The Meeting Spectrum: An Advanced Guide for Meeting Professionals

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On-Site Operations

The operations phase of event management begins after all the pre-conference

details have been attended to and continues through the meeting until

everyone departs. It is the culmination of the vast myriad of planning details

and efforts which preceded the meeting. For most events, this phase starts one

or two days before the meeting with preparations for the main group arrival.

During this time, further meetings are held with various outside suppliers and

facility staff. The following are some of the meeting elements whose details

must be reviewed, disseminated, and confirmed:

z Morning and/or evening staff meeting schedule.

z Assignments and areas of responsibility, especially with volunteers.

z AV materials, programs, equipment setup, rehearsals, and personnel.

z Accounts, including master account.

z Headquarters operation schedule and duty roster.

z Emergency, contingency, and security plans and procedures.

z Evaluation of meeting by session and overall.

z Food & Beverage functions, menus and guarantees.

z Housing, reception and registration.

z Information for switchboard and reader boards or video displays.

z Conference materials and handouts.

z Message center operations and staff.

z Press room facilities, staff and accreditation of media representatives.

z Conference registration, badges, packets, tickets, etc.

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z Room setups and turnovers.

z Program support: Signage, speakers, room chairmen, collateral,

evaluation forms.

z Exhibit setup and operations.

z VIP reception and policies.

z Transportation and tours.

SECTION A - SET-UP AND DAILY TASKS

RECEPTION

Hotel Registration

One of the most frequent complaints on evaluation forms is the inconvenience

of long lines at the guest registration desk – especially when large numbers of

registrants arrive at the same time. To ameliorate the situation, experienced

meeting managers arrange in advance to have additional staff manning the

reception counter.

Other strategies to avoid congestion or speed up the procedure include

pre-registration on the hotel’s website and combining hotel and event

registration in the same area. In both methods, key cards are given out on

arrival thus confirming occupancy.

Taking their cue from the airlines, Hilton Hotels introduced a welcome

feature at many of their hotels and other venues are following suit.

Self-service kiosks developed by IBM are enabling guests to avoid long

lines, complete the registration procedure, and receive their key cards The

same system can accommodate check-out and airline check-in.

Event Registration

The registration area should already have been planned according to

requirements of space and use. A floor plan prepared prior to arrival and

reviewed at the pre-con meeting, will allow rapid set-up of equipment and

furnishings, and leave time for completing decorations with banners, floral

arrangements and displays. Consider music, either live or recorded, to help

relieve the monotony of standing in lines. Signs are placed in designated

locations throughout the area. Clear signage is important. Signs printed

rather than handmade, color coordinated to attract, with liberal use of

conference theme graphics will enhance the appearance of the registration

area.

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