Monday Motivation….

Blog Post By:
Jiwon McCartney
Managing Director

As more people are independently consulting or contract working, it seems like a lot of them are now trying to throw the towel in.  The most common thing heard amongst colleagues is it’s lonely and they lack motivation working remote and on their own.  Although  working remote and independent can get lonely and motivation sometimes slips from our sight; the same condition/s can exist when working with a room full office mates.  Productivity is a self driven game and one that should be mastered either way.   If collaboration is the need unfulfilled, join a professional association or volunteer organization for a cause.  These types of commitments help balance the alone time for remote employees or an independent consultant.  This will also help sharpen your business skills.  Inadvertently you will learn to pick up skills by actively participating for an association or a nonprofit organization. So as Monday has rolled in again, I sit at my desk with a long list of daily to-do’s and I am thankful my first task was to write this blog.  It helped motivate me and start my perspective from a positive angle rather than…"It’s Monday again, blah blah blah”… 

So it Makes Sense to feel isolated working remote and independently.  It can also bring a lot of benefits so I challenge you to reconsider before you throw the towel in.  Quitting before the race is done after putting 25 miles in a race seems to be a waste!   

Here are some fabulous professional organizations you can get active with.  Pick one that suits you and make sure their mission and cause is something you are passionate about.  In my experience becoming an active member with an association has helped me understand my weaknesses and know where help is – amongst colleagues!  The beautiful part is that we all come from a different place and we help educate each other through active participation of our membership/s.

Happy Monday!

ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership	ASAE	www.asaecenter.org
Association Forum		www.associationforum.org
Biz Bash		www.bizbash.com
Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau	CCTB	www.choosechicago.com
Convention Industry Council	CIC	CIC www.conventionindustry.org
Concierge Preferred		www.conciergepreferred.com
Destination Marketing Association International	DMAI	www.destinationmarketing.org
Financial & Insurance Conference Planners	FICP	www.ficpnet.com
Greater North Michigan Avenue Association	GNMAA	www.gnmaa.com
Professional Convention Management Association Greater Midwest Chapter	GMC-PCMA	www.pcma.org
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International	HSMAI	www.hsmai.org
International Association of Assembly Manager	IAAM	www.iaam.org
International Association of Exhibitions and Events	IAEE	www.iaee.com
International Special Events Society	ISES	www.ises.com
Meetings Quest		www.meetingsquest.com
Meeting Professionals International	MPI	www.mpiweb.org
Meeting Professionals International Chicago Area Chapter	MPI-CAC	www.mpicac.org
National Business Travel Association	NBTA	www.nbta.org
National Speakers Assoc. Convention	NSA	www.nsaspeaker.org
Professional Convention Management Association	PCMA	www.pcma.org
Religious Conference Management Association	RCMA	www.rcmaweb.org
Society of Incentive and Travel Executives	SITE	www.siteglobal.com
Tra              Trade Show                                              Exhibitors Association	TSEA	www.tsea.org

Planning Tips & Tricks

Blog Entry By:
Jiwon McCartney
Managing Director

ALLURE is excited and honored to be planning some amazing meetings and events in 2012 for our client.  As we head into the trenches of logistics, ALLURE will share some of our findings on tips and tricks of planning with you.  I hope you will find them useful.

TIP: As you seek your location remember to think about the attendee parking.
When planing a special event where guests are arriving in their own transportation, think about offering a valet service for the attendees.  With the current trend of everyone squeezing engagement and meetings into  limited time, one of the things everyone experiences is being late or rushing to get to an event.

A valet service can give an extra 10-15 minutes back to the attendee instead of looking for a parking space.  It's a small measure to help guests from having to  stress about getting a meter fed or remembering to take their ticket with to pay.  Depending on the location of the event, parking can take up to 30 minutes on top of their round trip commute and the time investment of attending the event.

A typical cost of a valet can be anywhere from $150 per valet to $1,000 for a team.  This cost varies on the length of your event, city and the size of your event.  In the instance there are only parking deck options for cars, you can incorporate the costs into the valet cost.

ALLURE, for a recent event, paid a nearby retail parking lot for use after their business hours.  The cost was $250 for 150 parking spaces and the valet was $500 for a 3 man valet team for 4 hours.  Total investment was $750 for 150 cars for 225 guests.  That calculates to $3pp.  I cannot remember the last time I paid $3 for a valet service AND parking!  This amenity set the tone of the event with a positive experience from arrival.

It was a small price to pay for the client to ensure they would see this audience again for their next event!