MeetingsNet’s Must-See Meeting Files

Welcome to the MeetingsNet expert-advice site, where you can listen to top meeting pros answer a variety of questions or read through our educational—and sometimes offbeat—editors’ pick lists. Enjoy the site and let us know what must-see meeting info you need for your job. Or add your own top picks to the comment area in each list.

Must-See Videos

Expert Advice On: The Business Outlook for 2012 NEW! Meeting execs see upward trends for the year ahead... Expert Advice On: Maximizing Air Budgets NEW! Airlines keep raising prices—and fees. Here are some strategies to fight back... Expert Advice On: Social Media Engagement NEW! How are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter being used by meeting clients in the real world? Watch our video... Expert Advice On: The Buzzwords for 2011? Meeting execs predict the language that will define the year ahead... Expert Advice On: Hotel Concessions—What Adds the Most Value? How planners are negotiating creatively and effectively with their hotel partners... Expert Advice On: ROI—What’s Getting Measured? It’s not enough to rate the F&B. Watch the video... Expert Advice On: Using Resort Destinations How are you managing clients' fears about using resorts that might be viewed as extravagant? Expert Advice On: Meeting ROI How do you convince management that face-to-face meetings provide ROI in this environment? Expert Advice On: Cutting Costs What are your best ideas for cutting costs that attendees will never notice?

Expert Advice On: Mobile Meeting Apps NEW! Tips from the pros on developing mobile apps for meetings… Expert Advice On: Cutting the F&B Budget NEW! Need a big menu on a small budget? Our experts have you covered… Expert Advice On: Strange Meeting Requests NEW! We asked six meeting pros to share their clients’ oddest requests in the past year. Ha!... Expert Advice On: Today’s Site Selection Challenge How do companies decide where to hold their meetings and incentives? Here’s what the pros say... Expert Advice On: The State of Incentive Meetings The good old days may not return, but pent-up demand is re-energizing the industry. Expert Advice On: Today’s Top Meeting Challenges Tighter budgets, procurement involvement, keeping the wow! Listen in... Expert Advice On: Client Planning Virtual Meetings What's Your Best Advice for Clients Planning Virtual Meetings? Expert Advice On: Looking for Meeting Management Jobs What Advice do You Have For People Looking For a Job in Meeting Management? Expert Advice On: Successful Community Service Community service at meetings: What's been successful?

Meeting Must Haves

11 Tricks for Spending Less on F&B NEW! Put water bottles in ice buckets at coffee breaks to prevent attendees from tossing a few extras into their conference bags. 8 Things You Need to Know About iPads at Meetings NEW! Apple’s tablet is a key presentation and productivity tool—just don’t forget your dongles! 4 Must-Dos for Contract Due Dates NEW! Keep your foot on the gas to keep the hotel confident of your business. 4 Easiest Tips for Negotiating With Hotels Right Now NEW! When hotel rates can change week to week, how flexible are you? 12 Legal Tips for Trips That Include Kids When kids are involved, companies must be sensitive to three legal issues: liability, liability, and liability. We’ve got some details… 14 Fresh Ideas for F&B Frank Fraser, executive director of catering for Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, lists his team’s freshest ideas in food... 6 Free (or Really Cheap) Web-Based Meeting Tools Here are half a dozen Web sites to check out for free meeting planning tools... 12 Simple Steps Toward a More Organized Office in 2012 Productivity expert Audrey Thomas, otherwise known as Organized Audrey, has a dozen suggestions to stop working in a chaotic office environment and finally get yourself organized... 8 Steps to a Winning Mobile Meeting App For companies and associations that want to start going mobile by launching a mobile app at their next meeting, Aron Ezra, CEO of MacroView Labs, offers these eight steps to an awesome app... 10 Myths About Cruise Meetings Actually, cruising is cost-effective—and less expensive than it was 15 years ago... 10 Top Free Apps for International Travelers Check your packing list, find Wi-Fi, consult your travel itinerary and meeting agenda, and much more with these free smartphone apps... 9 Benefits Your Organization Can Offer an Airline With capacity still restrained, fuel prices variable, and demand up, the cost of air travel today is among the biggest challenges for meeting planners... Top 10 Mistakes of Association Web Sites—and How to Fix Them Usability expert Amy Schade explains 10 biggest mistakes nonprofit organizations make in designing sites... 12 Best Practices for Hybrid Meetings Get the best of both real and virtual worlds for your meetings... 4 Questions to Ask When You Book a Hotel Before It Opens Booking non-existent properties for your meetings is a strategy that can get you some fantastic deals... Large-Meeting Timeline View a typical schedule for a Large Meeting over an 18-month time span... Four Great Moments in Site Inspections Plus, Must-Ask Site Inspection Questions and Advice for Planners and Hoteliers... Four Principles for Planning Brain-Friendly Annual Meetings Tear down traditional conference models and rebuild based on these adult-learning tenets... 11 Rules of Thumb for Negotiating Convention Center Contracts Cap your liability to the amount of insurance that you are required to carry. Insurance requirements are usually non-negotiable... 12 Top Meetings Industry Web Sites MeetingsNet’s editors name 11 of their favorite meetings industry Web sites... Our Top 8 Diet and Exercise Tips for Conference Travel My Top 10 Reasons to Bolt from a Meeting Here are the top 10 things that'll make me bolt from a meeting... 15 Tips for Making Meetings More Meaningful Here are 15 ways we can change the world, one meeting at a time... How Europe’s 30 Largest Cities Rate for Sustainability During the United Nations’ 15th Climate Change Conference (COP15), Siemens AG and The Economist Intelligence Unit released the European Green City Index, a rating of the 30 major cities in Europe on environmental sustainability... Top 25 Cost-Saving Site Selection Tips Here are our top 25 tips for getting the best deal for your next meeting...

10 Basics for Smart International Business Behavior NEW! Follow these general guidelines and you’ll be a welcome guest and business partner no matter where in the world your next meeting takes you. 4 Steps for Creating Master Services Agreements NEW! Hate the back-and-forth involved in getting meeting contracts signed? MSAs are the answer. 3 Ways to Help Your Speakers Help Your Hybrid Event NEW! Include your speakers on conference calls with your audiovisual company and be sure to decide what to do if systems fail. 3 Steps to Your Perfect Cruise Meeting NEW! There’s a ship for every group and every budget—but keep in mind the differences between planning a program at sea and on land... Be Green: 14 Questions for Your Hotel Start greening your meetings by adding these questions to your RFP... Traveler Safety: 4 Lessons Learned from a Turbulent 2011 Here are some lessons learned from the year of instability, and how those lessons can keep you safe on the road... 7 Tips for Planning Your First International Meeting Top tips for helping the process go smoothly for you, your company or association, and your attendees... 9 Ways to Fix Your Boring Awards Dinner Consider these ideas next time you face your annual awards-show dilemma... 8 Tips for Your First Live-Streamed Meeting Session Get a feel for whether or not a hybrid meeting will work for your audience ... 10 Truly Hip Boutique Hotels Check out 10 of our editors' favorite picks... 7 Things Meeting Planners Need to Know About Bedbugs Help hotel partners by educating attendees about these vermin. ... 8 Tips on How to Negotiate Great Contracts Smart negotiators know they have to prioritize their needs, wants, and interests... 15 Tips for Managing Meeting Expenditures Here are 15 steps toward identifying, leveraging, and managing your organization’s meeting spend through a Strategic Meeting Management Program... Seven Surprising Museum Cities for Meetings Everyone knows that cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco boast fabulous museum attractions, but they haven't cornered the market... 10 Tips for Hiring and Working with Speakers Don’t skimp when you search. Look for the following information about your speaker to make the most informed decision... Be Prepared for Layoffs 20 Survival Tips... 7 Ways to Provide Unique Conference Experiences Here are seven things meeting and event professionals can do to provide unique conference experiences with stellar content. 8 Ways to Make Your Meeting Twitter- and Blog-Friendly Here's our top ways to make your meeting Twitter- and Blog-friendly Six for Her and Five for Him: Most Comfortable Dress Shoes Every planner knows the value of comfortable shoes when it comes to logging in long hours at the conference or trade show. Here are six picks for women and five for men from mostcomfortable.shoes.com 9 Must-Have Apps for Meeting Pros We've rounded up nine must-have apps for meeting professionals... 10 Top Tech Tools for Meeting Planners Our editors highlight some new and not-so-new meeting planning technology tools to help you stay above high water in your job... Drayage: Top Ten Cities with Lowest and Highest Rates Labor expenses are a huge factor in trade show budgets—and they generally increase every year... Airports With Highest and Lowest Average Domestic Fares Average domestic air fares in the second quarter of 2009 fell to their lowest April-to-June level since 1998, dropping 13 percent from the second quarter of 2008... 12 Great Golf Resorts for Meetings It's a bit off the beaten path in the Idaho panhandle, but Coeur d'Alene Resort provides a high-class experience at a price point that's tough to duplicate elsewhere. There's just one golf course, so smaller groups are ideal... Dining Out: Top 5 Least and Most Expensive Cities Which convention cities offer the best deals for dining out? Best Books for Meeting Planners A surprising number of books focus on various aspects of meeting and event management. Where to start? Here’s a list of top choices from our editors...