Connections Newsletter
The Connections
Newsletter, published several times per year, offers news, trends,
case studies, plus strategies and tips for engaging and inspiring audiences
at your events. If you'd like to receive this free newsletter, please
sign up now!
Current Issue: Fall 2008
In this Issue:
-
Moving people in more ways than one
Moving your celebration away from the office
So many sessions, so little time to register
Moving attendees with media productions
Moving people near and far
Venue Feature: The Depot Minneapolis, A Renaissance Hotel
Moving people in more ways than one
Whenever you are given the opportunity to make a powerful impression or impact, it's important to ask, “How do I want my guests to feel…” You might finish the sentence with, “after they enter the room?” or “following the Conference Opening Production?”
No matter what it is, you want your guests to be moved somehow and in some way. Maybe you move
them into action to sell more or to think differently. Or maybe you stir up some emotions in your guests with a powerful video presentation about overcoming obstacles.
The reaction of your guests is just as important as the actions you take to move them. In this issue, we discuss the many ways you can move them, either through a clever office party or a powerful media production. And don't forget how metroConnections can move your team, literally, with our transportation services.
As you begin to plan your programs for 2009, let us know what we can do to move your programs in the right direction.
Sam Thompson
President, metroConnections
Moving your celebration away from the office
Perfectly paired venues and entertainment make for memorable office holiday parties
A magical polar experience in an old train station…a swanky casino in a historic speakeasy…When you take your office party away from the office, entertaining your guests is the easy part.
The Minnesota Chapter of Meeting Planners International (MPI) hosted a holiday party for its members. As expected, the members were treated to food, beverages and networking, but they didn't expect to be transported to the North Pole via The Polar Express. Set within the walls of The Depot, a refurbished train station in downtown Minneapolis, the guests felt the magic of the holiday season through décor, lighting and custom-built props.
Now imagine incorporating that same magic into your office party. What if you transported your coworkers back to the days when Saint Paul was a safe haven for gangsters like John Dillinger and Ma Barker? Invite your guests to the Wabasha Street Caves, the very spot that hosted America's most wanted gangsters, for high stakes casino fun and interaction (secret password required).
There is a small percentage of the office population that is in charge of the office holiday party. As a matter of fact, if you sit on your holiday party planning committee…congratulations! Have we got a deal for you! If not, perhaps you'll forward this article to your committee when you're finished.
All kidding aside, the office holiday party can be one of the hardest things to plan because so many of the guests fear the unknown, questioning “what are they going to make us do?” That's why the party people at metroConnections are ready to help you throw a real crowd pleaser. We specialize in bringing people together and in making events come to life.
Casual. Elegant. Interactive. Anything is possible! Choose a popular party theme, or we can create a unique shindig that fits your group better than ergonomic desk chairs.
“metroConnections did a great job matching the décor to the theme of the event as well as enhancing the historic nature of the complex. The décor was simple, yet classy and elegant. metroConnections provided crossing arms near perfectly placed snow capped mountains and winter birch trees. The cocktail tables were lit with antique like lanterns, accentuating the theme. All the décor enhanced the already existing beauty & elegance of the historic Old Train Pavilion. The entire event was well received by the attendees and everyone really enjoyed themselves.”
Dawn Olson-Wallerus | Convention Service Manager | The Depot Minneapolis, A Renaissance Hotel
Please visit http://metroconnections.com/party/index.html
So many sessions, so little time to register
For multi-session conferences, move to the Session Scheduler solution
metroConnections' Conference Services division is the leader in providing web-based solutions to the meeting industry via their Attend-eSource® offering. The Session Scheduler, an offering within Attend-eSource®, is one of many solutions that have been bundled with the 500+ client registration web sites built and serviced annually.
Saint Paul-based Lawson Software needed a quick and easy way to register and schedule more than 800 sessions and breakouts for 5,000 attendees. With their current scheduling system, attendees spent hours scrolling through unique sessions that were only listed by date and time. The planners struggled with meeting space and session capacity due to the registration delays; and the popular sessions caused last-minute changes in meeting spaces after materials were printed.
To solve this common scheduling challenge, metroConnections, Inc. worked with Cardinal Communications to create Session Scheduler. “This easy and dynamic technology allows attendees to schedule their sessions and breakouts quickly in real-time,” notes Mike Graves, Senior Vice President of metroConnections. “After implementing Session Scheduler,attendees found that they saved time with the drag-and-drop approach to booking their sessions and other meetings.” Graves continues, “Attendees were able to complete their personal session schedule on a single visit, spending only three minutes (on average) and had up-to-date session availability. In addition, only paid attendees could schedule their sessions and unpaid attendees could not place a hold on valuable session seats.”
For Planners, Session Scheduler eased scheduling stresses. Planners obtained real-time reports, which allowed them to monitor the capacity of rooms or room conflicts for each breakout. All general or mandatory sessions were inserted in the attendees' calendars so that other meetings could not occur during those times. Also, ad hoc sessions, or “personal events,” could be added by the planner on the back end for conference speakers and VIPs.
“Session Scheduler solves the one-on-one speaker or executive appointment challenges at trade shows or conferences,” adds Graves. Meeting planners can set up the parameters of available time slots for individual meeting times on the administrative side of the application. Then, conference attendees to sign up for those one-one-one meetings on the conference web site calendar. Both appointments are then applied to the personal conference calendar for the speaker or executive as well as the attendee while allowing for webbased reporting to the meeting planner.
Could this solution work for you? Contact us today for a free Session Scheduler and Attend-eSource® consultation.
“For me, using this system was a great improvement over what we had before. On the back end, it was so easy to manage sessions, meeting rooms and presenters, and it was easy to update sessions and records. And on the front end, we got comments back that it was user-friendly.”
Sonja Lundeen | Manager of Event Technology Services | Triad Conference Services
Please visit http://www.metroconnections.com/cs-pages/cs-aes-cm.html
Moving attendees with media productions
A state-of-the-art editing suite continues the one-stop shop tradition
With a full-time team of editors and producers and a state-of-the-art in-house editing suite, metroConnections is collaborating with clients on compelling and memorable media productions and serving as their one-shop-stop vendor.
Life Time Fitness worked with metroConnections for their “Life Time University” event in August 2008. Brandt Krueger, Lead Creative Video Producer at metroConnections, and his team helped Life Time present its message through motivating and moving media presentations that were shown throughout the event. The images projected on the screen, both in picture and word form, presented a compelling message without using one video clip.
“This was more than just a PowerPoint, this is a montage of words and photos that meant something to them as a culture,” says Krueger. “The words within their mission statement are powerful, and we were able to convey that strength through creative editing.” When it comes to developing the message for the conference and its media presentations, David Graves, Senior Vice President - Event Production, explains, “If you come to the table with ideas, then we will get on board. But if you need help creating the concept, then we can all sit down to come up with the direction. We'll do as much or as little as you need us to do.”
For Life Time Fitness' Jess Elmquist, Vice President of Life Time University, the message was clear, but it was just deciding how to deliver the message. “Jess knew exactly what it wanted to say,” Krueger explains. “Our job is to then take the idea and add music and graphics so that the attendee feels the message the way Jess is expressing it.”
Quality and affordability are key
“metroConnections is delivering the same production quality as independent production studios,” says Graves. “So when a client contracts with us, the service is packaged in with the rest of the services resulting in great prices for our clients.”
Corporate clients are finding graphics and media services to be of such good quality and affordability that they're calling metroConnections even when the project is not attached to the larger production. “Some clients are coming to us specifically for the video work,” says Graves. “In the case of Woodbury Financial Services, they were really impressed with the quality of the conference productions we've handled for them, and now they are using our services for their destination videos as well.”
Just look at the advantages when using metroConnections’ media production group.
Consistent Message The vision is carried from start to finish, in all aspects of your event.
Collective Services metroConnections is your one-stop-shop for everything from media production to event décor.
Competitive Pricing Quality productions at an affordable price.
Creative Composition Attendees see seamless integration from video to PowerPoint, from conference opening video production to speaker presentations.
Classy Productions are professional and executed with the highest of standards.
Comparable Services metroConnections uses many of the same tools and effects as today’s industry leaders who only specialize in media and content creation.
“I have found metroConnections media group to be fast, efficient and professional with all the production that we have done with them. They consistently take an idea and make it better while staying true to the client’s vision.”
Jess Elmquist | Vice President of Life Time University | Life Time Fitness
Please visit http://www.metroconnections.com/prodserv.html
Moving people near and far
metroConnections' Transportation Team hits the road
Every July, the Transportation Team coordinates multiple motorcoaches to transport more than 5,600 students and chaperones for the FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) during their national leadership conference. This Transportation Team of experts didn't just operate the shuttles from the Minneapolis headquarters, they were onsite and a part of the action. The team traveled with FCCLA to Nashville in 2006, to Anaheim in 2007 and to Orlando in 2008.
Regardless of the city, metroConnections understands the overall travel needs of its clients. For the FCCLA conference, six metroConnections representatives coordinated the logistics for the week-long program. A fleet of local motorcoaches was contracted to provide the buses needed for this program. Additional staff was hired as needed on a temporary basis while in Orlando. In addition to the shuttle program, the team executed and facilitated events and tours for FCCLA attendees as well.
metroConnections creates highly successful results for its clients by combining many years of national management experience and choosing the highest quality of industry partners to assist in executing the programs. “In working with FCCLA year after year, we intimately know the needs of their program,” says metroConnections’ Renee Splittgerber, Executive Sales Director on the FCCLA program. “We can implement cost savings strategies to streamline a very successful service for our valuable client partner.”
With metroConnections as your travel companion, you can rest assured. Whether it's two people who need a ride to the airport or 10,000 going to the Convention Center, metroConnections can handle the details and logistics - through a range of strategic transportation options. The transportation experts at metroConnections are always available for consultation. Splittgerber suggests, “There is so much to consider when transporting groups of any size, that if you've never done it before it can seem overwhelming. We can help you to understand it, and give you the option of being as involved as you want to be. We are proud of what we do and that we do it so well.”
“I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you; Renee, Neile and the rest of the metroConnections staff for handling all of our transportation needs this past July in Orlando. Providing shuttle service to over 5,600 attendees can be a daunting task. But metroConnections handled everything from the planning stages to the onsite execution smoothly and efficiently! I look forward to working with you on our 2009 National Leadership Conference in Nashville.”
Marla Walls | Director of Conferences | Family, Career andCommunity Leaders of America, Inc.
Please visit http://www.metroconnections.com/tt-pages/tt-groundtrans.html
Venue Feature: The Depot Minneapolis, A Renaissance Hotel
The Depot Minneapolis, A Renaissance Hotel, is the only full-service historic hospitality venue offering over 60,000 square feet of meeting and event space. It gracefully hosts groups as intimate as ten or as large as 2,000.
Equipped with a plethora of meeting rooms, indoor and outdoor pavilions, exhibit space, an open atrium and the treasured Great Hall, The Depot offers technology and space flexibility for all types of business or social gatherings.
Let the experienced team at metroConnections coordinate, plan and execute your next event at The Depot Minneapolis, A Renaissance Hotel.