The BusyEvent Blog

More importantly . . . can you tell when they are because, they probably don’t mean to.

When asked, most attendees will tell you what they hope to accomplish, what they plan to do and how they intend to maximize their event experience. . . in reality, they don’t have a clue.

Ask any exhibitor what they really want to know and they’ll tell you “give me data on what my prospect is actually doing – show me the action”!   An event attendees actions, then, become the true measure of their desires because nothing else matters – not even what they say.

Measuring and reporting on action, calculating Return on Action (ROA) and providing exhibitors with tools to impact their ROA at an event, is the most important aspect that event planners can leverage.  Unfortunately, with a focus on ROI and ROO people get confused by what they’re measuring and what creates value.  It’s time to face some hard facts:

• According to Brian J. Carroll upwards of 90% of event exhibitors don’t have a lead management and qualifications process and simply show up to an event/tradeshow and hope for the best.
• Zadsol Solutions found that 43% of tradeshow attendees received relevant information AFTER a buying decision had been made.
• And the hardest fact of all . . . according to CEIR, 80% of tradeshow leads are never followed up on.

Said another way, “there’s no ‘there’, there”.  Here’s a typical scenario:

1. An exhibitor goes to an event and comes back with 1,000 contacts (RFID hits, bar code scanned list tape, fish bowl business cards, etc..).
2. The old way would say that’s a good thing.
3. However, based on the hard facts, it’s probably a very bad thing. . . . frankly the worst thing that could happen to a sales force because nearly all of those leads are under qualified, acquired by the wrong incentives and are proximity based (rather than action based).

So, what are proximity based leads?

Someone enters an exhibitor’s booth and their badge gets scanned.  Or, someone drops their business card in a fish bowl because the exhibitor offers a prize, there’s a scribbled note (”follow up with Bob”) on the back of each business card and probably the worst offender, the RFID system told the exhibitor that a particular person with a particular title dwelled in their booth longer than the average – is proximity really activity?   Tragically, each of these contacts came to the exhibitor’s booth, soaked up the event specialist’s time, took a brochure and probably ate a few Jolly Ranchers – before moving on with the exhibitor’s time and money and candy!

At its core, the old events model is permanently broken due to a variety of influences and the keepers of the status quo are trying to keep it that way.  Whenever you hear someone talk about ‘proximity’ information, which typically sounds pretty cool (”You’ll know exactly where all the people walked on the tradeshow floor”), make sure to ask the business question “how does that help my exhibitor accomplish their goals“?

The silence will be deafening.

– – -  In the first article in the BusyEvent “Fixing the Problem” series (If the Events Model is Broken, What Will Work In Its Place), we focused on where we’ve been. Next in our series of posts on “Fixing the Problem” we’ll address exactly what ROA is and most importantly, what it isn’t!  – – –

Want to learn more about your event ROA?

Take the BusyEvent $55,000 ROI Challenge and we’ll show you how to help your exhibitors leverage your attendee’s actions!

We’ve seen it before.

When the internet first started, every company had to have a web site – until someone finally asked the question “why”?

In marketing, they’re known as early adopters and thank heavens for them . . . because they’ll shake the bugs out of the system and either give it enough breath to live past its early days of growth (Twitter) or kill it and move on to something else (Friendfind).

In the events industry, we’re living in a similar ‘early adopter’ phase when it comes to shiny objects – specifically, mobile and the plethora of applications providers searching for a way to wedge their solutions into the event planners world.

On the opposite side of that gold rush is the status quo (What Part of Status Quo Don’t We Understand?) whose old guard are fighting tooth and nail to maintain their position and keep things the way they’ve always been.

And, just like in real life, the best solution is usually somewhere in the middle – not acting hastily while also managing innovation-stifling analysis paralysis.

Which brings us to Richard Feldman’s recent question on LinkedIn:  TOPIC: Using onsite technology to bridge the gap between physical and virtual events.  I have done some research into vendors in the on-site networking technology space and have found two . . . I have invited both of them to comment on their technology, both hardware and software.

In response to that invitation, BusyEvent CEO, David Schenberg outlined the difference between an event planners goals and those of an event technology provider – and in doing so, overviews the operational and financial reasons to provide your attendees and exhibitors with an onsite technology that allows them to:

• do what they want to do,
• where they want to do it,
• with the tools they choose to use.

————-

Richard – Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

There are a few conversations going on surrounding this topic right now. The hottest one is in direct response to the flurry of mobile tools that have discovered how to play in the event space. In general, mobile assumes the following things are present to be successful:

1. Everyone has a smart phone and is ready to use it at an event.
2. The venue holding the event is cellular accessible.
3. The attendees are tech savvy enough to want to use their smart phone.
4. Attendees want to spend their time “heads down” in their phone building social networking tidbits to contribute to the collective.

If you look at high-profile events like SXSW where some of these “one trick pony” mobile tools were available, they were only used by a small % of the audience.

Which is why a solution looking for a problem, doesn’t work in the events space.  For live event technology to be a success it really should be:

1. Available to and usable by to at least 80% of the audience.
2. On the attendees choice of their device (smart phone, PC) or one offered by the event (ex: BeLinker keyfob).
3. Usable by the attendees without them needing to do anything to get and create value – other than registering for the event – to enable basic participation.
4. Easy to use without creating a “partial attention span” audience.

There are some excellent technologies available in a few vertical markets but integrating 3 or more of those is an event planner’s nightmare.  There are also some well integrated solutions in the $35-$75 per attendee price range, but that may not be feasible for an event of 3,000+ people.

So, there needs to be a happy medium of easy to use, a solid list of expected features and a reasonable price that allows an event planner to provide a good solution and create additional profitability.  Oh, and the data should be usable before, during and most importantly AFTER the event, feeding back into the client’s business processes.

As events look at how to cut their costs and fundamentally re-engineer the flow of revenue from 3rd party vendors BACK into their own pockets, fluffy features that don’t get used and don’t have a business purpose aren’t going to save an event any money and will eventually be dropped because of their shiny object nature.

By partnering with a company that has decades of event experience, rather than a technology provider looking for a problem to solve, an event planner will find a specific solution for their event, and the event industry’s need.

– - -  In the first article in the BusyEvent “Fixing the Problem” series (If the Events Model is Broken, What Will Work In Its Place), we focused on where we’ve been.  Next, in the first of a series of posts, we turn our attention to measurement and the false expectations that a focus on Return on Investment and Return on Objective create.  – - –

Want to learn more about your event ROA?

Take the BusyEvent $55,000 ROI Challenge and we’ll show you how to help your exhibitors leverage your attendee’s actions!

This week, Bob and Pat of the Startup Success Podcast interview friend of the show David Schenberg, CEO and co-founder of BusyEvent about new events technologies that change the equation both for organizers and attendees.

David shares his insights on why being first matters, not being afraid of creating a hardware-based barrier to entry for potential competitors and choosing a business that can scale.

We’d also like to thank Microsoft WebsiteSpark for being our first official show sponsor!  Microsoft WebsiteSpark and StartupToDo.com have free Microsoft software for designers and a six month scholarship to StartupToDo.com you may be interested in.

Download Show #68 or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• The BusyEvent BeLinker System
• Demo competition for CEMA (Corporate Event Marketing Assn.) where BusyEvent won the Technology shootout against other event technologies.
• Microsoft Tag
• The BusyEvent Blog
• Get your share of the $55,000 BusyEvent Stimulus Package

Tens of thousands of event attendees already use BeLinker, the most powerful, hand held, mobile and social media platform for events, worldwide!

Now, help your event attendees connect to people, products and information and create more profits for your event – at the press of a button!

The Old Way is Broken.  We’ll Pay You to Fix It!

Get your share of the $55,000 BusyEvent Stimulus Package and finally get what every event producer really wants;

1. money in your pocket and
2. the inside scoop on your event!

Get your share of BusyEvent’s $55,000 Giveaway and
Calculate Your Event’s ROI:

http://j.mp/beROI

#eventprofs #twitter

Recently, the Tarsus Group’s Stephen Nold asked that question in the  International Association of Exhibitions and Events™ (IAEE) LinkedIn group. There were many good responses ranging from tips-and-tricks to actual case studies of expectations and experiences.

Since BeLinker, our event networking platform, focuses on closing the “last foot gap” between people, products and information our thoughts were focused on execution.  And frankly, that’s what we see most events struggle with; executing their social media strategy.

For most, I’m going to guess, their social media strategy centers on getting people interested in their event enough to attend.  And while that’s a laudable goal we could be doing more.

We could be focusing on creating more value in both the virtual and face-to-face interaction.  Events, really, should be the start (or continuation) of a conversation that attendees have with each other, with exhibitors and with speakers.

Unfortunately, most producers are so busy working the nuts-and-bolts of their event that they aren’t spending enough time integrating the wide variety of social media tools into a consolidated platform.

In our opinion, the successful use of social media (which for this discussion is the ‘content’ element of social networking) focuses on the entire event; from marketing to registration to pre-event through the event through post-event and then around again to the next year.

BeLinker focuses on maximizing the face-to-face interaction that event attendees could have if they could figure out how to get together and then providing them the tools needed to carry that interaction into their real world.

The first thing events could do better is help you meet the right people; exhibitors meeting qualified buyers, attendees meeting the right speakers/other attendees and making sure all of that is done quickly and in real-time. While our focus tends to be on a technology solution to enhance the opportunity for this to occur we’ve helped other successful events do ‘round tables’ where people meet in rooms focused on their topic of the moment – in effect, crowd sourcing.

Second, we encourage our event clients to focus more on exhibitors and their needs and using social media to do so.  The recent LinkedIn thread started by Dana Freker Doody is emblematic of the issue.  In the more than 100 responses to the question Do you think the current tradeshow model is sustainable? most people focused on the cost side with little attention paid to the value side. Why?  Because for too long the industry hasn’t been delivering a tremendous amount of value as compared to the cost.

Sure, it’s a pond full of fish, butwhich fish?  And, how do I get at them?  Which attendees would raise their hand if they knew they’d be counted? If I’m attending an event I WANT to be approached by the right person with the right message at the right time.  Social media tools and channels can help those people self-identify more easily so they can receive the right customized message which equals the highest value proposition.

Third, event producers have a great opportunity to tap into the secret conversation at their own events and monetize that. It’s not about Twitter or Facebook status updates, it’s about understanding what is going on in real time and proactively engaging the attendees.  For example, a speaker has been hired to deliver 3 sessions and their first session receives terrible feedback.  Effective use of social media tools (like the BeLinker audience response system) would help the producer know what went wrong so they could provide that information to the speaker who could then ‘fix’ the issue before session 2.

It’s not about monitoring the social media conversation, it’s about being part of that conversation to proactively and as a partner provide the greatest amount of value possible to their event stakeholders.  Or, as Arron Coole said: “Stay social, be helpful, ask questions, listen and nurture and ensure your event reflects the issues raised by your audience.”

When done correctly, there’s a lot of revenue that can be generated for the event such that most social media tools and the effort required to nurture them, can become a profit center.

Finally, with all this talk of value and technology, let’s not forget that it’s humans we’re talking about and the bottom line for most people is that they like to have fun.  Maybe not Domino’s Pizza kind of fun; for instance, I like a great and mind-bending conversation every now and then. Successful social media needs to identify and foster that through learning games, competitive games, just plain fun games or an opportunity to just sit and talk.

In our opinion, a successful social media strategy builds a community that is ongoing and lasts beyond the end (and precedes the beginning) of an event and provides the community with tools, the content and the reason for staying involved.

Having fun, is a critical element of that.

#eventprofs #tradeshow Are We Still Complaining About That?

The value of tradeshows, relative to their costs, was the topic of a recent blog post by Chris Valentine of the T3 Expo.

In it, Chris overviews an article written by Thomas Powers of the Chicago Tribune who looks at a survey of 210 exhibitors at the National Food Processors show and found that 58% considered not exhibiting the following year, while 25% had already decided to drop out of subsequent events because of costs.

Sound familiar? Ironically this article was written on July 18….1971!

To Chris’ point, “Since then, the options for marketing dollars have expanded exponentially and here we are 38 years later hearing the same comments“.  And, if you click through the link above, you’ll get to participate in a short survey that asks which items you’d like to see improved to make tradeshows more valuable.

If Chris had asked us, which he didn’t, we’d add another ‘answer’; “Create real ROI“.

The real question then becomes, “How?” . . . here’s an example:

Recently, along with our partners at the Creative Producer’s Group, we completed an event for 3,200 attendees.  As part of the checkin process, each attendee was provided a beLinker.  Throughout the 3 day event, attendees beLinked each other, the exhibitor booths and the products they were interested in, participated in audience response and were able to beLink the sessions and have access to the information presented without having to carry home big bags of printed documents or scribbled notes on the back of business cards.

Here are some numbers:

• 3200 total attendees, 3 day event, covered 500,000 sf of meetings space using 12 bantennas (see what a beLinker Bantenna is – see that little grey thing on top, that’s the wireless transceiver, 9 feet off the ground).
• Number of messages processed by the beLinker system during the event: ~265,000
  • That means on average, each attendee sent 83 separate messages using their beLinker, to beLink a person, a product/exhibitor booth/breakout session materials and participate in ARS.
• Total number of beLinks between people (making social networking connections, person-to-person): ~153,000
• Total number of beLinks to companies (attendees beLinking acompany to access their information) : ~90,000
• Total number of audience response question votes: ~17,000
• The average attendee beLinked:
  • ~45 other people
  • ~28 companies and their products
  • Interacted with 9 breakout sessions (to download or have access to the presentation materials) and
  • Answered 22 questions
• The attendee with the most beLinks made ~1200 people-to-people connections.
• The average company was beLinked to by 424 people (that equates to 424 active and qualified leads for each and every company at the event).
  • The company with the most beLinks had ~1500 qualified leads.
• The session that used audience response most effectively had ~2200 ‘answers’ during their ARS.
• The dozen members of the Executive Team each had more than ~1700 beLinks to their profiles.

Now, post event, all of this information is now being accessed online and for the past 3 weeks, the beLinker System has seen:

• ~24,000 individual logins by more than
• 2,200 attendees leading to more than
• 15,000 individual downloads and links to products, presentations and other marketing materials with
• More than 800 secure messages sent by people through the system, to each other.
• More than 6,200 additional connections (this is after the event has concluded) to people, products or other information using their virtual beLinker tools.

So, what’s the ROI?:

• More than $50,000 in savings relative to printed materials.
• A massive reduction in the carbon foot print of the event.
• A private social network has been created so that attendees can continue to connect, share and communicate.
• The opportunity for exhibitors to generate a real ROI for their efforts.
• Active information, rather than passive, available in real-time, that allows event producers to act and improve their event as it occurs.
• Capturing event information that can be monetized both currently and into the future.
• More revenues to the event venue owner without more costs to the producer or attendees.
  
• Interaction and activation.
• Fun, Fun and more fun!

Interested in learning how to maximize your event ROI, reduce cost by up to 50% and produce a better event?

Contact BusyEvent CEO David Schenberg
eMail: dschenberg -at- busyevent -dot- com
Direct Phone: 888.788.4896 x111

Changing the Tradeshow Industry with a New Breed of Apps #eventprofs #iaee

IAEE – the International Association of Exhibitions and Events – published a very intriguing article about the Changing Tradeshow Industry and a new breed of event applications.  As you may know, Expo! Expo! is coming up early December, so the timing for discussions about how the tradeshow and events industry is being improved is perfect.

In addition to a variety of tools that are ‘web only’, BusyEvent’s Event Bookmarking System and the use of beLinkers is broadly highlighted.

Enjoy!

• Changing the Tradeshow Industry with a New Breed of Apps (PDF)
• IAEE Exhibitions and Events Magazine for Expo! Expo!

Can You Afford To Do It The Old Fashioned Way? #eventprofs #assnchat

Part 2 of 2:  Taking good ideas into the future

In Part 1 of this series (Better, Cheaper, Faster and Greener . . . You Want ‘Em All?) we provided an overview of some events technologies and how they are being used to cut costs and run a more sustainable meeting or event.  Part 2 brings together additional ideas for how modernizing an event and taking advantage of some new trends will actually continue to lower the cost of running a successful event.

Some say we’re starting to claw our way out of this current recession. But we all know things will never be the same again.  Much of the cost-cutting measures we’ve endured will remain in effect for years to come.  Splurging for better food, entertainment or production will likely return as the belt loosens up.  However, the need for efficiency, connectivity and better data coming out of an event is here to stay.  The realization that an event can run more efficiently and for less money isn’t something a CFO soon forgets.

For example, think about the trends in social networking.  Did you realize part of what is driving technologies like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook is the public’s demand for connectivity?  More people are looking for a new or better job. Sales professionals are clamoring for their next leads.  The general public wants to connect on a personal or professional level.  Over the past several months, we have come to rely on social networking to fill the void that was otherwise fulfilled through more traditional means. As a result, we are now seeing new technologies to help people connect before, during and after a tradeshow or event.

The Old Way
Used to be, there were a specific list of events you attended each year.  You’d sign up and show up. Maybe look at the event website and do a little planning, but for the most part, you knew what you were going to do: Attend some sessions, walk the show floor, meet colleagues and renew the learning and motivation that comes from a good event.

1. You show up at the event,
2. collect your badge, bag and show materials.
3. Then proceed to fill your bag and fill your mind with information.
4. When the event ends, you sift your bag and decide what will make it home.
5. Back at the office you have fallen behind so you dive back into work with another pile on your desk as a memory of the event.
6. There are follow-up emails, mailers, phone calls and some of the information remains useful, but much of it fades within a few weeks.

A brief look at the dollars spent to create a temporary immersion is a bit troubling if the average experience looks like this.  You or your company spent money for you to go, vendors spent money to get your attention and the event producer spent lots of money and labor to arrange the event.

The New Way
It is no longer assumed that you will simply attend the events you’ve always gone to.  Attendance is down because people have to be more selective with their shrinking budgets. So how does one choose which shows to attend?

Much of the benefit is now available well ahead of the event.

• Through better event websites, people can browse the event contents.
• Social networking is embedded into the pre-event communications so attendees can easily see who in their LinkedIn or Facebook networks is going.
• Speakers have fan pages, bios, blogs and online materials to review.
• Vendors are scheduling booth appointments and launching full-scale marketing campaigns to pre-qualify the leads.

All of this pre-event activity ensures the dollars spent will turn into value for every participant. During the event, technology is being used so attendees can gather electronic materials to their personal web page.  Co-workers back at the office can see what is happening at the show since fewer are attending this year.  Twitter feeds, streaming video and even virtual events happen as simultaneous channels to the live event so there are more ways to interact.

We’re seeing that while attendance may be down, the quality of the attendee is way up.  A single exchange of information now has lasting impact for entire groups of people instead of a fading memory.

After the event, there is web-based content to keep the discussions going.  Electronic reporting ensures follow-ups are relevant and qualified.  Where all of the data and connectivity is new and exciting, what’s even more exciting?  These new methods cost less than the old way.  Trackable and electronic information is replacing traditional design, printing, shipping and drayage.  Other reductions in the expense of attendance tracking, lead management equipment and labor add up to tens of thousands of dollars a show must reduce to stay healty.

Making the transition
This is not an overnight evolution.  It starts with knowing your audience and listening to what they want.  Timing is critical because this is already happening.

Many organizations have made the first few steps to add some social networking components.  Rather than taking a reactionary approach to shrinking attendance and weakening sponsor/vendor support, reach out to those groups and open a discussion on how you are modernizing your event to create better value for everyone involved.

Select a partner that can help you maximize your existing resources and make the transition to a relevant and connected event that will survive and event thrive in ANY economy.

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Also, as a reminder, remember to vote for The BusyEvent Blog as the Best Educational Blog for the Events Professionals Award!

Why Sign Up for an Event Community? #eventprofs #assnchat #mpi

There’s a wide variety of issues facing the events industry, one of the newest is the use of online, events-based communities.

From our experience, the reasons that online communities succeed, or fail, can be chalked up to a number of factors, but by and large, it’s not sub-par technology (using text for events, seems to work), lack of resources, bad creative or lack of client will.  In general, the key factors are typically the inability to assess correctly or execute exactly what members want out of their community participation.

In the “me too” Web 2.0 events social networking world, we’re seeing companies and associations attempt to cobble together communities based on a “Facebook, Twitter and everything else including the kitchen sink” model.  In essence, ‘build it, throw in everything you can find, and they will come’.  Unfortunately, there’s no “there”, there and simply leveraging the natural interest that occurs around an event never addresses the core questions of “why would people join and participate” and “what do they want”?

And people do want something. Trust me, it’s not all peace, love, brand addiction and likability.  Although that might keep them happy to participate for a few weeks, maybe a month without it appearing in front of them, people do see community participation as a reciprocal relationship.

Having too few incentives for participation is a recipe for building a ghost town of community where conversely, tap into too many motivations in one platform and you get a City that Never Sleeps type of confusion.

Our motivations for building the Event Bookmarking System were simple, straightforward and leverage the three key motivators that people have for joining and participating in an event community. So, what are the motivations that need to be understood and planned for:

• Intrinsic Motivations – are based on the feeling that people have joined something they identify or affiliate with and can get behind.  A great example is the #eventprofs and #assnchat groups.  Intrinsic motivations sound something like this “I’m an events professional and I want to interact with other event professionals”.  By and large, brands, companies, associations, industries, in and of themselves, are not big enough or attractive enough to create this level of engagement.  A chronic mistake companies make is overstating their importance in people’s lives.  Investing in ideas bigger than the brand itself is a tenet of a healthy, sponsored, brand community.

• Extrinsic Motivations address the quality of each participants standing and public profile in front of their peers.  It improves by actively participating and being recognized for quality contributions.  The ability for the community to naturally highlight contributions, feature profiles, establish VIP tiering or promote leaders are all very powerful incentives for building personal reputation as part of community participation.  Recognition as a voice worth listening to (for example, the Event Profs Blogger Awards), a personality/brand worth investing in (number of Twitter followers),  or an event worth participating in (being a presenter at a high profile event) is high reward for the effort.   And, although most of us don’t like to admit our Freudian motivations, upper case Ego (”I’m the best”) and lower case ego (”I’m recognized for my worth”) are basic human instincts that can and should be harnessed.

• Explicit Motiviations need to be addressed with tangible and explicit answers to the “what’s in it for me” question.  Perhaps it’s access to information (for instance, tapping into the secret conversation at an event) or maybe a true physical reward (downloadable content or connections to industry influencers).  Community builders that find themselves over-indulging in the “stuff” component quickly find that as the community grows, the level of effort required to maintain these motivations becomes expensive; in both time and dollars.  Under-estimating the amount of effort involved in creating community participation results in the creation of a community that flashes hot and burns out quickly.

Based on our experiences, the challenge in creating an event community is not in getting people to notice and participate for a while.  It’s also not a ‘technology’ solution looking for a problem – we’re certainly seeing plenty of that.  Instead, it’s leveraging the individual members of, and the entire community’s motivations, in a planned manner that fosters growth and involvement.

Using an event as the anchor point for these communities is a good idea, however, community builders need to think well beyond the ‘tool’ and into the motivations for ‘why’ and ‘what will my members get out of this’ and most importantly, ‘what do they want and need, in order to keep participating in my event’?

Before a boutique technology company tries to sell you a 2.0 platform or a communications agency sells you on a sexy looking flash-based web site – ask yourself the fundamental question – ‘what does my community and its members want and what do they need, in order to be successful and keep participating in my event’?  The answer could be the most important driver to your community’s success or failure.

Thanks to Sean Moffitt of the Buzz Cannuck blog for his excellent research, the chart below and for serving as the motivations and platform for this post.

What Meeting & Event Professionals Can Learn From the Dead
#eventprofs #mpi

One of the most insightful event bloggers we’ve been reading lately is Keith Johnston from the Onsite Events blog.  He has a very unique view of how real world lessons can be applied to the events industry.

In keeping with our focus on the onsite event experience, Keith’s thoughts on creating value, evaluating ROI, creating experiences vs simply events, and a host of other thoughts are in line with the way we think at BusyEvent.  I’d recommend reading his stuff.

“. . . The Grateful Dead were probably the first of the truly “Viral Marketers” and are amazing “Event Planners”. You do not attend a concert, you become one with an experience.” <BUSYEVENT> And that’s exactly what the onsite experience can be.  Yesterday, I had an envigorating conversation with Ryan from BeEvents Design about how our two company’s can partner to help our clients create a goal-based memorable experience for each attendee, one that meets the defined goals of the event planner and how the “AWARD WINNING” (thanks CEMA) Event Bookmarking can be used to deliver, measure and impact those experiences, in real time.  Look for some great announcements to be made in the near future!

“The first lesson is to produce something magical, if you do, people will come back over and over . . . If you are producing the same conference, year after year, why should your attendees keep coming back?  You must always be fresh.” <BUSYEVENT> The importance of this can not be overstated.  As some of you may know, we were recently voted the best new technology during the CEMA Summit Technology Shoot Out.  And even though we have a very polished presentation, we erased the white board and started from scratch.  Given the feedback we received, it was the right approach.  We could have gotten on stage and delivered the canned and time tested pitch, as did some of our competitors, but our different approach helped us stand out and produced the desired results.  So the question to ask yourself is, “Am I using the tried and true because it’s always worked in the past?  Or, am I being creative and inventive and learning from the status quo”?

“Choose best of breed suppliers. This lets (you) concentrate on the (event) and not on the (event) details.” <BUSYEVENT> OK, on this one, I’m going to both agree and disagree.  By all means, choose the best supplier that 1) makes sense given your goals, 2) you can afford given your budget and 3) produces the desired results and that you can trust.  But, don’t get fooled by the “shiny key” syndrome.  You know, the thing that looks so cool that you get overwhelmed by its real value?  In many cases, more expensive is simply more expensive.  If you’re stuck between cost and value look around, I’ll guarantee that there’s a more cost-effective way to accomplish your goals.  And, if you’re having troubles, call us (888.788.4896) and we’ll introduce you to our trusted partners!

“Love your attendees and show them you appreciate them . . . the Dead have always embraced the fans and made them feel like they are part of something that is bigger than just a concert.” <BUSYEVENT> And to Keith’s point, doing this doesn’t even require a budget. In past blogs, we’ve discussed:

• How to Tap Into the Secret Conversation at Your Event
• What Your Exhibitors, Sponsors and Attendees are Thinking, Aren’t Telling You and Why You Should Care
• What Your Attendees Are Thinking And Why You Should Care

Based on our client’s experiences, it’s worth it and typically returns 3-4x the investment.

“Give it away and don’t care, it will only make people want more…you should give away all of your conference materials to anyone who wants them, even those who did not attend. It is good to reinforce the message for those that were there, and it makes those who were not there wish they were. Don’t be scared, try it, you will find that you are encouraging people to spread the word for you. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.” <BUSYEVENT> While in general, we agree (and I know of a whole group of #eventprofs, like Jeff Hurt, that agree), and I’m going to add one piece to this . . . give it away but do so ’smartly’.  If you’ve got something of value, get something in return.  We’ve come to the end of the stacks of brochures sitting at an exhibitor booth . . . it’s too expensive, it’s not green and it’s extraordinarily inefficient (can you tell which attendee read your printed brochure?).  Likely, we’ve also come to the end of the era of ’stacks of business cards with scribbled notes on the back’ and most certainly, it’s no longer efficient to email the speaker after the event for their presentation.  With the prevalence of all of these materials readily available via digital download – or even better, as part of an always-on personal profile – the ability to connect with people, products and ideas and do so in an organized fashion, in real-time, and the ability to participate in the conversation has never been greater.  Tools like the BusyEvent Event Bookmarking system can help you give it away, and even monetize it, if that’s your goal. 

“Embrace technology.  . . . I walked into the concert hall and was greeted with the option of paying $25.00 for a copy of that evenings performance . . . You can do the same . . . and have those copies of the conference materials ready to go when the event is over; people will pay for the convenience and think that you are a genius.” <BUSYEVENT> And, you can have it available online, as well.  Remember our blog post “From Trees, to Tradeshows to Trashcans . . . the life of a tradeshow brochure“? This is what we’ve been talking about.  Or, you could make your attendees suffer from this or like this. 

“Although I could keep going, the most important thing that meeting and event professionals can learn from the Dead is simple, be the best . . . be magical.” <BUSYEVENT> Right on Keith . . . Thanks for a GREAT blog post!”