Last week I was a guest of Tyler Davidson again on the Meetings Today Podcast.

​We were discussing an article that I wrote for them on "Event Tech Best Practices".  Here's a link to that article on the meetings Today website: meetingstoday.com/magazines/article-details/articleid/33439/title/10-tips-affordable-event-technology

You can find the podcast where we discuss the article here:
meetingstoday.com/magazines/article-details/articleid/33416/title/best-practices-event-tech
The Meetings Today podcast is also available on iTunes, Google Play and Pocket Casts.

Today I was a guest on the Meeting Today podcast posted by Tyler Davidson.  

We talked about internet and power failures.  I gave some ideas to help you avoid a crisis if your internet should go down during  an event.  It's really all about being prepared, or understanding the level of risk you're willing to accept as opposed to the costs to prepare for every possible problem that could arise.

You can find the podcast on the Meeting Today website here: https://www.meetingstoday.com/magazines/article-details/articleid/33056/title/survive-internet-power-failure-meetings-events

On this edition of the podcast we're joined by an old friend, Tracy Stuckrath, CSEP, CMM, CHC, CFPM.  Tracy is one of the leading consultants to the meeting and event planning industry on nutrition.  She travels around the world speaking to industry groups like MPI, PCMA, NACE, ILEA and SGMP on a wide variety of food related topics.  Tracy has extensive information and resources about all types of food and nutrition areas as they relate to planners on here website: Thrive Meetings & Events.

On todays podcast in honor of "Vegetarian Awareness Month" we talk about the various types of vegetarian classifications and some of the ways that planners can best understand and address them for their attendees.  We also talk about Tracy's upcoming sessions at IMEX America coming up on October 17-20, 2016 in Las Vegas.

If you're attending IMEX and have an interest in nutrition, food waste and legal aspects of food service to your guests and attendees, be sure and seek out her sessions and visit her website for information and resources.

On todays podcast Jon talks about his upcoming webinar at "Meetings Today".  On October 26th at 1pm EDT he'll be presenting a webinar on the topic of "Contracts: Audiovisual & Speakers".  Here's a link: Meetings Today where you can register in advance for the webinar.

Today he gives a preview by discussing AV Quotes and the material that's presented in them.  An overview of the various sections and a few pointers for negotiating before you reach the contract stage with a vendor.

​Be sure and mark your calendar to join him on the 26th of October over at Meetings Today

On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we talk with Colleen Rickenbacher of Colleen Rickenbacher, Inc and The Global Protocol, Etiquette & Civility Academy.  

Colleen is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration coming up in October in Las Vegas.  We talk about her history and background; including her transition from event planner to become an author, speaker and industry expert on etiquette and protocol.  

She's the author of four books: 
Be On Your Best Business Behavior
Be On Your Best Cultural Behavior
The Big Book of People Skills Games (International)
Be On Your Best Teenage Book

And, she devotes a significant amount of her time working with prison and juvenile programs in the Dallas area to help both of those groups better transition into the workforce.  She's also a mentor to numerous students and others in the meetings and events industry.
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You can join Colleen and her fellow 2016 honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the Hall of Leaders Celebration.

On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we talk with John "Jack" Patronski of Global Experience Specialists (GES).  Jack is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration coming up in October in Las Vegas.

We discussed his history and background that brought him to the industry, how he moved from law enforcement into facilities management and then to Andrew Bartlett and later GES for the past 23 years.

Jack is a PCMA Education Foundation Trustee and has been very active in PCMA, the Convention Industry Council and numerous other vital industry groups and initiatives in the Chicago and nationally over the past twenty years.  We look back at the history of the industry as well as forward to the future as he's honored for his years of work advancing the meetings and events industry.

You can join Jack and all the other honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the 2016 Hall of Leaders Celebration.

​On today's podcast we talk with Janee Pelletier, MBA, CMP, DES of Conference & Logistics Consultants about her educational session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore.  

Her session, "Budget-Driven Meeting Planning: Contracts, Expenses and Your Career" is a terrific overview of how planners can look at their events with a budgetary perspective at the forefront of their thinking.  Flawless logistics are no longer the measure of a successful meeting.  And, with a greater focus in organizations on the budgetary side of an event; to progress your career and be more valuable to your company, you need to be able to work comfortably within the budget realm.

Janee will offer practical advice she's found for cost savings, as well as guidance for setting up a budget template and making well considered projections of possible variable expense areas of your event.  There's still time to join us in Baltimore at the CMP Conclave, September 16-18.

​On today's podcast we talk with Carol Norfleet, MBA, CMP, DMCP of Destination Nashville about her pre-conferece session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore.  Carol's session is a workshop that will bring together planner and supplier CMP's to begin the process of revising the legacy documents of APEX that need to be refreshed and updated.

APEX is an initiative of the CIC that promotes the development and implementation of industry-wide accepted practices to create and enhance efficiency throughout the meetings and events industry.  It's vital that the APEX be updated to maintain it's relevancy and usefulness.  Amongst the topics to be considered in the session are: Event Specification Guide, Housing & Registration Guide, Site Profiles Guide and Post Event Reporting Guide.

​There's still time to join us in Baltimore for the annual CMP Conclave on September 16-18!

On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we get to chat with Richard Aaron, MFA, CESP Emeritus of Biz Bash.  Richard is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration that's coming up in October in Las Vegas.

We discussed Richard's history and background that brought him to the industry, how his broadway and entertainment career eventually led him to producing corporate events for a "who's who" of major companies in the 1980's and 1990's.  Then, his move into the burgeoning internet by joining BizBash as they were being launched.  

Richard is a passionate teacher and we spent some time talking about his classes and his goals in training the next generation of industry professionals.  We also look at some of the interesting new trends in the industry related to things like festivals and how they can influence corporate meetings.

​You can join Richard and all the honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the 2016 Hall of Leaders Celebration.