The Art of Negotiation!

July 12, 2018

Do you always come out of your negotiation with a win-win situation?

The Art of Negotiation Professional Development Session took place on July 18, and Kira Callahan from Conversation Gym rocked our summer PD session. We all know that meeting professionals are notoriously meticulous, and at times it can be hard to pull us back from our extensive conversations. Kira’s session on the art of negotiation did that and much more! She’s a dynamic speaker, and the working session was fun, engaging and highly targeted to our needs. We went through real-life situations, and everyone had an opportunity to put their negotiation skills to the test. One of the biggest take-aways was how one negotiates and maintains that valued relationship with the end result of a win-win for all. Having the opportunity to work in teams gave us an opportunity to learn from each other and hear other tactics that can be used during our conversations on future negotiations for our meetings/events.

This session ended with the fantastic FOUR led by our moderator Kathy Barthel from Take on Your World. Kathy tied in all the speakers' thoughts and onstage banter! Our panelists included Marc Dosman, founder of Strategic Site Selection; Arianna McLaughlin, manager, Events at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP; Erin Reid, sales manager, White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa; and Heather Reid, principal planner and owner, Innovative Conferences & Communications. This group of expert negotiators, hotel representatives and planners came to the table to share their insider tips on topics like force majeure, attrition, contract termination and how to maintain and strengthen relationships between suppliers and planners. I don’t think anyone wanted the panel discussion to end.

Thanks to all our sponsors for making this Professional Development session possible: Chelsea Hotel Toronto for hosting the PD session, Freeman Audio Visual Canada for the AV support, D.E. Systems for online registration, The Image Commission by Digital Pix Inc. for photography and BizBash and Ignite, media partners.

Keep your eyes open for our Professional Development session on Nov. 13 as it's going to be exciting!

Antonietta Tantalo
Chair of Professional Development
Manager, Events & Employee Engagement
TD Bank