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Corbin's
Meetings Technology Newsletter - March 2000 March
1, 2000 As
the crocuses are poking their heads above ground here in beautiful Bellingham,
here is the latest issue of my newsletter. Thanks to AllMeetings.com
for helping to sponsor this issue. There have been many additions to my Web site
in the past two months with four new articles, 12 Excel meeting planning tools,
an updated favorites file, and more. If
you have questions, comments or suggestions about this issue or what you would
like to see in future issues, please let me know. Corbin *********************************************************************** [NEW
ARTICLE] ADVANCES
IN ONSITE TRADESHOW TECHNOLOGY Technology
is making the job of a show manager onsite easier while improving services to
show attendees and exhibitors. These
efficiencies include streamlined registration, electronic messaging, lead
retrieval, product locators, cyber cafes, online job banks, personal
calendars/appointment makers, surveys and more. This article touches on a number
of these advances. http://www.corbinball.com/articles/art-tradeshowtech.htm
*********************************************************************** [NEW
ARTICLE] CONFERENCE
COST-CUTTING CONCEPTS - 222 BUDGET CUTTING IDEAS This is
a compilation of meeting planning cost cutting ideas pickup up over the years. A
ton of good ideas will help you cut your meeting costs substantially. http://www.corbinball.com/articles/art-costcuts.html
*********************************************************************** [NEW
ARTICLE] MORE
THAN 300 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEETING'S BOTTOM LINE Compiled
by Louisa Davis, CMP/CMM There
are many, many ways to improve your meeting's bottom line. Sometimes it isn't just a matter of increasing revenues or
decreasing expenses, but of "working smarter" to save time and effort
or by changing the way you do things to bring more perceived value to your
meeting and its content. There is a
wealth of ideas here for any meeting planner that wishes to save costs. This
is Louisa Davis version of the same theme – one of the best compilation of
ideas to be seen anywhere with 313 nicely organized suggestions. http://www.corbinball.com/articles/art-300costsavers.htm *********************************************************************** [NEW
ARTICLE] Signage
Style Guide for Meetings, Conferences and Events This
is an “Elements of Style” guide for making event signs, categorized and full
of ideas and examples. I picked up these tips over a couple of decades a meeting
planning. This
article may be unique and is only available at corbinball.com. I have never seen
a similar one offered by any of the meeting publications. However, Meeting News
has just called and has asked to put it in their forthcoming Meeting Planners
Handbook to be issued in a month or so. So be the first to see it at my site! Check
it out and improve your signs at meetings. http://www.corbinball.com/articles/art-signs.htm *********************************************************************** [12
MEETING PLANNING EXCEL TOOL AVAILABLE ONLINE] Twelve
Excel tools for meeting planners are now available for free at my web site.
These worksheet tools have been developed and honed over years of planning
international, citywide technology meetings. Although designed for large,
association meetings, many of the tools are applicable to many types and sizes
of meetings. Included are meeting specifications, a catering cost estimator, a
hotel pickup tracker, an onsite staff hours bid/labor calculator, an AV
equipment bid sheet, a sign list, a packing list and more. All are annotated,
can be used online, and can be saved to a local disk or hard drive for off-line
use. To
quote Lisa Shimusu, regarding these tools: “I
just finished looking through some of your Excel tools.
While I once thought my specs were the greatest, I now stand corrected. Yours are very cool. Thanks
for making them available.” http://www.corbinball.com/tips.articles.htm
*********************************************************************** [COOL
ADDITIONS TO CORBIN’S “FAMOUS FAVORITES FILE”] My
file represents the most comprehensive list of categorized Web site Favorites
for the meetings and hospitality industries found on the Internet – with more
than 1,200 listings. It especially focuses on meetings technology. I have just
updated the index to make it a little easier to use. http://www.corbinball.com/tips.list.corbinslist.htm
***** Check
out the following new discoveries: Gurunet
This
great utility application allow you to click on any word in and Windows
application, bring up a small browser window that will give you dictionary
definitions, encyclopedia look ups (when applicable), word translations,
regional information/maps/weather (if the word is a place), company bullets if
the word is a company. ***** Two
security sites are also worth checking out: Gibson
Research In
a number of presentations about web security, I have made the statement “you
are anonymous to a web site unless you tell them who you are.”
Although this is generally a true statement, I stand corrected from this
site. When
I clicked on their demonstration, the next screen welcomed me by full name –
and give my some detail regarding my hard drive! The best thing about this site,
however, is that it provides a detailed analysis of any security flaws you may
have and gives step-by-step procedures to correct.
Even if you thought you have followed all of the general security
precautions (as I did), if you are not behind a firewall
when you log on, you may be
very surprised as to how vulnerable you computer is. ****** Zone
Labs A
free personal firewall (ZoneAlarm 2.0) This
is another great security site! As DSL and cable modems become more common, a
significant security risk is developing. These connections are always on (you
don’t have to log on). Once you try these high bandwidth options, you will
never go back to the snail’s pace of a standard phone line. However, since
they are always on, they are more prone to hackers that are looking for active
IP sessions (when you are logged on) to hack into. If
you or your company does not have a firewall, this site is a must! It offers an
easy to install, free firewall that does protects very effectively against
hackers. After installing this program, I went back to the above Gibson Research
site and passed every aspect with flying colors. *********************************************************************** [CALL
FOR LINKS] My
goal is to provide the most comprehensive, up-to-date, categorized listing of
web site favorites for the meeting professionals available anywhere on the Web.
To quote Jeff Rasco, CMP (www.jeffrasco.com)
in a recent MIM List Posting: “Go
to Corbin Ball's site and check out his "Favorites". He's got the best
list around.” and
Paula Ringling at the same list: “Was
going to suggest you go to Corbin's site, but see that Joan and Jeff
beat me to it. However, I will "third" their recommendation, tis a
thing o' great beauty what Corbin has created . . .” ********************************************************************* [SOFTWARE
BOOK IS THE TOP-SELLER AT RECENT MPI CONGRESS] My
book “The Ultimate Meeting Professional's Software Guide,” published by MPI
(www.mpiweb.org) was the top seller in the MPI Bookstore at the recent MPI
Professional Education Conference in Nashville just over a month ago.
Retail price through the MPI Bookstore (972-702-3044) is under $25US for
MPI members and under $35US for non-members. https://www3.mpiweb.org/bookstore/index.cfm
*********************************************************************** [CORBIN’S
SPEAKING SCHEDULE] My
speaking schedule is filling rapidly for 2000.
Bookings in the next couple of months will be taking me to Phoenix, Hong
Kong, San Diego, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Nashville and Chicago.
I would love to bring a high quality, up-to-date technology presentation
to your group that is guaranteed to entertain, educate and make you look like a
hero – or your money back! The
current list of customizable programs can be found at: http://www.corbinball.com/presentations.htm
Frequently
asked questions about hiring Corbin: http://www.corbinball.com/presentations.faq.htm
Testimonials: My
most current confirmed schedule is listed at my web site: http://www.corbinball.com/presentations.calendar.htm
*********************************************************************** [CALL
FOR ARTICLES SPREADSHEETS, CHECKLISTS, DATABASE PROGRAMS, & OTHER COOL
TOOLS] Send
me your meeting planning spreadsheets, sample database files, checklists, and
any other tools you have developed using standard off-the-shelf software. I will
review and post the best ones at my site and include your name as the author and
other contact information if desired. Let's share from each other’s
experiences! Thanks
to Louisa Davis, CMM/CMP, the Administrative Director of the Metallurgical
Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) for
her article “More than 300 Ways to Improve Your Meeting's Bottom Line”
http://www.corbinball.com/articles/art-300costsavers.htm
And
thanks to Lisa Shimuzu, Corporate Meeting Planner for Milliman & Roberston,
Inc., for her Excel spreadsheet contribution http://216.150.11.39/corbinball/forms/xl-calendar.xls
*********************************************************************** [ASK
THE EXPERTS -- MEETING NEWS MAGAZINE ONLINE ALLIANCE] Do
you have a burning question about meeting planning software?
Check out my Meeting News “Ask The Expert” online column at their web
site. I have agreed do my best to answer most software-related questions with
the better ones posted on-line. The
latest edition compares two of the top corporate meeting planning software
packages: ISIS Gold 3.0 and Technologies Group's (TTG) Meeting Partner 4.1 among
other questions. http://www.meetingnews.com/ball.htm [MIM
LIST] For
a free, daily discussion email list dealing with timely meeting professionals
issues, I recommend the MIMList at www.mim.com.
This
list is hosted by one meeting industry’s most gifted and passionate educators
and advocates, Joan Eisenstodt. To
quote from the site: “Joan has long been acknowledged as the leading educator,
advocate, and expert for the meetings industry. As a planner with over 25 years
of experience, she provides rich resources and an insightful perspective. As a
communicator, she knows how to get a conversation going, and keep it focused. As
a professional, she is actively involved in leading professional associations,
and is the recipient of numerous industry awards. Joan's enthusiasm and
forthrightness are second to none. Join her and your professional peers in
focused discussions of industry issues.” It's
easy to subscribe to the MIMlist with a simple click of a mouse. As soon as you
do, you will automatically receive email messages from the other subscribers.
You can add your two cents to a discussion and reply to everyone on the list. Or
you can send a private email to any member who posts to the list. Or you can
just read the messages that catch your eye. Finally, you can unsubscribe from
the list quickly and easily if it does not meet your needs. Joan
and I were on the formation committee for the original MPINet forum through
CompuServe back in January of 1994. The MIMList comes the closest to matching
this original forum with the interesting and thought provoking exchange of
questions, concerns, ideas and answers by planners and suppliers that we had
back them. As
a hint, I signed up for the digest version delivered daily – rather than
having email delivered separately. http://www.mim.com/forum/reg.cfm
*********************************************************************** [TELL
A FRIEND -- SUBSCRIBE & UNSUBSCRIBE] If
you know of anyone that would benefit from my free electronic newsletter (sent
every two months) containing the latest in meetings technology in clear language
designed specifically for the meeting professional, please forward this
newsletter on. Alternatively, one can simply send an email message with
"subscribe" in the subject line to corbin@corbinball.com.
If you ever wish to unsubscribe, just send me a message with
"unsubscribe" in the subject line. Until
the next time, Corbin Sign up for Corbin's fee TechTalk
Newsletter distributed via email every 2 months in the
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