How can we get people to line up for our events?
Sound counter-intuitive? After all, the logistics goal for every event Is to keep your registration lines short. To explain, let me highlight two amazing memories recalled from my first Macworld: The presence of Steve Jobs’ Mercedes, without a license plate, at the rear of the Moscone Center The image of Macworld attendees who were […]
Like It or Not, We’re All Measured on ‘Outcomes’
Given that it’s summer, I’ve had a chance to catch up on some reading. Most recently, I enjoyed an article by Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst at HFS Research, discussing how we, as ‘doers’ and ‘producers’, are evaluated. The post speaks for itself, but there may be readers who belong to one of my […]
Who is Going to Take Your Events Business Away?
Profitable Event Business Models of the Future: Platforms and Networks, Not Products or Services Watching Barry Libert (who is both a former client of mine and a previous SISO keynote speaker) on this webcast left me quite impressed with how he had segmented business into four distinct models. His thinking caused me to consider […]
How to Innovate in a Traditional Event Market
Not a lot of innovation happening in the business, so I asked my friend, industry renown journalist and thought leader Michael Hart on how innovation on traditional events is possible: —————————————————————————— The same old dull thing Maybe you run a state trade association’s annual conference and tradeshow. Or a modest event in a niche […]
The Grit That’s Needed When Things Are Unknown
The recent completion of the launch of a client’s new event has given me the opportunity to reflect a bit. As with any new project, there was plenty of uncertainty that required educated guesses, as supported by the best possible research done prior to the launch. The Launch At first, there’s the excitement of […]
Reversing Poor Event Sales
One of my favorite speakers in the industry is Dan Cole. On several occasions, I have had the pleasure of speaking with Dan, who is the Senior Vice President of Trade Shows and Exhibits Sales for Hargrove Inc. Perhaps one topic we’ve discussed that sticks with me the most concerns his views as to how […]
Plan the foundation for a great conference
Dan Rayburn is the Executive Vice President for StreamingMedia.com, and conference chairman for Streaming Media East and West which are conferences in the streaming and online video industry. The events attract over 5,000 attendees combined. I originally interviewed Dan in 2007 for the SISO newsletter. Since I feel the topic is even more relevant now, […]
5 Key Things You Must Have to Reach an Event Attendance Goal
I’ve been involved in a couple of recent projects in which acquiring attendees have been harder than usual. Instead of ruminating about the market conditions or the economy as contributing factors, I thought I might recap the main ingredients in my ‘recipe’ for a plan for hitting an attendance target. Doing so has helped me […]
Will the Industry’s Mega-Shows Survive the Good Times?
Again I welcome back Michael Hart, the industry renown journalist and thought leader for his views on the ‘good times’ for our industry and why you shouldn’t ‘follow the leader’….. ——————————————————————————————————— According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s 2015 wrap-up report, the tradeshow industry grew a substantial 3.7 percent last year. That’s nearly double […]
11 Qualities Your Event Marketer Must Have
As I complete my own event projects and observe others, I often ruminate about what it takes to make a great event marketer. Given the difficulty in getting attendance for events, I find that good event marketers are becoming as rare as good event sales people. And I know this because I am frequently asked […]