FEATURE In the meantime, we are also working with the hotel and other vendors to arrange proper meeting room setups, make food and beverage selections and order various audiovisual equipment, decor and entertainment. Time is also spent proofing and printing name badges, making signs and stuffing registration packets. When everything comes together for the final event, it frequently passes in a blur for the meeting planners. Our typical day on-site starts before dawn as we arrive before everyone else to check that the meeting rooms are set correctly and the right equipment is in each room. The rest of the day is spent in response mode as requests come in to make meeting rooms warmer or cooler and add more coffee to refreshment breaks or more chairs in a workshop. When the event is over, there are weeks of conference closure, including registration reports, refunds and reviewing the usually massive hotel bill. Then everything starts all over again for the following year. Every day in the life of a meeting planner is different, and we never know what new crisis might present itself, a concept all municipal officials can relate to. And this past year has been full of crises – COVID-19 threw the meeting planning world for a loop. We spent our time canceling more meetings than we planned and negotiating numerous future contracts with hotels to mitigate enormous cancellation fees and penalties. It’s been hard to juggle everyone’s desire to get back to meeting in person with the need to keep everyone as safe as possible. The hotel industry took a big hit, and it could be years before standards of service return to what they were pre-pandemic, if they ever do. Despite it all, there’s also no better feeling than standing in the back of a general session, taking in the lights and the noise while watching the audience loudly applaud for a keynote speaker … and to think that you had a small part in making that little piece of magic happen. Melanie G. Howe, CAE, CMP, is Meetings Manager at the Florida League of Cities. QC
QC
WELCOME
To The Newest Members Of The Board Of Directors Elected during the Florida League of Cities Annual Conference. Thank you for your service to the League.
J.B. WHITTEN Mayor Crestview TYLER PAYNE Mayor Treasure Island LAWRENCE GORDON Vice Mayor Haverhill TODD DROSKY Commissioner Deerfield Beach HEATHER MORAITIS Vice Mayor Fort Lauderdale STEPHANIE MORGAN Councilwoman Port St. Lucie JOHN GUNTER Mayor Cape Coral
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