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 Sponsorship, a firm that specializes in advising corporations and sponsor seekers about effective sponsorship, at a recent workshop. Skildum-Reid calls sponsor seekers, “rightsholders,” and there’s a … [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 invitations to attend webinars and download industry research reports and articles all aimed to help conference and show organizers grow sponsorship revenue. Problem is, when you dig into these resources, you … [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 advertising revenue. Expo/sponsor revenue ratio — for every $3 in expo revenue, a thriving sponsor program will generate $1 of revenue or more (a 3-to-1 or better ratio). If your conference … [Read more...]
Time to Retire Your Platinum, Gold and Silver Sponsorship Levels
The most effective sponsorships are all about the attendee — the fan, the sponsor’s target market. If they don’t win over the attendee, the sponsorship may not be sustainable. The same could be said for the naming of your sponsorship levels. It’s time to reimagine the precious metal sponsorship categories — and unless you’re the International Association of Gems, it’s also time to retire Diamond, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire levels, too. As part of the competitive intelligence we gather for … [Read more...]
10 Ideas for Improving Your Pay-to-Play Conference Presentations
There’s a place for sponsored content in conference programs, if you’re thoughtful in your approach. The seventh of the TED Commandments — “Thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, or thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness” — is especially timely advice. Why? As more sponsors embrace content marketing or thought leadership as arguably the most powerful strategy for improving attitudes and perceptions of their brand, … [Read more...]
The Wrong Way To Approach Conference Sponsorship
Logos hanging from the ceiling at the tradeshow. Ads covering windows, elevator doors and escalator ramps. Symbols, signs and emblems stuck to the floor, carpet and wrapping columns. Logos on lanyards, room keys and conference bags. All of these are the traditional ways conferences approach sponsorship. And the majority of them have little value or ROI. Most of them are the wrong way to approach conference sponsorship today. Sponsorship Disruption Through Experiential … [Read more...]
Delivering Community And Connections at Conferences
Does your conference have connexity? Not sure what that means? Or even if your conference has it? Well, the success of your face-to-face meetings depends on it! Connexity Happens When… Connexity happens when community and connecting collide! In a good way of course. Your attendees crave these two things: They want to connect with others (and learn from and with each other). And they want to belong to a community. When you blend connecting with community you create … [Read more...]
The Function Of Content Changes In Revolutionary Conferences
Conference organizers strong commitment to content actually blocks the path to more attendee-focused and learner-centric conference experiences. This focus on content as the core of the conference creates a barrier that obstructs presenters. Most speakers freely acknowledge that the need to cover content strongly influences, and often dictates, their presentation decisions. Our allegiance to content has been dominated by one assumption: more is better. It is time to challenge that … [Read more...]
