Onsite Meeting Checklist

No matter how much we prepare for meetings we know in the back of our minds that things can and will go wrong. That’s what makes our jobs so exciting, right? To keep those problems at a minimum, Arlene Sheff, CMP, senior meeting and event planner with The Boeing Company, has developed an onsite meeting checklist to help even the best of planners.

• Get the hotel’s report of arrival and check in times. The reason: you may have to hold or reinstate a room for someone whose flight is delayed.

• Include rehearsal time in your contract. Presenters may need time to familiarize themselves with the equipment or your entertainment may need time to rehearse.

• Distribute a current timeline and contact list to staff, suppliers, and hotel staff who will help you to support the meeting.

• Hold an orientation meeting for hotel support staff to review timeline, assignments, guidelines, and emergency plan.

• Test all the phone lines in and out before you provide phone numbers to attendees.

• Ask what other groups will be in-house the same time as your group, the number of attendees in the group, and what will be going on in the rooms that share your partition or "air wall."

• Make sure the "bladder" on the partition (the rubber at the bottom) is down if you’re sharing it with another group. This will help keep the noise at a minimum. □ Locate the control switch for the lights and music.

• Make sure the meeting room lights don’t wash out the screen; if so, contact maintenance to take out certain lights. Ensure all electrical cords are taped down, the floor is clean, and the doors don’t squeak.

• Make sure meeting room doors are unlocked and stay unlocked. This way those arriving late won’t embarrass themselves or distract from the meeting. Tip: Tape or lock down the general session doors (in the open position) to avoid loud clicking noises.

• Check the mike on the lectern; make sure there is water for the speakers.

• Check the meeting board schedule to make sure it’s correct.

• Arrange a place where luggage can be stored if your meeting happens to go past check out time. Will the hotel designate a room or is there enough space in the bell closet?

• Walk through the meeting room immediately after sessions (before the janitorial staff) to check for items or confidential material that you don’t want others to find.

• Review all the banquet checks before they go to accounting.

• Keep a lesson-learned book behind the registration desk or in the staff room. Sheff uses hers to jot down things – good and bad – so that she remembers to review them with the hotel staff at a follow-up meeting.

• Finally, keep your sense of humor. If you anticipate that some things can go wrong and make up your mind to fix them while smiling, it can relieve stress (for everyone).