The most frequently asked questions (and the answers) from our event planners

Posted: March 22, 2012

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Someone recently asked me, so what are the most common questions you get asked from Meeting and Event planners.  I have outlined below the top 5 questions I get asked and have answered them as well (just in case you have the same question).

Where is Overland Park?

Overland Park is in the Kansas City Metro Area.  Overland Park is located 15 minutes southwest of downtown Kansas City, Missouri – on the Kansas side.  We are located in the heart of America and are within a day’s drive for over 60 million people, who can easily connect to the city with convenient interstate access. The Kansas City International Airport, just 35 minutes north of our Overland Park, offers some of the most competitive airfares in the country. You can get to and from Kansas City and Overland Park to either coast in a 3 hour flight. Click here for maps and directions.

What is there to do in Overland Park?

There are so many things Overland Park has to offer such as the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead, the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, New Theatre Restaurant and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.  I also suggest enjoying on of the many restaurants (over 250) and shopping (everything from local to high-end) that are here as well.  With easy access to all the Kansas City metro area has to offer, there is something for everyone in our area – whether that is professional sports to Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun, the aquarium to historical attractions. All I can say is that if you visit Overland Park you will be amazed by how much there is to see-and-do in the area, no matter your interests.

What is the hotel package/inventory and how close is each to the convention center or sporting facilities in Overland Park?

We currently have 34 hotels in Overland Park with over 5,200 total hotel rooms. Some of the nationally known hotels chains in our inventory include Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood and InterContinental Hotel Group. A 412-room Sheraton Hotel adjoins the Overland Park Convention Center, with approximately 1,000 total committable rooms within walking distance of the Center. The sporting facilities are conveniently located within 15 minutes or less of most of our hotel inventory in Overland Park.

What services does the CVB provide… and what are the costs associated with those services?

The CVB provides a host of services to our clients including site tours of potential locations, gathering of proposals from our hotels and convention center, bid presentations, ambassador services, assistance with spousal programs, transportation, off-site venues, and so much more!  One of the services we provide, that set us apart from our competition would be a FREE Mobile App for meetings, conventions and sporting events held in Overland Park!  Our clients are raving about it!  Oh, and our services are FREE to our clients!

What sets Overland Park and your CVB apart from other cities where I might look at taking my event?

What sets us apart from other cities and CVB’s is our Midwestern hospitality and our one-on-one client interaction.  We pride ourselves in attention to detail and follow through with our clients.  The sales team helps walk through the process from the initial request for proposal through the contracting stage to the post-event wrap-up.  We are there to answer questions and make sure our clients find the perfect fit for their events, often leading to close friendships in the end.

So, as you plan you next meeting, convention or sporting event, think of Overland Park – our convenient location, plethora of amenities, hotel and facilities package, CVB services and Midwestern hospitality.

~Mindy

How to find the right speaker for your meeting or event

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Maybe one of the hardest decisions a meeting planner has to make is booking the speaker.  You can see the hotel room, taste the food, and ride on the bus.  But how do you know that the speaker that looked good in the brochure or sounded great on the video is going to “wow” your audience?  Recommendations are valuable, especially from a source that you trust, but nothing compares to being in the audience and seeing that speaker live and up-close.  An added value, for shall I say comfort level, is visiting one-on-one with the speaker to make sure that the person can tailor their presentation to your upcoming event.  Chemistry between the planner and the speaker is important and meeting that person is added assurance that you have picked someone that is dependable, flexible and low maintenance.

In February, the Kansas City Meeting Industry Council held its fourth annual speakers showcase.  The intent was to give meeting planners the opportunity to see local speakers demonstrate their best work and develop partnerships face-to-face. Presenters were given 10 minutes each and in “speaker time” that’s just enough time to get in one good story or make one good point.  Notables included the ‘voice of the big 12,’ Dave Armstrong, and former FBI agent, Jeff Lanza.  By a lucky coincidence, the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association was bringing in a nationally known speaker for their annual banquet on the same day – branding expert, Bruce Turkel. So, attendees got to hear this national speaker and his comments on how to brand your meeting or banquet (an added bonus was he even had time to play the harmonica for us).  The audience had a smorgasbord of talent and topics from a very professional group. This was a great event to give meeting planners an opportunity that is not usually available or affordable. The best measure of success will be by the number of speakers that are booked and early indicators are that numerous matches were made.

But you say, what if I can’t visit the speaker live?  Here are five suggestions you might consider to insure that you’ll choose the right speaker for your next meeting or event.

1. Look for the CSP designation after their name.  The Certified Speaking Professional is an earned designation from the National Speakers Association.  Among other qualifications the speaker must provide documented proof of 250 paid speaking engagements.

2. Website.  Does this speaker have a website and does it have video clips in front of live audiences?  Look for a listing of groups this speaker has spoken in front of in the past and see how those audiences might have similar needs as your own.

3. Phone interview.  Talk with the speaker and describe your meeting.  Ask how they would tailor their presentation to your group.  What kind of audio/visual does the speaker need?  What length of presentation does the speaker feel best suits them?  How does the speaker handle expenses?

4. References.  Can the speaker provide references of groups that are similar to your group.  Call at least three of these references and see how the speaker was received on stage as well as how they were to deal with off stage.

5. Upcoming engagements.  Ask where the speaker is presenting in the near future.  Is it possible that you might know someone local to the engagement to sit in the back and watch both the speaker and the audience reaction?

The keynote speaker can really affect the success of your meeting or event. Taking time to get the right person for your topic and audience will ensure a good return on investment.

~Brad

 

Sold: What My Real Estate Agent Taught Me About Sales

Posted: March 12, 2012

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There are certain things throughout the course of your life that people define as “life changing.” Each person has their own definition as to what fits into that category. Some may say it is when you graduate from high school or college, or when you get married, or have children. What I am going to talk about today is something that recently happened to me – something I include into the category of “life changing.” I’m going to discuss what I learned from purchasing my first house.

The process began last August when my fiancé and I had just extended our lease at our townhome for an additional six months. At the time we both said to ourselves that our goal was to find a different place to live by the time our lease was up in February. We needed every day of those six months to make it happen. So, we started looking online at places in the Lees Summit area that could possibly fit what we were looking for, and we honestly did not know what we were getting ourselves into with this search. 

One day soon after we started searching for a house, we met Kathy Wardle with Keller Williams and I just want to say that I believe in a higher power and that it was such a blessing that we met Kathy that day. Melinda and I felt very comfortable with Kathy from the beginning. I know that everyone might have a certain perceptions of realtors, but there are some really good ones out there as well and Kathy is certainly one of them.

Over the course of the next five months, Kathy must have showed us 25-30 different houses that were in Lees Summit until we finally found the one house that was a perfect fit for our family. Kathy never came across as being pushy or putting any pressure on us to make a decision. She was ALWAYS there to answer the many wacky questions we had for her, and if she did not have the information with her, within 24 hours she had it for us. She was honest and was true to her word in following through with anything she said she was going to do throughout the whole process. She really made us feel like we were her only client (which was not the case) and genuinely cared about putting our family in the right size house and price we could afford. Kathy truly was a professional and I can’t thank her enough for all of her assistance in finding the right house for my family.

My experience with Kathy was great and taught me a few tips on what everyone should expect from their sales representative – no matter if they are trying to sell a house to a first time home owners or attract a large events to their community. Some of the things I took away from my experience with Kathy were:

Treat your client the way you would want to be treated.

1. Be responsive in getting your client the information they are requesting as quickly as possible.
2. Be honest and genuine.
3. Be professional.
4. These are simple truths, things we needed reminded of, but will help us all be a little more successful in life.

~Justin

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