Archive for category: General Information

With the holidays upon us and as I wrap-up my fourth year in business, there’s no better time to say “Thank You” to my clients and business partners.

I’m so very fortunate to have both wonderful clients and partners in business and I truly appreciate your business, loyalty and friendship.

THANK YOU, Clients (you know who you are).
I appreciate that you have many choices and that you choose to work with me and MJMeetings. I will never take that for granted. I appreciate our partnership and how we treat each other fairly and with respect. That’s the best way to do business. I appreciate each of your meetings and events and love partnering with you to make them better, year after year.

THANK YOU, Vendor Partners (you know who you are).
I appreciate our professional working relationships. I work hard to ensure I’m being a good and fair partner with you. I appreciate your hard work on behalf of my clients to ensure their meetings and events are booked in the perfect venue, making use of the best-suited technologies, and more.

THANK YOU, Family and Friends (you know who you are).
I appreciate your support and cheerleading my efforts as an entrepreneur. I appreciate your interest in my work and my clients’ missions and the love you share with me as I continue to travel down this road as a small business owner.

THANK YOU, Melissa Whitaker.
My first Lieutenant and extra right-hand. You’re always there to help when I need you and are a trusted resource. You’re happy to help with project work or assist on-site to execute an event. I appreciate your expertise and I trust your every move.

THANK YOU, Mic Johnson.
You’re more than just a business partner. You tackle everything from marketing, business development and bookkeeping with ease. You’re more than just my spouse – you serve as a sounding board, motivator and business acumen educator. I appreciate every little (and big) thing you do to ensure that MJMeetings is a successful enterprise. I couldn’t do this business without your love and support.

More than any other time of year, now is the best time to step back, reflect and share appreciation. I’m so lucky and GRATEFUL to be able to do what I love every day. The icing on the cake is that I get to do it working for myself, at home in a business I built with my spouse. What a wonderful life indeed!

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Post written by Missy Johnson, Principal, MJMeetings, LLC | Meetings Consultant | Gourmet Food & Wine Enthusiast | Sports Fan

I’ve had several questions rolling around in my head lately covering a wide range of topics related to the state of our industry.

I wanted to write them down to get them out of my head and it turned into a blog post! I hope you enjoy my thoughts…and I’d love to hear from you if you have something to add.

Q: What are the most timely and relevant issues facing meeting planners today? What is most concerning?

A: Meeting Planners are faced with many critical issues with each event.

But today’s hot topics center around meeting design and strategy to match organizational missions, shorter planning windows, budget constraints, travel restrictions and understanding and integrating emerging technologies.

Sounds like a lot to deal with, right? It is and that’s the main reason that the role of meeting planner is consistently ranked as one of the most stressful professions around.

Q: How much longer before we swing away from this deep seller’s market? How will meeting budgets continue to keep pace?

A: According to many things I’ve read in the trade publications lately, the meetings industry is projected for a continuation of the seller’s market at least through 2018 which will further pressure planner’s budgets.

Continued growth in many segments drives a healthy market leading to increased employment, overall favorable and growing business conditions and increased attendance at both live and virtual events. Good news in many ways but it also adds near-term challenges for planners with no real end in sight.

Q: What are some of the biggest areas of change that the meetings industry will face in the next year?

A: When the global economy is doing well, market conditions are more favorable for our industry. This results in infrastructure investments and budget increases making live events more significant.

On the other hand, when economic development is lagging, meeting planners must prove resilient and find creative ways to conduct business in the face of challenges like smaller budgets, shorter lead times and market demand. If our economy changes drastically one way or the other, meeting planners will need to adapt quickly and understand how these changes affect the big picture of meetings and events.

Technology is another issue that’s transforming our industry. Planners have to be experts at all the new technologies that can enhance or alter live-streaming, audience engagement and behind-the-scenes logistics.

Now, planners have to carve out time to fully understand the opportunities within their events that technology can enhance, learn all of the best options available to address it and then implement the tech while keeping risk mitigation in mind too.

Q: Are we doing enough to promote our industry and support those of us who work within it, especially in the face of a dived political landscape and national policies that impact our industry?

A: A few years ago, our industry organizations banded together to form and support the Meetings Mean Business coalition to be a united voice about the value of meetings, conventions, exhibitions, trade shows and other travel related face-to-face events.

Each year the coalition works to advocate for our industry through congressional lobbying efforts to educate our political leaders on the value of our industry.

They also organize industry professionals around the globe who rally each year around the Global Meetings Industry Day – a campaign that raises awareness about the value of face-to-face events in all communities around the world.

All these efforts aside, our industry is still facing enormous challenges and is attacked almost daily by divisive and challenging travel bans and the tragic increase in terror attacks where small and large groups of people gather together. We need to work as a community of professionals to ensure our meetings and events can continue to happen in the face of these challenges.

Thanks for taking the time to read and share this post! Questions about your next event? Just email or call me at missy@mjmeetings.com at 913.645.6649 to get the conversation started.

Post written by Missy Johnson, Principal, MJMeetings, LLC | Meetings Consultant | Gourmet Food & Wine Enthusiast | Sports Fan

Emergency Disaster Preparedness (EDP) is not a fun topic, I know. But, with all the bad news lately it’s been on my mind. In addition, it’s a critical part of meeting and event production.

If you aren’t spending adequate time (in some cases up to 25% of your overall planning hours) on EDP, then you’re playing the odds.

Threats to an event’s success are all around us – disruptions that range from weather events (hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes) – to cyberattacks – to terrorism.

Meetings and events are a soft, easy target for disrupters, bad actors and even radical rebels. So what should you be thinking about before something awful happens? Here are some of my big picture thoughts…

1. Start with Communication

With any disaster, your first step is to communicate to your vendors, attendees, board, sponsors and other stakeholders. When disaster strikes, the last thing you want to be thinking about is “Who should be sending this email or making this phone call?”

Within your organization, you should have a communication tree pre-built so that it’s easy to identify the right staff person at the right time for the right situation.

Ensure you involve marketing, PR or the communications rep to help you craft the appropriate responses when communication is vital.

2. Solid Contracts are Just the Beginning

Contractual and legal protections for your meeting or event are just the tip of the iceberg. You want to be legally prepared for an emergency. If you have solid contracts,  you will be.

However, if your meeting or event is very large in scale or financial gain, you’ll want to think about taking formal and proper planning measures such as risk evaluation, contingency planning and most important, strong vendor partner relationships.

In one survey of planners who had been through meeting EDP planning, they listed vendor trust as the most needed resource for disruption planning.

A vendor partner’s cooperative behavior, creativity, resources and financial capabilities were viewed as strong indicators of building that trust.

3. SOP’s to Keep It Simple

Having standard operating procedures (SOP’s), organizational policies and procedures and crisis management manuals at your fingertips will ease the pain of dealing with an event disaster.

Many people, including key staff and leaders, may be in a state of shock following an emergency and yet swift action is required by event planners to make decisions about what happens next.

If you have all of your SOP’s ready and handy so that all you have to do is follow the steps that are already laid out, taking action is simplified and requires less critical thinking at a time when you or others might not have the state of mind to handle it.

What other things have helped you with EDP and how did it help? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Need help with planning your next meeting or event, give me a call at 913-645-6649 or send an email to missy@mjmeetings.com.

Post written by Missy Johnson, Principal, MJMeetings, LLC | Meetings Consultant | Gourmet Food & Wine Enthusiast | Sports Fan

I’m a big sports fan. Many of you already know about my love of the Kansas City Royals, but I’m also an avid fan of the Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas City Chiefs.

Most people today enjoy watching sports either live or on TV, so it’s probably no surprise that I often use a sports analogy to explain to those outside the meetings industry what I do and how I do it.

I’m a professional quarterback.

Yep, that’s exactly how I see myself. As a meeting planner, I need to have all of the same traits as a good quarterback – strong communication skills, ability to delegate tasks effectively, ability to inspire teammates, passion to work a plan of attack, desire to keep moving forward until the touchdown is achieved – and I could keep going.

I see myself as the quarterback of a group of people who are trying to achieve a single goal. To accomplish that, there are several skills the quarterback needs to possess to get into the end zone time and time again. Here are just a few:

Talent and Passion

All the best QB’s have enormous talent born out of years and years of practice.

They all have a burning passion for the game that shows itself through commitment, heart and grit for a game they love.

I DO THE SAME THING.

I have a talent for meeting planning that began over 20 years ago and I’ve had the same commitment to becoming better at it every day since.

My passion for this industry and my job is also evident in what I bring to the table and to my clients every day…it’s called enthusiasm.

Plan the Work / Work the Plan / Execute Effectively

Great QB’s begin with a game plan that has been carefully crafted based on study of the opponent and strengths of their team.

After the plan is developed, the team works through the plan by practicing to ensure they know their assignments for game day. Then, the QB inspires other teammates to execute their part of the plan to achieve the goal.

I DO THE SAME THING.

It’s my job to develop a great plan for my clients…timelines, budgets and planning templates are created and then followed up on throughout the planning process. The effective execution of the plan is easily done when a great plan in put in place. And when the game is on the line, that’s when you want a veteran meeting planner leading your team down the field.

Leadership and Communication

A quarterback is a leader because they have to be able to inspire others to action, communicate effectively with teammates and coaches, and bring their talent and passion to the field every day to create and execute an effective game plan. That’s a tall order but that’s what leaders do.

I DO THE SAME THING.

I must inspire those around me to fulfill their responsibilities and communicate effectively with every type and status of person in our society. I must lead a team of people to make every event successful and memorable.

If you’re looking for a professional quarterback for your next meeting or event, you can reach me at 913-645-6649 or missy@mjmeetings.com.

Continue levitra Post written by Missy Johnson, Principal, MJMeetings, LLC | Meetings Consultant | Gourmet Food & Wine Enthusiast | Sports Fan

“In the hospitality industry, relationships are paramount.” 

I remember a seasoned industry employee sharing this sentiment with me when I first started in this business over twenty years ago, and it’s proven to be true time and time again in my career.

Many people work in industries where relationship building is important to their jobs, but why are relationships so important in the hospitality industry? The reasons are many, but here are my top three:

1.Colleagues who work together often become friends.
I’ve made so many friends in this industry over my career who started as work colleagues and representatives of industry suppliers. These relationships are some of my most valued in business and in life. When two people work together to solve problems and do business together, it deepens the meaning of the relationship and strengthens it over time so that each encounter is more important than the last.

2.It’s much better to negotiate a deal with someone you know well than vs. a perfect stranger.
Contract negotiations can often be tough and contentious with both parties standing up for what they think is fair. Doing this exercise with someone you have an existing relationship with allows for more open and honest communication…and generally a more fair contract that both sides feel good about.

3.Great relationships in this industry lead to great career opportunities.
I’ve been the recipient of several great opportunities over my career because of existing relationships that had been nurtured for years.

Having a reputation for being a hard worker with high character and an excellent work ethic will take you to wonderful places if you also have relationships to help open doors for you along the way.

In my 20+ year career in the hospitality industry, I’ve found that the most valuable thing I’ve taken with me from one opportunity to the next…and from one organization to another…are the relationships I’ve built along the way.

I’ve remained close with work colleagues, industry suppliers and other meeting professionals who have added lasting value and meaning to what I do each day. These relationships carry more and more meaning with each passing year because they fulfill and deepen my life both at work and at play.

I’d love to hear stories about how relationships have impacted your life. Share a story in the Comments section below.

Interested in learning how I can save both time and money on your meetings and events? I’d love to chat. You can reach me at 913-645-6649 or missy@mjmeetings.com.