With an over 18 annual industry conferences to attend, meeting planners must be choosy about where they spend their precious time and travel dollars. How do these conferences — targeting meeting planners accustomed to organizing all manner of events large and small — manage to stand out from the crowd? Here are a few of the strategies they incorporate to impress these tough-to-impress pros.

They have a website that’s easy to find and navigate.

The best events for meeting planners have dedicated websites with easily remembered URLs. This strategy is different than that used by many organizations, which simply dedicate sections of existing websites to their conferences.

By giving conferences their own unique web addresses, organizers of meeting-planner conferences make it easier for attendees to remember where to find information. Setting up a dedicated website also provides a branding boost to the conference in the process.

The best sites also are very easy to navigate, with lots of attractive photos and little clutter on home pages. The site planners clearly think through the actions a visitor might want to take, whether that’s registering for the conference, becoming an exhibitor, making travel plans or locating a schedule of events.

They nail their messaging.

If your schedule or budget allow you to attend only one conference each year, which one are you going to choose? Very likely, the one whose messaging drives home the point that it’s a premier event for meeting planners.

The best messaging is simple but effective, and photos and quotes are used as powerful graphical elements to reinforce the core theme. Quotes from members who have benefitted from attendance also effectively get the message across that this is an event you shouldn’t miss.

Winning messaging strategies incorporate a variety of platforms, including social media.

They feature compelling programming.

The best conferences often feature programming not traditionally associated with meeting planning as a profession. Understanding that professionals in any industry seek knowledge that can help them boost productivity and think creatively, planners of conferences aimed at meeting-planning professionals work to bring fresh, new perspectives to attendees.

Rather than focusing specifically on topics related to meeting planning, conferences may host speakers who tackle the impact of digital communications on society, for example.

They offer credible CEUs.

Continuing Education Units are extremely valuable to professionals in a variety of fields and typically are required for renewal of licenses and certifications. They’re also valuable to employers, who can judge whether an individual has sufficient training for a particular role in a company.

Not all CEUs are created equally, however. Any organization can award CEUs with no backing from a reputable accrediting body. The lack of standards in defining CEUs has led to a distrust of the value of CEUs in some fields. The best conferences take the necessary steps to ensure that their CEUs are accepted by top accrediting bodies for the meeting planning industry.

They choose a great location.

As in real estate, a major aspect of success for conferences is “location, location, location!” For many working professionals, conferences constitute the bulk of the year’s travel, and most people want to go somewhere interesting and, preferably, fun.

Planners of the best annual meetings choose interesting locales and make the cities part of their event branding. Their websites feature information about the host cities, and they include supplemental information like the city’s history and a map.

They know how to throw a party.

Planners of conferences for event planners don’t scrimp when it comes to signature events. They try to tie opening and closing night celebrations, galas and other events to key attractions of the host cities, and they work hard to make the events memorable.

A conference in Detroit, for example, might host an event at the Henry Ford Museum to represent “The Motor City.” Historic theaters also are popular venues, as are outdoor events. If the conference is large enough, an event might take over a whole section of the city and bring in live, local music and cuisine.

Planners get extremely creative in designing events to highlight host cities, which leaves attendees with fantastic memories and clamoring to attend again next year.

How do you knock the socks off meeting planners?

Anyone who can plan an event that impresses professional meeting planners should pat themselves on the back. How do they do it? By incorporating the same principles event-planning pros use every day: strong messaging, compelling programming, great locations and parties to remember!

Source

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150810/BLOG009/150819983/detroit-shows-off-its-best-for-visiting-meeting-planners, http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/07/san-francisco-meeting-planners-mpi-congress.html, http://www.asaeannualmeeting.org/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuing_education_unit, http://www.asaeannualmeeting.org/caecredit.cfm, http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/welcome-wec-attendees, https://www.asaeannualmeeting.org/hostcity.cfm, http://www.asaeannualmeeting.org/theclassic.cfm, https://www.mpiweb.org/Events/WEC-2015/Signature-Events/Opening-Night-Celebration, http://blog.pexcard.com/entertainment-events/top-conferences-event-planners-2015/