If an attendee has a negative registration experience, it’s tough to get that good will back. This free guide offers suggestions for making sure things run smoothly, including a rule of thumb for the ratio of check-in stations to attendees, how (and why) to avoid telling each attendee every meeting detail at the registration desk, the best way to handle the inevitable “special circumstances,” the most efficient check-in setup, and, for the love of aesthetics, how never to resort to the Sharpie badge. Downloadable from Attend.com.

Bizzabo’s 41-page handbook uses text and images to explain overall design principles (color theory, symmetry, proportion, and many more) and then relate them to designing an event Web site, creating a logo, e-mail marketing, promotions, and interior design for your meeting space. There are also links to blogs, books, and other resources, and the lessons here translate to a broad range of meeting management concerns. Downloadable here.

Was there really a speaker who showed up in Hollywood, Calif., for an event being held in Hollywood, Fla.? A speaker arriving for a keynote who says he’s never heard of the planner’s company or industry? If it’s a speaker disaster, SpeakInc has heard about it. Now the San Diego–based speakers bureau has put together some simple (you’d think) tips for ensuring you get what you expect from your speakers. Downloadable here.

What was called attendee management is now better called engagement marketing. That means giving attendees a journey they are delighted to take—from when they first learn about your event, to registration, to participating on site, to carrying their learning and experiences with them post-program. Of course, that’s just the basic outline. There are numerous other touch points in between, and this comprehensive guide from Lanyon presents all of them and shows meeting organizers how to create a strategy that both captures attendees’ attention and captures data on their behavior. Because all those touch points build a picture of each participant, offering insights that deepen your brand or organization’s relationship with them as well as helping you improve future programs. Covers social media, Web site development, gamification, on-site regsitration, e-mail marketing, and more. Downloadable here.

In addition to running a production company, Will Curran, head of Endless Entertainment, likes blogging and sharing his experience. So much the better for planners! This checklist takes you through the questions you need to answer for your AV company. For example, ask anyone who is going on stage what their AV needs are, and run those things by your AV company before you sign any entertainment or speaker contracts! “A lot of people will give you their dream list of equipment that might not be in your budget,” Curran notes. This checklist also will explain why you really need your AV company to give you a CAD. Downloadable here.

If you’re the head of a meeting department, go ahead and click to the next slide. If you’re less experienced, this basic timeline from event software company Social Tables is worth a download. Yes, it’s general, but use it as a framework upon which you can add your organization’s specific needs. Downloadable here.

Mike Mason, CEO of site-selection tool Zentila, has a way with words. In a planner’s guide to creating RFPs that hotels actually want to respond to, he describes the atmosphere in today’s sales office as a “hairball.” (In his document, it’s all caps.) For planner’s who want out of the clog, he offers tips for RFPs that get the attention of salespeople overwhelmed by leads. What it comes down to overall is thinking like a salesperson, doing a little math, and sending lots of love. Find out what that means in practical terms (that are easy to implement) by downloading the guide here.

Social apps are more successful than apps in any other category, including news, sports, and entertainment, says QuickMobile. “People have a fundamental need to connect, share and engage. And wouldn’t you know it—the same goes for events, meetings and conferences,” the app developer states in its free white paper, “Likeable Event Apps: The Right Way to be Social in a Mobile World.” The guide shows planners how to create an event app that is social—that is, “business social” or “enterprise social”—two different goals requiring apps with two different sets of features. Download the paper here to get the distinction.

Localytics works with consumer apps but this workbook-style primer (you actually fill it out as you read it) on creating analytics reports is well worth perusing for anyone who has ever created an app—and by now, that’s most meeting and event planners. You start out listing your app goals, which help you define the metrics that are most important. The workbook even gives you ways to turn findings into insights, for example, “Users who start the registration process by signing in via e-mail quit more frequently than users who sign in via a social network.” You’ll also want click on the additional resources embedded within the workbook, such as “Sessions vs. Pageviews: Which Metric Should You Measure?” Downloadable here.