After working for months in completing all the elements of your event and striving to make it profitable, the day of reckoning comes.

Right now, we have a conference event: the first Telemarketers Summit that is due to take place two weeks from now. The once peaceful office is again turning to be chaos spelled in big C. Some of the leaders of the team are starting to show lines on their forehead, evidence that the stress is slowly building-up on their emotional make-up.

The plans we written are now under review and meetings are taking place more often than necessary. This indicates that if you want to strive near perfection you cannot leave any stones left unturned. Yes, you cannot leave the event to luck or chance. You have to be, using the word of the great Andew Grove of Intel, “PARANOID” in a positive way because as he firmly believes only the paranoid survives.

The audit of the checklist is becoming a norm rather than a theoretical proposition of insurance of the event. Piece by piece every critical areas of the event are discussed and placed into the magnifying lense.  Indeed, God is in the details but Murphy’s Law has its way of making Comedy out of the serious stuff we are doing.

Two weeks before the event, you see all of the plans that used to be ideas taking its physical forms. The I.D. are there, the photo plates of the speakers, the tokens, the car that will fetch the foreign speakers, the hotel rooms, the sounds system, the stage designs and ad infinitum.

This time around it is not about the question if you know about what you are doing; this time around it is a question of finishing the tasks on time and with quality.

In events, you can never be sure where the glitch will take place or come from.

Events are comprised of people; people who you pray act and perform like machines. The truth however they are people and are not machines. In this reality, you can either get the best or the worst out of them.

But in this particular element, an event becomes exciting. You are up on your toes because you expect that the event will give you an emotional rollercoaster ride; an influx of emotions awaits you. The challenge is not to run away from these situations but to manage it.

I always admire the swans in the pond. They glide effortlessly like prima ballerinas. However, beneath the water are feet that hustle - the best picture of grace under pressure.

The colourful kaleidoscope of moments I described means we are now locked-in, game face on to make another event successful in the eyes of the delegates and partners.

Corregidor Island is just one hour and fifteen minutes trip away from Metro Manila Manila using Sun Cruises. It’s nearness to Metro Manila is a huge advantage for Corporate Events, Team Buildings and Specialized Conferences.

Corregidor often called the Rock is rich in history as it was used during Spanish, American and Japanese times as a strategic location for trade and military purposes.

In fact, during the American Era in the country Corregidor was turned into a battleship that can defeat naval fleets bent on entering Manila Bay.

As a MICE Destination Corregidor offers to all the participants focus on the corporate event they are taking part in. It also serves as an incentive travel because of the historical landmarks, forest, and other outdoor activities one can choose to indulge in.

Corregidor’s unique charm refreshes the mind and attaches the soul to important events that make Philippines a proud and brave country. This is the X factor of Corregidor. The small island is an open book that educates any visitor about the history of our country.

Among the highlights of Corregidor as an incentive travel is the experience in the Malinta Tunnel, riding the Tramvia – an American transportation used in the island, visiting the ruins of different barracks, different canons and batteries, the Museum, the Eternal Flame landmark, Japanese Memorial Garden, Japanese Tunnels and a lot more.

Nature also provided the following to Corregidor: great view of sunset and sunrise, great trekking areas, nice running and biking roads, bird watching and the sea shore.

In the afternoon, some fishermen from Cavite and Bataan visit the place to sell their fresh catch. This is one of the idyllic scenes that will make a peaceful indelible mark in your mind.

The Corregidor Hotel, the only hotel in the island boasts 31 rooms. The food is good but if you are feeling the hotel food fatigue you can visit stores below the hotel and they also cook food for you.

In addition, the hotel boasts Spanish and American ambience. It is like riding a time machine. I like my room here. It is a room with a view of the dock and the sea. It is refreshing to wake-up seeing these images when you look at your window.

Again, I highly recommend Corregidor for team buildings (by the way they have packages for this type of activities), strategic planning, sales incentive program, stay-in seminars.

Better yet, you can shoot me a message and let me help you make Corregidor work for your MICE activities.

Telemarketing is a marketing communications tool that is still widely used. Majority of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and large corporations use it to create sales – in fact majority of them still consider it effective.

Why is telemarketing, despite the technological advances, an effective tool? One main reason is that telemarketing can engage. Telemarketing is a form of engagement using voice-to-voice communication.

Therefore, telemarketing is one of the purest forms of conversation with your target market. It is with this exciting realization that the first TELEMARKETING SUMMIT is born. 

Key Learning Objectives

1. Know the current best practices in Telemarketing;

2. Learn deeper understanding on Gate Keepers;

3. Learn to manage and control your voice to connect to your clients;

4. Learn and expand your knowledge in measuring your team's telemarketing efforts;

5. Learn and understand the deeper meaning of Telemarketing as a profession and function.

Who Must Attend

Marketing Manager, Sales Manager, Sales and Marketing Staff, Owners, Entrepreneurs, Credit and Collection Officers and Staff, Customer Relations Manager/Officer, Frontline Managers/Officers, CEOs, Academes, Call Center Managers, Association Admins, Executive Secretary

Who Must Sponsor | Partner

I.T. Companies, Telecommunications Companies, Banks, Insurance, CRM Companies, CRM Solutions, Marketing Automation Software, Apps Developer, Data Mining, Business Intelligence, Office Furniture and Supplies

Event Programme

7:00am - 8:00am          Registration

8:00am - 9:00am          AM Snacks

8:45am - 8:50am          Doxology

8:50am - 8:55am          National Anthem

8:55am - 9:00am          Opening Number

9:00am - 9:05am          Welcome Remarks

9:05am - 10:00am        Keynote Speaker

10:00am - 11:00am      Telemarketing: Secret Tool to Integrated Marketing 

                                        Communications Effectivity

11:00am - 12:00nn        Lunch

1:00pm - 1:30pm           Quicknet

1:30pm - 2:30pm           Telemarketing Technology within Your Reach

2:30pm - 3:30pm           Bulls Eye! - Merasuring Your Telemarketing Performance

                                         Efforts the Right Way

3:30pm - 4:30pm           Coaching a High Peformance Telemarketing Team

4:30pm - 5:30pm           The Heart and Mind of Telemarketing

5:30pm                           Session Ends

*speakers and topics are subject to change with prior notice

Learning Investment

The First Telemarketers Summit

May 3, 2013, Crowne Plaza, Ortigas Center

EARLY BIRD RATE                                       P3,977 + VAT

When paid before January 31, 2013

REGULAR RATE                                           P4,977 + VAT

February 1 - April 4, 2013

WALK IN RATE                                              P 6,977 + VAT

GROUP RATE                                                Save P500.00

Learning Investment Inclusions

Call 643-3887 | 234.1341 for your participation and sponsorship inquiries.

Creating an event is easy, making it successful is difficult.

A lot of people, most especially those who are outside of the event creation process think that events are easy to create. In a way, this is true if you are inside the industry because you are passionate about it. The passion enables you to ignore the hard work in creating the event.

Let us take one of the process essential in creating an event – the brainstorming process or idea creation. This process is tough. One, if you have five people with different ideas and the goal is to crystallize one universal idea that everybody can agree on the brainstorming process might take time. Worst, it may also take a toll on the emotions of five people not accustom to giving way to others ideas.

But I will stand with my first statement: creating an event is easy.

The reason for this is that the event was created in the mental creation process. The real challenge is the physical creation of the event. The IMPLEMENTATION STAGE- the true test if the idea is correct or achieves the objectives set why it was created.

In the implementation side, say for example you created a conference. Everybody agree that it is a great idea but during the selling for sponsorship and generation of delegates you found out that the response of the target audience is lukewarm what do you do?

Most people will melt because of the pressure of making the conference break for profit. This is where the danger lies.

PRESSURE IS GOOD so long it sparks your INTELLIGENCE. It is bad if it makes you EMOTIONAL.

Let me expound on one dictum I live by as an events manager and that I always advice my peers: MORE INTELLIGENCE, LESS EMOTION = BETTER DECISION. Less Intelligence, more emotion = poor decision.

Going back to making the conference that I cited as an example, the key is to innovate or create pricing strategies, negotiate with hotels on the minimum guarantee, even tinker on adjusting the dates just to give it a chance to be successful.

These are basic solutions. There are still other solutions that one can think of if he wills it to think other alternatives in making the event successful.

These solutions are made possible because we opted to the right and better path that is to use more INTELLIGENCE.

They say one of the hardest acts to do is to THINK. This is the reason why a lot of companies hire consultants or experts in a particular critical management area; these hired experts do the thinking for them.

But everybody can maximize their brain. This is why there is a subject matter called emotional quotient where you are made to understand to control that emotion for overtaking yourself.

However, that is another matter up for discussion. The main point is using more your INTELLIGENCE to harness its power and make your event a success.

MICECON 2013 meets and exceeds the expectations of delegates. The MICECON 2013 held last March 6-9,2013 at SMX Lanang, Davao City showed the readiness of the province and Mindanao to host an important event in the tourism and MICE industry.

The development of Davao’s hotels, venues, and its strong safety and security management are keys in making its bid to be one of the country’s MICE hub. Add the strong people skills and innate hospitality of Davaoenos MICECON 2013 will be one of the benchmarks in future MICECON’s.

No less than, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is the keynote speaker of the conference. It is the first time that the President of the Philippines addressed the delegates of MICECON. This signals how important tourism is as one of the key drivers in our economy.

The president signed the Republic Act 10376 as part of the opening rites. RA 10376 grants tax exemptions to international carriers if their countries do the same for those of the Philippines. This new law is expected to significantly increase the number of planes of international airlines that bring tourists to the Philippines and enable the country’s tourism industry to hit its target of 10 million foreign visitor arrivals by 2016.

One of the favourite speakers that inspired the delegates is Matec Villanueva, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Manila. She wowed the crowd by giving insights that connect to the heart of the audience. One of her famous teaching in the event is “Your Brand Ambition must be directly proportional to your budget”.

Another speaker that energized the crowd is Cheryl Cecchetto, Founder and President, Sequoia Productions, USA. Her storytelling and nuggets of wisdom are like magnets that drew the crowd to her. 

Two of her famous tips are: Use Humour as a Trick and Realize the Power of Dream.

Other speakers also delivered what was expected of them. So much information and take home actionable knowledge were shared by the speakers.

MICECON is the biggest gathering of local and foreign delegates, including top executives and representatives of resorts, hotels, travel and tour companies, airlines, professional congress organizers, the academe, local and national tourism government offices, and many related MICE industry suppliers.

The delegates were treated by sumptuous meal from sponsoring hotels like Waterfront Hotel, Marco Polo Hotel, Royal Mandaya Hotel, Apo Hotel and Inland Rose Hotel.

Besides this, during the MICE Marketplace, there was a noticeable increase of buyers and sellers that participated in the event.

Next year’s MICECON will be held in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.

Two days to go before Davao becomes the hub where tourism industry players all over the country gather.

I am talking about the upcoming MICECON 2013, March 6-9, 2013, SMX Lanang, Davao City – the third year this event will be held. So far, this is one of the most important events in the tourism industry, in particular to the MICE Industry.

Even if MICE is a commonplace word all over Asia Pacific, in the country only few people know and understand what MICE is all about.

For newbies, here are 5 things that you can look forward to in MICECON 2013:

1.    Pre-Conference Activities