The Meeting Planning Process: A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings by certified meeting professional Mary Jo Wiseman offers a common-sense approach to managing the meeting planning process based on the knowledge and experience she garnered over a 20-plus-year career as a corporate meeting and event coordinator. The author’s systematic approach to project management helped her to get and stay focused on the task at hand while handling multiple details, projects, and deadlines throughout her career, and she wants to share her secrets for success with others.

The author firmly believes it is not just one person who makes a meeting or event happen, but rather a well-led team of dedicated, enthusiastic, talented individuals who come together to do what they do best to help organizations exceed program objectives and make them shine. It is the process or system used to get started that can either keep you on track or send you off the rails.

This guide offers a practical overview of the entire planning process for people just starting out in the business or meeting-planning veterans alike and offers keen insights and valuable tips to help create the perfect experience for their audience by staying true to the basic elements of the planning process. It is intended to lead people through the proper steps and the sequence of tasks involved in planning a meeting such as:

• Establishing a planning or design team
• Developing an overall plan
• Budgeting
• Site selection
• Communications
• Contract review
• And more

The guide also includes handy templates developed by the author - a meeting timeline; overall meeting plan; and request for proposal, as well as descriptions and diagrams of possible room setups. The latest revision of the guide was completed January 2019 and includes updated information on contract review (tips for negotiating hotel contracts) and safety and security questions to ask when conducting site inspections.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.