Top 20 Must-Know Web Sites for Meeting Planners
Compiled by Ashley Wright •
Passkey.com Passkey claims to be the worldwide leader in online group reservations and with the recent launch of RoomList Express, the world's first fully automated and 100 percent secure room list tool for hotels and meetings, we can see why. RoomList Express is the first product that lets meeting planners upload their own hotel rooming lists anytime via the web, where hotels can then import those lists directly into their own reservation systems. Reservations to your next event can be accepted through your custom attendee website, via rooming list or call center using this site. Ask hotels and CVBs if they’re already using the system.
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Avolution.info How can you not trust the audio/visual (AV) advice of Avolution when they’ve come up with such a witty website name? This site offers a ton of advice on how audio/visual technology is evolving and how you can incorporate and utilize the equipment for your meeting, just click on the “Meetings and Events” link and find your way to the two handy PDF guides “Setting The Stage For A Successful Event: An AV Guide For Events, Conferences & Meetings” and “Creating A Lasting Impression: Hiring An AV Professional To Produce Effective Presentations.”
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LinkedIn.com Think of it as Facebook for professionals. This website offers professionals a way to network and connect with co-workers and other industry leaders. You have over 15 million people to search from- and when you’ve found a possible networking connection you can see their current company, what their skill set is, their title, who you know in common, where they went to school and their work history.
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Bluegreenmeetings.org Want some helping making your conference or meeting ‘greener’? The EPA supposed the Ocean Blues Foundation in creating this online green meetings tool that shows planners and suppliers how to incorporate green principles into every aspect of conference and meeting planning.
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GreatPorts.com If your next meeting is calling you and your attendees to board a cruise ship then surf your way to GreatPorts.com, where you can find out information about embarkation and disembarkation ports. Users can find out useful information including local airports near the port to parking rates to the nearest rental car drop point to even hotels that offer pre or post cruise packages. The site also allows visitors to submit specific questions to research staff via the “Port Concierge.”
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World-calendar.com Whether your planning a meeting in Paris, Texas or Paris, France, be culturally savvy about national, religious and government holidays with this useful world calendar. Countries from around the world are listed in five different languages with a 12-month calendar that includes a list of what holidays are traditionally observed. You can even view the traditional Chinese, Hebrew, Islamic and Japanese calendars.
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FitHotelDirectory.com For travelers who want to stay fit during meetings, this website makes finding a hotel that has quality gyms and fitness equipment easy. The directory lists hotels’ contact information and amenities as well as any available facility descriptions and color photographs. The site is also organized geographically so that users can search by state and city, and includes international properties as well.
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Airlinequality.com An airport is the first impression an attendee has on the destination city you’ve chosen for your event and with the help of this site, you can see what kind of impression that will be. One of the largest databases of traveler reviews on airlines from Delta to Zambian Airways and airports around the globe.
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Priceline.com It’s almost as good as discovering your own personal genie, but instead of having three wishes granted, you only get one. A recent Priceline survey found that the Name Your Own Price for hotel purchases feature gave buyers a 50 percent lower price than the published rates quoted at Expedia.com or Hotels.com for the same hotels and dates. The name of the hotel is not published when you use the Name Your Own Price feature, but if that concerns you- then you can search by star rating as well.
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Tripadvisor.com Anything from weather and when to go advice to tips about the culture of a city/country, this website offers advice and reviews from real travelers that have been to the hotel, the city, the restaurant and have experienced it first hand. As the website’s motto claims, “get the truth. then go.” Had a horrible experience? A great one? Let the world know! You can write your own “Traveler Article” or comment in the forums.
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WorldGolf.com Golfing trips are one of the top requested leisure activities for events and when you’re considering what courses or what destinations to choose for the avid golfer, this website offers a plethora of information ranging from top golfing destinations to course reviews. There are even videos featuring tips on how to improve your game if you want to brush up on your skills before hitting the green yourself.
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Spaindex.com The self-proclaimed guide to day spas and stay spas, this site has information on hundreds of spas in the U.S. Reviews from staff and spa goers are also featured.
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Publicrelationsideas.com One of the first steps of having a successful event is getting the word out and marketing yourself effectively. This website gives practical advice and tips for a variety of topics from creating online media rooms to crisis planning. You can also sign-up to receive PR tips via e-mail.
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Fhwa.dot.gov/trafficinfo Planning for a drive-in meeting? Find the latest info on traffic, road and weather conditions by state on this U.S. Department of Transportation sponsored site. There are handy links that also direct you to information on traffic condition in major U.S. cities and regions.
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Randmcnally.com/rmc/tools/roadConstructionSearch.jsp One of the best resources for road warriors, Rand McNally construction information site allows you to find the latest news on construction projects on U.S., interstate and state highways- search by road number and starting/ending months.
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Rememberthemilk.com It’s remembering the details that count, and as a meeting planner there are sometimes an overload of details to remember! This website allows you to keep up with and manage list of tasks and instead of trying to remember if it was your cell, your blackberry, your calendar or a random post-it note that you saved a reminder or task list to, Rememberthemilk.com allows you to sync your to-do list to a number of things including: e-mail, SMS, instant messenger and view your tasks on Apple iCal or Google Calendar as well. Bring your team together by sharing a list together.
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Fixya.com Having a problem with a pesky printer or a 2-way radio? This website offers troubleshooting for electronics of all shapes and sizes, even microscopes! They say their goal is to collect all support information that is scattered throughout the Web in a “single user friendly location.” The site is updated by users who share their experiences of technical problems and solutions. Users rate each solution so that the best solution can be found easily.
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Timeanddate.com Whether you’re trying to figure out what time zone a city is in or you want to know the exact time of the sun rise/set in the destination of your choice, this site has it. The best tool this site offers for a meeting planner, however, is the ‘World Clock’ for meeting planners that allows you to pick a day and up to four cities and it automatically calculates when a good time to set a meeting or a conference call. There is also a great time zone converter calculator that allows you to select the day and time of another time zone and convert it to your own time.
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About.com Practically anything you could ever want to know about anything from autos to health to travel you can find here, with articles and reviews on possibly every subject imaginable. Over 600 expert "Guides" create the site’s content by sharing their passions, expertise and how-to information with users.
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MeetingsPromotions.com The website offers various products that can be customized and an easy to search website were users can view by product brand, category or by price.
