Excel asked for my
Feedback and I was delighted to have the opportunity to make suggestions.
1 Give listings of hotels and restaurants with guides to prices.
2 Show which stations are nearest which events at Excel which is between two stations, one at each end. I wasted a lot of time getting off at Custom House and walking a long way when Prince Regent was nearer the other end.
3 I also lost time going down to underground toilets down and up many stairs at the Custom House end. Give signs and distance to nearest ground level toilets for the disabled and those with heavy luggage.
4 TFL announced change for Jubilee at Canada Water which wastes time because Canary Wharf is much quicker, just one escalator. Please warn people not to change at Canada Water which has three escalators, then at ground level, no signs, but a by stander in uniform told me you cross the square, around the building ahead to another building. At this point I turned round and went back down the three escalators. I missed a meeting.
5 Meetings should be listed at the front of the exhibition with arrows or maps to the stage. And make this printable map marking venues and time and dates available from the website.
6 Event catalogues have numbers of stands too small to read. Have an online map which can be printed or printed in multiple sections and sellotaped together.
7 Have a map with a tickbox on stands you have already visited so you can mark those to re-visit later or next day.
8 Include exhibitors' websites so you can verify who you visited, phone numbers, emails etc. Many stands did not have address cards. Very confusing. I met the niece or cousin on the stand who spoke English. The boss was somebody different. Their head office was not the same city or country as the producer of the product, where you could buy wine at a cellar door in Italy or visit their hotel or restaurant or shop which was yet another address. The distribution area such as the UK supermarket, eg Tesco, Majestic wines, was different again. It would have been useful to have a list of people on the stand and a list of products, with tick boxes.
But what can I do differently?
At an exhibition at Expo in Singapore, I learned a system for saving business cards. The stand owners had one lined notebook, labelled with the event. You can do this using the event catalogue or a leaflet or flyer, or print the name and stick it on.
Make An Address Card Notebook
An address card notebook keeps each address card with the notes made during or after the event.
One's instinct is to add the address details at the end. Instead, make your contact's company name and address the heading. The address card system makes the notes look like a webpage. Or a letter. Instead of the address as an afternote, to be forgotten, a footnote, you have the business address at the top, so it is the first thing which grabs your attention.
If the notebook is shared by two or more people on the stand, they share the notebook which stays on a large colourful clipboard. Write at the top of the page, or underneath the address cards of the visitor, the name and contact details of the person on the stand.
Meeting Record Book Layout
Each page had a section at the top for business cards. You can create that by drawing a line across every page a few inches down. Or simply staple the business card of each person you meet at the top of a page. They stapled the business card at the top, then made notes, during the meeting, afterwards, and in the evening. They noted, ideally in three columns: 1 Facts. 2 Action to take. 3 Date deadlines.
Afterwards, the rest of the notebook can be used for the year's further events. The following year's annual event.
Alternatively, tear out the blank pages from the end. Create a new, separate record of another exhibition. Staple them together for notes inside a folded piece of coloured card, with a label.
My latest systems include
Photo Record of Face & Name
1 Photograph the person I met holding their business card or ID lanyard. Photograph myself with the product and person I met.
Advantages of An Instant Blog
Write a blog online at the time. Read it back to them, correcting errors in spelling and location.
Ask and say on my blog whether the product is discontinued, current, or yet to be launched.
Notes on Business Cards
Write on the address card the date and name of the show where we met. Note who I met if they gave me somebody else's address card.
Useful Checklists for Conferences
People:
Event team. Photographer. Caterer. Stand setup. Performers Security. First Aid. Transport. Accommodation. Mailing list. Information on future event. Website. Media room. Organizers office.
Welcome desk. Feedback form. Out of hours team. Ads and booking for next year.
1 Posters. Signs. Stand signs. Direction signs. Information point. Food signs. Drink signs Toilet signs. Way out signs. Fire exit signs.
Objects
Catalogues. Lanyards, colour coded for exhibitor, seller, buyer, distributor, media, visitor. Name budges.
Sound
Announcement system. Microphones. Amplifiers. Cable concealment. Technical team. Display sign of phone number for technical team.
Sound separation and time separation of loud events.
Fire alarm test, evacuation rehearsal.
Transport to outside events.
Offers of city guided tours. Discounts to local attractions. Discounts to local restaurants and bars.
Phone reminders for events.
Waiting lists.
Catering
Seating. Waste disposal. Ads for free food. Queue system for popular event. Set up time. Clear up time. Hygiene laws. Food and allergy labels
Queue direction signs. Plate and food disposal bins. Take away containers.
Useful Websites On Recording Meetings
https://info.ibabs.com/meeting-minutes-templates
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