At LAI Live, we've seen our fair share of request for proposals (or RFPs) to know that not all RFPs are created equal. The RFP process is your opportunity to reevaluate the goals of your event and reimagine the experiences that you’d like to provide to your attendees. Crafting a comprehensive RFP to send to prospective event management teams will ease your event planning experience and ensure that you’re able to find the best company to design and produce your next event.

This is a guest blog post authored by Meredith Fineman, an entrepreneur, writer, media expert, and founder of Washington, DC-based leadership and communications company, Finepoint.

It's no secret that millennials are rising faster in the ranks of businesses from technology to finance and energy. But companies still struggle to target this sector of the population, many of whom are their employees.

At LAI Live, we know that from the minute your attendees walk through the door at your event to the final applause, your organization’s values and goals are on display in big and small ways.

Ah, yes. The good old recognition ceremony. You've got to have them. Why not love them too? 

Have you given much thought to the staging at your next event? We know that for many of our clients, coming up with a stage set-up that’s new, unique, and within budget can be tricky. 

It’s an awards show riddle most meeting planners we know have faced: How do you manage to adequately celebrate the achievements of your honorees, while keeping an entire audience that’s not being honored entertained?

Panel sessions are the ideal way to share different experiences or viewpoints on a topic with your audience.

While hosting or producing a panel session may seem straight-forward, there are a few key ways to guarantee audience engagement. 

Here are five of our team's best practices for having a successful and engaging panel session at your next event.

Sponsors are the backbone to any event. We appreciate them and we need their financial support. But there’s more to events than having the largest logo on the printed sign or dropping a pen and leaflet into a swag bag. 

It's worthwhile to consider that for as much time as we spend crafting our attendee's event experiences, it's equally important to think through how sponsors will experience your event. How can you help maximize touch points that will reinforce the value they bring to your attendees? Let's make the most of the time they are on site!

Would you ever stage an event as a 1970's talk show? What would your audience think?

We just helped a great, long-term client of ours, CropLife America, rethink the way they would present an event that was meant to honor an industry leader after 30 years of service.

This client has a great sense of humor and came to us with a complete vision about four months before their event: They wanted to recreate a 1970's talk-show.

Heading to sunny California for your next meeting or convention?  Our team has worked in many cities throughout the country each with their own distinct personality. Here we tackle how to get the most out of your host city, sunny Los Angeles, CA. With so many distractions outside, why not bring the outdoors to your attendees so they don’t feel like they’re missing out!