Best practices for corporate shareholder meetings are constantly evolving to better ensure accuracy, fairness and order. Leverage the 4 latest trends below to maximize success at your company’s next shareholder meeting.

1. Green shareholder meetings. Corporations are looking to further reduce their carbon footprint and ensure environmental responsibility by taking efforts to green their meetings. Miller Tanner Associates, for example, opted to reduce waste and mitigate negative environmental impact for a recent meeting for the pharmaceutical industry. But it needed to do so in a way that would not compromise the training, interactive format and informational elements of the meeting.

The meeting utilized an online interface that allowed virtual participants to submit questions and enabled presenters to interact with the audience. All event materials, binders and surveys were distributed digitally. Learn more about how Miller Tanner Associates achieved a green meeting.

2. The need for transparency. For many corporations, the need to remain transparent to stakeholders and the general public is growing. Some organizations are using their shareholder meetings to achieve this necessary transparency. In October, Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc. opened up its general meeting to the public by offering a live webcast of the meeting. The webcast included the formal business meeting and the subsequent management presentation. In this presentation, executives provided an update on the company’s product development plans. Interested participants could easily access the webcast from the company’s website.

3. Live voting results. A growing number of organizations are demanding live voting results for optimal efficiency and accuracy. Today’s advanced electronic voting systems and keypads are providing that capability. For example, British Airways used an electronic voting system to display live voting results to shareholders immediately during a recent meeting. The system provided British Airways with automated registration for shareholders, instant identification of registrants, 100% accurate voting results and a detailed audit trail.

4. Additional power for shareholders. Corporations in many different industries are adopting policies allowing shareholders to call special meetings in between annual or planned meetings. This measure prevents shareholders from being isolated in the case that a special meeting is called by a company leader in between an annual meeting. Two of the latest corporations to do so are Sprint and Motorola. Many companies in the oil industry have adopted similar policies, as well.

Try using some of these ideas to improve your next shareholder meeting. Learn how audience response systems offered by IML can help you implement these techniques.

4 Top Trends for Shareholder Meetings was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

IML Connector Audience Response System

Attendees at this week’s International Confex Exhibition in London got a firsthand, exclusive view of the brand-new IML Connector audience interaction and voting tool.

Not there? Not to worry.

We’ve got our own exclusive look at the new audience response system.

The audience response device – in direct response to event producer demand – reduces the amount of hardware necessary for attendees to fully participate in events. The single handheld device combines:

• Multiple audio channels and portable PA system
• Instant voting with configurable menus and choices
• “Push to talk” functionality, allowing attendees to ask questions without waiting for the mic

The Connector audience response system takes interaction to a whole new level by incorporating intuitive features such as an accelerometer that detects tilt and orientation. Imagine using the Connector at your next event to capture an actual show of hands.

User-friendly features have also been incorporated into the Connector. In place of an industry-standard alpha-numeric keypad, the Connector utilizes a QWERTY keyboard. Plus, the device offers a color screen for multimedia and high-resolution graphics, which enables more detailed question and answer sessions.

Learn more about the new Connector and other audience response systems available from IML.

To receive the latest news and tips for enhancing your next event with electronic bidding and pledging, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

Gain an Exclusive Look at the Next Generation of Audience Response Systems was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Could new requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) soon change the way your business conducts shareholder meetings?

The SEC has proposed several new measures to grant even more voting power to shareholders of US companies, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.

Here’s how suggested measures could affect shareholder voting for US corporations moving forward:

Before: In general, shareholders have had a difficult time influencing the way companies operate, especially when it comes to executive pay.

After: A new SEC proposal would give shareholders a non-binding vote on executive pay.

Before: Shareholders have long had the right to nominate director candidates, but the process was extremely expensive because they had to use their own proxy documents.

After: A new SEC proposal would allow shareholders to nominate director candidates using the company’s proxy documents, thus streamlining the process and making it more cost-effective.

Before: Previously when shareholders sought to remove a director from a board without nominating their own candidates, they would cast protest votes during shareholder meetings, hoping the director would resign on his or her own.

After: A proposed measure from the SEC would prohibit brokers from casting director-election votes on behalf of investors who don’t vote. With the new measure in place, brokers can’t dilute shareholders’ message by voting on behalf of non-voting investors.

Before: Previously, executives could be re-elected in uncontested elections with just vote.

After: A new measure would require directors to win more than 50% of investor votes to be re-elected to boards. Executives not receiving a 50% vote would have to submit their resignation.

Granting additional voting rights during shareholder meetings will necessitate an even more accurate, streamlined voting process.

By leveraging electronic voting systems, companies can ensure:

• Rapid, accurate voting results
• Detailed audit trail of attendance and voting
• Quick, automated registration for shareholders
• Instant identification of shareholders with voting rights

To receive the latest tips on electronic voting for shareholder and other meetings, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

How Voting at Shareholder Meetings Could Change as a Result of New SEC Measures was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

For events from board meetings to training conferences, the emergence of public speaking 2.0 is here. A growing number of speakers are leveraging the latest technologies to make their presentations interactive and gain useful audience feedback.

Whether through social networking websites or audience response systems, meeting organizers and speakers can ensure audience members stay engaged and excited throughout presentations.

Below are a few tips on how to use technology to make presentations more interactive:

• Elicit real-time audience feedback. By allowing audience members to directly and immediately offer feedback during an event, speakers can improve presentations in real time. For example, an October Econsultantcy blog post discusses how a speaker at a recent event used Twitter to gather audience questions and answer key themes during the presentation. Audience response text messaging systems can achieve the same objective.
• Give audience members an incentive to participate. Speakers can motivate audience members to participate in the event by making it fun. For example, interactive quizzes via handheld devices help generate enthusiasm among audience members. Plus, they help invoke a lively, competitive atmosphere.
• Make it easy for audience members to participate. Meeting organizers and speakers must be aware of their audience’s level of tech knowledge – after all, not all participants know how to interact with Twitter or other social networking sites. Any technology leveraged in a meeting or other presentation must be intuitive and easy-to-use, so that audience members aren’t confused or left out of the discussion.

Now is the perfect time to embrace public speaking 2.0. With the array of technologies available to encourage participation and elicit audience feedback, meeting organizers and speakers can easily take their presentations to the next level.

To receive the latest tips on gaining audience feedback and encouraging participation during meetings or presentations, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Gain Audience Feedback & Encourage Participation With the Latest Technologies was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Where in the world is leading audience response systems provider IML? Right here, in these industry blogs and publications:

Planner Product Review: Read the positive review of the audience response system from IML by Travis Hodge of Elite Meetings International, Inc. Find out why Hodge thinks IML provides the “next best thing” to reading customers’ minds.

The In Crowd: Discover how the “In Party,” hosted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, reached its goal of $1 million in donations with help from IML electronic bidding technology.

IML in Dubai: Learn more about the new IML office in Dubai and how it is providing more economical rates on audience response systems for Middle Eastern customers.

Natural Selection: Learn how the American Cancer Society ‘greened’ its Discovery Ball with help from the IML audience response system. Plus, discover how the event used only biodegradable materials and natural lighting.

SEARCH Foundation: On Jan. 14, the SEARCH Foundation will host its annual fundraiser, The Big Give in the Big Easy, to raise money to support event professionals who’ve been affected by catastrophic events. To maximize participation of the event’s silent auction and raise even more funds, Silent Auction and Pledge technology from IML will be leveraged.

Subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event Blog RSS feed for the latest IML news.

Audience Response Systems Provider IML in the News was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Large-scale events – from silent auctions to shareholder meetings – require careful planning, monetary resources and manpower. And a few tried-and-true tips for event planning don’t hurt, either.

In a recent podcast and whitepaper from promotional product retailer 4imprint, Paulette Wolf and Donielle Levine, authors of the book “Event Planning Made Easy,” offer what they consider the first and most important tip for successful event planning:

Establish the 5 “W’s” and 1 “How.”

One by one, those 6 elements include:

1. Who are the guests or attendees?

2. What is the event being planned?

3. Where will the event be held?

4. When is the event scheduled?

5. Why is the event being held—i.e., what’s the goal of the event?

6. How much is in the budget?

Of course, those steps are just the start. From there, the detailed work begins. We’ve come up with the next 6 “W” and “How” tips for event planning:

7. Who in my organization is willing and qualified to assist in the planning?

8. What channels should I use to promote the event?

9. Where can I find tools available to ensure full audience participation and interaction?

10. When should each planning milestone be reached leading up to the event?

11. Why did similar past events succeed or fail, and what lessons learned can be taken from those events?

12. How can I maximize fundraising ROI?

What tips for event planning would you add to the list?

12 Must-Read Tips for Event Planning was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Not all silent auction events are created equally.

But the upcoming Inaugural Integration Auction, Scatter Categories 2010 – hosted by Brand in Entertainment (BiE) – is truly in a class all its own.

You won’t find luxury vacation packages, department store gift certificates or state-of the-art flat screen TVs at this silent auction event. On Jan. 20, corporate and ad agency representatives will gather to outbid one another for the chance at integrating their brands into the hottest upcoming films and television shows.

BiE helps weave national and international brands into pop culture through entertainment sources like movies, TV shows, plays, Webisodes and novels. We’re not talking product placements here, either. Think back to 1983, when all of America had to have the Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses donned by Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” during the infamous dance scene.

To make the silent auction event even more captivating and unique for guests, BiE has decided to collaborate with IML. Leveraging IML silent auction and pledge software, guests will be able to place bids on electronic keypads from the comfort of their own seats. Plus, they’ll be able to track bidding activity in real time on large-screen plasma TVs throughout the room.

For 2010, BiE currently has 33 films and 25 television projects scheduled, including “Henry’s Crime” starring Keanu Reeves and James Caan, and “Unamerican” starring Jessica Biel and John Leguizamo.

With electronic, interactive bidding and auction items you can’t get anywhere else, the Inaugural Integration Auction is sure to be an auction unlike any other.

Silent Auction Event Puts Brands on the Big Screen was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

What phrase recently set the Guinness World Record for number of social media mentions in a 24-hour period – raising $70,000 through fundraising in the process?

A. #AIDSAwareness

B. #EliminateHeartDisease

C. #SayNoToPoverty

D. #BeatCancer

If you answered “D. #BeatCancer”, you know your social media and fundraising trivia!

In late October, EVERYWHERE, a social media marketing firm in Atlanta, officially set the record for the most widespread social network message in 24 hours. The phrase #BeatCancer received a total of 209,771 mentions on Twitter, Facebook and blog posts in just one day.

EVERYWHERE asked attendees at BlogWorld & New Media Expo to post the message via their blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook accounts. From there, the campaign went viral.

The marketing firm didn’t just score bragging rights. Sponsors eBay/PayPal, MillerCoors Brewing Company and Genesis Today donated more than $70,000 for 4 non-profit cancer organizations. Those groups include Spirit Jump, Bright Pink, Alex’s Lemonade and Stand UP to Cancer.

Learn about another unique fundraising effort by taking our cancer fundraiser quiz.

A New Standard in Social Media Fundraising was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Whether hosting a fundraising event for a school, church, non-profit organization or any other entity, certain planning requirements remain the same. In a recent post on The Fundraising Authority blog, several steps were identified to incorporate into planning. We’ve added to the list to create the 13 essential steps of any successful fundraising event.

1. Determine the event’s purpose. Is the goal to raise funds, gain publicity or develop a presence in a new market? In some cases, events have a combination of goals. For example, a charity dinner might be hosted to gain publicity for a non-profit organization, with a secondary purpose of raising funds.

2. Set a fundraising goal. The goal should be based on what the organization would like to net after accounting for all expenses. The event host committee, organization staff and key fundraisers can all help in determining this goal.

3. Plan for a budget. Budgets must encompass staffing, venue, food and drinks, entertainment, invitations, and security costs, among many other possible items. The most successful fundraising events also account for unexpected costs during budgeting.

4. Decide on a host committee. This group of donors, business leaders or celebrities can help an organization reach its fundraising goals by contributing funds and encouraging others to do the same. They may not be responsible for planning the event, but they’ll be vital to reaching fundraising goals.

5. Pinpoint the target audience. Determining who will be invited to the event will dictate much of the planning. For example, is the event geared toward a group of business leaders, parents of school children, families or other specific group?

6. Nail down event details. This includes choosing the location for the event, the food and drinks to be served, the required dress and special activities or entertainment for guests.

7. Ensure audience participation. A host of resources exist to help ensure maximum interaction among guests, including audience response text messaging systems or keypads with interactive quizzes.

8. Market the event to the target audience. Whether organizers choose to market the event through direct mail, telemarketing, word of mouth or via social networks, creating a marketing plan is critical. It may be helpful to think of the event as you would a product launch.

9. Create a procedure for ticket sales and donations. In addition to determining logistics like who will sell tickets and how they will be delivered, organizers should consider setting different contribution levels. For example, organizations could set a general ticket price for the actual event, and also offer a VIP level that would give attendees access to an additional reception.

10. Brainstorm ways to maximize fundraising. Successful fundraising events involve raising the highest amount of money possible. One way organizations can achieve this is through automated silent auction software. This technology allows guests to place instant bids during silent auctions directly from their seats.

11. Hold a quick event run-through. For all parties involved in running the event, organizers must ensure their roles and responsibilities are clearly communicated and understood. The larger the event, the more preparation needed.

12. Encourage audience participation. Audience participation is crucial for two reasons: First, it ensures all participants engage with one another and enjoy themselves. Second, the more audience interaction at an event, the more likely guests will be to donate funds. Discover how one high school was able to maximize donations at a fundraising event by soliciting audience response through electronic keypads.

13. Show appreciation to donors and participants. It’s important to keep all donors, vendors, staff and volunteers happy, so they will want to participate in future events. Saying “thanks,” even through simple notes, can go a long way.

Keeping these 13 steps in mind – whether planning a large or small affair – will ensure a successful fundraising event for all parties involved.

13 Essential Elements of Successful Fundraising Events was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

For charity organizations, a down economy presents a conundrum of sorts: the worse the economy, the greater the need for fundraising donations—and the greater the difficulty in securing them. When brainstorming fundraising ideas, it’s vital to consider how to maximize fundraising ROI.

But which fundraising ideas produce the best results? And which donor groups should be targeted to gain the most return?

Blogger Norman Olshansky, of non-profit consulting firm NFP Consulting Resources, presents some useful statistics to maximize fundraising (based on “Fund Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process” by James Greenfield) in a recent post.

In other words, to raise $1 through direct mailing general lists, you’d have to spend $1.15. But to raise $1 through soliciting major gifts, you’d only need to spend $0.05 to $0.10.

When you’re planning your next fundraiser, keep in mind which efforts produce the best results. Then brainstorm ways to maximize fundraising for the method you chose—whether that’s a direct mailing campaign or a gala.

For example, in October, Keep a Child Alive held its 2009 Black Ball to support children and families in Africa and India who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. The fundraiser included such high-profile names as President Bill Clinton, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, John Mayer and Sir Richard Branson. To maximize ROI and attendee participation, the group utilized a silent auction software system that allowed guests to pledge donations right from their seats.

The event experienced a 30% participation rate, compared with the less than 10% average participation rate of similar events. In the end, the Black Ball was able to generate more than $70,000!

What ideas do you have to maximize fundraising ROI?

Maximize Fundraising at Your Next Event was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com