Have a well thought out check in process. This is especially important if you are dealing with a large volume of people. You may want to consider following questions:

-How will guests be checking in? Alphabetically? By name? By company? -How can registration tables be placed to decrease congestion? -Do you have enough staff on hand to check attendees in quickly and efficiently? -Have you evaluated facility layout? When attendees first arrive, is it immediately apparent where they need to go? If not, you may want to station a few volunteers to direct traffic.

-The name and phone number of your venue manager. -A copy of your catering and venue rental contract. -The names and phone numbers of your vendors and time expected to arrive. -A copy of vendor agreements and contracts, so that they may be easily referenced. -A roster of all volunteers with phone numbers and tasks assigned. -Your complete meeting agenda.

Having this information on hand will allow you to retain control over meeting management process and more quickly deal with any crises that may arise.

Coordinating hundreds or even thousands of people for an offsite meeting may seem like an insurmountable obstacle. However, with just a little bit of strategy and organization, you can significantly cut down on confusion factor and run your meeting smoothly and effectively.

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Check Meanings

When communicating across cultures never assume other party has understood. Be an active listener. Summarise what has been said in order to verify it. This is a very effective way of ensuring accurate cross cultural communication has taken place.

Avoid Slang

Even most well educated foreigner will not have a complete knowledge of slang, idioms and sayings. The danger is that words will be understood but meaning missed.

Watch humour

In many cultures business is taken very seriously. Professionalism and protocol are constantly observed. Many cultures will not appreciate use of humour and jokes in business context. When using humour think whether it will be understood in other culture. For example, British sarcasm usually has a negative effect abroad.

Maintain Etiquette

Many cultures have certain etiquette when communicating. It is always a good idea to undertake some cross cultural awareness training or at least do some research on target culture.

Cross cultural communication is about dealing with people from other cultures in a way that minimises misunderstandings and maximises your potential to create strong cross cultural relationships. The above tips should be seen as a starting point to greater cross cultural awareness.