Chris A. Harmen asked:


Ask any number of event production companies and they will all tell you the short answer to this question is neither. The reality is that they all have their own set of pros and cons that make one better in some situations than others. An event production company will help you to ensure your event goes smoothly regardless of which option you choose, however, here are a few things to consider:

Traditional Venue Meetings

The relaying of your company values and corporate culture to others through direct interactions with others is one of the biggest benefits to onsite meetings. Whether you are hosting a group of employees or bringing together clients, a traditional meeting gives you the opportunity to relay your company’s message directly with others in a way that each person can respond to.

To emphasize the effects, you can enlist the help of professionals to alter the venue to build excitement and drive about the event’s purpose. Attendees get the opportunity to communicate with you and each other and further build the excitement about the event. You also have the opportunity to judge the feelings and thoughts of others by seeing their expressions and body language.

Virtual Meetings

Many times, distances and time constraints simply do not allow for a traditional meeting. This is where event production companies and virtual meetings come into play. The entire event can still be every bit as customized as a traditional venue and allow you to emphasize the points you wish to make. This type of meeting is also helpful when it includes a moderator that can help to control heated discussions or simply keep the conversations on track.

By talking with an event production company, you can also have the entire meeting saved and stored. This allows you the added advantage to use it for other meetings and presentations later on. You can also analyze the meeting afterwards to judge the effectiveness of a marketing plan or ideas. As an added benefit, anyone who misses the meeting can still find out what happened simply by watching the video.

Teleconferencing

With teleconferencing, you still have the added convenience without the visual effects produced by an event production company. One area where this type of meeting does shine, however, is when you need an immediate meeting with people who are a great distance away when you don’t have time to wait on getting flights or the supportive material of event production companies. Unfortunately, that is where the benefits end.

With communication being such a vital part of doing business, it is imperative that you make the right choice to get the most out of every event no matter how insignificant they may seem. Event production companies can help you decide what type of meeting is best if you are unsure. An event production company can also help you to create presentations and atmosphere to make sure every attendee finds the meeting informative, innovative, and entertaining.

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Steve Diamond asked:


How much do you spend on travel expense (transportation, meals, lodging, etc.) for conferences, meetings, sales presentations, and training? How much of that expense would you like to save?

With recent advances in PC and Internet technology, even small businesses can save large portions of their travel expenses. And those savings can start today.

If doing business involves frequent meetings with small groups of co-workers, customers, prospects, or vendors, and if travel expenses are often part of the picture, then it’s time for you to learn how you can cancel those expensive hotel reservations, tear up the plane tickets, and keep the car in the garage.

Here’s how: online conferencing. Yes, it’s here, it’s practical, it’s secure, and it’s very inexpensive.

When you think of technology for meeting at a distance, you may be picturing special rooms equipped with tens of thousands of dollars worth of specialized teleconferencing equipment. That was the 20th-century solution. Some large corporations still use it. But the smaller, more nimble businesses of the 21st century choose online conferencing. It’s easy and it requires no special equipment other than the PC, Internet connection, and web browser you already have.

The new generation of online meeting tools let you meet whenever you want with anyone you wish. You can host a meeting or join one that someone else has organized. You can start an instant meeting or schedule one for a future date and time. You can even create the schedule and send the invitations directly from Microsoft Outlook.

How will you benefit? Here are just a few ways.
Shorten the sales cycle and close more deals by scheduling instant demonstrations and presentations for qualified prospects. Respond quickly to changing conditions by scheduling immediate strategic planning meetings with co-workers. Train your customers when they’re ready instead of making them wait until you can travel to their location.

So how does it work? Simply put, you can share any window on your computer’s desktop so that all others in the meeting can see what you see. (According to a Yankee Group study, this usage accounts for 89% of all online conferences.) You can also chat via keyboard and speak over a telephone conference bridge.

What can you do with this online conferencing technology?
You can give a PowerPoint presentation to co-workers or prospects. You can demonstrate a software product. You can train customers to use a program. You can collaborate with co-workers on editing a document.

The uses are only limited by your imagination.

Prices from the key players in this space cover quite a broad range:
Microsoft Live Meeting ($375/month) Webex Meeting Center ($375/month) Macromedia Breeze ($375/month) Raindance Meeting Edition ($275/month) Citrix GoToMeeting ($49/month)

Recently CNET published an independent evaluation of these services, and the results may surprise you. The lowest priced product, Citrix GoToMeeting, scored higher than Macromedia Breeze, equal to Microsoft Live Meeting, and only a little below Raindance.

In other words, with GoToMeeting for $49 a month you can get unlimited usage of a highly rated online conferencing product that’s easy to use, highly secure, and can save you thousands of dollars. What are you waiting for?

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tiannam117 asked:

This video is not JUST about Second Life. It’s about all those paid avatar games, where you pay for fake stuff. My Xbox live gamer tag – Tiannam AIM- Cheeb Halo Myspace- www.myspace.com/tiannams This second life parody by www.sarcasticgamer.com done by Doc Adams. Video made by Tiannam (David Huckvale) -LYRICS- I sit alone in my bathrobe Trying to build a better second life They’ve got a big old world that I can roam Hell the even let me fly Paid some cash to Linden Lab. Bought a house it’s …

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