{"id":795,"date":"2024-04-11T18:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/?p=795"},"modified":"2024-04-11T18:00:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:00:07","slug":"have-you-joined-a-meeting-planner-association-to-further-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/have-you-joined-a-meeting-planner-association-to-further-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Have You Joined a Meeting Planner Association to Further Your Career?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66194c8990c1c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66194c8990c1c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/have-you-joined-a-meeting-planner-association-to-further-your-career\/#For_a_Meeting_Planner_Establishing_a_Relationship_with_a_Potential_Client_Is_Key\" title=\"For a Meeting Planner, Establishing a Relationship with a Potential Client Is Key\">For a Meeting Planner, Establishing a Relationship with a Potential Client Is Key<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/have-you-joined-a-meeting-planner-association-to-further-your-career\/#An_Event_Planners_Association_Is_a_Great_Place_to_Start_Networking\" title=\"An Event Planners Association Is a Great Place to Start Networking\">An Event Planners Association Is a Great Place to Start Networking<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>Ask a seasoned meeting planner what they would recommend you do to further your career and, more often than not, they will tell you to network. Networking is a great way to meet industry leaders as well as to keep on top of the latest and greatest event planning trends. Think of it like organic growth. You won\u201dt necessarily start to see the results of your efforts until you have attended several networking events. But, by becoming a member of a meeting planner association, what you are doing is establishing a long lasting reputation for yourself as a meeting or event planner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"For_a_Meeting_Planner_Establishing_a_Relationship_with_a_Potential_Client_Is_Key\"><\/span>For a Meeting Planner, Establishing a Relationship with a Potential Client Is Key<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u201ds face it, obtaining customers is a never-ending task. Most of us do not like cold calling. While sometimes necessary, cold calling can be deflating. How many times have you been trying to get contact information when it was obvious that the person on the other line could not wait to get off the phone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key for attracting a new customer, or to retain current customers, is integrity. A potential customer wants to know that the event planner has their best interest in mind. So how do you inform a potential customer that they would be in good hands working with you? Well, again, it boils down to establishing a relationship. And by attending an event planner association\u201ds function you\u201dll be introduced to many colleagues as well as potential clients. But be careful, the last thing you want to do at these events is to jump into a sales pitch. Wait for the client to ask you for that information. Otherwise, you should be discussing common interest items. Not only will you be nurturing relationships with potential clients but you\u201dre also going to gain valuable industry information from your peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related article:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201130075113\/http:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/networking-is-a-big-part-of-event-planning-but-is-it-done-right\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Networking Is a Big Part of Event Planning-But Is It Done Right?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An_Event_Planners_Association_Is_a_Great_Place_to_Start_Networking\"><\/span>An Event Planners Association Is a Great Place to Start Networking<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first started in the meetings and events industry, I was part of a young, upstart, DMC (Destination Management Company). What I and my partners quickly learned was that we needed to join industry associations so that we would start to be recognized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first association was our local CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau). Being a member of your local CVB is crucial. Not only will you be listed as an event supplier, you will also get great exposure to meeting planners that are bringing groups to your city. Next we joined two of the industry\u201ds largest associations;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201130075113\/http:\/\/www.mpiweb.org\/Home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Meeting Professionals International<\/a>&nbsp;(MPI) and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201130075113\/http:\/\/www.pcma.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Professional Convention Management Association<\/a>&nbsp;(PCMA). We also joined the Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME). ADME is great for developing and standardizing codes of conduct, contract language, best practices, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most meeting planner associations also have local chapters. This is a great way to meet all of the key industry players in your area as well as to have an active role in the local management of the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A meeting planner association is a great way to develop new contacts and learn key industry information from your colleagues. Many customers prefer to select their event planning companies once they have developed a relationship. In other words, Integrity is crucial for repeat business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask a seasoned meeting planner what they would recommend you do to further your career and, more often than not, they will tell you to network. Networking is a great<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":796,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions\/796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}