Advice from Clinton's Events Manager

Event Solutions 2009 Conference & Tradeshow is currently running in Vegas. The show is a goldmine of useful information, new products and trends - for example have you jumped on the trend of nightclub buyouts for your event yet? You can follow all the action here. We took special note of the section titled "19 Ways Event Planners Can Use Twitter" after our previous blog post!

One of the speakers at this year's Conference was Laura Schwartz, former White House director of events for the Clinton administration. In typically pugnacious American style, Schwartz shared her Seven Power Tips for Leveraging Networking to Achieve Business Goals (catchy!). Keep these in mind next time you're doing the rounds at an industry function:

1. Power of opportunity. Nothing is optional. Make the most of every opportunity.
2. Power of goals. Give yourself a goal and follow through to achieve it.
3. Power of preparation. Be prepared for every opportunity and ask questions to help yourself learn.
4. Power of introduction. What's your line? Practice it and have it ready.
5. Power of conversation. You don't have to know it all -- try to know a little about a lot so you can participate in any conversation. Schwartz suggests skimming newspaper headlines daily.
6. Power of business cards. Always have your card available and accessible.
7. Power of follow-up and follow-through. Send a creative follow-up to any connection you make so you can be remembered.
   

Some people find networking an incredibly painful experience. Practice these tips, keeping in mind that getting out there and meeting people is the best way to develop new business and it really does get easier the more that you do it. Laura's advice is great, but we're not sure why she is obsessed with power, maybe its in the water at the White House.

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