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Tag: meeting planning

The Top Benefits of Hosting a Retreat for Your Team

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Your team works together every day. They have a number of responsibilities and projects that cause them to need to interact and work together. Sometimes, you need to get away from the office for a while with one another. AMA believes it’s time for your team to experience the key benefits of a retreat. Here’s why!

1. Your Team Gets a Chance to Build Relationships

During the work day, relationships may be difficult to build. Some team members may prefer to focus on work during the work day, while others never really have a chance to interact with one another. During a retreat, however, you get a chance to build relationships and bond with one another in a way that often doesn’t happen during the typical business day.

2. You Have a More Constructive Environment to Talk

Often, your team members have great ideas, but they’re never sure it’s exactly the right time to share them. During a retreat, on the other hand, they have the perfect chance to chat with other members of the team, including management, and suggest those great ideas. It could be the next great idea that improves your office!

3. You Can Take a Focused Look at the Big Picture

During a retreat, you’re away from the day-to-day grind of the office: the paperwork; the repetitive tasks that have to be completed every week; the software that refuses to work the way you want it to. Often, this is a great chance to take a more focused look at the big picture that drives your company: the company’s values, its plans, and its goals for the future.

4. You Give Team Members a Chance to Decompress

During a retreat, many team members have a chance to unwind in a way that they simply don’t during any other work activity. Hosting a retreat immediately after your busy season or a high-stress project is a great way to help decrease stress levels and help get your team ready to come back and start working on their next project.

Does your team need a chance to get away together: to enjoy some bonding and experience the other key benefits of a retreat? Click here to contact us today to learn how AMA Executive Conference Centers can offer the perfect retreat and recharge meeting support in Atlanta, New York City, Washington DC and San Francisco!

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone to Achieve Success

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The fear of stepping out into the unknown is limiting the majority from realizing success in various aspects of their lives. You need to understand that it is impossible to achieve your dreams without overcoming the fears within, and taking risks. Most people are okay with their comfort zone, which hinders them from achieving success.

Here are some tips for meeting and event professionals who wish to step out of their comfort zone, in pursuit of success:

Begin with Baby Steps

Jumping out of your comfort zone in pursuit of your dream as an event professional is not a good idea. If you want to minimize the chances of failure, you need to exercise some caution when taking risks. Event and meeting professionals who start off with baby steps as they try to get out of their comfort zone have shown a higher rate of achieving success.

The desire to rise in your career fast is sometimes overwhelming, and it may force some individuals to return to their comfort zone when they fail to realize what they are pursuing. If you wish to reach your career goals with a solid foundation, consider stepping out of your comfort zone by taking baby steps at the initial stages.

View Failure As A Teacher

“Experience is the best teacher” goes the adage, but you can also learn a lot through failure. Organizing meetings and events is not a simple task, and the successful completion of activities is not a guarantee. If things fail to turn out as you expect after a specific meeting, take time to consider what you need to adjust, and any missing details you need to examine. Viewing failure as a teacher is a great approach to success for meeting and event professionals.

Embrace Discomfort

Professionals in the meeting industry interact with various professionals from time to time, and engaging particular individuals for the first time is a challenge at times. It is okay to feel uncomfortable when networking or working with new people on projects, but if you want to grow as an event professional, you need to get comfortable with discomfort.

Withstanding the discomfort of being around new faces for the first time for a longer time than usual, and embracing the challenge by practicing some more, will make you feel less uncomfortable. The short-term activity of embracing discomfort will eventually have you realizing success as a meeting and event professional.

Streamline Your Workflow and Planning Projects With Trello

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The devil is in the details when it comes to meeting and event planning. No matter the size of your event, everyone involved needs to be on the same page at all times. Trello is the web-based tool we think is a hidden gem in our industry – one that you need to keep projects organized and on schedule.

How Trello Works

Trello functions like a digital whiteboard to share lists and tasks with your team members. Create a board for each project, then populate it with lists to complete each step of your workflow. The tasks on each list are called cards.  Your collaborators can add comments, checklists, due dates, files, weblinks, or more to these cards. Through labels and color coding, your lists will create clear and straight forward steps to achieve project goals.

By using Trello, all your notes, versions, and attachments are centralized in one place for easy access. Trello works with multiple operating systems and seamlessly transitions across devices through the app. Trello even integrates tools you might already be using, like Dropbox and Google Docs.

Latest Features

Trello Team Playbooks
Team Playbooks are ‘ready to go’ board templates. Whether you are marketing an event, planning a wedding, or tracking your personal productivity, Trello has a helpful board set up for you. Use Team Playbooks to take the guess work out of creating your first project with the program.

Power-Ups
Get the most out of Trello by integrating with Slack, Google Drive, and much more. Unleash the power of custom fields, calendars, or even BlueJeans Meetings by customizing the Trello with Power-Ups.

Trello Users

While many large companies – including Google and National Geographic – use Trello, the application is scalable to any size event or team. Whether you’re planning a major corporate convention or the regular weekly team meeting, jump into using Trello to organize your workflow. Contact us to learn more about how you can use Trello to plan your next event.

At AMA Executive Conference Centers, we are passionate about helping event and meeting planners maximize their time and improve their work-life harmony. Click here for more information about our executive meeting services and conference centers in Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC.

Making Workplace Stress Work For You

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We all know about stress in the workplace, but not everybody knows how to make that stress work for them, rather than against them. Stress is basically frustrated energy with no place to go. Managing that same stress means putting it somewhere. Below are some stress reduction tips that can be implemented in the workplace; at the individual, group, and organization levels.

  • Incorporate A Wellness Program
    There are several free technology applications that build employee engagement by tracking healthy habits, both physically and mentally. Virgin Pulse is a highly recommended platform, as it promotes a healthy work-life balance. Pulse also allows the employees’ friends and family to join. This is a great application for tracking activities, create personal goals, challenge other members, and promote self-awareness to improve overall healthy wellbeing.
  • Smile, Laugh Or Take A Few Breathes
    Taking a moment to reflect on something that makes you smile, a moment that made you laugh, or even taking pause to breathe deeply might not eradicate the stress; however, studies show that it does release stress to manually substitute a positive emotion. Redirecting a negative reaction is a simple, unobtrusive means to reset that frustrated energy.
  • Journal It Out
    Journaling is a great tool to track triggers of individual stress. Tracking and monitoring individual behaviors may prove insightful. Some might correlate a lack of sleep, missed lunch, or a day filled with back-to-back meetings as more stressful days.  One might realize that it was sleep deprivation that put a strain on the day, and not the fault of a coworker. The journal might just highlight a need for greater preparedness, and that having snacks on hand in a pinch might make the day less aggravating.
  • Form A Diversity And Inclusion Committee
    Committees are a fantastic way to empower employees to positively contribute to the organizational culture and workplace environment. Having different viewpoints, perspectives, and opinions about conflicts or areas for improvement are beneficial to accurately identify problems and resolve them more effectively. According to Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, feeling included among peers reduces workplace stress and anxiety.

Leave behind the stress of finding a center for your next conference or meeting – connect with AMA Executive Conference Centers. Let us take care of the meeting space, while you take care of business!

Don’t Waste Time: Plan Meetings That Are Effective and Engaging

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It’s no secret that attending meetings can often become an unpopular activity with employees. Increasingly hectic work schedules combined with the decreased attention span of the millennial population has made it even more difficult to run productive internal meetings. Nonetheless, meetings are often an important part of running a successful business. It’s not too late to change your meeting tactics, engage your employees, and increase productivity. Here are some novel ideas to help you do just that.

Engage All Employees In The Conversation

One of the most frustrating habits that a manager leading a meeting can have is talking at the group, rather than with the group. This quickly leads to inattention and frustration. Rather, a suggested tactic is “call on people gently and strategically.” Evaluate who would be a relevant participant in the topic, and then invite them to speak. Not only will this involve employees, it will increase the flow of ideas.

Encourage And Show Empathy

In order to receive meaningful feedback, it is critical to ensure employees feel comfortable enough to speak without judgment. This allows people to offer their ideas as well as “act as individual agents of change.” Not only will your organization flourish, but employees will begin to flourish as well.

Set Ground Rules And Stick To Them

There is nothing like a manager who sets policies but never adheres to them. Employees not only regard their manager in a negative light, but they are unlikely to follow the policies themselves. It is important to structure a meeting to provide expectation management; that said, ground rules must be taken seriously. For example, try a no-device policy that is coupled with a time limit on the meeting. Tech-free meetings are often more focused and therefore, tasks are accomplished more quickly. These types of policies are effective in engaging your office population, if they are properly adhered to.

Keep Meetings Small

A major point of frustration in many offices is the experience of sitting through a meeting that is irrelevant. It is important for those leading and scheduling meetings to keep them thin, inviting only the necessary participants. Many successful companies adhere to this model, and the result is increased efficiency. Do your best to only bring in critical participants – you can always reconvene if you need different inputs.

These tactics are great for small gatherings, large meetings, and even conferences. Here at AMA Executive Conference Centers, our top priority is helping deliver effective meeting solutions to leaders and professionals. We look forward to the opportunity to host your next meeting at one of our Centers in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco. For more information, contact us here.

One of the Most Important Events of 2019: Global Meetings Industry Day

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No matter what stage you’re at in your meeting or events professional career, Thursday, April 4th, 2019 should be blocked out on your calendar as the day you tune in on one of the most important days in the meetings industry. Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) is a day of celebration –  industry leaders from over 40 countries spanning 6 continents come together in one global message that “meetings matter!” Whether your business focuses on meetings, conventions, conferences, exhibitions, trade shows or special events, this is the day to learn how meetings are impacting the world.

For GMID, follow the branded hashtag #GMID19 and #WorthMeetingAbout to follow events and activities hosted around the world – watch, listen and join the conversation to gain insight that can boost your business and network. You may also tune into a live all-day live online broadcast of education focused on GMID that’s being hosted by the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) association – CLICK HERE for more information and to register for this free online stream.

  • See how professionals are inviting customers, business leaders, political and sector leaders to join the campaign of meeting advocacy
  • Experience education that promotes industry-wide cohesion, ensuring that the benefits of in-person meetings are known and understood
  • Gain insight into what Millennials want from meetings and how to keep them engaged on all levels
  • Learn why conventions are referred to as Urban Innovators and Economic Accelerators
  • See how you can use meetings to build strong communities, create personal connections, and promote positive business outcomes
  • And so many more take-aways that you will benefit from!

According to a survey conducted by Meetings Mean Business Coalition on 150 business leaders, 92% of the respondents said they plan on investing as much if not more capital into face-to-face meetings, conferences, and other events as they did the previous year. It also reflects the time-tested sentiment that meetings are considered an utmost priority and an investment that achieves a greater return than even technology or customer research. AMA Executive Conference Centers is proud to be a part of the meetings industry…because when meetings come to town, everybody benefits!

Are you contributing to this $2.65 trillion in global economic impact by planning meetings for your company or client in 2019? Click here to contact us and discover how AMA Executive Conference Centers can help you deliver a masterful and engaging presentation at one of our venues in Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

3 Guidelines That Will Change How You Plan

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Meeting planning is so much more difficult than many people think, and if you don’t keep on top of every detail, you can easily become overwhelmed and wind up in a time crunch. Thankfully, there are ways to avoid this. Follow these major guidelines below and never dread your planning deadlines again!

Start Early

This can’t be emphasized enough: you need to begin planning as soon as possible, ideally a year or more before, but definitely as soon as the meeting date is defined. Everything – finding a venue, hiring event staff – everything will be more difficult, and more time-consuming the longer you wait. Give yourself and your clients a break and give yourself plenty of time to set up a checklist of things to do, and put that checklist in the form of a timeline that you share with your clients as well. That way, everybody is on the same page and knows what needs to be taken care of and when.

Use Technology

Let technology do the heavy lifting for you. Nowadays there are numerous ways in which the herculean task of meeting planning can be made easier by utilizing the proper software, project management apps, and marketing automation tools. On average, companies that use planning software save themselves a whopping 223 hours per year.

Focus

You may think you’re great at multi-tasking and that in fact, you’re being more efficient by doing so. However, recent research conducted by Stanford University refutes that notion. According to the study, high multi-taskers were more prone to distraction and had less retention than low multi-taskers. Distraction is a primary time-wasters, so it’s clear that an ability to focus rather than to spread yourself too thin trying to do many things at once will be far more efficient. If necessary, delegate tasks so you can keep laser-focused.

If you take these tips onboard, you’ll find your days go more smoothly and your deadlines won’t loom over you. To ease your burden even more, click here to contact with AMA Executive Conference Centers and lock down your venue meeting dates for Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC!

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Visit Atlanta For Awesome Spring Break Activities

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Spring Break is a time to let loose and have a little fun…even if you’re traveling for business. If visiting Atlanta or our AMA Atlanta Center during Spring Break the awesome news is that you can find plenty to do that will keep you entertained! Here are three activities that are favorites for our AMA Atlanta team and their visiting guests:

Take A World of Coca Cola Tour:

Anyone who has sipped an ice-cold Coca Cola knows how refreshing this amazing beverage can be. Did you know that you can also tour the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta? That’s right! The World of Coca-Cola is located at 121 Baker Street Northwest Downtown and is generally open on most days from 10 am to 5 pm.

The tour will show you over 200 rare Coca-Cola artifacts, and you can sample over 100 different flavors and varieties of Coca-Cola beverages that have been on the market over the decades. Most visitors spend at least two or three hours enjoying all of the exhibits. Then you get to head over to the test kitchen to enjoy over 100 samples of different Coca-Cola variety beverages that have gotten released in the years past.

Each visitor ages 12+ will pay $17 for entry and children ages 3-12 pay $13. These will include your beverage packages and drink samples, as well as access to all of the various artifacts and displays that the World of Coca-Cola has to offer. Booking your tour is the way to guarantee admission as each tour is limited to 10 participants for a personal experience.

Tour Atlanta By Electric Car:

The new electric car tours while also keeping the environment around Atlanta as clean as possible. These tours last approximately 90 minutes and will take you everywhere throughout Atlanta. Whether you live here or have just come to town to visit, you will see all of the city’s famous sights such as The World of Coca Cola Museum and Centennial Olympic Park. You can also enjoy the views of various headquarters that have gotten based in Atlanta such as CNN or the Coca-Cola company. Enjoy a drive through classic neighborhoods such as Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, and Midtown.

Each tour is guided by a local history expert who will share fascinating information about Atlanta’s downtown area and teach you what you need to know to appreciate this great city for everything that it has to offer.

Tickets for the Electric Car Tour cost $36.00 per person and can get purchased via Viator.com (A TripAdvisor Company).

Eat Your Way Around Atlanta with Our Southern Atlanta Food Tour:

If you come from a family of foodies, then the Southern Atlanta Food Tour will provide you with the perfect day trip or excursion. You will travel throughout the city of Atlanta for approximately 3.5 hours while tasting approximately 15 different foods at 7 of the area’s most popular restaurants. Everything from sampling a wide variety of southern foods to enjoying the Smoke Ring’s BBQ or the Arden Gardens fruit juice smoothies become options when you take in what this diverse tour has to offer.

Please note that this is a WALKING tour of Atlanta, so moderate physical activity is part of the tour package. There are no other means of transportation that come provided by this tour.

Tickets for this tour run at $75.00 and include all of your food samples at all of your stops throughout the tour. You can purchase your tickets via Viator.com (a TripAdvisor Company).

If you are looking for fun Spring Break activities to participate in while in Atlanta for business, you don’t have to look far. Try out some of our suggested activities and learn all about the city that you are visiting (or have lived in for years through these fun tour experiences).

For further information on hosting your next meeting at our AMA Atlanta Center, or need ideas for fun activities to do when visiting, please feel free to contact us for further assistance.

Everything Is Important – How to Prioritize Your Workload

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As a meetings professional, you undoubtedly have a to-do list a mile long intertwined with meetings – and every client or project is THE MOST important. So how do you manage your workload when seemingly everything is important? Setting up a balanced and consistent routine are keys to managing your workload well. Here are a few tips to help you start managing your workload more effectively.

Write It All Down

Whether it’s handwritten in a notebook on your desk or a running list on your computer, write down every commitment you make, when you make it. Write down deadlines, write down meetings, and make sure you also write down any personal obligations as well so you can make an effort to plan around them. Being able to see everything in one place is helpful in picking out what you need to prioritize.

Plan Your To-Do Lists

Connected to the tip above, take the time to plan out your to-do lists. At the beginning of each week take 20-30 minutes to review your commitments and deadlines for the week and prioritize your weekly to-do list. Then at the beginning of each day take no more than 10 minutes to look through and prioritize your tasks for the day.

Do One Thing at a Time

We all want to believe we multitask well, but the truth is that we can never complete anything to the fullest of our abilities by working on multiple tasks at once. It takes a lot of mental effort to start and stop a task. Plan to work on one item until it is completed or until you reach a reasonable stopping place to move on to something else. Devoting your entire attention to the task at hand will ensure that you are doing your best work and help you complete the task faster.

Don’t Try to Do it All

Sometimes you just have to say no. You can’t be everything to everyone or take on every task someone asks you to. You have to figure out the best ways to scale your time. Focus on the things that you are truly good at and enjoy, delegate other tasks. Doing this allows you to focus on and do your best work while also giving others the chance to step up.

Take a Minute

Give yourself some downtime. Whether it’s a couple of minutes to take a walk outside every day during lunch or two days home with your family, make time for yourself. The workload you have will expand and contract over time. Make sure you take advantage of your downtime to really recharge.

If your workload is overwhelming you, try implementing just a few of these tips to prioritize and balance your workload. Create or adapt your routine to follow some of these guidelines and you will find yourself breathing a little easier each day. If you are in need of help planning a work meeting or conference, contact AMA Executive Conference Centers and we can help mark that to-do off your list too!

3 TED Talks To Get Your Team Working Together

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It’s vital in business that you find ways for everyone on your team to contribute their own ideas – so you can find the best possible way to help your clients. Each employee brings a unique perspective and skill set to the table. A group of people working together in collaboration can do so much more than any of us can do alone.

Although you might understand the value of collaboration, some days it feels easier to just sit at your desk with headphones in and your head down working. Take a break from the usual and watch one or all of these TED Talks that discuss working together in unique ways and help remind us about the power of collaboration!

 Dan Cobley: What Physics Taught Me About Marketing

Most people wouldn’t think that physics and marketing are similar disciplines at all, but Dan Cobley proves them wrong. In this funny and insightful talk, he manages to make comparisons that you probably couldn’t have thought of without his unique background. By combining his expertise and passion for two really different subjects, he can look at problems in a whole new way. That’s why it is so important to work with people with diverse experiences and perspectives. You never know what dynamic new ideas could come out of a new combination of unique people.

 Linda Hill: How to Manage for Collective Creativity

It’s easy to sit in meetings and talk about how a group should be collaborating. It’s so much more difficult to actually implement change. In her talk, Linda Hill gives concrete strategies and examples that can help anyone to collaborate better.

Shade Zahrai and Aric Yegudkin: The Rhythmic Beauty of Collaboration

This one might be cheating because it’s not technically a talk; it’s a dance performance, but it did happen at a TED event. Neither dancer is the “lead”. Rather, they are both able to showcase their own skills while building off of each other. The dancers beautifully illustrate the magic that can come out of a good collaboration.

We hope these talks will help you understand the value of teamwork and collaboration in your company. At AMA Executive Conference Centers, we offer meeting spaces that help companies bring their meetings and conferences to life. With locations in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco – click here to learn more about hosting your meeting with AMA.