Ghosting Seems Cool, But It’s a Career and Reputation Killer…. Don’t Do It
You may have heard of “ghosting” referring to the situation where someone (a friend, business colleague, or prospect) with whom you believe you’ve established a connection, disappears without an explanation. There’s no notice of any kind, nor any response to phone calls, emails, or text messages. All communication simply ends. The practice of ghosting […]
Are You Running a Reactive Event?
Unfortunately, the answer is likely to be ‘yes.’ If so, it’s likely that your event will be entirely forgettable for your attendees as soon as they leave. They’ll have learned nothing new and will be dreading the meeting with their boss when they must explain why they’ve spent $2 – 3K of the company’s money […]
Case Studies Don’t Work as Conference Programming – Unless….
When I started in the conference business it was a common recommendation that when putting together a program, get as many user stories or case studies as possible. The presumption was that attendees want to listen and learn from peers and high-profile companies in their industry. And so, I followed that advice and sought out […]
Do You Live by Your Word?
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been bombarded with lots of marketing offers, many of which make the wildest of claims. Possibly it’s something to help you lose 20 lbs in just two weeks or a promise to brighten your teeth in only two days. Or maybe there’s someone promoting a system that can magically […]
Should You Follow Directions or Choose a New Course?
As you move forward in your career, knowing when to take a chance and try something new and different can be difficult; particularly when it might be the proverbial “road less traveled.” It’s more comfortable to repeat what’s been done before. Following the crowd and doing exactly what you’re told – and nothing more – […]
Are Event Marketers About to Become Extinct?
Imagine that you’ve missed another attendee goal for an event. Or, possibly worse, your attendee revenue number is short of the target. Why? Some questions to ask are: Did you do the same things that you did the previous year? Was that because your marketing staff chose the familiar route rather than changing things […]
Brace Yourself for the Analytics Nightmare
There’s considerable talk within the events industry about analytics and how it can be used to attract and convert prospects into attendees and exhibitors. Much of the discussion is quite enlightening. Creating content that is of interest to your targets can engage them in ways that can get them to register. The event becomes a […]
Is Your Event Leaving Money On the Table?
When I launch an event, one of my goals is to ensure that, from the very beginning, we are doing everything possible to maximize profitability. Given that goal, I’ve become pretty savvy about identifying opportunities where an event could generate a greater gross margin. The trick, of course, is to go beyond that step and […]
What Drives You to Succeed?
What drives people to succeed? What prompts people to do what they do – and try to do it better over time? And to compete and do it better than others? Try searching online and you’ll find that it’s the kind of question that prompts a lot of inquiries; depending on how you look, it […]
Controlling the Tone = You Being Leader
A colleague from my past was a bit of a con man. By that, I mean he frequently pitched new schemes with little-to-no thought about what was needed to deliver on the promises he was making. The story was good, but the details on achieving the goal were lacking. Making promises that he couldn’t keep […]