'Marketing Your Event Planning Business: A Creative Approach to Gaining the Competitive Edge' by Judy Allen
"I enjoyed reading this book by Judy Allen," says Eva Gouldbourne, a wedding and event planner at Chicago's Diamond Events. "This book has many specific examples of how to get the kind of business you want and avoid doing things that will make you stand out negatively."
Photo: Courtesy of John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd
'Think and Grow Rich: Your Key to Financial Wealth and Power' by Napoleon Hill
Junou Bernadin, a projects administrator at Food for the Poor in Florida, says that this book by Napoleon Hill is a "must-read for any professional." The lessons it contains are more complex than the title suggests, she says, explaining that it covers the process of overcoming limitations and "striving for the very best. This is what all event planners do. We strive for the best the overall 'wow' factor."
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'Rework' by Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson
Kristen Kaza, principal at No Small Plans Productions in Chicago, says that this "is a brilliant book from Chicago's 37Signals that gave me the encouragement to start my own company. It has chapters like 'Meetings are Toxic,' 'Fire the Workaholics,' and 'Planning is Guessing.' It's a great, short read with messages that make sense and stick. Everyone should read it."
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'The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work' by Shawn Achor
"This book should be titled Want Your Staff to Make Better Impressions on Your Clients, and Get a Free 15% Productivity Boost?" says Jason Harmer, who works in sales and development at Vancouver's GetWorkers. "Even if your boss is only concerned with the bottom line, this will give you a compelling argument to improve the happiness of your support staff."
Photo: Courtesy of Crown Business
'The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market' by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema
Sean Leo, the director of sales at Delicate Products in Los Angeles, says that this book "helped me understand how to focus my products and services to the event production community."Â
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'Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, Or Get Out of More Meetings' by Jon Petz
Rosemary Vaughan, senior national account manager at Event Technology Services in Ottawa, says that the lighthearted tome "is a very engaging book and reads like it preaches: not boring! It totally resonates with anyone who has ever attended a conference or meeting, and it is quite funny in places. It might compare to Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Little Prince in writing and content style."
Photo: Courtesy of Wiley
'Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose' by Tony Hsieh
Guirlaine Belizaire, donor relations manager at Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York, says that this book is a crash course in "hospitality at its finest."
Photo: Courtesy of Business Plus
'Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design' by Eric de Groot and Mike van der Vijver
"This provides a wonderful introduction to meeting design," says Adrian Segar of Vermont's Conferences That Work. "Unlike the many books on the profession that emphasize logistics, Eric and Mike's book delves into core questions about meeting design, such as uncovering desired outcomes, working with meeting owners, and what to do to create truly innovative meetings that deliver results. In addition, the wealth of real-life examples included make this a fascinating and thought-provoking read."
Photo: Courtesy of MindMeeting.org
