SNEAK PEAK

The Techno Savvy Meeting Professional
(Watch for Premiere Print Issue October 1999)

Andrea Siglar, Publisher

by Tom Antion

Hello all you techno savvy meeting professionals. You made a wise decision reading the premiere issue of this publication. I'm glad I got to be in it too. I have made and saved lots of money and time by using only a few of the many electronic tools that are available today. In this section, I'm going to tell you how I have utilized technology in my business and then we are going to visit some of your colleagues in cyberspace and see what they have been up to.

About four years ago, I had my first website created. In those "ancient times" you had to know how to write HTML language (for you newbies, HTML is a website construction language that was far too hard for normal people to learn). It was an exercise in total frustration. I had to picture what I wanted to do and convey those thoughts to a web designer. The web designer would then have to create what he/she "thought" I meant. This could take anywhere from a week or so to, . . . Oh maybe a few decades. Then, if and when the site was ever visible, I could look at it and be virtually certain that it was nothing like I had in mind. Changes only took a year or two each, so after going back and forth with them a couple times the site would begin to approach what I had in mind. By that time though, the web designer was bored with my project and quit returning calls and Emails. I tried to get a scan of my new book on my website and one year later it was still not on my site..

After two years of this and only 400 people visiting my site, I screamed to myself "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!" . . . actually the neighbors claimed I really did scream. . . . So, I went to Microcenter in Fairfax, VA and asked them what the easiest and most popular method was to create a website. I made sure they knew that I knew nothing about websites except that I wanted a good one. Their answer was that I should get a copy of "Front Page 98." I spent $150.00 and the next month learning how to use the program. Microsoft's support on this product was the best support I had ever seen on any computer product. They will sit on the phone with you and tell you how to use the program. Want to put a photo on? Do this. Want to line things up in a table? Do that. I've never seen or even heard of such good support.

I now have one of the best speaker's websites anywhere http://www.antion.com . Had I hired a conventional firm to do the work, the estimated cost to develop and maintain this site so far would have been nearly $40,000.00. The frustration factor I'm sure would have been even higher. I got all this and now 400 visitors a day for a little elbow grease and $150.00 for the program. If I get into anything really complicated that's not worth my time to figure out, I have a Front Page expert I can call for $60.00/ hr.

You may not want to learn to do your own website, or you may have a reliable and quick person who handles the site for your organization. I really don't care how you get the site going. I do care though that you make sure that it is updatable quickly and reliably, or you are missing one of the big benefits of having a website. It doesn't make much sense to have one of the most technologically advanced tools for instant communication 24 hours a day 7 days per week and then have old information on it.

My website gets me clients who would never have found me any other way, product sales around the world, and a cost effective professional presence which is important for those of us who have our own business. It also saves me mailing out marketing information that I don't want to send and you don't want to receive. Almost everything you need to know about me to make the decision of whether you want to do business with me can be found at the website. The number of marketing kits I've sent out since I took over my website has decreased by approximately 75% yet I do more business at a much higher fee. And, I don't have to take on the expense of having my phone answered every second. You can find out what you need to know instantaneously without me even being in the country. My Email lets me stay in touch cost effectively as I travel. Being a professional speaker, I'm on the road quite a bit. My laptop/Email combination have paid for themselves many times over with the reduction in cell phone charges. It's way more efficient too, because I can work on the plane and in the hotel room.

Now lets see how some of the professionals on the planning side of the meeting fence use technology to their advantage. I E-interviewed eight meeting professionals. I posed these questions to them:

• Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?
• What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?
• What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Rebecca Reardon, Program Coordinator, National Flood Insurance Program

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Rebecca: First, I heard a lot about the Internet and attended some educational seminars at a couple of meeting planner conferences. I requested access at work, but was denied, so I bought my own computer and got set up at home. I began exploring to determine what exactly was out there that would be useful in my job. After a year of requests and making my case, I finally got approval to have access at work.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Rebecca: Efficiency and the ability to communicate electronically. I publish conference and registration information, and I can find hotel information, floor plans, and destination information without leaving the office or waiting for mail.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Rebecca: You are wasting a lot time. Our jobs are hard enough. Anything that can be done to streamline your work should be welcomed.

Rebecca Reardon,
CSC, National Flood Insurance Program
7700 Hubble Dr.
Lanham, MD 20706
301-918-1439
301-918-1471 fax
becky.reardon@fema.gov

====================

Alison Donohue, Manager Meetings, American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Alison: As a meeting planner, getting and receiving information requires a quick response rate. I needed the Internet to provide the access to gather information on a particular city quickly and accurately.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Alison: Posting and updating information on upcoming ACCE meetings and conferences on a regular basis with ease.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Alison: Get on board! It is the most useful tool to advertise an upcoming meeting!

Alison G. Donohue
American Chamber of Commerce Executives
4232 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22302-1507 USA
703-998-3549
703/998-0072 main office
703/931-5624 fax
adonohue@acce.org

====================

Nancy H Ayers, Manager, Global Event Management
Mobil Business Resources Corporation

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Nancy: It's hard to remember how I got started as I've been using the Internet for some time. Most likely my usage started by trying to get information quickly at hours when an organization was closed and no one was available to answer my questions. My current group, Mobil Global Event Management, is working on a website that will only be available on Mobil's intranet.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Nancy: To have access to information and to be able to communicate at any time of day or night no matter where I am in the world.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Nancy: I'd suggest that the competitive advantage will go to those organizations that utilize the Internet for business. Others will be left behind and it will become harder and harder to catch up.

Nancy H. Ayers
nancy_h_ayers@email.mobil.com

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Jan Kary, CMP, Managing Director, Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Jan: I wouldn't say that I "do business on the Internet," but rather that I use it as a tool for enhanced immediate communication . . . much like a fax.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Jan: Being able to communicate what OAI is, in immediate time, to prospective clients. We also use the site for registration purposes, etc.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Jan: Five years ago I would have mentioned that it might be a good idea to get on the Internet. Now, I can't fathom how a professional meeting planner gets his/her work done without it. It would be hard to believe there are professionals in the meetings industry not on the Internet; That would be like using an abacus instead of a calculator. It's as necessary a business tool as a telephone.

Jan Kary, CMP
Orr Associates, Inc.
2801 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202-338-6100
202-338-8182 fax
jkary@oai-usa.com

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Corbin Ball, CMP, President, Corbin Ball & Associates

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Corbin: I was working for an international scientific engineering association (SPIE) in 1990, an early adopter of using the web. It started with basic Email which we used to arrange meeting details globally. In 1994, we were one of the first associations to develop a presence on the Web and used it for marking, registration, and meeting automation.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Corbin: For my personal web site http://www.corbinball.com , one of the biggest benefits has been information request automation. As a professional speaker and consultant, I often get requests for my speaking topics, bio, testimonials, clients, etc. Putting this online makes it easier for everyone.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Corbin: In the words of Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computers: "Get linked or get lost." The Web is the way business is going for sales, marketing, and collaboration. If you do not have a web presence soon, you will simply not be competitive.

Corbin Ball, CMP
Corbin Ball Associates
506 14th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
360-734-8756
360-201-7801 cell
360-734-2204 fax
508-632-7730 E-Fax (during travel)
corbin@corbinball.com
1,100+ categorized meeting industry web sites And 2 new articles on Meeting Planning Software and Web Security
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Donna Haegele, CMP, Meetings and Exhibits Manager, American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Donna: The only business that I have done on the Internet is look up websites of hotels or resorts or particular hotels that I need to see visually. I don't always have time to do a site visit. Also, I can look information up on a destination and get it very quickly. An example is that I frequently go to the Anchorage Alaska CVB website to get quick answers on the destination. Our annual meeting is there in 2000, so I go to get information instead of making a phone call. I use Email to communicate between my program committee members all the time. We are currently starting to accept abstracts for our annual meeting by Email. This immediately cuts down the paper work.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Donna: The single biggest benefit for me is the amount of time saved. So much time is wasted leaving phone mail messages and playing phone tag.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Donna: While I do not spend ALL my time on the Internet and using Email, I think these are excellent tools that can help meeting professionals save time in the office. We are all in need of more time these days. The Internet can help you save some.

Donna Haegele, CMP
American College of Nurse-Midwives
818 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 900
Washington, DC 20006
202-728-9860
202-728-9897 fax
dhaegele@acnm.org

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Cindy Heverling, CMP, Senior Director Franchise Sales & Marketing, Choice Hotels International.

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Cindy: My first experience with the Internet was through Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Net back in 1994. At that time there was a small group of professionals on-line who helped each other out, referred business to each other, etc. The volume of posting on MPI Net quickly grew, and I could not keep up with the time involved to sift through all of the messages. I eventually had to terminate my CompuServe subscription when my company established Internet access for each employee through a separate ISP.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Cindy: My answer will actually be on behalf of my suppliers. Our website is pretty much for consumers and I'm not on that side of the business. I think that the immediacy and availability of information on the Internet is its greatest benefit. Today I was working on an event for an incentive group in Boston. I contacted the Boston CVB for a few ideas and they gave me a list of possible suppliers. The first one I talked to was a yacht charter company. As we discussed the available yachts, the vendor gave me her web address, and I was able to see pictures and deck plans as we spoke. No waiting for a package of materials, no fuzzy faxes, etc.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Cindy: My advice: Get surfing! Once you get started you will be amazed at the amount of information out there. From sports schedules for your group's favorite team to virtual tours of hotel properties. I thought that the fax machine changed the way we did business -- ha! This is the big one!

Cindy Heverling, CMP
Choice Hotels International, Inc.
10750 Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20901
301-592-6639
301-592-6205 fax
cindy_heverling@choicehotel.com

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Janet R. Pickover, CMP, Owner and Director J.R Associates, Meetings, Conventions and Right Speaker.

Tom: Would you please describe briefly how you got started doing business on the Internet?

Janet: About 4 years ago I was pretty much forced into it to accommodate my international clients. I first started with site and area research and Email.

Tom: What, in your experience, is the single most useful benefit you have gotten out of your website?

Janet: Tom, there are so many it's hard to pick just one. I would say it is on-line registration for our meeting clients. The attendees register on their own web page, which we create. We can then download the questionnaire into a spreadsheet program with a few clicks of the mouse. No rekeying means I save time and errors. Research is also great on the web and it's gotten more user friendly over the past year. Working in vastly different time zones is no longer a barrier like it was when you had to use the phone for every little detail. And one more thing. We get business from our website for speakers and plan on continuing to expand that segment of our business by adding more speakers and perhaps a meeting planning column.

Tom: What advice would you give other meeting professionals who are not yet on the Internet?

Janet: Just start out easy by learning to research what potential meeting areas have to offer. Then start finding vendors who have Email. This will save you an enormous amount of money in phone and fax charges. In fact, every thing else being equal, I would make my decision on a vendor based on whether they used Email or not.

Janet Pickover, CMP
J.R. Associates
86 Poe Rd.
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-921-6605
609-921-6960 fax
jrassoc@compuserve.com

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Tom Antion is a Maryland based, professional speaker and seminar leader. He is the Author of Wake 'em Up Business Presentations, a columnist for several national meetings magazines, and the publisher of GREAT SPEAKING E-zine (Electronic Magazine). For your FREE subscription, or to contact Tom, send an email to orders@antion.com or visit http://www.antion.com . Phone (800) 448-6280. See Tom in action at The Connected International Meeting Professionals Association, November 12-15, 1999 - Annual meeting to be held in Marrakech, Morocco.

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