MerchantCircle Small Business Confidence Poll

MerchantCircle.com recently published its Merchant Confidence Survey and the results are interesting:

48.3% of respondents agreed with the statement "My business will survive the recession."

57.9% of respondents said YES to the statement, "If you had to start all over again, would you start your business in today's economic climate?"

86.4% of respondents said they were familiar with Twitter, while only 65.9% said they were familiar with LinkedIn.

For the full report, follow this link to MerchantCircle.com's Merchant Confidence Survey 2009.

5 Signs Your Special Event Trade Show Booth Needs Help

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samgalison/ / CC BY 2.0

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Bravo! Live Showcase of Oregon's event and hospitality professionals. Held annually, it's easily the largest showcase of its kind in Oregon, so it's a great place to find out what's new in special events and hospitality in our region.

One thing that surprises me though, is how there are always a few, at this show and others, who ignore some basic rules of trade show success. Could it have been you? Here are 5 Signs Your Special Event Trade Show Booth Needs Help:

1. You put the table provided by the convention center across the entrance to your booth, between you and your audience. Doing so creates a physical barrier you and the face-to-face interaction you hope to have.

2. You are using only the existing convention hall overhead lighting to light your booth. Convention hall lighting is extremely variable; often too bright or too dim, and almost always fluorescent and unflattering. Bringing in a few inexpensive lighting fixtures serves to highlight your product, decor, or signage.

3. Your booth reps are talking on mobile phones, texting, eating, or otherwise not ready to do business. Remember, you have about 12 seconds to get the attention of those streaming past your booth. If an attendee gets the subconscious signal that no one is interested in speaking to them, it's that much easier to pass on by.

4. You haven't created a "hook" or "angle" to explain to people why you are even at this show. (Note: "We have a hotel" doesn't count. What makes your hotel/product/service different from the five others that are offering the same thing? Why should you be remembered?)

5. You did not pre-market your appearance at the show to your existing list OR you are not taking leads in your booth OR you are not planning to follow up in a timely manner after the show with the folks you met or who gave you their info. You can't rely on the few physical hours day-of-event to fully return your marketing investment at a trade show; you must also leverage your show participation before, during, and after. You can even do the "during" outside the walls of the show using social media.

Note that this is 5 signs your Special Event trade show booth needs help; when you're marketing to event planners, you have an obligation to show how your product, service, or venue will make their special event truly special and outside the box. Exhibitors in other industries get an easier pass on some of these issues, but everyone can benefit from these tips.

Event pros, step it up so you'll never have to worry if this list applies to you.

To automate or not to automate?

(Image thanks to D'Arcy Norman via Flickr.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/ / CC BY 2.0)

With the escalating popularity of social media sites, I hear a lot of advice, especially in the wedding and event biz, about automating your social media feed.

This can consist of pre-scheduling tweets on Twitter, or scheduling blog posts in advance, or linking accounts with ping.fm or other services, so one status update can show across several services, just to name a very few. Many of these services are great timesavers and used wisely, can make the task of social media for business more of a pleasure.

However, I would caution business owners to remember the "social" aspect of social media. Those whose only contribution to Twitter is the RSS feed of their blog, for example, run the risk of looking like they're only in it for themselves. Especially when said blog is simply a roster of products or services for sale and contains little real advice or education for prospective readers. If you're wondering why you have few followers, no blog comments, low blog stats, and little interaction, take a hard look at what you're putting out there and ask yourself, "Is this interesting to the type of people I'd like to interact with, and is it worth a response?"

Whether you choose to automate or not, make sure you keep the social in social media by interacting, reposting/retweeting, and assisting; the same as any good business owner would do in non-online life.

Job sharing in hospitality management

I've recently heard about several new openings at local Portland venues and hotels, and the turnover/chaos that inevitably accompanies these vacancies.  At the same time, I talk to many traditional and non-traditional university students who are having challenges finding a hospitality position that can work with their university schedule.

Job sharing works in other industries; is it being used to its full benefit in hospitality?  I could see a Catering Manager job share where two professionals, for example, one being a work-outside-the-home parent, and the other, a student going back to finish a professional degree.  They could split a schedule and service groups better and with more energy than a single Catering Manager could, working the traditional 7am - 7pm, 6-day a week schedule that is often found in our industry.

This method could save hotels money, increase productivity, improve service to clients, without adding the cost of another position.  In addition, hotels would have a wider and more diverse pool of candidates from which to choose, also increasing the likelihood of finding the perfect personality and experience fit for their property.

Are you seeing job sharing used in hospitality? Please comment here and let me know.

Battery operated LED Lighting for events

Sometimes my email box is overwhelming, but I love getting some of vendor newsletters with great new products. CORT Event Furnishings just sent this one featuring their new Luna Line with modular, battery-operated LED lighted furniture. So fun!

Event Planning, Wedding Planning, and High School Job Shadows

At this time of year, I also get a lot of calls from high schoolers desiring job shadows. I think this is a great idea and can be a worthwhile experience for the student, but for a busy planner it can almost be overwhelming to try and convey the concept of who we are and what we do in a one-day experience, which is what a lot of students are asking for. I even have schools asking for a one-hour job shadow. Unfortunately, it would take ten times the amount of hours to prepare a useful curriculum, than what the student and I would actually spend together, based on what schools and students are asking.  So I usually decline.

One thing that I think would make high school job shadows more appealing to event planners would be if, rather than a one-hour or one-day event, students would treat their job shadow just as importantly as a varsity sport or other extracurricular activity such as Debate, Math Club, etc., and plan on signing up for at least a 90-day experience, perhaps with four to ten hours per week spent on working for their job mentor.  This way, both the student and the mentor can benefit from the experience.  And event planners would be more likely to accept more students.

Applying for an event planning internship

I receive many requests for event planning internships and job shadows.  It is not possible to accommodate the torrent of requests that come in every fall and spring.  How can a candidate differentiate themselves and get a call back?

I think a compelling cover or opening inquiry letter is key.  A phone call may not get picked up, or your call may come at the wrong time (planner on the way to the meeting, onsite at an event, working from home with children, etc.)  In addition, event planners tend to be on the more traditional side when it comes to etiquette (we are asked to be managers  of protocol and guest experiences, after all) and a phone call can feel far too casual.

I saw an internship request come across The Bridal Loft's inbox the other day that I thought was very well written.  It asked all the right questions, and positioned the candidate as someone who was truly interested in what her target desired in an internship.  This is very different from the common mistakes of starting a cover letter or inquiry with a bunch of "all about me" information and meaningless superlatives ("It is my lifelong dream to work in the wedding industry"). You can bet I noticed this person.

  My name is XXXXXX and I am an XXXXXXXXXXX student at XXX. Time is soon coming to apply for internships and I am very interested in yours. I would love to know what you expect from your interns and what you will be looking for in portfolios and resumes. When would be the right time to apply and what method would you prefer. Would you rather an online portfolio or a printed copy? I was also wondering if this was a paid internship or purely for the joy of the experience. Thank you so very much for your time and I hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXX

Image thanks to ehow.com