Five Symptoms That Your Expo Is About To Fail March 25, 2013 by Dave Lutz I’d estimate that maybe 25 percent of those reading this post would do better to sunset your expo for either your annual or topical conference. Are you stunned by this statement? Hear me out. While most associations crave non-dues revenue, sometimes the expo portion of your program is a drag on profit speed. Perhaps it’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , business strategies, expositions, tradeshow, tradeshows
Who Is Your Conference Really Attracting? February 11, 2013 by Dave Lutz Attracting first-class, first-rate, quality attendees is one of the most complex and important keys to your conference’s business model. Too many conferences attempt to be all things to all people and end up with a watered-down offering. You need a process to help you identify your various attendee segments and who your target market is. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , attracting attendees, conference best practices, conferences, decision makers, economic buyers, market segmentation, target market
Are You Attracting Your Best Attendees Or Are You Repelling Them? November 26, 2012 by Dave Lutz Why are conference organizers doing so many things that repel their best customers? Instead of bombarding paying attendees with marketing messages, how about just making good on your promise to deliver education and networking opportunities? Missed Opportunities To Grow Attendee Loyalty This summer, I attended three large conferences – one in our industry and two … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , association, association best practices, attendee loyalty, conference marketing, sponsorship
CEUs Are The Fool’s Gold Of Conference Marketing September 17, 2012 by Dave Lutz Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are nothing more than fool’s gold. Yes, that’s right. It’s just like Pyrite with a metallic yellow hue luster that attracts us. We think it’s gold…but it’s not! CEUs or continuing education credits are often mistaken for the primary reason why attendees go to conferences. While important, they are no longer … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model, Conference Education Tagged With: , conference marketing, conferences, event marketing, marketing
Three Business Models For Your Annual Meeting Conference July 25, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Many of us often forget that annual meetings and conferences are actually a business. When we are a member of an organization, we expect the organization to provide an annual meeting at the lowest cost possible so we can attend. But are those member expectations justified? It really depends upon the business model of the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , business case for events, conference revenue models, conferences
Measuring The Value Of Your Conference Attendee July 2, 2012 by Jeff Hurt One of the purposes of a business to business event is to build and strengthen customer relationships. Just as one of the purposes of a trade association’s annual meeting is to build and strengthen member relationships. So how do you quantify the value this brings to your organization? How do you quantify the value of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Event ROC, Event ROI, loyalty, meeting professionals, return on attendee, return on customer
Are You Still Providing Education Opportunities Based On The Industrial Revolution Model? May 3, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Is your organization still trying to make revenue from didactic forms of education and instruction? Are you using a hierarchical, top-down, command and control delivery model? Are you providing content that seems out of context in today’s every changing global market? If you are, you are showing your age. You are announcing to the world … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Conference Education Tagged With: , association, association best practices, association trends, conference education, learning, nonprofit trends, online education
Maximizing Your Conference Professional Speaker Investment April 9, 2012 by Jeff Hurt You’ve spent hours surfing websites, reading bios, evaluating presentation descriptions and viewing speaker online videos. You’ve finally reached a decision and secured a professional speaker to keynote your opening general session. You feel relief, accomplishment and maybe even exhaustion. Then you wonder, “Did I ask the speaker to do everything possible? Are there other things … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting best practices, meeting planner, meeting professional, professional speakers, speaker tips
The Participant Value Game: Time to Go Deep & Wide March 6, 2012 by Donna Kastner It’s a whole new ballgame for associations and their conferences, particularly when it comes to building long-term loyalty. New realities are taking shape, disrupting previous value models and perceptions. Reality #1: Senior executives are more involved in attendance and membership decisions. They’re scrutinizing ROI more closely and pushing back on fuzzy estimates. Reality #2: While … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , association best practices, event revenues, Event ROI, event value
What Associations And Meeting Professionals Want In Tradeshow Partnerships March 5, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Imagine this scenario. A nonprofit trade association decides it wants to add a tradeshow to its annual conference. It’s never produced a tradeshow in the past and wants to secure a third-party planner to produce the show. Typically, an association tradeshow should have a potential of $150,000 or more in revenue to justify securing a … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , association, association best practices, meeting planner, meeting professionals, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
