Tag: event management

Why Post-Event Engagement Is a Big Deal – Part Two

Posted on by Eventsforce

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Engagement is an important topic in our industry today. And while many of us may have no problems in creating engaging events for our attendees, it’s another story when it comes to maintaining this level of engagement once the event is over.

Last week, we talked about why post-event engagement matters and how it can be achieved by focusing on education and networking (Why Post-Event Engagement is a Big Deal – Part One).  We looked at how events present a great opportunity to start new conversations – not only with attendees but the much wider community of like-minded people who want the same things.  Doing this successfully not only builds interest and excitement around your future events, it also creates a greater sense of loyalty around your brand and what it represents.

In this post, we will look at what steps you need to take when putting together a post-event engagement strategy, along with 8 creative ideas that can help keep your event’s buzz alive:

Post-Event Engagement Basics

Your post-event engagement strategy needs to focus on delivering value.  And value comes from determining what it is that your audiences want in the first place. If you’re not sure where to start, follow these 4 simple steps:

  • Set a Goal – What is your objective for developing a post-event engagement plan? Do you want your attendees to sign up to your next event?  Or do you want to widen your target audience? Do you want to position your organisation as a thought leader on a specific topic? Or do you want to drive more traffic to your website?  Know your goals before you begin planning and it will be a lot easier for you to determine the kind of content and activities you should focus on.
  • Identify Your Audience – To develop a successful post-event engagement plan, you need define a clear target audience. You can also profile your attendees to identify traits and characteristics of your wider audience – this includes your social media followers, people in your industry sector and anyone else who may have been interested in attending your event but didn’t.
  • Run an Engagement Audit – Find out how people engaged with your event from start to finish. Where did most of your registrations come from? Which pages on your website did they visit the most?  What sessions did they attend and how did they interact with your event app?  Did they like your keynote speaker and more importantly, did the event meet their expectations?  Having this information will help determine the kind of activities and topics you should be focusing on.

Sophisticated data capture tools – like the Eventsforce event management system – help event planners collect and analyse valuable information on their events and attendees. Get in touch here to find out more.

  • Put Together a Plan – Analyse the information you have collected, brainstorm ideas with your team, decide key topic areas and put together an action plan. Set aside resources (including budget and staff) with a primary focus on post- event engagement activities. Keep it simple but stick to your plan.  And don’t forget about metrics – track the performance and feedback on all the things you do and make sure they are in line with all your goals and objectives.

8 Creative Ideas to Boost Post-Event Engagement

For some practical ideas on how to increase post-event community engagement, have a look at the list below:

thank-you-362164_19201) More Than a Thank You Note – It’s common practice to send out out a big thank you to all the people who attended your event via email and social media. But take it a step further.  Include a summary of what was covered and some of the important issues that were raised at the event – you can put all the information in a colourful infographic highlighting stats or poll results as a reminder of what they learnt. Offer them a chance to join your post-event community on your event website by subscribing to a weekly/monthly newsletter. Remember, the first 24 hours after an event is the best time to get in touch with attendees and encourage them to take action – so don’t waste that opportunity.

2) Create a Valuable Resource Library – Give your attendees a reason to join your post-event community by creating a valuable resource library on your event website. Aside from event presentations, post new blogs, articles and ebooks using the content generated from your event. This can include presentation content, poll results or highlights from some of your most popular sessions. Use questions asked during these sessions to create new discussions.  Not only is it a good conversation starter for attendees, but it will also make those people in your wider community who weren’t able to make it to the event feel included in the conversation.

shutterstock_1801053863) Don’t Underestimate Video – People tend to show more interest in an email or website if it contains video. In fact, our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. So, if you have video content, use it. Collate testimonials from different people talking about why the event was valuable to them, including comments from your speakers, sponsors and staff.  Focus on your attendee’s experiences and make it fun and personable.  You can also make it more interesting by producing informal blog-style videos, like a list of 10 things people learnt at the event.

Read: Why Video is a Big Deal for Marketing Your Events

 4) Stay Active on Social Networks – Continue to regularly post relevant news and content on all your social media networks – even posting just once or twice a week can make a difference in maintaining a sense of community amongst your audience. Focus on putting out content that people want to share with their own networks –  either because it makes them look good or connects with them emotionally.  Find a topic that’s engaging or one that a lot of people have an opinion on (President Trump, anyone?) and position your event’s brand as an influencer on that topic.    Follow hashtags that relate to your subject and proactively join conversations to grow your online community. And make sure you use a consistent tone of voice – don’t just give it to someone who can do Twitter and Facebook – make sure whoever is in charge understands your event’s comms strategy.

audio-1851517_12805) Do More with Your Speakers – According to the ‘Engaging Events’ report by EventManagerBlog.com, 53% of event professionals say that their attendees want greater interaction with speakers at their events. If your event had an amazing keynote speaker, then post a video link of their session and promote it through your different channels. Publish guest blog posts from your popular speakers and share their social media details with readers – giving people the chance to connect with them directly. You can also do follow-up ‘Twitter chats’, driving new discussions and giving audience members the opportunity to ask questions and engage with speakers in a more personal way.

6) Run Contests – Have an online competition on your event website and promote through email, newsletters and social media networks. You can tie it in with some research you’d like to do with your audience to generate new content for your website. Or you make it a bit more fun with a funny caption contest using an amusing photo taken at the event.  The winner can be the one who gets the most votes or ‘likes’.

personalisation-17) Personalise Content – Personalisation can take time but it’s worth every penny if you have the time to do it. Gather all the data you collected from your event – through registration forms, event apps, surveys and so on – to create detailed profiles on your attendees.  Go through the questions they asked during sessions – if you feel any went unanswered, then get back to them.  Were there any sessions that they signed up for but weren’t able to attend?  Then send them the video recording or presentations of that session. Or perhaps you know that a significant proportion of attendees spent 60% of their time visiting the same ten booths, then you have a good idea on what interests them and can push similar content after the event.

8) Host a Follow-Up Event – Networking is such a key component of why people attend events, yet it can be difficult for attendees to keep track of everyone they meet at an event.  You can encourage them to reconnect by hosting a follow-up event (live or virtual) with the objective of networking and getting to know each other a little more. Remember, people who attended the same event tend to have a common interest and facilitating a follow-up networking event can help them establish important new relationships.

Want to be a tech-savvy event planner? Sign up to the weekly EventTech Talk newsletter here and get updates on all the latest technology trends, discussions and debates shaping the events industry today

 

 

Why Post-Event Engagement Is a Big Deal – Part One

Posted on by Eventsforce

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A new research study from MeetingsNet has found that professional development is the main reason attendees attend events. Of course, the extent of this does really depend on the type of events you run – but generally, when you look at the factors that determine whether or not someone decides to sign up to an event, education, networking and destination always come up top.  And as event organisers, these are probably the three most common areas we consistently promote in the marketing activities we do around our events.

Industry Poll- (1)While many of us may be seasoned experts in creating engaging events that do well in fulfilling these attendee expectations, it can be hard to maintain this level of engagement once the event is done.  In fact, an industry poll from Eventsforce this month found that an overwhelming 91% of event planners find post-event engagement a challenge.

So, what can we do about this and why should it matter?  Interestingly, it goes back to education and networking.

Why Is Post-Event Engagement Important?

Suppose you’ve just had a great event and the feedback’s been good.  Your attendees are feeling inspired and ready to share the ideas they’ve learnt.  They also want to connect with the people they met at the event. So, education and networking.  These are the two main reasons attendees came to your event and they are the same two reasons people will continue to engage with you after the event.

Why?  Because learning and connecting with the right kind of people will open up new opportunities and help them become better at what they do.  From their perspective, the event is a means to an end, not an end in itself. So, let’s stop thinking about events as a stand-alone activity and instead look at how it fits into the bigger picture which is our wider audience engagement strategy.

There is an enormous opportunity to use an event as a platform to start new conversations. To continue education and to create a community of like-minded people who want the same things. This not only builds excitement and momentum around the events you’ll be hosting in the future, but it also creates a greater sense of loyalty around your brand and what it represents.

Listen, Listen, Listen

Untitled design (96)If your post-event engagement strategy is facilitating education and networking, then you need to focus on delivering value.  And value comes from determining how people engaged with your event in the first place – from the email marketing campaign you used to launch your event website, to registration, social media, mobile apps, surveys and so on. Find out how your attendees engaged with your event across all these different data points and you’ll be in a good position to figure out what will work and what won’t.

Here are some examples of the kind of questions you should be asking when determining how people engaged with your event:

  • How did they interact with the event website? Google Analytics is a very powerful tool that can help you figure out where your visitors and registrations are coming from, the journey people take through the site and the content and pages on your site that are the most/least popular. Read more about it here.
  • Breaking down attendees by type can really help you with your post-event engagement strategy and the key to this is your registration system.  What kind of information did they supply in their forms?  Are you able to use that data to segment attendees into different categories or industries?  Are they new or returning visitors?  Who were they interested in meeting with at your event?  For example, knowing that 70% of your attendees were female marketing managers from London who love networking can give you the intelligent data you need to help you personalise experiences before, during and after the event.

Sophisticated data capture tools – like the Eventsforce event management system – help event planners collect and analyse valuable information on their events and attendees. Have a look at how you can use registration systems to personalise content for attendees: ’7 Easy Ways of Using Your Registration Process to Personalise Events’.

  • How did they use the event app? Look at your app analytics to see what features attendees used and what wasn’t of interest to them. Look at the kind of content they were interested in downloading, how they used the networking tools, how they engaged with speakers during sessions, whether they were interested in meeting exhibitors or attending seminars and so on.
  • What sessions did they attend? What did they register for but were unable to attend? Which sessions were popular and which had a lot of no-shows?  This kind of information can easily be captured by your event management system and can help you determine topics, questions and speakers that resonated with people at the event.
  • How did they engage with others at the event? Proximity solutions like NFC and RFID are helping event planners and exhibitors better understand visitor footprints on the show floor to determine hot and cold spots.   It can give a good indication of what grabbed the interest of attendees, which booths were popular or whether or not they were able to visit all the booths they had originally shown interest in.
  • What feedback did they provide on surveys and polls? What did they like about your event and what didn’t meet their expectations?  Which speaker stood out for them?  Were they able to get everything they want or do they need more information? And of course, would they come again? All this information will provide you with useful insight when determining your post-event engagement activities.
  • How did they engage with your event on social media? Were there some platforms more effective than others?  What content were they sharing with their own networks? What engaged them emotionally and what was educational? Were there any negative posts and how were they dealt with?

Looking at all these different areas and learning how your attendees engaged with your event will form the basis of your post-event content strategy.

NEXT WEEK:  How to keep the conversation going – we’ll be looking at how to put together a post-event content strategy, along with 10 great ideas that will boost your long-term audience engagement.

Want to be a tech-savvy event planner? Sign up to the weekly EventTech Talk newsletter here and get updates on all the latest technology trends, discussions and debates shaping the events industry today

 

 

How On-Site Apps Can Help You Run Better Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

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Knowing exactly who turned up at your event and what sessions they attended is something that every event planner wants to know. The information helps us figure out popular topics and sessions. It helps us profile our attendees.  It is also one of the many ways we measure event success.  Yet having this information at the end of the event is a bit of a lost opportunity.

Event planners can become a lot more proactive in the way they manage attendance around their sessions through the use of on-site mobile apps.  An industry poll from Eventsforce this month found that 54% of event planners are already using mobile apps to record and manage attendance at their events.  And the reasons for this are two-fold.  First, they provide a fast check-in process for attendees. Second, they give event planners immediate insight on important performance metrics, including things like actual attendance figures, no shows, room capacities, session popularity and more.

How Do On-Site Apps Work?

On-site apps can be downloaded on tablets and smartphones and are typically integrated with the registration or event management systems you’re using around your event. The app brings up registration lists for a particular event or session, which on-site staff can use to track attendees using alphabetical drop-down lists and Google-like search tools. They can also use the device’s camera to scan barcodes on attendee badges.

The app brings up the attendee’s profile, which will include details like their name, photo, their attendee category (delegate, speaker, VIP, exhibitor etc.), payment status and the days and sessions they have booked to attend. One quick tap on the relevant date or session and the check-in process is complete.

Why Use On-Site Apps?

On-site apps simplify the whole process of recording attendance at your events and sessions. You will no longer need paper lists or desks – you’ll also be able to use as many devices as you wish.  The only thing you have you have to think about really is a secure and reliable Internet connection. But there are other benefits too. Let’s take a quick look:

1) Improve Your Attendee Experience

shutterstock_3448719The app eliminates the need for desks, laptops or expensive barcode scanners – on-site staff can use the app on their smartphones or tablets to provide a very quick and easy check-in process for your attendees. And if you have a situation where someone shows up to a session without having registered, then the app can automatically redirect staff to the event website where they can complete registrations on the spot.

Knowing which sessions your attendees have already checked into also helps with health and safety regulations.  In the case of an emergency evacuation, for example, your app can give you a quick and accurate view of whether or not your attendee is in a particular session room or never showed up in the first place.

2) Deal with Accurate Data

Untitled design (17)As the app is integrated with your event’s registration solution, any changes to session bookings or attendee profiles is automatically updated in both systems.  This way, the data is always kept accurate and up-to-date. So, let’s say you have a situation where your event has already started but you have new attendees signing up and booking sessions at the main registration desk. The integration makes sure that any new registration data is automatically updated in the app and that your staff recording attendance outside the session rooms have access to the latest registration lists.

Accurate attendance recording also means that organisations like associations can do a better job of tracking the sessions and events their members are actually attending.  This helps them issue attendance certificates and manage CPD (Continual Professional Development) accreditation a lot more effectively.

Want to be a tech savvy event planner? Sign up to the weekly EventTech Talk newsletter here and get updates on all the latest technology trends, discussions and debates shaping the events industry today.

 3) Save Valuable Time

untitled-design-72The on-site app saves time by eliminating the need to manually upload attendance data into spreadsheets or other event management systems.  Many event planners use barcode technology to scan delegate badges and record attendance around their events. The data may then have to be uploaded into the back-end systems, which can take time and may be prone to error.  Also, the more sessions you have and the more scanners you use, the more time it will take for you to collate all your data – there’s also the risk that you may lose some of that data along the way.

Automatic updates between the app and your registration system also ensures that you have access to important information at the touch of a button – regardless of where you are at the event. So, you’ll no longer need to waste any time logging into your back-end systems to see if an attendee has made his payments or has access to VIP privileges.

 4) Get Better Data Security

Data SecurityData theft is a problem for any organisation that has valuable information to protect and the events industry is no exception – let’s face it, the amount of information we collect from visitors and attendees is a potential goldmine for hackers.  On-site apps eliminate the need for paper-based registration lists – which is great for your green credentials, but more importantly, it significantly cuts down the risk of valuable attendee data getting into the wrong hands.

You can also use the app to control which of your staff has access to all your attendee data.  For example, you as the event planner may decide to have access to registration and attendance data for all the sessions around your event but you may choose to limit your on-site staff to access data for one particular session.

5) Become More Proactive

office-620822_1920On-site apps can help you make well informed decisions by providing important management insight on the day of your event.  At any point in time, you’ll be able to get up-to-date insight on how your event or sessions are doing in terms of registrations, attendance and room capacity.  For example, the app can tell you that 30 people have already checked-in to one of your sessions and that you’re expecting another 10 to show up.  You also know that the room capacity of that particular session is 50.  You can use that information to encourage people to attend through different channels, including digital signage, social media or direct notifications though the event app.

The app can also help manage payments on the day.  So, if it’s a ticketed event, it will automatically show whether or not an attendee has any outstanding payments. It will also help prevent the same person from checking in twice or that two people aren’t sharing the same ticket.

Would you like to use on-site apps at your events? Eventsforce On-site helps event planners with accurate attendance recording and valuable real-time insight on registrations, attendance and room capacity on the day of their events.  For more information on the app, please click here or get in touch here.

 

 

 

5 Great Office Christmas Party Ideas – Part One

Posted on by Eventsforce

untitled-design-73It’s that time of year again when rewarding staff and bringing the team together with an office party starts to appear on agendas and to-do lists. Whilst there’s no doubt that organising a Christmas office event brings additional stress and expense (just like tracking down that hard-to find Christmas gift!), getting it right brings greater rewards than you might expect. Read on to see how office Christmas parties help to build a strong team and explore some creative event ideas from London-based corporate hospitality experts, Team Tactics.

Read: 5 Great Office Christmas Party Ideas – Part Two

Team time…and then some

untitled-design-74As well as just being the chance to bring staff teams together to celebrate the season, office Christmas parties can also offer a major boost to how individuals and work teams feel about their work in general and working for their employer specifically, by demonstrating:

  • Appreciation – an office party is a great way to say thanks to staff for their work and productivity over the year.
  • Entertainment – in contrast to a thrown-at-the-last-minute Christmas event, providing a thoughtfully planned, entertaining gathering provides a welcome reward for staff, but can also encourage loyalty and staff retention for the coming year.
  • Community – having opportunity to get everyone together doesn’t always happen often for some businesses, so taking the seasonal opportunity to get everyone together and deliver thanks, rewards, messages, recognition and plans as part of a Christmas event can really bring the work community together with a sense of belonging, something which again supports motivation and staff retention.
  • Team – whilst getting everyone together is great, a party is also a very positive platform for getting those who don’t usually work together to mingle and strike up new friendships and working relationships. This team tangent can be particularly nurtured by organising a party which includes team-building activities, to allow staff to create new relationships. Competitive activities also work well for new teams as breaking down tasks also helps to break down barriers.
  • Opportunity – team-building activities opportunity for staff to develop skills or experience a different position in the team, a great chance for encouraging leading rather than following or for redefining roles and for getting away from that ‘same old’ way of working – a party in the festive season really helps to draw a line under ‘the old’ and shift the focus forwards.
  • Skills – adding in team and individual activities can actually bring an element of training to the fun – and fun to relevant training, for example it’s possible to put a focus on problem-solving and time-management skills in a fun party activity such as a GPS London treasure hunt.

Out of the ordinary – and out of office!

So how can you ensure that this year’s office party delivers such extras as well as the spirit of the season? For one thing, the venue is extremely important and taking time out outside can be the very thing which keeps a team working. Couple this with some seasonal alternatives to the same old eat-drink-circulate and you’ll be delivering something both memorable and motivating…

shop-chop-and-be-merry1) Shop, Chop and Be Merry – office parties are famous for those Christmas tipples which see staff letting their hair down, so cocktail making activities shift easily into the seasonal schedule. Held at a designated bar, a Christmas cocktail making event offers not only a city chic out-of-office venue for creating, as well as raising glasses, but also includes options with the fun of shopping for ingredients. With a full-on buffet included, all the vital ingredients for an imaginative office party are on hand, along with a great team-building cocktail twist.

2) Chisel All the Way – Christmas ice carving workshops are great for team building for 10 to 200 people and can literally be an ice-breaker for new staff or newly assigned teams. One of the strong benefits of this activity is that it’s mobile – but that doesn’t mean it has to come to the office. On the contrary, the workshop can come to any venue such as bar, hotel or conference hall, so that the maximum fun away from the desk can be achieved.

Working together in small teams, staff can carve out new working relationships whilst creating seasonal sculptures and prize-giving / reward activities can also be included after the ice carving, which lasts approximately 60 minutes (before the ice melts)! This can make it a great (and subtle) alternative to dry old ‘time-management’ training as teams (and individuals) work against the clock to achieve results.

3) Christmas Party Bus – a party bus could be the most entertaining thing you can do for a Christmas Party; travelling through the city in style on your very own private bus. The karaoke system and fully stocked cocktail and champagne bar complete the experience aboard the luxurious party bus designed with entertaining in mind.

christmas-outdoor-activities4) Santa’s Day in the Country – outdoor team building activities can provide innovative and memorable alternatives to staffroom office parties. For starters, events take place in stunning countryside and include activities such as rage buggies, quad obstacle courses and sport trials cars. Of course, refreshments including a three course lunch also form part of the day’s schedule along with a prize giving for the day’s races – which can also be adapted to include your own business rewards and celebrations.

This type of team alternative also highlights staff importance because paying your staff to be away from their desks for a whole day to celebrate the season with a fun day of play offers a clear signal to staff that their contributions are valued and appreciated.

5) Yuletide Treasure Hunts – explore your city by completing fun festive challenges including location based trivia and photo challenges. Complete with comical festive hats, this is a great way to explore your city at its Christmassy best.

Finally, any employer who has doubts about affordability of a Christmas party may also want to consider the high costs of the negativity generated by not having a Christmas party. Just as a party will be appreciated and remembered throughout the coming year, so will a Scrooge-effect, so it’s useful to know that staff parties at Christmas can also be tax deductible, making a generous gesture not only memorable and motivating for staff, but also cost-effective.

Want more ideas for your meetings and events?  Have a look at our blog here for 10 creatives ideas to promote your corporate events. Or if you’re looking for advice on how technology can bring more value to your events, please get in touch here.

 

Infographic: How to Keep Your Event Data Safe

Posted on by Eventsforce

infographic-imageData theft is a problem for any organisation that has valuable information to protect and the events industry is no exception – let’s face it, the amount of information we collect from visitors and attendees is a potential goldmine for hackers.  Keeping this data safe should be one of the event planner’s top priorities but are we doing enough?

The Rising Risk of Cyberattacks

Last month, hackers really upped their game by using internet-connected home devices, such as CCTV cameras and printers, to attack popular websites like Twitter and Spotify. We also saw how 500 million Yahoo user accounts also got compromised – with stolen data including things like usernames, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and encrypted passwords. The truth is that just about every week a major cyber-security event gets talked about in public – and there are many more that don’t.  And the fact that none of them seem to involve the events industry is no reason to sit back and not think about it.

Here is another worrying fact: Most companies sit on cybersecurity breaches for weeks before they’re discovered – while they take hackers only minutes to perpetrate. In 93% of cases where data was stolen, systems were compromised in minutes or less, according to Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report.  But in over 80% of cases, victims didn’t find the breach for weeks or more. The report states that criminals are getting better and faster, yet the defending side is struggling to keep up.

But the threat is not just limited to cyber attacks.  The report found that what was even more pervasive was the effect of physical theft of sensitive paperwork from desks or cars, insiders stealing data for financial gain, and mistakes like sending sensitive information to the wrong person. In fact, one article from Information Week stated that over 40% of data loss is the direct result of internal threats which come about from staff mishandling data – whether intentional or unintentional.

What Has Our Research Found?

Eventsforce conducted its own data security study this year, which exposed a number of important vulnerability areas that event planners should be paying greater attention to – including email communications and managing event system passwords to where and how you should be storing your event data.

Have a look at the infographic below which outlines six preventative tactics that greatly improve the security around your event data:

infographic_how-to-keep-your-event-data-safe

Eventsforce solutions offer event planners a comprehensive range of event planning tools that are highly secure and can be integrated seamlessly with multiple payment gateways and back end business systems.  Find out here how the Liberal Democrats are working with Eventsforce to manage security vetting around its party conferences.

Click to get in touchSources:

Information Week: Insider Threats: 10 Ways to Protect Your Data

CNBC: Most hacks take minutes to do – and weeks to discover

BBC:  Smart home devices used as weapons in website attack

 

Event Spotlight: Women into Leadership Conferences

Posted on by Eventsforce

Women into LeadershipThe annual series of Women into Leadership conferences has established itself as the main go-to event for people interested in seeing more leadership opportunities for women. The 2016 events were held in London, Leeds and Edinburgh, featuring over 50 speakers and more than 1,000 attendees.

EventTech Talk spoke to Claire Walmsley, Senior Content Manager at Dods – organisers of the event – about her experience of working on Women into Leadership as well as getting some insight into what it takes to be successful in event management.

How far in advance do you usually start planning and booking guests? Do you already have dates scheduled for next year?

Women into Leadership is a year-round project that not only covers multiple venues but also numerous sessions within each one that require extensive planning and advertising. As soon as one event finishes, we will move straight onto revamping the agenda for the following year. The conference agenda is shaped by the suggestions offered from our planning group so it’s essential to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

We already have the dates for 2017 and have added Cardiff to the list. So we’ll have four events next year, spanning across March, May, September and October. This means we have even more pressure on us to be organised and focus on every detail.

Women into Leadership Conference 2015What would you say was the biggest challenge of planning the Women into Leadership events? How do you prepare for a crisis scenario?

There are lots of very high profile speakers at these events, and they really make the events what they are. The biggest challenge is therefore getting the dates in their diaries as early as possible, and keeping them there! It’s crucial we are as flexible as possible with the agenda for as long as possible, as our senior speakers have competing commitments making their way into their diaries all the time. In terms of crisis management, we always expect some last-minute speaker cancellations so we always make sure we have people who could step in at short notice.

Has anything gone wrong at one of the Women into Leadership events that required a quick response and how was it handled? For example, issues with the venue, tech problems, etc.

Yes – when we arrived on site for Women into Leadership Leeds last month, a miscommunication in our operations team led to no AV being ordered for the event. This meant that, in a room with over 150 delegates, there was no PA system, no microphones, nothing. Luckily, we were able to work with our venue contact to get a hand-held microphone straight away, while the in-house AV team worked on getting a more substantial system (lectern, microphone, panel table microphones, etc.) up and running. By the time our first speaker took to the stage, we were all set-up and ready to go, but it was extremely tight! We almost had to go into that first session with one hand-held microphone between the chairperson, keynote speaker and audience!

How big is the team involved in the planning and execution of the conferences? Do you work on multiple events at once? What project management tools do you use to ensure everyone is up-to-date with each stage of the process?

I work on Women into Leadership year round with support from various teams around the company, including sales and marketing. I have support in terms of agenda and speaker ideas from the FDA [the union for senior public servants and professionals], our event partner, and also a wonderful planning group of civil servants who contribute lots of great ideas for content. I also have my lovely colleagues to call on in particularly busy periods and a brilliant team of Dods staff with me on the day to ensure on-site execution is top notch.

Women into Leadership Conference 2015How do you evaluate the success of your events?

The most immediate feedback comes from social media. Our delegates are really active on Twitter and we can always tell straight away how well particular speakers are going down [see @WiLeadership_UK]. We also have a more formal feedback form process, which I write up into an evaluation report and take with me to the subsequent planning meeting. This provides the basis for the next event.

How does the Eventsforce software benefit your events?

All of our delegates register via Eventsforce, so it’s an essential component of the events. We can tailor the sign-up process to our particular events and delegates always feedback that they find the system to be simple and straight forward – exactly what we need with this volume of delegates!

What do you see as the most important trend in the events industry today?

Women into Leadership Conference 2015From a Women into Leadership perspective, speaker line-ups are definitely becoming more diverse and event managers are very aware that they are being judged on the diversity of their speakers – it’s very important. Gone are the days when an all-male panel was acceptable – our audience want to hear from a diverse range of people, which reflects the society we live in!

Which mobile app or social media platform couldn’t you live without?

Twitter!

Is there any advice that you would give to someone considering a career in event management?

Know your industry. Delegates are attracted to events which show a deep understanding and passion for the topic area. Get on Twitter and sign-up to news bulletins, follow all the relevant organisations/groups/individuals who regularly comment on your industry and keep up-to-date. Knowledge is power, and this could not be more true than when working in events – your agendas really need to reflect the most up-to-date policies and ideas to stand out from the crowd.

Click to get in touchDo you have any anecdotes about any of the events? Or is there a special power you sometimes wish you had when planning/managing them?

I often think about Bernard’s Watch (anyone who grew up with kids’ TV in the 90s will understand the reference!) and how totally amazing it would be to have one of my own at these events. It’s basically a pocket watch which, when you press it, stops time for everyone but you. At the London event, there are six breakout sessions running at the same time and I am running all across the venue just to pop my head into a room and check all the speakers are there and the session is ready to start. I really do need to be in six places at once during these times of the day. If only I had Bernard’s Watch, I could actually do it!

Images © Women into Leadership

 

Event Spotlight: The Festival of Marketing

Posted on by Eventsforce

Festival of Marketing 2016This year’s Festival of Marketing (FOM) took place on 5-6 October at Tobacco Dock in East London. It is the largest global event dedicated to brand marketers with more than 200 speakers, workshops, awards, experience rooms and training sessions. Over the two-day event, more than 4,000 marketing professionals came together to discover, learn, celebrate and shape the future of marketing.

EventTech Talk spoke to Antonios Maropoulos, Festival Coordinator, about his experience of working on the Festival of Marketing as well as what it takes to be successful in event management.

You’ve already announced the dates for FOM17. How far in advance do you usually start planning and booking guests? What is your process timeline?

Festival of Marketing 2017 will take place on the 4-5 October 2017. Booking guests usually starts six to seven months prior to the event. This year we are planning to start registering people as early as possible as planning is a year-long process in itself – part of a forward-looking strategy that spans several years.

Festival of Marketing 2016Given the size of FOM, what would you say was the biggest challenge of planning an event this size?

Every single aspect of an event of this size is challenging. From content curation and coordination to operations management and sponsor recruitment, crises lurk in every corner. Managing the numerous moving pieces is the biggest challenge. Very capable, close-knit and experienced teams working together is the best answer to any festival crisis.

Do you solely focus on FOM or do you actively work on other events at the same time? If you work on multiple projects, how do you manage your time effectively?

The Festival of Marketing team has a few members that are exclusively focused on the Festival all year round but most members of the team are also working on other events during the year. As the Festival season approaches the team internally recruits more and more members reaching full capacity at least four months prior to the event.

Has anything gone wrong at one of your events that required quick response and how was it handled? For example, a speaker not showing up, issues with the venue, tech problems, etc.

In an event of this size everything can go wrong very fast. We’ve had last minute speaker cancellations which our excellent content team has filled very efficiently by responding quickly, utilising all assets available to them and by creating close relationships with many professionals in the industry.

How does the Eventsforce software benefit FOM?

Eventsforce allows us to track delegate registrations and manage delegate information and booking status. We can also manage group bookings and ticket upgrades.

Festival of Marketing 2016What do you see as the most important trend in the events industry today?

Experiential events is probably the most important trend today. Long gone are the speech and drinks events. You need to capture the audience’s attention and imagination from the moment of invitation and interact with them, constantly providing excellent and useful content.

Which mobile app or social media platform couldn’t you live without?

Our Festival of Marketing app. The Festival of Marketing 2016 app by Guidebook is absolutely essential to us, as delegates use it to book their sessions, access the Festival floorplan, navigate through our massive agenda and even connect with each other onsite.

What new event technology are you looking forward to using or would you like to see in the future?

Artificial Intelligence will definitely revolutionise the events industry in the future. Whether we’ll be using it for customer relations, onsite signage or even our first robot speaker, we don’t know. But we are definitely excited by the possibilities.

Is there any advice that you would give to someone considering a career in event management?

Click to get in touchThe events industry is for individuals that embrace change and love being challenged. It’s a stressful working environment with changing needs that require different approaches. Whatever the challenge, a can-do attitude, calmness and simple problem-solving will get you out of most crises.

Is there a special power you sometimes wish you had when planning/managing them?

It definitely has to be time travel. To go back in time after an event and correct things that went wrong and couldn’t foresee!

Images © Festival of Marketing