Meetings made easy: tips for successful meeting planning.

• Author: Copeland, Beth

You've just been chosen to plan your company's next annual sales meeting. Your boss gives you that smile of reassurance that really means, "I didn't want to do it so I'm delegating it to you," and then proceeds to tell you how much confidence the company has in you.

At this point you need to learn the first rule of meeting planning: Don't panic. All it takes is organization, some advice from the experts and a little common sense, and you can pull together a successful, smooth-running meeting. As you plan your gathering, you'll find that the various meeting places have experts on staff that can make your job much easier.

"If you are a rookie, tell the salesperson at the meeting facility so that they can better guide you through the process," advises Linda Addaman, national sales manager for Indianapolis-based General Hotels Corp., which operates among others the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza at Union Station in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Motel, Culver Cove on Lake Maxinkuckee and an assortment of Holiday Inn and Homewood Suites properties.

The best place to start is to establish the goals for your meeting. Will people attend to receive training? To network? To learn about your company or product line? What is your message? What ideas do you want attendees to take home?

Asking yourself these types of questions will set the framework for your meeting. If this is a training meeting, it probably will be spent primarily in the meeting room with few or no outside activities. If, on the other hand, it is a meeting to thank your sales force for a great year and inspire them to do better next year, the meeting may call for a guest motivational speaker plus receptions and outside recreation.

"If they know the content and goals, it will give them a good idea of what type of facility to look for," says Mike Parkel, sales director at University Place Conference Center & Hotel in Indianapolis. For example, a strategic-planning meeting may best benefit from a conference-center atmosphere, but a meeting centered on parties may work best at a hotel.

Janet Nunn of the Holiday Inn Fort Wayne Northwest suggests that beyond basic goals, it is helpful to have as much information as possible before deciding upon a site. Have some idea of the number of people expected, the type of room setup and food needs. Says Nunn, "It's much easier to check date availability, and it helps me to help them more efficiently." For example, if you are booking a meeting for testing or training, and quiet is important, it will help you and the meeting coordinator at the facility to know that.

When choosing a date, keep in mind the possibility that your plans may need to change. Wayne Meredith, vice president of Lees Inns, suggests booking a backup date. "Always anticipate for the worst-case scenario and make secondary plans so the facility can still accommodate you."

The location of the facility should be an important consideration. Will most of your attendees be driving? If so, is it easily accessible from...