Successful Meetings - September 2007 - (Page 8)

09.07 & NEWS ANALYSIS Corporate Planners Association Planners 65.4% 55.6% 21.3% 24.5% 11.0% 15.3% 2.3% 4.6% 0 days 1 day 2 days 3 or more days How much time off do you usually take immediately after the end of a meeting / event? > Research Survey Says Planners Are Workaholics Do you think that you’ll take all your allotted vacation days this year? Yes 51.7 % No 48.3 % Perhaps representing the perfect microcosm of the American workforce, meeting planners are working hard at their jobs and finding it difficult to take extended periods of time off. The latest MeetingNews survey of nearly 460 meeting planners indicates that just half of them expect to use all of their available vacation days this year. Further, more than one-third of respondents feel they can only take off two or three straight days without falling behind at work. The survey results brought no astonishment to the planners interviewed for comment, though they were somewhat surprised by the high number of planners (61 percent) who return straight to work after an event. All spoke of devising tactics to preserve much-needed personal time away from their jobs—from a self-imposed rule of turning off the computer after a certain hour each day, to pursuing outside interests, to scheduling off days around the events they plan. “I love my company, but it’s not the be-all and endall,” says Jennifer Collins, president of Washington, D.C.-based Event Planning Group LLC. “I work with my church and volunteer organization, for my spiritual and emotional well-being. Otherwise, life is nothing more than your job.” Like Collins, Kimberly Ruby, meetings and events manager for Philadelphiabased Day & Zimmerman, an industrial services supplier, realizes the importance of downtime in maintaining her mental health. “On the weekend, I have a rule of not touching e-mail unless I’m prepared to handle what I may find,” says Ruby. “And, I don’t touch e-mail after dinner on any day.” Collins, Ruby, and Candy Adams, a Vista, CAbased independent planner and trade show consultant, all schedule at least one day off around their events. Adams said because her events typically end on Thursdays or Fridays, she often remains in a destination for the weekend. Ruby usually negotiates a comp room and schedules personal spa time at her host property a day or two before her event, or she’ll take time off afterward either at the destination or back at home. One of planner Kathleen O’Donnell’s vacation weeks each year is always tied to the International Ticketing Association’s summer conference. The organization pays the return airfare for its deputy director, and she pays her own way once the conference is over. But, true to the MN data, none feels she should take off work for more than a week at a time. Although Ruby said she can take more than a week off and not fall behind on work, she nevertheless SEPTEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS Corporate Planners Yes 52.8% No 47.2% CHARTS: RICHARD PRESTIA Association Planners 8 mimegasite.com http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - September 2007

Successful Meetings - September 2007 Contents Editor's Note Research Calendar Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meetings Law Personal Success Pre-Event Tools of the Trade The Social Revolution Long Beach Insert State of the Art A Better Banquet The Seven Wonders of the Gaming World On the List Places & Spaces Caribbean Trinidad & Tobago Insert Monaco Greater Los Angeles Hilton Head/Myrtle Beach Gurus Nevada Planners Guide 2007 This Just In Las Vegas The Big Picture The Benefits of Being Small Let's Get Together Let Us Entertain You This Just in Reno Tahoe Perfect Complements Hotel Stats & Contact Info Hawaii Incentive Handbook 2007

Successful Meetings - September 2007

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