With live conferences’ comeback, event organizers need to make complex decisions about how to incorporate digital product extensions into their business model. Based on our research, we estimate that there’s an even split between conference owners who are including synchronous or asynchronous hybrid options and those who aren’t. The half who is pursuing hybrid knows that they can’t just go back to what worked in 2019 despite the return of in-person events. They crave a predictable steady state … [Read more...]
5 Post-Pandemic Conference Program Design Changes
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” has become a popular adage in the business world over the past year, for good reason. As it becomes more apparent that face-to-face events will return in some form this year, conference organizers have an opportunity to make changes that would have been more difficult to sell up the ladder in the past. It’s a good time for planners to challenge their organizations to make the meeting experience more valuable than ever. As we work with conference … [Read more...]
Does Your Conference Need an Emcee?
Having an emcee at your event was a nice-to-have prior to 2020. Now it’s a must-have. Talk to any meeting owner who has managed a large virtual event this past year using a skilled emcee and he or she will tell you it made all the difference. An emcee ensures that an event flows seamlessly with all of its threads – content, speakers, audience and suppliers – woven together into a cohesive narrative. That’s why we like to refer to this role as a Content Weaver. The event’s flow and energy … [Read more...]
What Risk Factors Are Top of Mind for Association Event Organizers?
We recently convened a roundtable of senior-level conference organizers to discuss risk tolerance and the forces that are shaping their 2021/22 event strategies and decisions. Three primary risk categories are emerging as organizations weigh their options for major conferences in 2021: Mitigating financial risk Member considerations and communications Health, safety and duty of care Mitigating Financial Risk Financial predictions. Financial challenges continue to be at the … [Read more...]
Beyond Hybrid: Repackaging Your Conference Content
Over the past nine months, many industry experts have proclaimed that meetings and conferences are forever changed and hybrid is here to stay. While I agree in principle, I think the future is so much more than hybrid. Meetings of the future will be improved and monetized by embracing the tenets of strategic product management. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we should optimize the benefits of the best, most-advanced and relevant content from your annual conference by … [Read more...]
I Am Sorry, but We Are Not All “Fine”
I was inspired by a post by Lisa Cowley, CEO of Beacon, who penned a moving article entitled “It Is Okay Not to Be Okay.” I recommend you read her moving story and then come back. Some days, I can relate! Application for Associations It’s getting harder and harder to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Prognosticators and industry cheerleaders keep telling us that things will get back to normal…but who can say what normal is? Or if we even want to go back to the way … [Read more...]
Event Recovery Food Chain
The harsh reality of an elongated recovery for the live events industry has settled in, as we wrote about back in March when we crafted the Event Recovery Food Chain. At the time, we stated, “Hotels and the entire events supply chain need to understand that we won’t fully recover until we help conference and show organizers regain their top-line attendance and revenue.” In fact, full recovery for U.S. hotel demand and room revenue is unlikely to happen until 2023 and 2024, respectively, … [Read more...]
[Video] 5 Tips to Guarantee Engagement at Your Virtual Event
To design a virtual event with the participants in mind, you need to create an engaging, interactive experience that provides relevant content and promotes knowledge sharing and networking value—often the missing link in our new virtual reality. In this short video, we give you five tips to ensure that you’ll achieve amazing and impactful engagement with your next digital event. … [Read more...]
