When preparing to publish the Spring edition of our magazine, TSG keynotes, we asked Keith Ferrazzi, respected guru on the power of relationships in business, for some insights on how meeting organizers could make their programs cancel-proof. You can read the electronic edition of the magazine on The Speakers Group’s blog, but here are some highlights from our conversation:

• The key to cancel-proofing a meeting is to make it so valuable that the cost of canceling the meeting is greater than the cost of holding it.
• What is it that makes meetings so valuable? Face time. Face time is critical to building relationships, and relationships are critical to success.
• Why, then, are meetings being canceled? Event organizers don’t always maximize the total relationship potential of every aspect of their event.
• How can this be improved? Organizers must give event participants a safe structure to start making real connections that will benefit them during the event, and a structure that allows those connections to sustain throughout the year ahead.

Keith is helping meeting planners do just that with his new “Who’s Got Your Back” keynote package, which transforms a “regular” keynote into a sustainable, high-ROI program that engages your attendees before, during and long after your event has concluded. Learn more about that program and read more from Keith on “how to make your meeting cancel-proof” on pages 4-5 of the TSG keynotes magazine here. Plus, you’ll also find two more articles to enhance your meeting management, as well as access to a special web page with helpful video messages from Keith and a free except of his soon-to-be released book, Who’s Got Your Back.