At this year’s SISO Executive Conference in August I had the opportunity for a quick chat with Vinnie Polito about an event launch I had completed this past year. When I remarked about how well it had gone in spite of the white knuckle ride, Vinnie replied that “if you like a white knuckle ride, you should try our three month model!”
Huh?
Believing that doing a rapid launch consistently well seemed impossible, I put aside the idea. But I also resolved to reconnect with Vinnie to find out his secrets for doing it successfully. What follows is our conversation:
WD: Thanks for your time Vinnie. I was amazed that you think a 3-month event launch model is even possible. How do you make it happen?
VP: I’ll start off by saying it’s not for the faint of heart. Experience does matter and I wouldn’t suggest doing this for your first launch. You need a fairly rigid structure that must be followed with hard deadlines and milestones, as you really have no margin for error when there’s so little time.
Your vendors have to be willing to treat it as a break-even event, in exchange for longer term opportunities, so that you can keep your costs and financial risk down.
Hard work is more important than innate intelligence. To what lengths are you and your staff willing to go to make this successful?
You have to avoid launching the next ‘shiny new thing’ . I also suggest avoid running too many initiatives at the same time so you are not 100% focused on this short launch- remember you’ve only got three months!
WD: Good stuff. What are the factors that must be present for you to put this much pressure on yourself and your team?
VP: I’d list the following as success factors that you must have:
- A highly topical subject-something you already know how to leverage;
- A leading sponsor who’s willing to support you, so the numbers make sense ;
- A regional audience from which to draw (think 500 miles and in—a one hour flight or three hour drive, tops);
- A location that’s not weather-inhibited (so not Chicago nor Boston in January, nor Dallas in August);
- One of the top industry influencers either agrees to be the marquee face or to lead the development of your event;
- A high tolerance for failure.
In addition, I’d mention the following that are ‘nice to haves’, but not required:
- A new law/regulation pending where professionals need education quickly;
- An opportunity to make the event one where credits are available and the event has a clear opportunity for professional development;
- The ability to tap into an audience which already is ‘passion based’, like a Macworld or SXSW.
WD: OK, now that we have the key factors for a project, what kind of (and how many) team members are needed to pull this off? What skills do they need?
VP: Dedication and focus are what matter. You need a fully charged, able and talented staff capable of being decision-makers, strategists, and tacticians at the same time. You can’t carry anyone on such a project. If you have the skills, I truly believe you can do small events with two people: a producer and a business development person, together with very strong and understanding vendors and partners.
WD: If only we could find such staff for all of our projects! What are your biggest worries during the three months?
VP: Doubts within your team creeping in when things are tough. I’d also add competition from larger event players or competing internal corporate initiatives that may try to ‘steal’ your staff.
WD: Still sounds pretty daunting. What would be your advice to those who say they need 12+ months to launch something new, notwithstanding this conversation?
VP: They are right because to be successful with a quick launch requires resources, and a recognition that not all efforts will succeed. So there’s a “pain tolerance” that’s not for everyone.
For us thrill seekers, a 3 month launch is white knuckle time all the time. Ideally, I would suggest a traditional launch requires 13 months, while highly specialized topics might need 7 or so. So a 3 month launch is not always a pathway to quick success, but it can be done. The benefit is that you can get first mover advantage, as well as a much shorter ramp for the second time. I think Irvine Laidlaw, when he owned IIR, is someone who did it really well, Vidar Jorgensen is another one.
WD: Sounds like the experience of doing these probably helps you get better on the 12-13 month versions and helps to weed out the future bad event ideas. Thanks for your time!
VP: My pleasure, see you at EXPO! EXPO! next week!