Donald Plante
Meeting Planner Unitarian Universalist Association Boston
I was very impressed with Barbara Dunn, a lawyer who talked about contracting and things to look for. It was very helpful. I've been a meeting planner for four years, and it's always good to get a refresher course. There are always new trends in the industry, so I find the tutorials helpful.
San Jose was my second conference. It's great networking and one-stop shopping. It's important that we [the Unitarian Universalist Association] use places that go to RCMA because it shows they value the religious market. We typically don't use vendors who don't attend.
Naomi Gordon
Dir. of Administration Faith Chapel Christian Center Birmingham, Ala.
I attended a workshop on event planning at which the facilitator/instructor had a CD-ROM that had forms on it. I only have to tailor the forms for my organization. I'm just playing with it now, but I can tell that it will be useful.
Another thing that was helpful was the information on unions, in hotels and at different venues. We're planning a conference in New York — a union state.
Sue Jackson
General Conference Co-Planner United Pentecostal Church International Hazelwood, Mo.
In [the tutorial] “Communicate With Confidence,” I learned that people I deal with may be a different type of communicator than I am are, and therefore, it is essential to be a good listener and to respond to that person based on his type of communicating skills, whether it be passive, aggressive, or assertive.
In another other tutorial, speaker Christy Largent spoke about different personality types. What I gained from this class is the importance of learning the personality types of people I work with so I can be a better communicator. Different personalities respond to different methods of communication; therefore, I must be acutely aware of this in order to have a successful dialogue. I must learn to communicate with people in the manner to which they will respond, based on their personality type, rather than my own.
Bernie Lott
Lott Carey Foreign Missionary Convention Washington, D.C.
I think one of the major pieces of advice I got is when I did the Behind-the-Scenes for convention centers. It pointed out so clearly that everything is negotiable. That was helpful already: I'm trying to nail down a site for three years from now.
I'm not brand-new to convention planning, but I'm pretty new, and I was pretty much, “What they offered — I guess I will go with that.” Now I know that I can ask for what I need.
Alan Morrison
Director of Support Services General Council on Finance & Administration The United Methodist Church Nashville, Tenn.
I'm fairly new in my position and in meeting planning in general, so a lot of hotel contract tips were very helpful and came from a lot of speakers — contract clauses, negotiations, technical things to be aware of with scheduling.
I've already used it. We have one meeting that has had an issue with a very loud event next door. In the session on contracts, they talked about the quiet-enjoyment clause. I'm making use of it in our contracts.
Kateri Mitchell
Executive Director National Tekakwitha Conference Great Falls, Mont.
One thing that I heard and appreciated was the fact that when it comes to contracts, everything is negotiable. It will help with future meetings and signing contracts.
We never suspected that for certain items in contracts or in money, nothing is firm and you can continue negotiating. We have already done that over the years. Just hearing it affirms our commitment and drive to keep using it.