5. Kongres newsletter, August 2010

 

Articles and news chosen by our guest Elling Hamso

 

The Art and Science of Good Presentations

When a friend gave me a book on presentation skills, I had reason to be offended as he had heard me speak many times. Today I am grateful that he did, it totally changed how I look at presentations, whether my own or those given by others. The main lesson was that most presentations can be significantly, even dramatically, improved by just following some simple guidelines.

Let us look at some of the most obvious things to fix in order to make a presentation more effective.

 

 

 

Make the listener do something!

What have you got to say to the audience? Why should they want to listen to you? Unless you are a pure entertainer and they listen just for the enjoyment of the moment, they will be wanting something in return from spending the time, and maybe also money, to listen to you.

There is only one way for the listener and any other stakeholder, such as the speaker, sponsor or meeting owner, to get value back from the presentation. The listener has to do something afterwards which creates value to himself or any other stakeholder. It is not enough for the listener to feel or think something, that does not create value. It is not enough for the listener to learn something, learning on its own has no value. It is only what the listener does when he has learned, which creates value.

So the only thing that matters is what the listener will do afterwards. Something that he would not have done without attending the presentation. Any part of the presentation which does not contribute to such behaviour, is at best a waste of time and probably distracting from the key message.

In his book Presentation Zen , Garr Reynolds suggests that when preparing the presentation you should ask yourself: "If the listener could only remember one thing (and you would be lucky!), what should it be?" I agree with Reynolds and would add; what would it make him do, and how would that create value to him or other stakeholders?

 

Kill the bullets

Bullet points have gone out of fashion, but not without first having done a lot of harm, distracting the listener's attention from what the speaker has to say. The worst case is a long list of bullet points presented at once, it is better when bullets are introduced one by one, but why use bullet lists at all? If you bullet point is not important enough to occupy a slide on its own whilst you talk about it, one bullet one slide, then it probably should not be included at all.

When you have presented all the points, you may summarise and repeat, that is probably the only circumstance where a list of bullets is serving a useful purpose.

 

The 7 words rule

Words in general, not just bullets, are real presentation killers. The reason is simple, you could say it seems like a human design fault, but we are incapable of listening and reading at the same time. So when the audience reads the text on your slides, they don't listen to what you say. It is as simple as that. Text on slides really detract attention from the presenter and repeated studies have shown that the audience remembers less when the presenter supports his message with text on slides. Garr Reynolds says maximum 7 words per slide. If you need more words, make more slides, or use a picture instead

 

Pictures are louder

It is an old cliché that a picture is a thousand words, but it is true. What more, neurologists have found that pictoral information is processed in a different part of the brain from language, so we can process information from pictures and listen to speakers at the same time!

But just any picture will not do, there has to be a clear connection. A dramatic picture which is clearly related to your message works best as a 'memory hook'. Some times a simple hand drawing will do the trick, or searching websites like Istockphoto.com or just Google image search, makes it easy to find good images to support the presentation.

 

The 10 minutes rule

If you are an engaging and entertaining speaker, for how long can you hold the listener's attention? 10 minutes maximum. In fact there is extensive neurological research which confirms that after ten minutes, the mind starts to drift. It doesn't mean that the presentation needs to be less than ten minutes, but the speaker somehow has to regain the interest of the audience every ten minutes. Look at Steve Jobs on YouTube, possibly the world's best presenter. Before ten minutes are up, he shows a video, gives a demonstration, brings someone on stage, or something else to change the format of his presentation, re-engaging the listeners.

 

Time to think

We listen and we forget. The information enters our short term memory and doesn't get processed into the long term memory, which is necessary if we are going to use it later. The listener must actively process the information, for example by relating it to what he already knows, discussing with others, ask questions and make comments based on past experience.

Every presentation needs to include some time for reflection and discussion. The traditional questions and answers immediately afterwards, don't help much. Why not give the audience ten or twenty minutes to talk amongst themselves first, sharing with each other how they may use what they have just learned in their jobs and preparing questions or comments to the speaker. A good presentation format is called 4 x 20, twenty minutes presentation, twenty minutes discussion, twenty minutes questions and answers, twenty minutes break.

 

How to become a better speaker?

Of course it takes much more than a few tricks, such as those above, to make you a world class speaker. There are three elements to excellence in this field: First, the content of the presentation must be crafted effectively, the introduction, body and conclusion, the call to action, avoiding anything that distracts, repeating and summarising everything important. Second, the supporting slide must be effectively designed, pictures, graphs and a few words that will support, and not distract from what the speaker has to say. Third, the stage performance of the speaker, pacing, voice projection, body language, involvement.

There are many books, among the best are Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design. There are also some good resource centres on the web, an excellent one is Andrew Dlugan's www.dlugan.sixminutes.com. There are also many professional speakers' associations who provide training and coaching.

Another opportunity to learn is a two day course by Dianne Lowther during Event ROI Week first week in September every year at Down Hall near London (www.eventroi.org/roi-week).

 

Interesting reviews and video:

http://meetingsupport.org

http://meetingsupport.org

http://vimeo.com

 

By Elling Hamso, Managing Partner, Event ROI Institute (www.eventroi.org)

 

The 10-20-30 Rule: Guy Kawasaki on PowerPoint

You’ve just been asked to give a project update to your colleagues at next week’s lunch-hour seminar.

Quick…
How many slides will you use?
How much text can you put on them?
How long should you speak — the whole hour, or less?
Don’t know? Guy Kawasaki, a famous author and venture capitalist, has the answers and they may surprise you.

 

What is the 10-20-30 Rule for PowerPoint?
Guy Kawasaki framed his 10-20-30 Rule for PowerPoint as:
• 10 slides are the optimal number to use for a presentation.
• 20 minutes is the longest amount of time you should speak.
• 30 point font is the smallest font size you should use on your slides.
You can read his pitch here, and you can see his pitch below (or here):

What I Love About the 10-20-30 Rule for PowerPoint
If everyone were to follow this advice, the overall quality of business presentations everywhere would improve dramatically. If you stop reading now and follow this advice religiously, I wouldn’t complain too much.

 

#1: 10 Slides Constrains the Presenter to Choose Wisely
Sure, 10 may seem like an arbitrary number, but putting a limit on the number of slides you are allowed is a valuable constraint. Most people probably have 20, or 30, or 100 slides for a 1-hour presentation. Trimming this number down to 10 forces you to evaluate the necessity of each and every slide. Just like every element of your presentation, if the slide isn’t necessary, it should be cut.
It also encourages a presenter to design wisely. Often a single well-designed diagram eliminates the need for 5 bullet-point slides.

 

#2: 20 Minutes is Long Enough to Communicate Something Big
“Often a single well-designed diagram eliminates the need for 5 bullet-point slides.”
Just like the constraint on the number of slides, a constraint on your speaking time will force you to edit mercilessly. Trim the sidebar jokes. Trim the gratuitous “I’m happy to be here” pleasantries. Trim the stories which aren’t essential to conveying your message. Trim the details that only 5% of the audience cares about — send them out via email later. When you are able to trim all the extras, you can communicate with precision and concision.
Martin Luther King Jr. only needed 17 minutes to share his dream. What makes you think you need more?

 

#3: 30-Point Font Guarantees Readability
Unless you have a very large audience and a very small projector screen (it has happened to me), 30-point font should be readable by everyone in your audience. Bigger is probably better, but this is a sensible lower threshold to adopt.
While a 30-point font still allows you to put too many words on a slide, at least your audience will be able to read them.

 

What I Hate About the 10-20-30 Rule for PowerPoint
There are very few strict rules for public speaking, and these don’t qualify. Here’s a few reasons why you should consider them guidelines, but not rules.

 

#1: Every Situation is Unique
First, remember Guy Kawasaki’s context for the rule: 1-hour presentations from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists. He’s a successful venture capitalist, so let’s assume his rule is perfect for that scenario.
But does this scenario match your next presentation? If not, then be careful about applying the wisdom to your personal situation.

 

#2: There’s no Perfect Number of Slides
“Develop your content first, and then add slides as necessary.”
“How many slides should I have?” is one of the most frequent questions I hear. Somebody asks it every time I deliver my PowerPoint design course.
The wrong answers are numerous:
• You should always have 10 slides
• You should always have one slide per minute
• You should always have one slide per major point
• You should have no more than 5 slides
The right answer is: How many slides do you need?
How many slides are necessary for you to convey your message in an effective and memorable way? It might be zero. It might be one. It might be 200. It depends heavily on the nature of your content, the message you are delivering, and the complexity of your slides.
Develop your content first, and then add slides as necessary.

 

#3: There’s no Perfect Duration to Speak
The 20 minute suggestion assumes a 1-hour time slot. So, the rule is really saying that you should speak for one-third of your allowed time and leave two-thirds for Q&A. That’s not a bad guideline. In fact, it’s a very good general guideline.
But, it depends. Maybe the format of your event just doesn’t allow for Q&A within or after the presentation. Maybe you are doing a product demo which takes 10 minutes, and you’ve only got a 12-minute time slot. (That’s cutting it close!) Maybe the conference is running 35 minutes behind and you are the last speaker of the day. Or, maybe your audience is better served by a 1-minute speech and a 59-minute Q&A.
Consider the needs of your audience, and choose the best presentation format that will meet those needs.

 

#4: There’s no Perfect Font Size
30-point font might be an optimal size, but it might be too small or too large. The optimal size depends on several factors:
• how much text is on your slides (aim for less!)
• the contrast between the text and background colors
• the lighting in the room
• the distance between your audience and the screen
• the quality of the projector
• the vision of your audience
• the time of day (Is your audience tired? Have they been looking at slides all day?)
If you have any doubts, go large.

 

#5: Size Matters, but Quantity Matters More
To be blunt, it doesn’t matter what the font size is as long as your audience can easily read the words. It is, however, much more important to take a step back from your slides and assess whether the words you’ve got are necessary at all. Neither you nor your audience should be reading lengthy passages of text from your slides. Your audience should be listening to you, and the slides are just visual aids.

 

#6: If Everybody’s Following the Rules, Maybe You Shouldn’t
One of the strengths of Guy Kawasaki’s advice is that, if you follow it, you are likely to stand out from your peers in a good way. They are probably using too many slides, speaking too long, and putting too much small text on the slides. Standing out as a speaker is a good thing.
But, maybe your colleagues are disciples of Guy Kawasaki. Maybe the 10-slide, 20-minute briefing is commonplace, and your corporate template is set to 30-point font. That’s when the environment is ripe for doing something different. Don’t just change it up for the sake of doing so, but watch for an opportunity where presenting without slides or presenting with 200 makes sense, and go for it.
The Verdict

 

I applaud Guy Kawasaki’s efforts to use his influence to improve the presentation status quo. He has reached many people with his message; if you are still reading this article, then he’s reaching you too. Overall, the impact of his rule has inched us collectively in the right direction.
But… the 10-20-30 Rule shouldn’t be viewed as a strict rule. (And, for the record, I don’t think Guy Kawasaki views it a strict rule either.) It’s a sound guideline which you should always consider, but make your choices based on your audience, your message, and your own personal style.
Your Thoughts?

 

What’s your verdict on the 10-20-30 Rule? Should it be embossed onto the surface of every digital projector in the world?
Andrew Dlugan

 

The Five Biggest Presentation Mistakes – and how to avoid them

1. Lack of Clear Purpose
I’ve seen lots of presentations that contained interesting, maybe even useful, information but still left me thinking, ‘So what?’ And I’m sure you have, too. This is what happens when the presenter lacks a clear purpose. The presentation rambles around, covers various topics but never really seems to come to a point.
To avoid this, take time before you start to prepare your presentation and clearly identify its purpose. Then, when you prepare your presentation, only include material that is relevant to that purpose.

2. Preparing the slides, but nothing else
How often have you had to sit through a PowerPoint presentation that, frankly didn’t need a presenter? You know the sort of thing I mean, each slide is densely packed with bullet points that the ‘presenter’ then reads out. I usually just read the slide and then wait for the ‘presenter’ to catch up!
To avoid this one, prepare the presentation first, then the slides. Too many people seem to think that their slides ARE the presentation. No, the presentation is what YOU say and do. The slides are secondary.

3. Starting with an apology
Some people think that if they begin with an apology, “unaccustomed as I am...” or something similar, then their audience will expect less of them and be more forgiving if they’re not very good. Wrong! Your audience expect – and I think they have a right to expect – you to be good. To be worth listening to. To deliver value.
Never, ever begin with an apology. Your audience are hoping that you’ll be good. Act as if you will be good, even if you’re not as confident as you’d like to be. Telling them you’re nervous or inexperienced or just off a red-eye flight will only get them looking for the faults in your presentation. Give them something else to think about.

4. Trying to be Funny
Some people have a gift for humour, others don’t. We’ve all suffered at the hands of a presenter who peppers their presentation with weak jokes or tries to make witty comments and fails miserably.
So be honest with yourself, do you have the gift of humour or not? If you’re in the latter category (like me) then accept it and don’t try to be funny. It’s a myth that people will like your presentation more if you tell jokes. Actually you’re just wasting time. Have a clear purpose and fulfil that purpose and your audience will listen and will respect you.

5. Not Knowing When or How to Stop
This, for me, is the greatest giveaway of an inexperienced presenter. They might do a great job of presenting what they prepared, then when they get to the end they either repeat themselves endlessly or just tail away rather lamely. Some do both. If they’re fortunate there will be a slick and experienced Chairman who can intervene. If not, we’re all in trouble.
The answer? Prepare the ending as thoroughly as you prepare your opening. Decide on the final thought you want to leave your audience with and work out how to deliver it for maximum impact. When you’ve delivered it, STOP. What could be easier!

Dianne Lowther

Excellence of incentive products

An all-day darts tournament does not yet make an incentive programme

It happens far too often, that after carrying out workshops, incentive programs or teambuilding trainings, I arrive at the same conclusion after talking to the clients. There are still far too many lousy providers out there, who misuse the terms incentive programs and team building, to make a quick profit and leave the cosumers high and dry. I still find it hard to accept some companies advertise themselves as incentive program organizers, but what they in fact offer are one day company trips with a few sports activities and a guided tour of Piran.
The negative effect of not choosing a proper organizer is that the client companies don’t really see the benefits an actual incentive program can have to increase their competitiveness and productivity, but only see it as an additional expense.

When choosing the right organizer a client can boost morale and loyalty of its most valued employees, which will ensure a stable future for the company and long term improvement in quality which is a key element in customer and partner satisfaction.

We have to be aware that organizing an incentive program requires a large amount of experience, skill and flexibility. We must never neglect the importance of choosing the right location, which has to stand out in some way, yet also provide all the leisure the clients require. All the details of the program must be compliant with the client’s wishes and business objectives. Since they sometimes find it hard to decide which of the many world’s destinations to choose, we have to be there to understand their needs and requests and fulfil them all. We have found the element of positive surprise to be very useful, since it upgrades the quality of the program as a whole. We have to remember these are programs with a high added value and represent a reward for the most successful and valuable employees. These are usually teams within the company or individuals who manage successful projects and are at the same time role models for other employees.

Have you ever noticed how many companies advertise team building programs on their websites? Last year I called one of them out of curiosity and inquired what they recommended for a one day team building program. Their answer: “a whole day tournament in darts, which can be carried out anywhere they have dartboards. This will certainly strengthen friendly relations among employees.” I got chills when I heard firsthand what some people offer as team building. It was fairly obvious that the gentleman who gave me this information had no idea (and here he is not alone), that team building is first and foremost employee education where trust, communication, organisation and motivation within a team are strengthened through different techniques of team work and workshops. This leads to an analysis of team dynamics and individuals. Programs are devised into one-day or longer and are periodically repeated to achieve desired goals and to also measure the progress. After one day of playing darts you will certainly laugh at the suggestion that team building is useful and provides measurable data.

With the right team building programs you will find it much easier to utilize the skills and potential of your employees. With the help of “practise to practise” models and FSNP (forming, storming, norming, performing), developed by Maya team as first in Slovenia, all the acquired knowledge during the training is successfully transferred to the work environment. The results can be used for a range of staff development and even succession planning purposes, as some of the personal attributes of your employees and teams may be overlooked in the everyday routine.
Now that we are clear on how incentive or team building programs should be carried out we are but a step away from the level of excellence. The level, where our clients trust us completely because they are certain their objectives will be met and their staff will be satisfied, motivated and full of new energy, experience and ideas. How do we then achieve the level excellence of incentive products? I’m sure you’re aware there is no magic wand to help you with this issue, therefore we must combine all the elements of a quality incentive or team building program with professionalism, creativity and fun. Even though I’ve just mentioned fun at the very end of the article, it is and was the key element of all the high quality products, which satisfy even the most demanding costumers.

Borut Nikolaš, Maya Team

The ways and means of a successful incentive event

Incentive which makes you smile

I have frequently wondered and still do today what an incentive actually is. What does this magic word in the meeting industry imply, to make it so popular and praiseworthy? The more I think, assess, and guess, I keep getting to the same definition: it means encouraging people to act in a certain way, following a predesigned program. This is what achieves stimulation, enthusiasm, happiness and a change in motivation.

I am actually pretty lucky in understanding incentives and their consequences, since I come from a marketing background. I’ve learned the craft of advertising from smaller and also some of the largest Slovenian agencies while working with different marketing gurus’. I took the role of designer, creative leader, creative director – and thus developed ideas, scenarios, images, events, fair settings and marketing-sales strategies. I’m lucky to recognize the incentive programs environment is similar to marketing. The only difference is that in marketing you try to sway the buyer to spend and satisfy needs to make him happy, in incentives pleasantness and motivation is the key goal.

The means of achieving this goal are similar in marketing campaigns and incentive programs. A good incentive company is a mixture of a tourist, marketing and ad agency. The following adds to the mix of the process of managing, project management and directing of a dynamically structured team. Somewhere on the frontline there’s the project manager who creates a scenario along with the team, outlines the events, creates ideas and designs them. The same team then carries out the ideas – takes care of the reservations, studies the location, analyses the group and carries out processes in the field. All in all its comprehensive work, which requires a broad spectre of knowledge and people with different educational backgrounds.

My first incentive happened by coincidence at the beginning of this century when I organized an event, while still full of marketing knowledge and enthusiasm, where we directed people according to strictly set goals. We worked hard for two days, performed experiments, did some improvising and mostly learned a lot. I learned a lot (luckily) while travelling through USA – where I learned it’s okay to start a project when you have acquired around 30% of the knowledge, you learn the res as you go along. It has to be said that the level of knowledge we had before staring a project here, was just little more encouraging.

I later recognized incentives are like a bag – empty and boring if you do not fill it with something. I realized incentive events need to be “spiced” to a make sure they taste good. This is how we launched ourselves on to the business meetings market. We invested a lot in human resources and product development and also on training, promotion and marketing. All was well until we organized our largest and most comprehensive event to date, for clients from Belgium. The budget was overwhelming; our knowledge was at a level of at least 70 %, even so we uncovered some new revolutionary approaches, convinced our surroundings certain thing are just impossible, worked nights for months. We mostly learned you need to persevere, be accurate, adapt to change, which might be simple for the clients but can severely change your system. All this and much more is typical for the incentive environment.
In time we reached a prosperous era and the golden age of the company’s growth. Our basic vision was and is to offer creative scenarios and unforgettable stories. It’s hard to forget the time of developing wonders of scenarios, stories... I’m talking about the time when I wrote over 3000 pages of projects, offers, concepts and briefs. This was definitely a time of company and personal growth.

Sometime later the recession hit. Its main characteristic was having to work twice as hard for the same results – in sales and in carrying out events. The crisis is ongoing and will go on for some time. And since the truth is never sexy enough you have to show that much more will, skill, ingenuity, calculating, costs management and negotiating skills to ensure a proper incentive event.

Organizing incentive events is similar to being told – no matter if you can’t fly, you can read. Basically, it requires a lot of daring thinking and will and also moderation and being grounded. A really good story and great execution won’t thrill if the topic is not well chosen. A modest event will not excuse the low costs if there will be no effect and smiles. An expensive event won’t meet expectations if it isn’t carried out in moderation.

Incentive, which should be strictly separated from team building, is its own dynamic of different processes, emotions and presentations. It’s good to know the only borders are in our heads, so incentive enables a broad spectre of expressions, ideas and effects.
What counts most are of course the smiles!

Matej Mejovšek, LIFETREK Events

Innovative treats of congress and Slovenian tourism

Opportunities for upgrading congress and Slovenian tourism are numerous

The process of innovating in tourism encompasses a number of small gradual changes and a few revolutionary shifts which have many times before redefined tourism and broadened its scope. One of those was Thomas Cook, one of the pioneers of organized tourism, who was the first to offer tourist packages in the 19th century. The end of the 20th century was marked by a new way of doing business in the air industry by EasyJet. Legoland is the first example of a park, where companies used tourist products to market their non-touristic brand and expand their business. These are just a few examples of significant innovation, yet this is not the way change happens most of the time – sometimes, all it takes is a tiny affection and a bit of “cuddling” to steal a guest away from the competition, possibly forever.

Innovations in congress tourism

The meeting industry also holds numerous opportunities for a bit of innovative “cuddling”... A number of new opportunities arises from a gadget named Spotme (www.spotme.com), a tool its makes have whimsically dubbed »The Swiss Army Knife of Interactive Meeting Tools«. The device was briefly mentioned last year in the July issue of Kongres magazine and has been made since 2001. It truly enhances the interactive possibilities of business meetings.

The gadget is quite an achievement since it fulfils important needs of the organizers and participants of specialized meetings. The participants can make their own timetable of lectures and workshops they want to attend in the scope of the event and apply to them. The device also enables interactive lectures, where the participants can vote or answer survey questions, the results of which are then immediately displayed on the board. Since networking is an integral part of any meeting the devices enable the so called “human radar”, which finds and identifies individual participants according to the user’s specifications. The numbers are impressive: over 95% of participants use the device at least once during the event. In average a participant uses it 20 times a day. At one of the events of the Congrex Group the participants exchanged 9.200 messages, 940 electronic business cards, the “human radar” enabled contacts of 1.033 people.

Another bunch of congress treats, waiting to be adapted to the Slovenian market, are the services of personal local business-tourist agents, who you can hire in Shanghai (www.atyourside.asia). The »modern geishas« are qualified translators, linguists and IT experts, who take care of the entire business and travel experience of the people who hire them. You could call the “local secretaries and tourist agents – in one person”.

And another Asian invention from Singapore: the boutique hotel named Quincy (www.quincy.com.sg). It offers business travellers a wholesome business – tourist experience in the form of a neatly packaged “all-inclusive” deal. It starts with a free limo (equipped with wi-fi, of course) which picks the guest up at the airport. The package also includes three meals a day, free cocktails from 6 to 8 p.m. and a free mini bar, refilled daily. The rooms are stylishly furbished and include office furniture, a lavish bedroom and bath, even laundry service is included in the deal. The price for this “all inclusive” package is a bit over 100€ per night.

There are many innovations in the world which congress tourism in Slovenia can adopt and improve for its own market.

Innovations in Slovenian tourism

Innovation in Slovenia tourism was seriously addressed for the first time in 2004, when the Sejalec tender was first published by the Slovenia Tourist Board (STB) for creative and innovative achievements in tourism. After two editions of the tender (in 2006) we started thinking how we can additionally improve Slovenian tourism. On the initiative of the author of this article the Slovenia Tourist Board, Turistica Faculty and the Directorate for Tourism at the Ministry of the Economy, the project Bank of Tourism Potentials of Slovenia was started (www.BTPS.si). The portal of the Bank has since developed into an information centre for the development of Slovenian tourism. We use it to publish all the opportunities which can improve Slovenian tourism (they are also published on Facebook) and to connect individuals and institutions who want to make them happen.

The project Bank of Tourism Potentials of Slovenia seems to be going in the right direction, since we received two important awards last year. The World Tourism Organisation (www.unwto.org) awarded the project the prize for special achievements in innovation in tourism Ulysses. The BTPS was also featured as a case for good practices on the portal of the European year of creativity and innovation in 2009 (create2009.europa.eu).

Both prizes gave new wind to the project so another tender named Snovalec was published last year. It is aimed at the realization of the best ideas published by the users of the Bank’s portal, with a solid budget of 40.000 Euros provided yearly by the Directorate for Tourism. The first four winning projects have already received their share of the prize money, so Slovenia will be richer for four new tourist novelties by the end of this year.

Innovative trips round Slovenia

The tenders Snovalec and Sejalec are complementary. Snovalec encourages new, unfulfilled and different tourist innovations. Sejalec rewards the already existing tourist innovations, which are not only new but also successful. The final phase of combining the results of the two tenders offered an outcome most useful for tourists. Even individual new and different tourist products can inspire tourists to visit certain parts of Slovenia for a day trip. To facilitate the search of those looking for innovative stories in Slovenian tourism we joined forces with the previous winners of the Sejalec and Snovalec tender – four tourist agencies and one tourist portal.

We asked them to devise a series of packages, offering and innovative Slovenian experience, from the numerous awarded ideas and products. The packages offer trips from one to seven days, cost from 40 to 400 Euros and encompass several Slovenian regions. We are certain they will provide for a feeling of a wind of change, which will uncover the many new opportunities and treats Slovenian tourism still has to offer. At the Bank of Tourism Potentials of Slovenia www.BTPS.si, the packages are named Innovative trips round Slovenia (.inovativna slovenska potepanjA). You are invited to contribute your innovative ideas to the bank and if awarded also to the packages.

Dejan Križaj

Is there potential for regional incentive ideas?

It’s not what we have, but what we can share

I often find myself in situations where I fervently defend my belief, that the economic crisis period we are faced with, has brought us down to earth and in a positive way. The recession, this hated, frequently used, sinister word, is losing it’sgrip and doesn’t scare today as much as it did yesterday. Optimists are certain everything is good for something.
Our way of thinking has changed. Some material things, which can easily be lost, have lost their meaning. We now find comfort in things which are genuine and offer security, familiarity and love. It doesn’t matter what we have, but what we can share. Compassion has finally been awakened. Money has lost its influence. Money no longer rules the world! A battered asymmetrical apple has become more wanted than a shiny, perfectly rounded and overly red one.

What is of value today? The question is becoming increasingly difficult, since patterns change from individual to individual. What we do have in common today is to check twice before paying for anything.
During shopping I’ve noticed lately the level of attention people pay to prices. I often hear questions and comments: “How much is it? Five Euros, they can’t be serious. For this?” The customers, realizing how important keeping a job is today and how hard it actually is to make money, are becoming increasingly demanding in their role. They are getting harder to convince. The do not look for luxuries, they just want good value for money.
Opinions differ, but I think the prices of hotel rooms will never again reach the levels they reached two or three years ago. As much as we, the tourist services providers, may crave it, we have been sobered up, whether we wanted it or not. The same goes for other services.
What we need is a new approach. We need stories. Romantic, whimsical, clever, interesting, thrilling stories. Stories, which we believe in and with which we can excite others. Stories, which are authentic, not fake – we have all grown tired of lies.

A few months ago while reading the congress section of a newspaper I stumbled on an advertisement of a company marketing their services like this: “Organisation of business events, events marketing, motivational events, team building, business meetings, conferences, outdoor events, promotional events, incentive programs”. I’m not ashamed to admit that despite actively working in the field for over five years, I had trouble defining and distinguishing all of the mentioned terms. I feel we use far too many complicated terms, foreign words, designated to thrill. It is time to return to basics and approach things in a simple way.

Is there room for regional incentive ideas? I hope my thoughts above offer a clear answer. This region is full of wholesome stories. Not only is there room for them, they are necessary. I’m not claiming local stories are not important and don’t count, but we are not talking about quantity. We don’t need a bunch of unclear stories, we just need a few good ones. And those must be real, authentic, ours, which we believe in and with which we can convince others. As a child I was thrilled by Walt Disney stories. I can still vividly imagine the four large books, each a different colour: blue, red green and orange – like it was yesterday. My favourite was the blue one.

If we believe in them the stories bring something very important. They give us confidence and fill us with pride. They make us happy and make us better people. This is what makes us better hosts. Hosts at a destination. And a good host is valued by ever single guest. A guest, who returns home satisfied, passes the stories on to his friends, acquaintances, who want to experience them for themselves. And a guest turns into a regular.
The circle is full. The power of the story is proven once again.

Tina Možina, Kompas

Investment into the Congress hotel Wellness Park Laško

Thermana Laško with its Wellness Park Laško has completed the third phase of the congress hotel. The value of the investment amounts to around 17 millions EUR, from which the company received 4 million EUR in grants from European Structural Funds of the Ministry of the Economy of the Republic Slovenia. The rest of the investments represent own sources and loans. With this the company acquires a new congress centre on 3.700 m2, where it can receive 1100 congress and seminar participants in 7 modernly equipped halls. Distinctive features are the central multi-purpose hall for 490 guests and the Gala hall for 100 participants, suitable for wedding celebrations or banquets of different kind.

84 additional rooms at the conclusion of the investment increased the offer of the Hotel Wellness Park Laško, from these new rooms four family apartments are now also available for guests.
The technical inspection was carried out on the facility, at the moment minor deficiencies are being corrected. With this the company concludes the entire project Thermae Laško, which was started in the year 2006 with the purpose of developing conditions for further company development and successful operations.

www.thermana.si

 

 Turistica – summer in the name of education

This year The University of Primorska, The Faculty of Tourism Studies – Turistica hosted for the second time the international summer school Alpen-Adria, that was organised with participation of The Faculty of Economics from Vienna and the Faculty for tourism and hotel management from Opatija. This year's summer school with the title International Tourism and Marketing Intelligence, which started on Monday, 12 July, was focused on marketing in tourism. 29 students from Austria, Croatia and Slovenia were gaining new knowledge and experience until the end of July.

 

Welcome to ECM Summer School

The 24th annual ECM Summer School will take place from 28th August to 1st September 2010 for the first time in Finland. It will be hosted by the town of Tampere, the second biggest Finnish congress destination. The educational content of the course matches the needs of those who have recently started their career or of colleagues who are researching the potential of the Meetings Industry for their own town, city or venue.

www.europeancitiesmarketing.com

 

100 years of Palace Hotel

This year Palace Hotel is celebrating its most valuable among all anniversaries - centenary.
One hundred years was Palace hotel connecting our destination with Europe and one hundred years was Europe through the hotel exploring and visiting our destination.
The construction of this luxury Palace Hotel changed the image of the Portorož bay forever and outlined its future development. Since 1910 it has been a symbol of development and success of Portorož.

www.kempinski.com

 

New Adventure park

Koren Sports d.o.o., agency for outdoor travel and adventures is since 1998 Slovenia's leading outdoor company introducing new and exciting activities to Slovenian market.

In 2000 they build up Slovenia's first High Ropes Course, they developed over 40 different teambuilding programme, in 2005 they were nominated as Slovenia's best enterpreneur company, in 2008 they introduced Slovenia's first Igloo Village at ski resort Krvavec.

This year they are proudly presenting all new and exciting Slovenia's biggest family adventure climbing parks: Adventure park Postojna and Adventure park Bled.

They opened Adventure park Bled on May 8th and Adventure park Postojna on July 31st 2010.
Both adventure climbing parks have 5 different parcours. Adventure park Bled has 72 climbing elements and Adventure park Postojna has 69 climbing elements.
Adventure park is suitable for families with kids from 4-15 yrs, for adult adventure seekers, for different groups, teambuilding or incentive program, ...

Design of the Adventure park enable participants to choose different climbing elements under the challenge by choice platform but you will spend about 2 to 3 hrs to master all the elements.

www.humanfish.com

 

The Sveti Martin Spa & Golf Resort is the winner of the New Millennium Award

The Sveti Martin Spa & Golf Resort is the winner of the New Millennium Award (Madrid, Spain), a prestigious international award for its prestige, innovation and excellence in MICE tourism. In Croatia, in 2005, it was awarded a prize for the most beautiful and best arranged Croatian resort. In 2006 and 2007, it received the Golden Green Flower acknowledgement from European Tourist Forum.

www.spa-golf.com.hr