The BusyEvent Blog

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!”