business – Fedra Meetings & Events

Tag: business

How to transform your inauguration in an event

Posted on 25 Luglio 201710 Febbraio 2023 by Fedra

You spent time and money into the opening of an activity, you passed unscathed a jungle of bureaucratic demands, an odyssey of restructuring and supply contracts… And now you arrived at the inauguration day. The real work starts now.

In the first month of life, in fact, a new business forms the basis of his reputation: the choices made at this stage will affect the future of the whole enterprise.

The opening of your activity is not only a necessary step before you start to work seriously, it is a fundamental and irreplaceable element in the promotion of your business.

Here are five ideas to make it memorable.

The rules of good neighbourliness

Make sure that the opening will serve to reinforce the good neighbourly relations with residents and other merchants of your way.

If possible, transform everything into an event with music and drink in the street, but, if your location does not allow it, remember to personally invite other traders in the area and generally make sure that their businesses can benefit from the traffic generated from your inauguration.

Pictures or it did not happen

Invest in a good photographer. Of course, an Instagram filter can do wonders, but it can not compete with a professional photo shoot, which also remains visible long after the event on your website or on your Facebook page.

There’s no sandwiches tray photographed with the smartphone that can compete with a well post-produced photo of your guests enjoying the event with a good glass of white wine.

Special moments streaming

Until recently, the online streaming option was available only in front of substantial budget. Today, thanks to Periscope and other similar platforms, a smartphone connected to internet can provide to a real live session.

Focus on something that really captures the attention of your potential audience, such as music or entertainment gadgets as gifts (see point 4).

All customers are special

But those who are at the opening event are more, so prove it with a small gift to each one.

Put in your budget, among the promotional investments, a number of discount vouchers, gadgets or coupons, to give to your attendees.

This is the best way to capitalize on the enthusiasm of the event and start building a loyal customer base and a good reputation for your business.

The difference between the opening event and the school party…

… It’s all in the buffet. Forget all the garden tables, glasses and plastic bottles and sandwiches tray. Invest instead in a small but high-quality catering, presented with elegance, and in some decoration suited to the spirit of your business.

How wellness influences your business [Infographic]

Posted on 21 Luglio 201721 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

There are many ways to be at your best for an event.

If you can’t fix a gym session in your weekly schedule, here there are some tips you could use everyday.

In conclusion

The benefits of brief bouts of exercise during the workday go beyond physical fitness: you are improving your ability to absorb and retain information.

If you follow this few tips, your performances at work will get better.

How to work a room

Posted on 7 Ottobre 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

Knowing how to ‘work a room’ is a valuable talent.

Make it your mission to meet as many people as possible. Don’t spend all of your time with only one or two people. Even if you buttonhole CEOs, they probably don’t want to spend the whole evening with you glued to their elbow.

Introduce people to other people: everyone is there to meet people. By introducing people you know to others, you are helping the process and creating goodwill to boot.

Obviously, you are there to sell yourself, but don’t just turn into a speechmaker.

Ask questions to get others talking about themselves. Most everyone likes to talk about themselves. And, you could learn some valuable info that you can use later. For example, if someone mentions that their son is on the football team at school, at another meeting it makes a great opening to ask about how their son’s team is doing.

Reserve two pockets for business cards. One pocket is for your cards. The other pocket is where you put cards you receive from others. This keeps them separate and you don’t hand out someone else’s card inadvertently.

Turn your cell phone off. Interruptions are distracting and make it appear that you value your caller more than the person you are talking with.

The old adage of not discussing politics or religion holds true. With so many divergent opinions out there, you do not want to get embroiled in an argument you cannot win. It is the best way to make a bad impression.

And, lastly, industry receptions may look like a party, feel like a party and sound like a party – but they are not parties. They are social business events. If you drink too much and make a fool of yourself, people will remember that about you for years.

6 Ways to refresh your annual conference

Posted on 5 Ottobre 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

An annual conference provides the unique opportunity to bond relationships between peers, clients, investors, vendors, and prospective business partners.

It creates a stage where people can come together and reflect on exceptional accomplishments as well as opportunities missed throughout the year, creating a reflective and honest environment.

This atmosphere can act as the perfect catalyst for supercharging your whole company and motivating members to move forward together towards a common objective.

Your annual conference can prove to be productive time well spent if your audience is engaged and people are poised to collaborate. Here are some ways to breathe life into your annual conference:

Change the scenery

Create anticipation for your meeting even before attendees step foot inside the door.

Host your annual conference in a different location from where you do business to give a feeling of a fresh start and unlimited possibilities. For example, if your office setting is typically in an urban industrial area, try hosting your conference at a forested retreat surrounded by wildlife and natural habitat.

A change in scenery can completely alter the way attendees approach issues and transform perceptions.

Plan some functional free time

Try balancing out a lecture-heavy agenda by adding other non-traditional activities to the mix.

Building excursions, recreation opportunities and friendly competitions into the schedule provides an outlet for creative thinking, thus giving attendees the chance to regroup and fully engage during traditional work sessions.

Sample activities can be as simple as furnishing a bike for each attendee to explore a nearby trail system, or simply providing interactive maps for attendees to discover must-see places throughout the host city.

Get to know your peers

With so many great minds in one place, try to make it easier for people to reach out to one another and start meaningful conversations. Ask attendees to fill out a “nametag” that includes not only a name but also lists the one accomplishment he or she is most proud of for the year, or a question he or she is hoping to have answered by the end of the conference.

This is a great way to get individuals interacting to share similar accomplishments and goals.

Break from the classic break

Sitting stationary for long periods of time is not good for the mind or the body.

Intermittent breaks allow attendees to move around and shake off stiff limbs, clear heads, and seek refuge after a morning filled with strong coffee and bran muffins. Take coveted break time to a whole new level by inviting in special relaxation and movement experts to help loosen the tension.

A few easy yoga moves in the fresh air will get people bending and stretching to increase blood flow and brain function, while a visiting chair massage specialist can ease the aches of sitting all day and give attendees a chance to temporarily zone out so they are less likely to do so in the middle of the session.

Interactive food fare

Food relaxes the atmosphere and helps sustain positive energy levels throughout a conference. Instead of opting for the regular ol’ soda and sandwiches theme, change it up a bit for a new spin on snacking.

Rather than one generic buffet, offer diverse lunch stations with different types of cuisine available in each area. There can be an Italian-themed create-your-own-pasta station, a sushi rolling area, or a station offering food distinct to the area in which you are hosting your conference.

Change the furniture

At one time, banquet chairs in meeting rooms were replaced by ergonomic seating. Now ergonomic seating is being replaced by bean bag chairs, overstuffed couches and “living room” areas where groups can meet and talk in a less formal and more comfortable venue.

Whether it’s incorporating aromas to energize the room, or requesting fitness balls and free weights for breaks at association events, the smallest ideas can breathe life into your traditional conference.

Utilize some of these tricks during your next conference for a brand-new approach to the old way of doing business. They will help foster great ideas to propel your business into the future.

The Perfect Agenda

Posted on 4 Luglio 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

Agendas can greatly improve the efficiency and productivity of any decision process.

One good agenda can cut the number of meetings needed to complete a project in half and greatly reduce the tendency for meetings to branch off into discussions that are not useful to goal achievement.

The goal of an agenda is to facilitate the decision-making process among group members.

This may be for a technology upgrade or a budget discussion.

The agenda helps to keep meeting attendees focused on the final decision.

Agendas also make it easier to evaluate the success of the meeting by providing a checklist for follow-up and accountability.

The Role of an Agenda

The first line of the agenda should state the goal and purpose of the meeting.

Some agenda formats prefer to state the goal along with sub-goals after each agenda item. Both formats establish a framework for discussion. Agendas can vary from simple to complex.

They can include attachments and reading material or the agenda from the previous meeting.

The type of format used is generally established by the formality and length of the meeting.

A good rule of thumb is that the format should match the dress of the meeting participants; that is, a meeting full of sandals and shorts can get by with an informal agenda while a room full of suits may require a formal agenda.

Formats

The short or informal meeting can be subsumed into an email or a meeting reminder.

It might contain one line for the goal of the meeting and then three to five short discussion points.

The long agenda is usually a full page, which includes a title, meeting location, date and time, goals and topics or points of discussion. Long meetings should also include times for each discussion topic and the name of the presenter.

Both agenda formats should end with a section for “Next Steps” for follow-up. These “Next Steps” will become the basis for agenda topics at the next meeting.

Check the infographic below for some agenda format examples: