results than buying the keyword ’’camera.’‘

Some terms get bid up quickly – for instance, you’ll pay a lot more for a technology keyword than a knitting keyword. SEM, however, has a higher conversion rate than other online marketing methods, so it can still be a cost-effective route to take.

Make sure you have compelling ad copy luring people to your site. Provide a call to action to prospective customers to encourage them to click on your link. Also, make sure that you send prospective customers to a targeted page on your site. Your home page will convert fewer customers than a page describing the exact service that you promote in your keyword ad.

You generally pay for keyword ads on a cost per click (CPC) basis. Review the keywords you’ve purchased to ensure you’re getting a good return on your investment. If not, try a different word or phrase. You can also try different ad copy or landing pages on your site to see what’s more attractive to prospective customers.

Companies offering CPC programs include Google, Yahoo, AskJeeves, FindWhat, Kanoodle, Entireweb, Industry Brains and LookSmart.

Once you’ve exhausted your SEO and SEM options, there are a couple of other routes that will produce results. You can put together an online ad campaign by either buying advertising on sites that appeal to your demographic. In addition, you can send out e-mail newsletters. Encourage customers to provide their e-mail addresses so you can contact them with useful information and promotions.

By:Bernard Peh

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the buzz word you will see everywhere in the internet nowsadays. Designing a website today is no longer about aesthetics. It must not only look good, it must be visible to the search engines as well. What should a web designer take note when designing a search engine friendly website? This article attempts to discuss some important pointers for web designers in creating SEO friendly web pages.

(Note: We are not talking about boosting search engine rankings as that would require a separate article.)

From a search engine point of view, the perfect webpage has no graphics, no scripting, no tables…etc but just alot of normal, plain readable text. You can just take it that plain text is the food for search engine spiders. Therefore, the more text you have, the more you will keep the spiders happy. However, from the design point of view, such pages are very boring but the fact is that everyone is more interested in keeping the spiders rather than us happy. The argument is that if search engine spiders cannot find your site, no one will. Based on this philosophy, we witnessed the fall of flash and sites with strong graphics over the years. Many sites that utilized heavy graphics where no longer found. Web developers become happy because they have an excuse to create less impressive websites…

The question is can we make both the saerch engine spiders and us happy? The answer is definitely a “Yes” provided that web designers can follow certain rules when designing web pages. They need to step out of their comfort zone and learn abit more about new web technologies.

Domain Name and URL Naming Convention Having a proper domain and url name is quite often neglected. Many search engines actually put some weightage in the way you name your domain or url files. You will definitely want to include some juicy words in your naming convention. For example, if you site is about website critics and your url is http://www.sitecritic.com, this will definitely be better than a domain like http://www.bluecatfish.com. The same principle goes for hyperlinks. If you have 2 words as key words, you can use an underscore “_” or dash “-” to separate them.

Title

Do not fool around when writing the title. From my experience, this is the most important part of your webpage. Many designers like to put special characters such as ” * “,” | “, ” : ” or ” [ ] ” in the title to make it look unique. If you really want to make your webpage special, I advise you to do it else where such as in the body of the HTML document. You should include your keywords in your title. Like the previous example, if your web site focuses on website reviews, make sure you have the words “Website Reviews” somewhere in the title. Noticed that “WebsiteReviews” is not the same as “Website Reviews”. Spacing is important. When writing the title, try not to write more than 8 words. There are no hard and fast rules on that but the fact is that more does not mean good. In fact, the more you write, the more your keyword density will be diminished. If you keep repeating the same keyword in the title, search engines will see your site as spam and you will be dead in no time. For example, a title like “Sitecritic Web Reviews” is much better than “Sitecritic Web Reviews, Internet Marketing, Web Design Ideas, Internet Directories, Budget Web Hosting, Melbourne”. I will have to stress again, do not fool around with your title.

Meta-Description

After the title tag is the meta description tag. Many people argued that meta description is no longer important. Based on my experience, they are still relevant in SEO rankings especially if your website is new. The principle in writing the meta description tag is the same as the title. The only difference is that you want explain abit more about the services that you provide in a friendlier format. You will also want to include your keywords in the meta description. Menu, Content and Links You should not use any javascript menus that hid the urls. Many javascript menus are fancy but actually not SEO friendly. What ever technique you are using to create the menus, make sure that the tag is visible. You might also want to include a variation of the keywords in the menus, links or text. Like the previous example, if your keyword is “Web Site Reviews”, you might not want to use the same word over and over again. You can vary it by using “Professional Web Reviews, Reviews of Websites, Site Reviews…etc”. Varying the keywords makes your content more interesting and is good for SEO as well. When writing the contents, try to put the keywords in different areas of the document. Use tags like or to make the keywords stand out. Avoid urls that say “click here” or “view”. Though often used, they are not advisable for SEO purposes. Text links are stonger than image links. It is therefore not advisable to use images as the main navigation menu throughout the website. If you would like to incorporate images in the user navigation experience, you might want to consider separating the text from the images. This can be achieved easily using CSS or the background image option in the or tag.

Images

Unlike many Search Engine Experts, I strongly encourage the use of graphics because I am passion about Web Design and is sad to see so many websites that are well optimized for search engines but look crap on screen. You need to balance between the amount of graphics used and downloading speed. Like I mentioned before, if your header banner or important images contains text , you could split up the text and use the images as a separate background or floating layer. That way, you can make the image size smaller and also make the text visible to the search engines. Transparent gifs are very useful for laying over other content or images. Appropriate use of jpegs and gifs can also cut down loading time by alot. CSS Technology CSS helps you to cut down your tag and gives more room for the spiders to read your content. The problem with CSS is that it is not as straight forward as tables. At the moment, CSS is also inconsistent in different browsers, so before you publish your web page, you need to check the layout in different browsers. I am actually not against designers using tables especially if they find the time spend in creating a full CSS site not justifiable. The fact is that there are still cases when using CSS is not advisable. An example is when displaying tabular data; Tables still excel in displaying tabular data at the moment. Unless you are using complex nested tables, the , or tags should not pose too much of a problem for the search engine spiders.

Conclusion

Web pages should not be boring and web designers should not bow down to the Google revolution. A well designed site combines both form and function and yet, still able to be search engine friendly. I strongly believe that this can be easily achieved if website designers are able to follow very basic rules in designing their web sites

New content! In order for any search engine to provide relevant results to their visitors (so their visitors will repeatedly use them) they must provide the best results possible for every search performed on their site.

The best website gets more traffic and more traffic means more business - so websites have to be up to date to stay competitive in their market.

The big sites on the net, like www.hereschicago.com, who have pagerankings of 5 upwards, obviously serve a ton of visitors per day, provide search engines with a mass of links to follow and index.

That’s why search engines go back to the big sites like www.hereschicago.com more often than the little ones.

High traffic, very popular sites are visited by the search engine robots more often than sites with little traffic. Some large sites are visited by search engines as much as 2-4 times per month to scan theircontent which makes these sites more visible and higher in the ranks of search engines.

How can article marketing increase your search engine traffic?

By submitting articles you can get links from these high traffic sites. Furthermore you can optimize your articles with your searchterms to get high rankings for that particular page. This wouldotherwise take weeks on a new site as oppose to a well established onesuch as this.

Each of these sites will have its own resource area, at the end of the article, writers include a bit of Author information on where to findout more about them. Place your website link in here and bob’syour uncle the search engines will find your site through that link.

The more articles you submit with your website link in them, the more pages on the net you have pointing to you from high traffic sites and the better your ranking and link popularity.

Start submitting your meetings and events related articles today toour blog. You will be amazed at the results they yield.

If you are interested in submitting an article, please email your article to info@hereschicago.com for consideration.

Caressing the shores of the scenic Potomac River and within view of the Capital City, a new national landmark is on the rise. Here, climate- controlled atriums of glass and steel will soar 18 stories above the water to reflect the power, glory, and legacy of our nation’s capital. A paved promenade along the river’s edge will play scenic host to tour boats and a full-service marina. And visitors from around the world will be awed by panoramic views of Washington, D.C. and Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Read entire article here…

By Katie Wilmeth, The Examiner

With the Dulles Corridor in Fairfax and Loudoun counties expecting to add more than 220,000 new jobs and 86,000 new households in the next 25 years, developers are clamoring to build new commercial and residential properties around the 11 future Metro stops.

“I think if Metro goes in, it’s wide open all over again,” said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

Currently, the first phase of the Metro — the first five stops in Fairfax County including four in Tyson’s — is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Metro will create a similar situation to the opening of the toll road in 1984, he said, which initially spurred the tremendous growth in the Dulles Corridor.

In the Tyson’s Corner area alone, new office space could increase by more than 20 million square feet in the next 25 years.

But unlike the current Dulles Corridor — which evolved primarily into a commuter destination with hundreds of office buildings and large-scale campuses for big-name corporations — Fairfax County officials and developers say the new Dulles Corridor will be a pedestrian-friendly destination where families can work, live and play.

“We’re using the rail to create walkable communities,” said Patty Nicoson, president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association. “That’s just as important as transportation.”

The new “transit-oriented developments,” as they are called in the urban planning world, will look similar to developments along the Rosslyn/Ballston corridor in Arlington and create a better balance between those who live and work in the Dulles Corridor, said Arthur C. Nelson, director of Virginia Tech’s Urban Affairs and Planning Department.

For example, in Tysons there are about 116,000 employees and only 17,000 residents. The Rosslyn/Ballston corridor has about 100,000 employees and there are about 70,000 non-single family homes in Arlington.

“Arlington has really set the national model for how to use developments that maximize these Metro systems,” he said. “If properly designed [the Dulles Corridor] could be as large or larger than the Rosslyn/Ballston corridor.”

Although the condominium market has been on the decline in recent months and is expected to continue its slide, many proposals in the corridor will be mixed-use developments with condos or apartments — not subdivisions of single-family homes.

But “all it takes is a small percentage of this rather large number to want to live at these rails stations to make them vibrant,” Nelson said. “You don’t even need 10,000 of these households to make a transportation-oriented development” a success.

By Darlene Superville
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 29, 2006

Free admission to the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and National Zoo stands out in the District, where everything has its price.
But with deteriorating buildings, a maintenance backlog in the billions and fewer public dollars to spare, one member of Congress says no fees makes no sense.
“I cannot understand why we don’t charge a fee,” Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat, said after hearing House testimony about insufficient funds for repairs.

The Smithsonian in its 160-year history has never charged to visit the museums, stocked with displays of everything from dinosaur bones and the Hope Diamond to the original Star-Spangled Banner and thousands of famous airplanes and spaceships.
Officials said they are not about to start charging now.
“We want it so that as many people as possible can come in and see the Smithsonian collections,” spokeswoman Becky Haberacker said.
With 24 million visitors last year, asking $1 a head would raise $24 million.

“To fork over $1 for an adult, or 50 cents for a child or senior citizen, is not asking a whole lot,” Mr. Moran said.
In New York City, it costs $20 to get into the Museum of Modern Art and $15 is the suggested admission amount at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the District, the Corcoran Gallery of Art asks $8, and the International Spy Museum takes $15. In Paris, the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay charge about $10 and $9, respectively.
Sheila Burke, the Smithsonian’s deputy secretary and chief operating officer, said even a modest fee could disproportionately affect the people whom officials most want to attract: families.

“One of the things that we very frequently hear when visitors tour our museums is how extraordinarily excited they are” that they are free, she told Mr. Moran.

Jennifer Dimmick of Perry, Ohio, said that the free admission for her and her young family was “a nice draw” and that such fees last year in Chicago “cost a small fortune.”
Mrs. Burke said an entry fee also could hurt the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and art galleries because no other federally supported museum or monument in the District charges admission.
The Smithsonian receives about 80 percent of its money from the government, most of which goes to salaries and expenses. The institution received $615 million from Congress this year and has requested $644.4 million for next year.

Last year, government auditors said the Smithsonian would need $255 million a year in the next nine years, about $2.3 billion, to fix what Mrs. Burke said is a deteriorating infrastructure. Some of its buildings are more than 100 years old, and many have heating, air-conditioning and electrical problems.

Introducing a cover charge, however, would not be as simple as it may seem.
The National Museum of African Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Freer Gallery of Art are prohibited from charging admission either by legislation or by the gift agreements that created them, Mrs. Haberacker said.
She said the Smithsonian’s 17-member board of regents — which includes the chief justice of the United States, the vice president of the United States and members of Congress — has rejected the idea of admission fees three times, most recently in 2002.
Still, some museum visitors said they would pay a few bucks for admission.
Steve Chatman, 45, of Columbus, Ohio, said that he would pay but that admission should remain free for young people and others who cannot afford it.

Exciting new technologies like interactive computer use, live video enhancement of speakers, and teleconferencing can be utilized but the associated cost of these new technologies can be steep. The type of AV support you will need for your meeting or event may be simple or more complex. Be sure to review all your options and plan ahead:

• Get a list of all speakers’ needs well in advance of your meeting date and schedule a rehearsal.

• Allow for rehearsal and set-up time in your meeting rooms.

• Give speakers a chance to rehearse with equipment they will be using.

• Test equipment immediately prior to the beginning of the event. Check acoustics Clap your hands sharply… talk loudly… listen carefully Check to see if there are any echo’s or dead spots. Do drapes or acoustic panels need to be added? Plug-in and test the audio. Is the public address system working? Is there any feedback at working level? Are the speakers correctly placed? Are there enough microphones, cords, stands?

Have spare bulks and extension cords on hand. If you are taping, is the tape recorder microphone working? Check to see if you have to erect a stand or move a table

Is the audiovisual the right distance from the screen, rigid and level? Know the location of circuit breakers and fuses Have spare fuses and standby circuits ready Test the intercom system. Is the emergency work light ready?

• Having a technician available to attend to your needs throughout the meeting may be your best insurance policy.

• If the facility where you are holding your meeting has AV equipment available check to make sure it is in good working order.

• Remember that poor-quality AV equipment can ruin a meeting.

To maximize your audio visual budget, try the following:

• If using an outside vendor, choose a reputable company and reserve equipment early. If you have never worked with the supplier before, ask for references and check them.

• Negotiate all costs. Package deals are good for you and the rental companies. If they know your needs and have your timelines, it will be more cost effective.

• Make sure all agreements are in writing. If one company is not able to meet your needs, look at other companies until your needs are met.

• Provide clear instructions in writing. Include agendas and room layouts so your vendors know exactly what you expect.

• If you need help, find experienced production managers and technicians to oversee the AV portions of your event. Introduce yourself to the technicians who will be working your event, and find out how to contact them should the need arise.

• Barter goods and services with your rental companies. They may want to advertise in your publications, exhibit at your trade show, or acquire leads from your attendees.

• Guaranteed performance is often a policy of AV companies. They will compensate clients for rental costs in the event of equipment failure. Even better, many will provide on-site back-up.

Check the audio-visual equipment that is available at the meeting facility you are using. Many facilities have their own in-house audio department. Ask if any audio-visual equipment is included in your room charge? Be sure to check out the quality and age of the equipment provided.

Most facilities only provide a podium and microphone, so you will need to rent additional equipment from a qualified local audio-visual rental company. The facility where you are holding your meeting can provide recommendations.

Written by Yvon Douran, http://www.keynoteresource.com/

Whoever said that being a meeting planner was easy, lied! Rather, it should be classified under the tough and demanding job category. But, along with being tough, it’s also fun, exciting, exhilarating, stimulating, and never, never boring. You have the opportunity to go to exotic places, stay in luxurious hotels, and experience life from a totally different angle. Who could ask for anything more? For those of you ready to shoot me at this point, know that I fully understand your pain!

The purpose of this article is to look at ten skills that help make a super successful meeting planner, and how you can take this expertise and use it to enhance the great job you’re already doing.

1. Planning and organizing

The most common reason shows go wrong lies in the simple fact that not enough time is devoted to adequate planning and preparation. And, many of those shows that are believed to have been successful, are often more by chance than through actual organization. Super successful meeting planners have both a strategic and tactical plan of action. They then use the following five basic questions as their foundation before making any arrangements:

· Where does this meeting fit into our corporate marketing strategy?
· Why are we meeting?
· What is the purpose of the meeting?
· Who should attend the meeting?
· What is our budget?

2. Taking care of details
So much of putting a meeting together means taking care of the details, and there are usually more of these than you care to think about. Being detail-oriented is a definite plus. The key to so much of a meeting planner’s success is having a system that works. Creating checklists is one of the best I know. With the hundreds of pieces that make up the meeting puzzle, the only way to put them together and keep tabs on all the details, is with a checklist. Become a checklist fanatic and consider having a checklist for each checklist. I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.

3. Practicing savvy marketing

A significant part of a successful meeting planner’s role involves developing a pre-, at- and post-event plan. Most meeting planners fail to have a plan that encompasses all three areas. Budget is naturally going to play a major role in deciding what and how much promotional activity is possible. Super successful meeting planners know the importance of developing a meaningful theme or message that ties into their strategic marketing plan, and that will guide their promotional decisions. They know and understand their target audience and plan different promotional programs aimed at the different groups they are interested in attracting.

4. Being a team player

Super successful meeting planners know exactly how to work together as a team, helping each other out whenever and wherever necessary. They help everyone get acquainted, develop a level of trust, and familiarize and understand each other’s strengths. They know what it takes to create an environment of camaraderie where the staff, as a whole pulls out all the stops to succeed and set themselves apart from the competition.

5. Knowing how to manage timer

Super successful meeting planners have mastered the art of managing their time. They are well organized and have essential information at their fingertips, which means that their work environment is orderly and efficient. They know their priorities, don’t over commit themselves, and can differentiate between important and urgent tasks. They are superb delegators and are not afraid to ask for help whenever they need it. And, finally, they don’t procrastinate; on the contrary, they practice the “do it now” habit.

6. Negotiating skillfully

Skillful and savvy negotiators know exactly what they want. They spend time doing their research so that they know as much as possible about their opponent. They are prepared with strategies and tactics, questions and possible concessions. They are masters at finding alternative ways of talking about, reacting to and solving problems. They use their talents of intuition, flexibility and concern for others to reach an agreement where both sides win. They look to create a feeling of cooperation to build a mutually beneficial working environment.

7. Applying a positive attitude

Research successful people and you’ll find that having a positive, “can do” attitude ranks high on their list of characteristics. Not only are they positive and upbeat, they surround themselves with naturally positive and successful people. Give it a try and see it their attitude rubs off on you. When you focus on what you can do versus what you can’t do, expect to find solutions to your various challenges. Try changing your vocabulary to reflect your optimistic thoughts and feelings, and see what happens. People find you more attractive and want to be around you, especially when you focus and direct your conversation onto the outcomes they want.

8. Evaluating result
Any master continuously looks to improve on their performance, and a super successful meeting planner is no different. Create a system to evaluate your results. Ask your participants for their feedback. Find out what they liked about your event, and what they would like to see improved in the future. In addition, ask yourself what you thought went well and what you would do differently if you had to organize this event again. Chronicle all your data and keep accurate records so that you can refer to them the next time around.

9. Being a perpetual learner

We live in an information age and are surrounded by more stuff than we can possibly cope with. However, successful people love it, as they are perpetual learners. They know the pitfalls of relying on what worked in the past as a guide to what will work in the future. That’s why they constantly look for new and improved ways of doing things, learning from the masters and staying open and willing to try different approaches.

10. Keeping a sense of humor

If you don’t laugh you cry and in the meeting industry there’s no lack of situations where it’s easy to shed a tear. Keeping a sense of humor will definitely help prevent you getting mad, angry and frustrated with those incompetent and disorganized suppliers. Learn to laugh at their mistakes as well as your own to keep a saner perspective on life. If nothing else, remember that laughing is good for your health and will help reduce your stress and blood pressure levels.

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

Money makes the world go ‘round. And when it comes to meeting planning, money can probably get you whatever you want. However, few event planners have the luxury of an unlimited budget. Your boss may like to drink champagne on a beer budget. In other words, caution you to spend less, but expect miracles at the same time.

Preparing and managing a realistic budget is serious business, but to score “big boss” points you also need to be a savvy negotiator and cost-cutting aficionado. To help you on your way, here are 30 tips in a variety of different areas to keep your meeting expenses at a minimum without losing quality you strive for.

1. Keep your budget flexible. Be prepared to build in a contingency of 10 percent into your total budget to take care of any unexpected expenses and emergencies. Unforeseen or overlooked costs such as, overtime, overnight mailings, phone and computer hookups or speaker substitutions could skyrocket your budget.

2. Check all invoices. Question anything on your invoices that doesn’t compute against the written quotation. Scrutinize your hotel/facility and food and beverage invoices while on-site. Ironing out discrepancies in person is much easier than over the phone.

3. Limit authorization. Only a select few should have the authority to charge items to your master account at the hotel. Make sure hotel has a list of these people, and refuse to pay for charges signed by unauthorized personnel.

4. Review accounts daily. To avoid any major surprises or heart failures when you see the final bill, review your accounts with the facility on a daily basis. It’s easier to spot errors or make necessary changes if costs are escalating in certain areas.

5. Schedule during low-usage times. If you have the flexibility, consider scheduling your meetings during low seasons or days of the week when the facility is less busy. Booking near holidays such as Easter, Memorial Day, and Labor Day might definitely be to your advantageous.

6. Ask for the best rates. Do your research. Check out the rack rates, corporate rates, AAA discounts and so on, and compare them to the group rates you’re being offered. Call the toll-free reservation desk for information.

7. Confirm and reconfirm your dates and event details. Overlooking a detail may cost you big bucks.

8. Request a discount for on-site payments. When the facility doesn’t have to wait for payment because you arrange to pay immediately after the event or as the meeting is ending, they may well be open to a discount for prompt payment.

9. Be conservative with room blocks. With more and more guests using discounted hotel sites for room bookings, attrition on unused rooms can get very expensive.

10. Negotiate comp rooms. As part of your discussions with hotel management, negotiate comp or discounted rooms for speakers, staffs and or upgrades for VIPs.

11. Understand your cancellation clause. Don’t sign anything you’re not completely happy with. Be certain that your cancellation clause is reciprocal, so that both parties get the option to back out of the contract before a specified date, in case of any changes to the original agreement.

12. Negotiate set prices. To help with your budgeting, arrange to pay a specified amount on food and beverages during your entire event, rather than a rate per person, per function.

13. Consult a tax attorney. Investigate tax laws for your business location and the event location. You may be eligible for tax breaks that you’re not claiming.

14. Keep room setup simple. Wherever possible use theater style (where only chairs are used) as it is less labor-intensive than classroom-style (which includes both table and chairs), thus lowering setup costs. Also, plan to keep setups the same from day to day.

15. Check into other groups. Find out about groups holding their meeting prior to and after yours and discuss staging needs. You may find that you can save on setup and teardown if you all have the same or very similar requirements.

16. Investigate sponsorship opportunities. Find sponsors to cover as many of your program expenses as possible, especially speaker fees, audiovisual equipment, and special meal functions.

17. Investigate grants. Although it might be a time-consuming exercise, you might look into specific federal, state, local or corporate grants that might be available for holding your meeting.

18. Use industry experts. To save on speaker expenses, consider using industry experts whose companies often pay expenses. Alternatively, use local speakers where appropriate to save on travel expenses. However, check how good they are before hiring them. You may end up with a dud!

19. Avoid renting unnecessary equipment. Double check speaker needs for audiovisual equipment to avoid renting unnecessary items.

20. Keep signage simple and reusable. Consider investing in a laminating machine to make your own signs.

21. Discuss economical audiovisual setups. Limit the number of microphones needed. Check if the hotel supplies a complimentary microphone in each meeting room. Skirt a cocktail table instead of renting special carts for A/V equipment.

22. Use outside suppliers. Look outside the hotel for possible audiovisual suppliers whose prices may be more competitive than those in-house. However, the hotel may match the other supplier’s prices if asked.

23. Save on transportation. Use airport shuttles instead of taxis. If you have a sizeable group attending your event, negotiate special discounts with the shuttle bus company. Alternatively, check if the local taxicab company can provide discount coupons.

24. Arrange for one room. For smaller committee meetings that may be held during a larger conference arrange for a buffet luncheon to be held in the same room as the meeting to save on having to rent a separate room.

25. Negotiate food. Negotiate paying for food based on consumption. You can then return food without having to pay for it.

26. Minimize portions. Sever mini-Danishes, muffins and doughnuts, or cut larger servings in half. Many people (especially women and dieters) only want half to start with. Alternatively, serve a continental breakfast instead of a full breakfast buffet.

27. Opt for fewer choices. When it comes to hors d’oeuvres, go for fewer choices in larger quantities rather than a large selection in smaller quantities. And, remember to avoid the shrimp. People inhale it. There’s never enough!!!

28. Check for dead stock. Check if the hotel has dead stock wine available (such as wine that in no longer on the wine list). You may be able to negotiate a great price for some really good quality wine.

29. Store opened bottles. Find out if the hotel can store opened bottles of liquor from one reception and us them another reception during the same conference.

30. Open bottles as needed. As the banquet captain to open wine bottles only as needed. You pay for every bottle that’s been uncorked.

Bonus tip: Avoid salty foods during receptions as it encourages people to drink more.

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

However, large or small the meeting, location is key. Your environment, formal or informal, helps set the necessary mood and ambiance for the meeting to take place. Think about choosing a comfortable, yet stimulating environment that encourages attendees to concentrate, but beware of making it too cozy and relaxing that they’re likely to fall asleep.When thinking about the right location, consider the meeting objectives, the length of the meeting and, of course, your budget. Decide how appropriate/necessary/important it is to hold the meeting on or off-site. For example, sometimes a neutral, off-site location is necessary for confidential, top secret discussions.

Different types of locations to consider:

1. Local off-site meeting space
2. Out-of-town off-site meeting space

Local off-site meeting space
When it comes to selecting an off-site location, be it a local hotel conference room, a restaurant or other meeting space, your budget will rule and determine the outcome. To play it safe, always inspect the space first-hand before finalizing any decisions. Make sure the space is the right size for the meeting. You want to avoid “maxi-sizing,” that is having a space big enough to seat 200 for a 20-person meeting. You only want to consider venues that are larger enough to handle the event you’re planning. Much will depend on the number of participants and the complexity and/or variety of the program. Will it be formal, informal or both? Do you want a rural or an urban location? Chances are that every event you plan will possibly meet different criteria, and thus have different space requirements.

Out-of-town off-site meeting space
This option is usually used for extra special meetings, such as sales meetings, as costs will inevitably be much higher. These kinds of meetings may well last for several days so you want to make sure that all necessary details are well taken care of. If you want to make it high on your colleagues’ popularity poll, consider using a resort facility, as they usually offer various enjoyable relaxation options, golf, swimming, fitness center, etc. A site visit is essential so as to avoid any unexpected surprises.

With this in mind, let’s look at the various venue options available to you:
· Hotels
· Conference centers
· Convention centers
· Resorts
· Retreat centers
· Cruise ships
· Unique environments

Hotels. These fall into three main categories:

1. Well-known and established chains, such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, that offer a certain level of service that you can expect worldwide. They offer a wide range of amenities especially if you need room for large banquets, trade show or exhibit areas.

2. Independently owned properties, such as those belonging to the Preferred Group (http://www.preferredhotels.com), whose luxury hotels and resorts offer a unique character, one-of-a kind ambience, and provide the highest standards of quality and extraordinary service.

3. Boutique lodgings service business travelers in search of a home away from home. They are small luxury hotels & resorts with individual personalities – eclectic, quaint hotels housed in historic urban buildings or romantic resorts with flowering gardens and beachside villas (http://www.boutiquelodging.com). However, nice these sound, you definitely need to check what meeting space facilities, if any, they offer.

Conference centers.

Conference centers encompass a broad gamut of venues which are often purpose-built specifically for meetings and events and offer state-of-the-art facilities, many including videoconferencing. They comprise corporate training centers, universities, resorts, airport, urban and downtown facilities. Your best bet to find a suitable facility is to start your research with the International Association of Conference Centers (http://www.iacconline.com/). You can do a worldwide search based on your specific meeting criteria. Convention centers. When you’re looking for a combination of an urban location, plenty of meeting space, and substantial exhibition space, then a convention center is a practical solution. They’re geared up large numbers and generally situated close to airports or in a convenient downtown location. The one drawback is that you would need to use a nearby hotel for accommodation.

Resorts.

You’ll probably only consider a resort property if relaxation and leisure activities rank high on your priority list. This environment works well for both formal and informal meetings. Resorts Online (http://www.resortsonline.com/) allows you to choose the activity you’re most interested in to find an appropriate selection of choices.

Retreat centers.

These generally work best for smaller more focused groups who are looking for a quiet, serene meeting environment. They encourage “an away from it all” type mentality where people can engage in personal exploration, strategic decision-making, communication, and self improvement.

Cruise ships.

These make an interesting and very different venue option. There are a few companies who specialize in cruise meetings offering facilities worldwide for a wide variety of groups (www.cruisemeetings.com). Many of them will work within your budget constraints to offer complete packages that include airfare, transfers, meals and entertainment.

Unique environments.

Unique environment don’t always make the best meeting spaces, but it’s worth doing your homework to find out. Some options to consider include museums, stately homes, (including castles in Europe - http://www.grandes-etapes-francaises.com/geehome.htm), sporting venues, and theaters. Many of these venues work well for special functions, but don’t necessarily have adequate meeting space facilities and equipment.

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.