The BusyEvent Blog

“Click Here’s” for the Yom Kippur Weekend #eventprofs #stl

Oiy!  Here we go . . .

• Matt Lauer, Today Show Co-Host, Buys A Home in the Hampton’s:
  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574429132239900184.html

• 21 Ways To Get Something, for Nothing:
  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-090926get-free-stuff-pictures,0,6092970.photogallery

• Social Media & Events – It’s About Connecting People:
  http://www.slideshare.net/crystalaolig/social-media-events

• Tradeshow Metrics by MediaHound:  A Search Engine for the Tradeshows Industry:
  http://tradeshowmetrics.com/

• How to Sound a Shofar:
  http://www.youtube.com/v/mGKMhQBTabc

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!

“Click Here’s” for the Weekend of September 18, 2009 – #eventprofs #stl

In honor of the Jewish New Year – La Shana Tova:

• Old Jews Telling Jokes | The Breakfast Table:
  http://blip.tv/play/gp0JgaCFdQI

• St. Louis Social Media Report | Jack Dorsey from Twitter:
  http://stlsocialmediareport.com/jack-dorsey-webster-university/

• The Swamp | Little Girls, Big Fathers and Giant Love:
  http://tinyurl.com/mvtmat

• Penn State Football | WhiteHouse 2009:
  http://tinyurl.com/mct6nj

• Event View | Optimism and Advice on Events in a Repression:
  http://eventview.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/exhibition-trend-research/

Better, Cheaper, Faster and Greener . . . You Want ‘Em All? #eventprofs

Part 1 of 2: Recession Proofing Your Green Event

Two of the most popular topics right now are recession proofing your meeting and running a green event. Companies continue to tighten their budgets and cost-cutting measures control which meetings they can attend.  Simply charging less may not be enough.  Running a green or sustainable event means eliminating waste, making tough choices in venues, and selecting food and beverage options that are better for the environment and the surrounding community.

Traditionally the two goals sit in opposition to one another.  This two-part article will discuss the new creativity and technology being used to establish green events that are profitable.

We’ve only recently come to understand these ideas overlap to provide a dual benefit.  For example, we like a process that allows an attendee to “bookmark” a booth, speaker or person they meet.  Before, during and after the event, all of this information is available on line.   The speaker, vendor or event manager can see which attendees reviewed the brochures, website and speaker materials.

When the physical event is over, the online version helps people connect, review and share information.  By using the Internet, more people are exposed to the event which helps it evolve and grow.  Eliminating brochures, handouts, presentation materials and surveys is the best way to green your event and in doing so you actually improve the event.  Imagine the number of steps a brochure travels from tree to paper to printer to event to hotel room trash can to landfill…never once letting someone know a qualified person is reading it. Identifying those more interested and qualified attendees is the true value of their efforts.

In the current state of technology, we’re halfway between traditional and electronic.  While it’s still easier to grab a colorful pamphlet off of a table, a growing percentage of us carry a phone with an Internet connection and color camera.  Technology can show us what we want when we want it.  The shift from sorting through a stack of papers in a filing cabinet versus Google-ing any document at any time on a number of devices will continue to become more of a reality.

While these ideas sound very green, the primary goal is to provide more qualified leads and data analysis to establish a proper value for the investment in booth space and sponsorship programs.  Knowing what was popular or not, and feeding this information back into the event creates a more profitable and better experience for attendees and stakeholders.

Recession proofing isn’t just about how to lower costs or trim the features out of an event to make it affordable.  If we measure why people participate in an event and use this information to produce a better event, then we have an opportunity for future success.  In any economy people decide to attend an event based on a combination of the following:

• Opportunities to leverage a personal network and grow a professional network – looking for new business, a new job and new ideas.
• Which subject matter experts are speaking and on what topics?
• Continuing education that cannot be found in their local city.
• Researching new products and services on the show floor.
• A general feeling of being inspired and invigorated for another year of success.

An event that offers this combination can create something not found anywhere else.  Content is still king and measuring the popularity of what people found to be the best goes well beyond a paper survey.

From audience response devices to kiosks to text messaging, there are many ways to survey that are faster, greener, and more successful.  Instead of a post-mortem after the event, gather information in real-time and tweak the event while it’s in progress.  Give attendees a voice during the event for an engaged and attentive audience.  Electronically poll a group at the beginning of a breakout session on topics they would prefer and then use the same method to survey what they thought at the conclusion of each session.

Not to ignore the discussion of trimming costs as part of the recession proofing process, Part 2 looks at the hard costs that go into running an event.  In the meantime, review your event expenses and ask, “How many truly add value?”  So much of the traditional process can be reduced and even eliminated. In part two we will discuss how to modernize the event process while trimming costs.

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.

A Prayer for Our Loss
#eventprofs #911

I was driving to an early morning meeting in downtown St. Louis.  From West County, it’s about a 30 minute commute.  On that day, when I got the phone call, my commute suddenly ended – along with the rest of the world’s.

I was laughing about something JC was saying when Sheri told me that a plane had flown into some buildings – in New York.

For a few minutes, I couldn’t understand what she meant.  As a former flight instructor, I couldn’t comprehend what was happening, or how some student would have gotten so lost that they would have flown into a building.

Even before anyone knew what had happened, I started thinking about my friends ‘up east’.  First Tracy and Kerry whose family lived in nearby New Jersey and whom I’d flown the corridor with on one of those classically beautiful New York days. Then, Michael and Claudia who I knew were living in the city, but where?  My friend Pinhead who had just started a job on Wall Street and was so excited for it.  And of course Kathy; where she was I didn’t know, but I knew that New York was her kind of town.

You have to understand that, while I was thinking about my friends, I wasn’t worried, yet.  Until I started hearing the horror, initially from CBS and then as I reflexively punched button after button on the radio.

From the moment I got Sheri’s call, until the second plane hit the Tower, I had traveled about 1/4 mile. It seemed that if everyone commuting that day had suddenly stopped caring if they got to where they were going.  I could see everyone listening and calling and listening some more, just trying to figure it out.

And of course, I called Sheri back and we talked about what to do.  It was her calm voice, visualizing for me what she was seeing on TV, that helped me make sense of it all. And, after less than 3 years of being married, it was comforting to hear her, knowing that I could count on her to be strong for me so that I could be strong for our family.  We talked about the girls; should I get them from school (no).  We talked about our friends; should I try to call them (yes).  We talked about our family; had we talked with all of them (not yet).  We talked about the people in the planes and in the buildings and on the ground . .. and we talked about our country and what all this meant.

This was my “President Kennedy” moment. And I was fortunate to be sharing the horror of it with my friend, my touchstone, my wife.

But for so many of the people that we knew – and didn’t – they weren’t spending it with someone they loved.  Instead, they were spending those moments of terror, horror and confusion with the memory, or the voice, of someone they loved and were about to lose.

My heart still aches when I think of the loss of that day.  I get mad when I think of the wasted opportunities and distractions that the following years would bring.  I pray that our leaders are smarter than the rest of us and are doing what’s right to cure the hurt, secure our lives and prevent this from ever happening again.  And I hope that the voices of derision finally realize what’s important and what the right thing to do is.

But mostly, on this day, I pray for the loss; the loss of the families who have still not recovered, the loss of the people who were assassinated and the loss of our innocence that has been tested again and again.

I join you in praying for those that we have lost and in the hopes we all have for our country.

I Want To Thank The Academy . . . #eventprofs #assnchat #mpi

We’ve been nominated . . . by our peers!

How cool is that?!?!!

Here’s the email we just got from the Event Profs nominating committee:

Hi BusyEvent!

I first wanted to say congratulations for being nominated for the 2009 EventProfs Blog Awards – Best Education Blog!
- http://www.ready2spark.com/2009/09/nominees-have-been-announced.html

Thanks so much & best of luck!

More details to follow . . . let the ballot box stuffing begin!

Click Here’s for the Weekend of September 4, 2009 #eventprofs #stl

We’ve had an amazing week at BusyEvent and our banker is taking us to lunch on Friday . . . does it get any better than that?

• Free vs. Freemium in Online Markets by David Strom
  http://strom.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/free-vs-freemium-in-online-markets/
  
• Grilled Ribeye Steak w/ Onion & Blue Cheese Sauce by Ree Drummond
  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/grilled-ribeye-steak-with-onion-blue-cheese-sauce/
  
• How We’re Blowing Airline Safety by Patrick Smith
  http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2009/08/28/askthepilot332/index.html
  
• Is Facebook Really Better Than Twitter for your Business by Web Worker Daily
  http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/08/31/is-facebook-really-better-than-twitter-for-your-business/
  
• Cash for Bad Conference Wi-Fi by Brad Feld
  http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/08/31/is-facebook-really-better-than-twitter-for-your-business/
  
• Cash for Bad Conference Wi-Fi by Brad Feld