Regional Meeting Hosting Tips

Popular and cost-effective, regional meetings play an important role in supporting the Executive MBA Council mission to educate, network, and inform. They offer a forum to meet new colleagues or renew friendships, to network and meet a mentor, and to advance executive education.

Host schools organize regional meetings. The following information is designed to help schools with their hosting responsibilities.

Overview
An Executive MBA Council board committee and Michael Desiderio, executive director, oversee and support planning for the regional meeting schedule and will contact you and provide assistance.

As a host, you are encouraged to contact the host from the previous year’s meeting for information and insights on hosting the meeting. The board member or members who oversee regional meetings can help facilitate introductions.

Any council member can attend any or every regional meeting.

Starting point
The Executive MBA Council Conference in the fall features a planning session for the upcoming year’s regional meetings. Here’s what happens:

Conference committee determines the date and time of regional meeting planning session at the fall Executive MBA Council Conference and notifies the regional facilitators as soon as possible.
Current regional facilitators – representatives of schools that hosted regional meetings that year – contact schools in their region before the conference to request agenda topics for the conference’s regional meeting planning session and later distribute a draft agenda to schools.
One of the regional facilitators leads the regional meeting planning session at the conference.
Host schools for the upcoming year’s regional meetings are determined, as well as time and dates, if possible. Share the contact information of the upcoming year’s host with Michael Desiderio (michael@emba.org), Karen McLintock (karen@emba.org), or the board member who will work with you.
Leader of the regional meeting completes minutes and sends them to the appropriate board member within two weeks after the conference.

Hosting tips

Location and Date: To help increase attendance, poll regional members for the best dates.

Establish dates early: Determine locations, as well as dates, if at all possible, at the conference regional meeting planning session each fall and notify the appropriate board member and Michael Desiderio, executive director, of the location and dates.
Promotion: Communicate early with a save-the-date notice. At your request, the EMBA Council will provide you with a list of contacts in your region to help facilitate communication; contact Karen Mc Lintock at karen@emba.org. Be sure to use the Executive MBA Council logo on regional meeting materials and notices. Send updates on the date, location, host contact, agenda, hotel, and other details to Karen Mc Lintock, who will ensure that information is posted on the EMBA Council member web site.

Distribute the agenda and schedule via e-mail to potential participants as early as possible to accommodate travel planning.
Content: Involve other institutions in your region by asking for input on meeting focus, content, and speakers; the conference regional meeting planning session is a good place to gather feedback. Regional meetings typically begin with a welcome dinner the night before the meeting or with breakfast the morning of the meeting to minimize the number of lodging nights. When developing the agenda, plan for 30 minutes of EMBA Council updates and announcements from Michael Desiderio, executive director, or another council representative.

Remember: The regional meeting is not about the host school. A tour of the business school or executive education facility is appropriate, but emphasize regional issues and involve other schools in the region. Regional meetings encourage discussion, learning, mentoring, networking, and fun among all the schools.
Registration: Host schools are responsible for handling registration. Host schools can encourage attendance by covering all participant expenses except transportation and lodging or charging a nominal amount. While schools may find it necessary to charge members for regional meetings to offset costs, try to keep fees at a moderate level in the $100-$250 range.
Corporate Member Involvement: Include EMBA Council corporate members in the regional meeting invitation by contacting Karen Mc Lintock (karen@emba.org) for a contact list. Corporate members are welcome to attend, but not to make sales presentations as part of the agenda. Exhibits or display tables are also not allowed. They may be asked to sponsor regional meeting receptions, meals, and other program expenses.
Post-Meeting: A few days after the meeting ends, forward any presentations, meeting summaries, or other information to Karen Mc Lintock (karen@emba.org) for posting on the council’s member web site. Meeting summaries also are included in EMBA News, the council’s electronic newsletter for members. Please also plan to share evaluations with the next host school.

Sample Agenda
Use the following sample agenda as an aid in planning regional meetings:

» Sample agenda (PDF)

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