It's been a little while, but Amanda and Darryl are back to talk about moving to a new town for a new job with guest Ralph Robinson, CAE, CMP, and DES.
Be honest...would you drop everything and move to a new city for a job? I think it's safe to say that most of us aren't that brave. But what if you did? How do you re-establish your roots? Let's listen and learn.
Event Design? Who has the time for that? I thought the same until I started reading what our guest, Adrian Segar, had to say. Come listen for a discussion on what event design is and isn’t and how all of us can integrate it into our programs (without going crazy!). From bringing particles together at Cern to bringing participants together in a hotel ballroom, Adrian shares some cool ideas for us to try right away.
Want to learn more about event design? Go over to https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/
Do you have an amazing event you just pulled off or have an idea for a cool topic we can tackle? Share it with us by email at miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/miracleworkerspodcast/message
We always try to put on the best meeting and event for our clients, attendees, or partners. But are we being welcoming and inclusive to all of our guests?
The podcast is back and in this episode, Darryl, just Darryl (Amanda will be back..I promise) talks to an amazing planner about their experiences.
Thanks to Jolene Jang, Asian-American ambassador and meeting planner who joins us this week to help us learn more about these groups and how we can do better.
Want to learn more? Go over to http://jolenejang.com
We’re back and have some more episodes planned for this year. But we’d love to hear from you. Do you have an amazing event you just pulled off or have an idea for a cool topic we can tackle? Share it with us by email at miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/miracleworkerspodcast/message
We always try to put on the best meeting and event for our clients, attendees, or partners. But, how often do we stop and look around? As planners, when we go to an industry event, are there real/concrete takeaways that we can apply to our planning when we get back?
In this episode, Amanda and Darryl talk to two amazing planners about their experiences at IMEX Americas and talk through Darryl’s time at PCMA’s Convening Leaders meeting earlier this year.
Thanks to Nathalie Johnson, Sr. Meeting Manager at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Claire Abrams, an independent planner for sitting down and sharing their thoughts.
Have you been to an industry event and had that “ah-ha” lightbulb moment? What did you take away to apply at your events? Share it with us by email us: at miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at: https://anchor.fm/miracleworkerspodcast/message
Once they figure out how to count to 3, Amanda and Darryl are back and discussing the fun of air travel, specifically delays. The episode focuses on the importance of being prepared for delays and how to handle them for speakers, staff, and attendees. They share their personal experiences and provide tips and strategies for minimizing the impact of delays on meeting plans. If you plan events or meetings, you'd better be ready for delays and have plans B, C, and D ready to roll so that your event isn't interrupted. You'll gain insights on being more proactive in dealing with delays and making the best of unexpected situations. As the great Kinky Friedman once said, you can't get to Heaven or Hell without passing through Dallas-Fort Worth International.
Amanda and Darryl spend Halloween with famed meeting planner and now author, Terry Matthews Lombardo, CMP (or just TML to her friends). After navigating the pitfalls of Darryl’s bananas, your second-favorite pair of podcasters talk to TML about her awesome book, “Meetings Mayhem!”. Listen to all the great stories she has experienced firsthand and those told by other planners. If you think you’re the only planner crazy #@$!#$ happens to, read this book and think again!
Please support a fellow planner by buying her book today: https://terrysworldtravels.com/published/buy-meetings-mayhem
If you’d like her to consider a story for the next version of the book (or part deux as those of us in the know call it), email her at: tml@cfl.rr.com
Share your win of the week. Please email us: at miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at: https://anchor.fm/miracleworkerspodcast/message
Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay
So it's been a while, huh? We didn't plan on this episode but when Amanda hits "Record", the game is on. Darryl recaps his recent travel including the "Don't you dare look out your hotel window" story and they both highlight upcoming episodes and the future of the pod. Sit back, enjoy, and get ready to perform miracles!
Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay
Amanda and Darryl are back and...evidently, eating lunch? After getting through with hot soup and chewing of salad, they settle in to talk about what events look like as we return to in-person in the coming months. Amanda tells some interesting stories about doing an event and the White House and Darryl complains about stuff. They can both agree that it would be awesome to have a planner who works on clothing-optional events join them on a future episode to tell some stories.
Take-Aways:
1) Uncertainty is OK. We're all a little unsure of what's coming down the pike. You're not alone.
2) Your Space is Your Space and you set the rules.
3) Stick to your guns. If you (or your group/client/office) want to keep vax requirements or have everybody wear a mask, then do it.
Amanda and Darryl sit down after a “break” to talk about the value of hybrid meetings. Are they really here to stay or should we just go back to 100% in-person? Our special guest, Rebecca Kane, CMP, DES, tells us why her attendees need to be there in person. Darryl, being the jerk he is, argues with her that says “pish, we shouldn’t just toss out virtual experiences.”
No matter what side of the argument you fall out on, join us as we bring back the podcast to a “semi-regular” occurrence in 2022.
Do you have a win of the week? Do you just want to argue with Darryl? Email us: miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com You can also follow us on the Twitter Machine @ MWthePodcast
Amanda and Darryl celebrate Pride Month with the great team at the LGBT Meeting Professional Association. They take a look at the world of Prefered Gender Pronouns (PGPs). When planners collect and use them for our attendees, are we inclusive and accomodating or are we pandering? Should we even be asking for them in the first place? Is it pandering if we make a show of collecting them and don’t use the information?
Links Mentioned on the Show
HRC Guide on Pronouns: https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC_ACAF_Pronouns_101_(1).pdf
LGBT MPA Scholarship fund: https://lgbtmpa.com/catalog.php?cat=2&pid=2
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
Share your win of the week. Email us: miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com
Darryl and Amanda are back. But not just on the podcasting machine...they are back in person. No Zoom window here. Join them as they discuss what their ideal virtual meeting component looks like, talk baseball, business travel, plumbing, and even egg rolls. This is the episode you’ve been waiting for (if you’re really bored).
Links Mentioned on the Show
PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/
Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
Everybody is talking about hybrid meetings but where do you begin? Most of us start with the budget, but if you’ve never produced a hybrid meeting what do you need? Our special guest, Shayna Moskowitz, the Director of Meetings and Event Technology with Part 2 Events (part2events.com), breaks down the items that every planner should consider and some of the things she’d have on her “unlimited budget” event. Amanda bails out partway through to make Darryl feel more paranoid and our guests from MPI-Potomac’s ReConEx conference ask some great questions.
TAKEAWAYS
1: Set your event goals up before anything else and stick to them with every decision
2: When budgeting for hybrid, think about both audiences and each unique experience.
3: Budget not only for the content but consider the exhibits and networking as well
4: Think about how to work additional sponsorship opportunities into your budget (interview desk, mobile app/event platform)
5: Can you expand your typical audience with the virtual side or use their in-person experience to sell memberships/upgrades?
Links Mentioned on the Show
PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/
Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
We’re a year into what we never thought could ever happen. When will we return to face-to-face meetings? What will “Normal” look like? Why are you asking us? Do you think we just sit around our offices with a crystal ball? What are we some sort of Miracle Workers?
Well, yes, we are but even with those credentials, we can’t predict the future. What we can do is do our best to predict what might happen when we go back to in-person meetings. That includes liability protection, should we require vaccinations, what about the other groups in the venue. And we have barely even touched on our awesome new coffee cups...
Takeaways:
1: There’s no right answer about WHEN we are safe to return to in-person
2: Insert yourself as a part of the discussion about returning in person
3: Have an honest conversation with your venue about room 2 space, health practices, and financials BEFORE you make a decision
4: Just because you’re meeting safely, there’s no guarantee about those around you . You almost need to be doubly safe
5. Derrick Johnson, because we haven’t mentioned him yet today, and I don’t want his feelings to get hurt.
Links Mentioned on the Show
PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/
Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
Are you an accidental meeting planner (like Darryl and Amanda), or did you plan...get it…” plan”...to be a planner all along? Well no matter how you got here, you’re here now and it’s time to own it. But what happens when you want to move up or are forced to move out and onto a new position or even a new career entirely? Our guest GiGi Blair is a professional career coach and she will walk us through some powerful first steps into making our professional visions a reality. This special “live-ish” episode was recorded in front of a virtual-studio audience from the MPI Virginia Chapter!
Takeaways:
Links Mentioned on the Show
PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/
Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Gigi Blair, Career Coach: https://gigiblair.com/ Email: gb@GigiBlair.com
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
Thank you to the #MPIVirginia Chapter for their questions and patience to sit through this taping!
Our focus is laser-locked on making sure our attendees have a great time at our events. Do they have enough to eat? Are they comfortable in those chairs? What can I do to make their lives better? But what about us? When did you take time out to look at your own health? In this episode, we explore just that. Our special guest, Patty Stern (pattystern.com), tells the story of how she finally took stock of her physical well-being (hint: it took a heart attack to get there). Meeting planning must be a stressful job. This is the second straight episode we’re talking about it (and not the last either).
Takeaways:
Links Mentioned on the Show
PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/
Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Most Stressful Jobs In America: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-most-and-least-stressful-jobs-in-america/
Our guests are sponsored by Bright Box Bakery (brightboxbakery.com)
Did you know meeting planning is one of the top 5 most “high-stress jobs”? Of course, you have, it’s one of 12 reasons that I have very little hair left! Have you ever been ankle-deep in planning and that board member, or your boss, comes to you with yet another change? What do you do? Do you rip them a new one and say that you hope they get hit by a bus and then a steamroller and then the USC marching band...oh wait that was the end of The Naked Gun. A better move is to take a deep breath and not just react but carefully respond. Today’s guest Molly Marsh from AMR Management Services walks us through this process and leaves us with some tips on how to keep our cool when all we want to do is rip someone’s head off!
Takeaways:
Links Mentioned on the Show
Welcome to 2021! It’s a new year but Darryl is still taking things too literally. Amanda talks him off the diving board and back into pants as they welcome Shawn Cheng of the MCI Group to talk about Event Mapping and the D.I.V.E methodology.
Takeaways:
Define: agenda, target audience, success factors (KPI)
Ideate: experience touchpoints, look at the bigger picture to find the best solution (virtual, hybrid, face to face)
Visualize: plan the user experience journey and tailor the way your events will connect with the audiences
Engage: How do you create the “WOW!” and how do you expect the audience to respond.
To connect directly with Shawn, visit him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawncevent/
Links Mentioned on the Show
Opening Theme: The Universe and my so-called life by Hans Atom (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/44772 Ft: Fireproof Babies
2020 has FINALLY come to an end. Amanda and Darryl would have liked to provide a full fresh episode to send you out on but instead, they mailed it in and gave you a clip show. You should be grateful you got anything other than a lump of coal!
Listen as they look back on 2020, share some behind-the-scenes clips and talk bout their news year's resolutions. Stay for the end where the US Marine Corps Band takes us out with their version of "Auld Lang Syne".
Coronavirus and Financial Support Resources: