CMP Course Notes
CMP Course Notes
My planning experience:
● Current role
○ Nonprofit & local media/news
○ Large community events, private donor, board, or membership events,
○ Usually small budgets $1,500 - $5,000 (with the exception of a few)
Formulas:
B = numbers of booths
Program flow
● Event specifications guide
● Detailed agenda
● Scripts
● Attendee agenda
When searching for speakers/performers, provide them a one-sheet with details on what your
audience will likely consist of
Content
Material that will be meaningful to your attendees including spoken, handouts, digital, etc
Delivery
Can the speaker match your needed style for your audience?
Considerations
● Dietary needs, food safety, attendee profile
● Guidelines for acquiring products and services
● Date, time, location
● Quantity calculations (including staff, volunteers, vendors)
● Supplies and equipment
● Setup and operations
● Staff and volunteer schedules
● Religious needs
● Onsite requests
Sustainability
● Fresh, local, seasonal food
● Sustainable seafood
● Food waste management
● Limiting individually packaged items
● Avoiding single use plastics & recycling
● Vegetarian options
Alcohol options
● Determine whether you should or shouldn’t serve alcohol
● What to serve
● Open bar v cash bar
● Hourly fees, by consumption or by bottle
Alcohol controls
● Age limit
● License requirements
● Duration
● Training & monitoring
Design environment
Identify the goal of room setup and level of engagement desired
Consider:
● What will attendees be doing?
● Set stage on the long side of the room when reasonable
● Think about attendee needs in the room
● Avoid center aisles and straight-row seating. Be creative!
● Minimize the need to flip rooms but do so when necessary
● When possible, provide standing and seated options
Rows:
Best to have to aisles than 1 middle aisle
Technical Production
Leave space for staging, a/v, pillars, head tables, refreshments
Staging considerations
● Room capacity charts
● Ceiling heights
● Power availability
● Room lighting & control (confirm what they control before use during event)
● Loading dock
● House sounds
● Walls (Consider sounds between rooms)
Registration considerations
● Pre-registration
● Multiple registrations from one company
● Refunds
● Part-time attendance (separate days or partial day options)
● Function tickets
Crowd management
● Identify entrance and exits
● Well defined floor plans
● Ingress and egress
● Screening systems
● Site plans
● Additional signage
● staff/volunteers
● Staggered breaks
Accommodations
● Resorts (5 star)
● Convention centers
● Meeting properties (4 star)
● Hotels (3 & 2 star)
● Cruise ships
● College & universities
Reservation procedure
● Rooming list
● Individual reservations
● Combination
● 1 more i missed
Coordinate transportation
Air travel
● Motor coach & mini coach
● Trains
● Shuttle services
● Private car
● More?
If traveling abroad, remind them of entry requirements, and how to find more info on this
Use a site visit to help plan communications
Select site
Conduct needs assessments
RFP then site inspections based on needs
Considerations
● Goals and objectives
● Expected activities
● Physical requirements
● Historical data
● Finances
● Preferred geographic location
● Attendee preferences
● Preferred dates
● Service availability
● Sustainability
Resources
● DMO/CVB
● Publications
● Trade Shows
● Associates
● PCOs and DMCs (professional conference organization, destination management
company)
Considerations
● Attendee profile
● Average age
● Gender
● Economic levels
● Travel familiarity
● Religious needs
● Event preferences
● Time Zones
● Event design
● Cultural meal differences
● Allergies and medical conditions
Accessibility considerations
● Ramps & elevators
● Easy to open doors
● Access routes (well lit) - curb cuts, handrails, audible signs
● Availability, size, location of restrooms
● Egress routes
● Meeting room and function layouts
● Designated parking
● Availability of accommodations of dining
● Grass areas for service animals
● Transportation
● Sign language interpreters
ESG
Use for every activity at the event
Description of all activities
Logical progression (staff arrivals, a/v, vendors)
Floor plans
Room set-up information
Exhibit floor plan
Personnel list (checklists for different parties/stakeholders, plus list of contributors)
Sustainability commitment
Objectives and safety procedures
Set up, load in, load out
Meals/breaks
Speakers and lengths of presentations
Rehearsals
Union rules
Security
Review useful terms for freight (most refer to the movement of items across international
borders)
Marketing
Every communication should have a goal/objective
Identify the goal of marketing materials
Encourage same look and feel to create strong brand awareness for the event (unify all
marketing for same event) - should be complementary to the company brand
Use different language for your identifies target audiences
Remember your event is part of a larger brand so follow those guidelines
Merchandise
Determine if this should be utilized at events (appropriate or not)
Utilize to help build brand, increase loyalty, attract new customers, celebrate event (keep in
mind sustainability)
Develop contests
Registration prizes, traffic builders, chapter challenges
Highlight “players”
Don’t forget to budget for “prizes”
Coordinate hospitality
Partner with local CVBs
Public relations
Understanding PR strategy
Communications plan (see risk management)
PR plan creation/distribution
Develop/manage emergency and risk response plans
Participate in the implementation of the sustainability plan and highlight what the meeting
accomplishes (be accurate and dont “green wash)
Financial management
Identify sponsors (make sure they’re a match for the event/audience)
● Previous/repeat
● Current suppliers or exhibitors
● Stakeholders
● Research and referrals
Sponsor prospectus
● Provides your potential sponsors and exhibitors with all the information they need to
make purchasing decisions with you (sponsor sheet?)
Exhibitors
First determine if you need them to achieve goal
Research how your attendees meet the needs of your exhibitors
Set prices based on past and comparable events, types of booths and other event costs
Determine the benefits that an exhibitor receives (tell exhibitors who will be attending and how
it provides value to them)
Create exhibitor prospectus/manual
Misc funding
Advertising
Merchandise
Commissions
Royalties
Manage budget
Develop budget
Identify revenue opportunities and expenses
Estimate quantities
Research costs
Set prices to meet financial goals (make money, break even, loses money)
International funds
All fees in local currency
Daily exchange rate
Consider accepting intl. Funds
Inform attendees about restrictions or fees
Zero based budgeting (not basing this on previous data, using zero previous data)
Incremental budgeting (based on previous trends)
Sensitivity analysis (identify what to do if making a lot more or less than planned)
Budget handbook
Preparing a budget
# of attendees, revenue, expenses
Event history
Attendee demographics
Review proposed program
Consider economic/current trends
Budget documentation
Past financial reports
Financial objectives
dates/flexibility
locations/venues
# of attendees
Multiple estimates
F&B/special event types
Registration/exhibit fees
Attendee costs
Anticipated sponsorship
Economic trends
Strategic planning
Business value
Strategic planning is a dev process for long-range POA
Ethical
Recorded
Meeting feasibility
Internal (typically can control)
History
Financial feasibility
Event role in organization finances
Human resources availability (event staff & supporting staff)
Commitment from the organization to keep event going
Marketing and brand communication support needed to succeed
Terms:
Economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress
Food sustainability
Ganging (menu’s, single daily menu to utilize, basically ganging menus together to purchase
food more efficiently)
4R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink)
Shipping by ground
Sustainability plan
Vision
Principles
Important issues
Objectives
Actions & initiatives
Measurement & reporting
PLan includes:
Guidelines
Internal communications
Negotiated sustainable practices (could provide a sheet to vendors that must abide by
sustainability rules)
Attendee communications
Onsite verification
Promotion (share all successful sustainability practices)
Benefits:
Economic savings
Reduction of risk to brand/positive PR
Positive legacies
Brand position as thought leader
Participant and worker health
If the venue changes, don’t ask specific questions about the venue (temperature..)
If the question includes “and” or “or”, make them two different questions
Project Management
Def: Application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet
requirements
Project scope
Work that must be delivered to deliver result with specified features
Event constraints
Cost
Time
Performance
5 event management phases
Initiation
Planning
Implementation
Event
Closure
Terms:
Project plan
Project status reports
Template
Gantt chart (visual rep of process of plan)
Theme
Procurement plan
Supplier classifications (who you’re working with)
Quality planning
Quality control (product created/event)
Quality assurance (process of being created)
Common terms
Critical path
Communication matrix
Evaluation process
Evaluation = transparency
Audit = accountability
Execution plan
ESG creates BEO
Communication plan
Goals & objectives
Audience profile
Stakeholder communications
Tools & tactics
Evaluation methods
Risk management
Risk processes and plans
4 steps: assessment, analysis, crisis planning, and response
Risk stakeholders
Meeting manager
Internal department
Suppliers
Local authorities
Insurance providers
Reduce risk
Negotiate contract terms
Provide security, create waivers
On-site medical equipment
Third-party suppliers
Transfer risk
Insurance policies with indemnity plans
Contracts w/ indemnification clauses
Third-party suppliers
Insurance types
Commercial general liability/public liability
Umbrella policies
Medical
Indpendent contractor liability
Valuable papers and records
Onsite office
Exhibits
Employers liability
Travel
Non-appearance
Cancellation
Enforced reduced attendance
Property damage
Money insurance
Third party losses
Human resources
Creating a team
Staffing analysis
Determine current staffing
Discover if needed
Fill gaps
Workforce action plan
Staffing needs
Recruitment/outsourcing strategies
Training
Tech enhancement
Provide training
Supervise staff
Manage teams (recognize & reward)
Stakeholder management
Stakeholder analysis
HOW - order of precedence (introducing people in order of their titles, then by age, then woman
first)
Meet expectation = goals/objectives
Varied programs
Communication plan
Staff & volunteer training
Follow local laws/use resources
Resources:
https://www.transtats.bts.gov/AverageFare/
Practice questions:
What percentage of your budget should be a contingency fund to allow for unexpected
expenses?
C. 10%
A banquet round of 60 in (152 cm) in diameter can hold how many people comfortably?
A. 8
How far in advance of an event do you post for job openings for volunteers and staff?
C. 2 months
What type of budget should be utilized if there is no financial history in relation to the event or
meeting?
B. Zero-based budget
What is the correct slope of a ramp per ADA regulations (how much rise per run)?
D. 1 inch of rise for every 12 inches
The starting point for successful meeting planning is determining which of the following?
C. Goals and objectives
If exhibitors have any questions about rules and regulations, what should they consult?
A. The exhibitor manual
What is the minimum number of travelers ordinarily needed to win a discounted group airfare?
D. 10
How far off the floor must a screen be at a minimum?
C. 5’