Event Industry Thoughts

Monday is Moving Day For Industry Thoughts

I love a new logo and the story that goes behind it........

Last week, I decided to move PlannerWire to tumblr because I wanted to make it more fun and because I thought that it was a good idea...turns out it was probably the dumbest idea that I have ever had, but sometimes a bad idea can morph into the best thing ever.

About three hours after I made the decision to switch to Tumblr, I had an epiphany.... You know, the light bulb that goes on over your head when you have a great idea..

I realized that PlannerWire was no longer fun because it lacked something, something that has been here all along... it lacked this blog, Industry Thoughts. 

• My Twitter Handle - PlannerWire
• Facebook Page with 200 fans - PlannerWire
• My Email - @PlannerWire
• My Business Card - PlannerWire
• The site with the most name recognition - PlannerWire
• The site that has other contributors - PlannerWire
• LinkedIn Group with a few hundred members - PlannerWire
• My LinkedIn Profile - Lists PlannerWire

I got to thinking.. what the heck am I doing with all of my content here at IndustryThoughts.net? Everything about me is PlannerWire.

The solution seemed obvious, move all of this content to PlannerWire and then have my posts and other contributor's posts all in one place.

PlannerWire.net is my new home.

The solution was amazingly simple, the move however was not and was actually challenging and a lot of fun at the same time. There was the infrastructure to upgrade (now on WordPress), there were the Plugins to add and test, the theme to choose and tweak, the new logo and of course, moving all of the posts that are here... to there.... over the hill where the grass is greener.

If you have been to PlannerWire.net this week, you have seen the Construction Zone splash page with a date..

That date is fast approaching and it is Monday 2/21/11.

This Monday, this blog will no longer be updated (I will of course leave it up because it has a lot of inbound links).

• If you subscribed to this blog, there is no need to change anything, the feed will transfer.
• If you are a fan of this page on Facebook, I would love it if you would join me (us) at the PlannerWire Facebook Page.
• If you have ever left a comment on this blog... no worries, they were all moved over.

So, that is about it, those who have seen the new site seem to like it, I know I do and I hope to see you there!

Signing off from this site for the most part (there may be the occasion to come back from time to time).....

For those that want a sneak peak, I am taking the splash page down for a bit....

Keith

 

PlannerWire 3.0 Launched

Well, it has been a long time coming, our little PlannerWire is getting all growed up.I was going to wait until we had all of the changes in place before making an announcement, but someone dropped me a note that said "what the hell happened to PlannerWire" so I figured the cat was out of the bag.

Around here we are calling it PlannerWire 3.0.

If you are a regular visitor to the site, you have been seeing the changes happen in action and in real time, hence my friend dropping me the note. 

Why did we switch the site before we were finished?? Good question. The changes were were such an improvement over the old that we figured why not! That is the beauty of the new web.... This should actually be a lesson for those that are waiting for everything to be perfect before unveiling a new event site, conference site or association site....don't wait... do.

Here are some of the  highlights, I hope that you will take a minute to check it out.

We are now a little (lot) Huffington Post(ish)

• Like the Huffington Post, we are trying to aggregate news from around the industry and the world and share stories that we think are important to the meetings and events industry.
• On the homepage and in the Industry News Section you will find quick snippits with links through to the original articles.

Industry Blogs to be featured

• The new Industry Blogs Section shines a light on some great industry blogs. 
• Our readers now have the opportunity to discover some of the amazing industry talent that can help us all create better, more productive events for our attendees.

Press Releases:

• Our Industry Press Section is the new place for Press Release distribution.
• There is no cost to post a press release to PlannerWire.
• Click Here to visit our press release submission form.

Original Articles:

• PlannerWire will still be producing amazing articles from staff and contributors.
• Interested in submitting an article? Please click here to visit our article submissions guidelines page!

RSS:

• All of our sections have their own individual RSS Feed powered by FeedBurner.
• Click Here to visit our feed page to subscribe. 

Industry Feeds captured in one location:

• For a quick glance at news from around the industry  The PlannerWire home page is now the source.The bottom half of the page is dedicated to RSS Feeds from various news sources. 
• Industry Blog Feeds are also available in our Event Industry Blog-O-Rama.
• Did we leave a great news site or blogger out? Let us know by suggesting a site here.

More integration with Social Media

• Each article now has the ability to be shared via most social media platforms, look for the Share Icon at the bottom of every article.

Advertising

• We have made it inexpensive. Notice I did not say cheap.
• All of our advertising is geared for the new economy. Inexpensive, but delivering eyeballs. That is the goal.
• Our most expensive advertising spot is $150.00 per month or $1500.00 for the year. We understand that the economy is pinching everyone, especially marketing departments.
• Have something unique that you would like to try? Give us a shout, we understand that not all things work for all people.
  

 That is about it for now, look for more changes in the coming weeks and we hope that the site is useful to everyone in the industry.

 

The New PlannerWire - Sections Explained

OK, this may be more for me than anyone else, but here is the new PlannerWire section breakdown and what you can expect when you visit these sections.....

PlannerWire Originals - Original PlannerWire articles, written by us or for us.

Mission Critical - Articles and information that we think are very important to meeting and event planners. This could include hotel closings, airport closures, etc.

The Planner Life - Lifestyle items, things like, what is the best travel bag, how to advance your career, how to create a business plan, etc.

Great Minds - Articles by people that we think are tops in their field in the meeting and event industry.

A Better Planet - Articles about the greening of the meetings and events industry.

Applied Science - Technology items that we think are important to meeting and event professionals.

Show Me the Money - The economics of the industry from companies reporting earnings to companies having layoffs.

Get Schooled - New about educational events.

How to be Hip - Meeting and event industry trends.

Hot Spots - Venues, destinations and properties that should be on everyone's radar or soon will be.

News From the Tribe - News from our industry associations including MPI, PCMA, SITE, ASAE, Association Forum, ISES and more.

Conveyance - News about the airlines and transportation.

Upwardly Mobile - People who are moving up in the industry.

There you have it, each section has a link so feel free to go exploring....We have added all of the articles from the old site, so you may find an older gem or two....

The new PlannerWire

Finally! The new PlannerWire site is having its debut.

We've been listening to what you have to say, and we've totally revamped PlannerWire as a result, rebuilding the place from scratch on a faster, easier, more reliable, and more streamlined platform that brings together all our industry news, information, and community resources into a single, integrated PlannerWire Central. Connectivity has never been this simple.....

Check it out, we think that meeting and event professionals will like the new look!

www.plannerwire.net