Marketing Mastery Summit

This past weekend Meetingmax’s Client Services Manager, Sureena Parmar, attended the highly anticipated Marketing Mastery Summit and brought a ton a great new concepts into our workplace.

The event, held at the stunning Vancouver Convention Center, taught attendees how to position themselves as the “Go To Expert” in their given fields. Marketing Mastery Summit states “In today’s competitive market, in order to be successful, you need to stand out from the crowd. One sure fire way to achieve that is by positioning yourself as the “Go To Expert” in your industry.”

Notable speakers included:

• Stephan Stavrakis: Perceptual Positioning
• Iman Aghay: Success Road
• Mike Schell: Thought Leader Inc
• Sandy Chernoff: Soft Skills for Success
• Robin Elliot: Dollar Makers
• John Chow: John Chow Blog
• Bob Burnham: Expert Author Publishing
• Katherine Lazaruk: ICU Image
• Jason Bax: Pitch Masters

Follow these 3 tips from Sureena to position yourself as the Go To Expert:

1. Sell Yourself Effectively: Know how to answer ‘What do you do?” Sandy Chernoff suggests this question should be answered in 3 phrases or 1 sentence. Take the time tonight to polish your answer to this frequent question.

2. Dedicate 15 Minutes Everyday to Building Your Social Presence: A great way to build a brand for yourself is to begin online. Create profiles on all the social media sites you wish to be active on (the more the better) and dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes per day to grow your online presence.

3. Quality over Quantity: When building your business keep in mind that it is more valuable to have fewer clients who generate more revenue versus an unmanageable vault of clients who don’t generate much revenue. Rather than 100 clients, focus on 5-10 clients that will make you as much money as the 100 would. 

Book Review: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Meetingmax’s book of the month for November was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This is one of the most renowned motivational books in history and has sold over 15 million copies since its release in 1936. We chose to listen to the most recent version which is more applicable to today’s society.

As stated on Amazon.com “Carnegie’s first book is timeless and appeals equally to business audiences, self-help audiences, and general readers alike. Proven advice for success in life: Carnegie believed that most successes come from an ability to communicate effectively rather than from brilliant insights. His book teaches these skills by showing readers how to value others and make them feel appreciated rather than manipulated.”

The Meetingmax team found a lot of value in this book. It’s common sense, but often overlooked, techniques are easy to implement into your every day live.

Eight Things This Book Will Help You Achieve:

1. Get out of a mental rut, think new thoughts, acquire new visions, discover new ambitions. 
2. Make friends quickly and easily. 
3. Increase your popularity. 
4. Win people to your way of thinking. 
5. Increase your influence, your prestige, your ability to get things done. 
6. Handle complaints, avoid arguments, keep your human contacts smooth and pleasant. 
7. Become a better speaker, a more entertaining conversationalist. 
8. Arouse enthusiasm among your associates

Overall the Meetingmax team gave How to Win Friends and Influence People a score of 9.5/10 on a scale where 1 equals a book with little value one would not wish to read again and 10 equals a fantastic book with the ability to grow an individual personally, professionally or both.

If you haven’t read this book yet go pick it up today! 

Meetingmax Saddles Up With Oklahoma City

Online housing reservation system to help CVB affordably manage group bookings

Oklahoma City, OK and Vancouver, BC: November 16, 2011– Meetingmax Systems, provider of the travel industry's most flexible online housing reservation system, today announced the signing of a contract with the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). The CVB will use the system to manage group housing reservations for the city's 16,000 hotel rooms.

"Our city has changed drastically over the past few years. We now have 1,600 rooms within half a mile of the convention centre and we needed the right system to manage room bookings for groups," says Mike Carrier, President of the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Meetingmax's user-friendly system makes it easy for delegates to see their housing options and simplifies room-block management for planners."

Home to more equine events than any other city in the world, Oklahoma City is the venue of choice for more than a dozen top national and world championship horse shows. The city also hosts a wide variety of state and national conventions in numerous business sectors. The city's central location, affordable rates, and friendly atmosphere make it an ideal location for any size meeting, from a corporate conference of 25 persons to conventions with 10,000 delegates.

"When researching housing systems, we received great feedback from other cities that use Meetingmax," continues Carrier. "The ease of use was key, but it is also a very affordable system for our bureau as well as for our hotel partners."

Unlike other systems, Meetingmax does not require CVBs to meet minimum monthly bookings. The company has developed an affordable fee structure that allows online housing for bureaus of all sizes and only charges a nominal fee per room night booking.

"We feel that housing systems shouldn't be limited to big-budget CVBs," says Jeff Duncan, COO, Meetingmax Systems. "Our system can be tailored to meet the needs of each of our clients –they can select the features and functions that make sense for them and that fit their budget."

Meetingmax Annual Unconvention 2012

Registration for Meetingmax’s Annual Unconvention is live today! We call it the ‘Un’convention because we plan a very unique user conference using out of the norm venues and locations. There is also usually a few fun curveballs on the itinerary such as Ziplining through Whistler Mountain or visiting Grinder and Coola, the Grizzly Bears who inhabit Grouse Mountain.

This year’s theme is about achieving success in housing through a perfect blend of art and science. “In the business of housing, come learn to paint like Picasso and compute like Einstein.”

• An effective mix of peer to peer sharing and tactical expert led learning
• For organizations and destinations that want to succeed at housing this event as become a ‘must attend’.
• You will walk out with the tools you need to establish, increase or refine your housing services.

Join us in Vancouver, BC April 25-27, 2012! 

Book Review: The Other Kind of Smart by Harvey Deutschendorf

Meetingmax’s book of the month for October was The Other Kind of Smart by Harvey Deutschendorf. The book focuses on simple ways to boost your emotional intelligence (EI) for greater personal effectiveness and success.

From the books website: “Emotional intelligence has been called advanced common sense and is proven to be a far better predictor of success than IQ. And unlike cognitive function, your emotional capacities are flexible, adaptable, and highly expandable. Filled with inspiring stories from companies who have tapped into the power of EI, along with profiles of people facing real-world dilemmas and easy-to-implement action plans, The Other Kind of Smart opens your eyes to crucial, yet often ignored life lessons.

EI is not a sideline, soft issue, but a critical factor in your personal and professional well-being. The Other Kind of Smart uncovers deep insights and simple strategies for building the life you want.”

The Meetingmax team enjoyed the concepts of this book, particularly because individuals can focus on enhancing their own EI levels, where as IQ is a little harder to increase!

Overall The Other Kind of Smart achieved an average rating of 7.7/10 on a scale where 1 equals a book with little value one would not wish to read again and 10 equals a fantastic book with the ability to grow an individual personally, professionally or both.

To test your own EI quota today take the following quiz: EImini quiz