Meeting planning in a minute

Meeting planners are often faced with pulling rabbits out of hats, creating magical atmospheres all the while not spending a dime in the process. Another characteristic is to produce a last minute meeting. What’s one to do when the agreement with a new client is signed on a Friday, and wheels up for a trip across the country needs to occur the following Tuesday – all of this prior to having any background details on the meeting that will take place later that week on Thursday? At The Event Planning Group, LLC, we know this challenge all too well and offer these tips on short lead time events:

Keep it simple. This means keep the agenda uncomplicated by forgoing complex general sessions or multiple breaks. Get your content and messaging solid rather than focus on the bells and whistles.

Seek help. Short lead times require all hands on deck, and if you happen to be the only hands on the deck, seek outside resources such as independent planners that can provide some quick assistance, and often have available resources to tap quickly.

Be creative. If you need to choose a venue in a short time frame, consider locations that have complete meeting packages (cmp) where the food, audio visual, breaks and other amenities are already included.

With simplification, innovation and focus, meetings in a minute not only can be done, but they can be done very well.