who will field questions about YOUR challenges as event managers.
In this webinar, we asked Allie Magyar questions related to event management, event technology, and the events industry.
Here's what you asked and we covered:
How do we promote our events better and use the best media to attract attendees?
What are the best channels for marketing events on social media?
How do we engage our delegates better?
What new audience engagement tools have you seen?
Tips for handling attendee/sponsor feedback when they're dissatisfied with some aspect of the event?
What is the first place to start in developing a content strategy with buy-in?
What’s the most exciting thing you’re seeing in speaker content design?
Do you have any successful strategies for getting volunteer speakers to buy-in to a new session format?
Are meeting planners/event marketers using the individual attendee journey data collected onsite (polls, social media activity, event app activity, meeting attendance, surveys, etc.), collating it and bringing it back the attendee (customer) record in their CRM system/database to provide better, more individually customized services in the future?
The event tech industry is constantly evolving. And often times, there is a lot of buzz about a particular type of technology that is widely discussed but in the end is actually adopted by only the top 5% of events. What evolving technology do you see on the horizon that you think will actually receive widespread adoption by a majority of corporate and association meeting planners?
What is the best model you have found for innovating in event technology?
What new AV trends do you see?
Can Blockchain be useful in the planning of annual conventions and tradeshows? If yes, how?
Have you seen or heard of any ways to innovate when it comes to award events?
10. Do you have tips for handling
attendee/sponsor feedback
when they're dissatisfied with
some aspect of the event?
- Danielle Gilstrap & Chloe Mandell
11.
12. What is the first place to start
in developing a content
strategy, especially in getting
buy-in on the idea that you
actually need one?
- Beth Hayson
13. What’s the most exciting thing
you’re seeing in speaker
content design?
- Nick Borelli
nickborelli.com / @NickBorelli
14.
15. Do you have any successful
strategies for getting volunteer
speakers to buy-in to a new
session format?
- Lindsay Plath
16. Are meeting planners/event marketers
using the individual attendee journey data
collected onsite, collating it and bringing it
back to the attendee (customer) record in
their CRM system/database to provide
better, more individually customized
services in the future?
- Corbin Ball
Corbinball.com / @corbinball
17. Oftentimes, there is a lot of buzz about a
particular type of technology but in the end
it is adopted by only the top 5% of
events. What evolving technology do you
see on the horizon that you think will
actually receive widespread adoption by a
majority of corporate and association
meeting planners?
- Steven Tanzer
Tripbuildermedia.com / @tripbuilder
18. What is the best model you
have found for innovating in
event technology?
- Michelle Bruno
Eventtechbrief.com / @michellebruno
22. Can Blockchain be useful in the
planning of annual conventions
and tradeshows? If yes, how?
- Vince Alonzo
successfulmeetings.com / @SuccessfulMtgs
1) Know what your audience values
1) Review personas to select content that appeals
3) Do some research and go where audience lives
CLARICE:
4) Experiment with UTM tracking codes to evaluate which platforms are most likely to lead to reg (Set up GA with to you site, create UTM codes for each post/platform with Google Campaign URL Builder, Set up goal conversion in GA (registration), and test which platforms are most likely to lead to registrations.)
- According to Event MB: Event planners listed social media as the most effective tool for event marketing.
- Facebook is the most popular channel for event planners to use for event marketing, used by 52%. The next most effective social media channels for promotion are LinkedIn (26%), Twitter (13%) and Instagram (6%). (EventMB, 2018). Graph available.
1) Make sure you understand what they’re looking through a more formalized process
2) Send out survey at start of content cycle to figure out what they think is valuable
3) Ask 1-2 Qs on reg form (top reason for attending)
4) On site focus groups
1. Glisser goes beyond simple audience engagement, instead viewing audience participation as a "Trojan Horse" to gathering insightful and useful delegate data
2. For example, Glisser doesn't just record how delegates vote in polls, but which slides each audience member accesses, writes notes on, and downloads
3. Glisser's latest innovation - the Glisser Event Engagement Score - combines all of these audience data touchpoints into a single score out of 100 based upon it's proprietary algorythym
4. That means planner can measure a single engagement score across delegates, compare presentations (and presenters), or across whole portfolios of events (big or small, physical or virtual)
1) If in person: Listen; Go with barriers down; Give attendee full attention; make them feel like they are being heard
2) Follow up: Even if there’s not much you can do, it demonstrates your genuine commitment to their concerns
3) Use data to ensure that you understand what the problems were in order to make the right changes in the future. Have your info desk monitor questions that are coming in and track common problems, so you can prioritize those things for change
4) Then you can even use that as a promotion: we listened, we heard and we’re making that change
5) With sponsors feedback: Usually problems come up during your selling cycle, when you try to get them to renew. So be ready with clear alternatives. If one marketing opp didn’t go over, try to understand why it didn’t work for that client based on their goals and objectives, and offer an alternative for them to use to meet goals and objectives. If they are clear on goals and objectives, you can help put the right types of solutions in front of them.
1) Ppl are attending events to learn, so your content strategy is the most important element of your event.
2) If your speakers and sessions fail, your attendees won’t come back.
3) According to PCMA survey, 2/3rds of attendees register and pay based on your content
4) Tie back to experience journey – put yourself in perspective of your attendee persona
5) Understand why they are attending and how they learn so you can serve up content that interests them and aligns with their learning style
1) Going back to diversified learning styles
2) Mix of speaker and session types
3) Content from customer case studies, real world stories
4) More relatable and interesting – people think about how to apply lessons
Ex. Microsoft Ignite, Hubspot Inbound – hands on labs, innovation zone, small groups
Or Haute Dokimazo – entirely new style for ppl who like intimate discussion-based learning
1) Start with the why - Why are you changing
2) How does it create better experience for attendees & speaker
3) Make it easy – webinar on new format, why it matters, how it will be managed
4) Small group discussion, what do they need support on
5) Carrot: We’ll be marketing new format, so you’ll get extra exposure for trying something new
(polls, social media activity, event app activity, meeting attendance, surveys, etc.),
Events have become increasingly integrated with sales & marketing
3) Customer Relationship Mgmt platform – using data and analytics to improve events
4) The more we have, the more we can learn
5) Which brings us to next question….
1) Any tool that helps enrich your data and create a better experience for attendees
2) Think about where world is going – walk into grocery store, they know what you like, know who you are and what you’re doing and send you targeted ads
3) People are used to individualized experiences in day-to-day lives
4) So, tools that allow us to not only collect, but learn from data
5) Machine learning layers on data from other profiles so you can craft a better experience and better quality events
1) Understand what’s needed
2) Think bigger and learn from other verticals
3) When I started I was using fax machines…
4) People in industry need to collaborate and be proactive about voicing needs
5) And not scared to adopt tech
6) + making sure our staff are going to customer events so they also understand customer & needs
For this question, we reached out to Greg Lazzaro, president and founder of TRC. He is the expert on this topic.
First, Greg mentioned Projection Mapping –
- This is where two or more projectors are used to cast images over uneven surfaces
- Projection mapping is changing the way general sessions and after-hours events are being experience by attendees.
Ordinary spaces are transformed into virtual experiences
And you have the ability to enhance speakers’ points and create an environment and mood to fit the event
Next:
Ricoh recently announced a virtual hologram product, which has plenty of applications in the event space – speakers, event support staff, emergency services
Virtual Self-Service Holograms
It’s a digital employee
Or virtual presenters
Automatically and intelligently deliver highly targeted messages to your customers, anywhere, in any language
For this question, I’m going to reference a Corbin Ball article:
Blockchain is a means of managing electronic cash without a central administrator.
Ethereum is open-source technology that adds to blockchain capabilities to create smart contracts, which allows specifying conditions under which a person will be paid, such as:
management of issuing tickets,
recording the transactions,
verifying authenticity,
enabling resale/exchange of tickets
- Blockchain and Ethereum are counterfeit-proof, highly secure methods of money transaction.
- They can be used for large sporting and music events where scalping and ticket fraud is common.
For this question, we reached out to Adam Parry, editor of Event Industry News and host of the Event Tech Awards at Event Tech Live in London.
Here are some ideas from Adam:
- Don't make people sit down, for HOURS, eat dinner, watch all the awards and only then start to network.... why not do the starter as canapes, let people get up and move around during the ceremony and serve dessert during the post-ceremony networking
- Consider doing an afternoon awards event: Helps those with families get back home
Or! Don't make Black Tie compulsory. Consider a theme for the awards event each year and encourage people to have fun with their outfits, which is great for photos and social media!
Mention PBJ fastest growing as example.
1) Make access to information very easy
2) Ex. Take binders and switch into OneNote doc
3) Use tools like Ringya or WhatsApp for fast communications, where you can create groups of contacts, like content leads or all onsite staff
4) All depends on the way your team communicates best
1) Launch app as early as possible
2) Know that majority won’t download until right before or during event
3) Create QR code and/or short link so it’s easy for attendees to access
4) Put that QR and bitly in front of attendees as much as possible, on digital signage, housekeeping slides,
5) Make sure to have single sign-on
For this question, we reached out to Greg at TRC again:
1) Many tracking technologies available out there: Barcode, RFID, BLE
2) Before you can define low cost, you have to define the data usage.
-What is the purpose of the collected data?
-Is it used for tracking continuing education?
-Is it used to monitor general movements and people flow?
-Is it used for tracking engagement measured in time spent?
so much value that the cost of providing this technology is just a fraction of its value.
Barcode technology is still the most inexpensive way to provide roster level data. It
Use in BYOD environment and deliver the most accurate roster data.
Industry trend: BLE technology is coming down in cost and provides a competitively priced alternative to RFID.
Shameless plug: TRC (tribe partner) is releasing a brand new BLE product in 4th qtr 2018, which is packed with analytics for planners and marketers.