Are You Using Up Your Event Customers? July 3, 2012 by Jeff Hurt The scarcest resource you have is a customer. You can’t manufacture them. You can’t outsource them. You can duplicate them. You can’t make them from a recipe. Your conference and event attendees are the scarcest resource you have. Money Or Customers? Which Do You Need? Which do you need more to have a successful event? … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Event ROC, Event ROI, loyalty, meeting professionals, return on attendee, return on customer
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
From Boring To Beneficial Conference Education June 29, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Let’s face it. Most conference education is yawn-stirring, sleepy-eyed, ho-hum, day-old soggy Melba-toast tasting boring. It makes root-canals seem fun! Regardless, the human brain loves to learn. In spite of our age, culture, gender and race, our brains are designed to always be on the prowl for new things to discover and experience. The brain … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting professionals, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Creating An Emotional Arc Within Your Conference Experience June 26, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Attendees experience a variety of emotions during a typical conference experience. Their short two- or three-day experience rivals that of any fictional drama. Hopes and dreams fill their minds. Anxiety, anticipation, excitement and fear jerk their emotions like a tilt-a-whirl. Egos and status posture for the lead emotional position. Emotions go from frustrations to fulfillment … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Getting Your Sponsors To Trigger Their Sponsorships June 21, 2012 by Dave Lutz A trend we’re seeing is that exhibitors are requiring less square footage and shifting dollars to other sponsorship opportunities. Conference organizers need to think about how to convert exhibitor’s marketing dollars into sponsorship opportunities that benefit attendees. The Shift From Exhibiting To Sponsorships This shift requires a more strategic and consultative sales approach. Many conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, content marketing, exhibitors, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, sponsor activation, sponsor leverage, sponsorship
Strategies For Attracting And Growing The Right Conference Audience June 11, 2012 by Jeff Hurt You seldom awake in the morning with people waving money in your face to register for your event. There comes a time in every conference’s history when there is a need to identify and pursue the right markets for conference growth and sustainability. Instead of trying to be all things to all people and offer … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing Tagged With: , conference education, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning, meeting professionals
Rethinking The Event Experience June 7, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Our conferences and events need to create a more powerful attendee-centric experience. The passive conference attendee experience of the past twenty years is not enough. Attendees no longer want to sit for hours and just listen to experts speak. They want to be involved. Attendees are demanding and expecting something different today. Or they will … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult education, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting planner, meeting professionals
Six Habits Of Highly Ineffective Meeting Professionals May 31, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Being a meeting professional can be hard work. Being an ineffective meeting professional is even harder, especially for everyone involved. Six Habits Of Unsuccessful Meeting Professionals In the discouraging tradition of the highway traveled all too often, here are six guaranteed ways to ensure that you and your team are unmotivated and provide a status … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , meeting planner, meeting professionals
Are You A Risky RFP Abuser? April 12, 2012 by Dave Lutz Our profession is at risk. More small meetings, shorter lead times and RFP abuse are on a collision course for commoditizing our industry. It shouldn’t be commoditized! Hotels react by throwing technology and lower-level sales professionals against the problem. The model is not sustainable. Group Meetings Are Big Business Even a small meeting of 25 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, hotel group sales, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, RFP, securing meeting venues
Helping Your Attendees Aspire To Their Dreams March 12, 2012 by Jeff Hurt I strongly believe that consumption is less about reflecting who we are–even though that’s clearly a fundamental dimension of it–as much as it’s about who we wish to be. ~ Paul Mullins, The Archaeology Of Consumer Culture. Your conference attendees’ choice of education sessions identifies who they are and also about who they want to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, meeting professionals, Social Media, social networking, social technology
