Living in Orlando (not the happiest place in the world today) provides a close-up view of the horrific impact the pandemic is having on people and businesses in the live-event, hospitality and travel industries. Nearly all of our association clients are making enterprise-changing decisions to cancel or postpone their marquee events while saying … [Read More...]
Go Forward, Cancel, Postpone, Wash Your Hands, Rinse … and Repeat
The disruption to the live events industry due to the Pandemic COVID-19 is unprecedented and impossible to escape. With the mixed messages coming at us from so many different perspectives, it is difficult to gain clarity. What we may believe personally is sometimes in conflict with the practices … [Read More...]
Teach Your Sponsors Well
If you, as a conference organizer or meeting owner, think selling sponsorships at your event is just about those four to five days when thousands gather face-to-face, think again. You are worth so much more than that. It’s time to stop devaluing your events, said Kim Skildum-Reid, owner of Power … [Read More...]
Key Takeaways from PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2020
The Professional Convention Management Association’s Convening Leaders in San Francisco In early January served as an engaging and energizing way to kick off a new year and a new decade. I’ve been a regular attendee and active volunteer in PCMA for over 25 years and continue to be impressed at their … [Read More...]
Invest in Your Speakers to Grow Your Value Proposition
The bread and butter of conferences is concurrent education sessions. Keynote speakers and main-room experiences are pivotal for bringing the community together and sharing key messaging, but attendees expect—and deserve—transformational learning (change in ideas, attitudes and behaviors) from … [Read More...]
Top Tips for Preparing Your Presenters
Imagine how you might do your job differently if your performance and compensation were evaluated based on overall session attendance and industry presenter ratings at your annual conference. While this notion may seem a bit extreme, conference education systems need increased accountability, … [Read More...]
What I’ve Learned This Year Could Fill a Book
After nearly 30 years leading the event development and execution at the Society for Human Resource Management, I took the leap earlier this year to join the remarkable VCC team and focus on helping associations and organizations improve their annual events. The work we do has reignited my deep … [Read More...]
Sponsorship Needs to Be More Than Banners and Clings
Sponsorship is the most powerful form of marketing. When done well, it can change participants’ attitudes and behaviors about a brand. Banners, ads, signs and enhanced listings shouldn’t be lumped into the same category — they don’t make that emotional connection. Recently I’ve received … [Read More...]
How to Turn Around Your Sponsorship Revenue
If your conference is like most, sponsorship revenue is underperforming. There are two benchmarks we like to use to identify healthy conference revenue business models: Industry revenue — 30 percent or more of a conference’s total revenue should come from the combination of sponsor, exhibit and … [Read More...]
