Events – Simren Deogun | Marketing Blog

iPhone 4 Sparks Line Up Frenzy in Canada (And Invalidates Antennagate)

August 2, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I dropped by Mississauga’s well-known Square One Shopping Mall early on July 30th, the Canadian launch of Apple’s iPhone 4, and was surprisingly greeted by a lengthy line up of eager-eyed and probably sleep-deprived prospective purchasers.

For those of you who know the location, the line extended from the store itself (pictured above) down a hallway, round the escalators trickling off at the end of CitySide (pictured below).

I have to admit I didn’t expect to see as many people as I had since the line up for iPad at the same location was perhaps an eighth of what I saw on Friday!

With mounds of controversy surrounding purported antenna issues on Apple’s new device, now dubbed ‘Antennagate’, I wondered if fear would consume the buying public. I’m so glad to say that they were far from afraid, in fact, news reports quoted many patrons as citing the antenna issue as blown out of proportion.

Important to consider in this Apple scenario is what is motivating the buyer to pursue the purchase despite the bombardment of negative media? Simply put, a well-designed, well-executed product from a historically trustworthy source.

What the line ups and the frenzy and the sales success prove is that today’s buying public are much smarter than perhaps we give them credit for. Willing to do the research, parse through media bias and stand for hours upon hours. Apple has done the utterly commendable in creating a loyal customer base that continues to develop and break conventional psychographic and demographic descriptors. The average purchaser of an Apple product can no longer be boxed into the ‘young, tech-savvy, Apple-aware’ group, as the above pictures clearly show.

Apple is spreading its wings, breaking boundaries and doing so with a strong, consistent strategy that has slowly but amazingly penetrated the market.

And in case you’re wondering if I’ve made the purchase plunge, I’ve decided to hold out a while longer to see if the white version ever comes to fruition, at which point, I hope someone at Apple might find it in their heart to personally send me one!

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: Apple, Demographics, iPhone 4, Psychographics, Square One

Seth Godin: Geniuses, Leaders & Lizards at TAOM

March 9, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

“The market for something to believe in is infinite,” Seth exclaimed as he concluded his retrospective trip down Highway 11 and his visit to Rita’s infamous Candy Shoppe. At The Art of Marketing, Seth begins with a story. And to every good story, there is inevitably some lesson to be learned, some mantra to be imparted. And, so, if you create something to believe in, if you tell a compelling story, if you lead, then, you too can win.

Geniuses: those who solve an interesting problem in a unique way.

Leadership: what marketing has become.

Fear: what resides at the core of the lizard brain (inside our own amygdala) that prevents us from being the two things listed above.

So how do we overcome the lizard brain (or the resistance)? Be an artist. Or a leader. Or a genius. Just deciding to be different may be enough.

For me, it’s thinking like the un-corporation. Deciding that mediocrity and bureaucracy just aren’t going to cut it because creativity, inspiration and leadership are worth so much more.

What does it mean to you?

Image Credit: The Biz Media >> http://blog.thebizmedia.com/2010/03/sneak-peak-at-the-official-photos-for-the-art-of-marketing/

Filed Under: Digital, Events, Thoughts Tagged With: Fear, Genius, Leadership, Linchpin, Lizard Brain, Seth Godin, TAOM, The Art of Marketing

Sally Hogshead: Fascination at TAOM & The F Score

March 7, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Fascination is an art form. This might be the key component that was left out of Sally Hogshead’s presentation at The Art of Marketing on March 2nd. Embedding any or all of Sally’s 7 triggers of fascination into your marketing and branding plan is part of the “art” of marketing.

“We didn’t used to need to fascinate. But now everyone is stressed and overwhelmed so it’s harder to connect,” remarked Sally. There is a heavy-handed truth to her words because with our more complex, more social, more cluttered lives, creating fascination also means creating engagement (and that seems to be what we’re all after these days, right?)

If you want to learn more about fascination and Sally’s 7 triggers, check out her book, Fascinate. I will be shortly!

Heavily intrigued by Sally’s presentation, I hopped on over to Sally’s website to take part in her self-made personality test and see how I faired.

The results were as fascinating as the test itself (slight pun intended!). My primary trigger turned out to be Power, secondary was Prestige and my dormant was Alarm, have a look below:

According to Sally, Power means I’m the alpha dog. I lead the pack, take control, and influence others to follow.

Primary Trigger: POWER | You’re a natural leader, and comfortable with authority, making you well-suited to creating messages that inspire large groups. Next step? None your power trigger for greater respect, bigger audiences, and more loyal advocates.

Prestige, my secondary trigger, translates into ambitious, aspirational and goal-oriented.

Secondary Trigger: PRESTIGE | You’re motivated by the admiration of your peers, and most likely, your peers are motivated by you. People in your group watch what you’re saying and doing, measuring themselves in relation to you, seeking cues of their own standing within the group. Keep in mind: Prestigious people can evoke admiration, but also competition and envy.

Only 7.1% of test-takers possess my combination of Power and Prestige, which I think plays to my inner egotism. But, like with any personality test, the results from the F Score must be analyzed with caution. It is not gospel but it certainly is amusing to see whether or not the triggers chosen match who you are (and these results certainly have me made).

The F Score test is the perfect accompaniment to Sally’s new book, Fascinate. It is a beautifully coiffed marketing tactic to pull me into her world while still keeping the focus on me: the prospective reader, the fan, the marketer, etc. I will read her book, understand her message, adore her more than I already do, and hopefully, along the way, learn to be a better marketer and a better me.

Filed Under: Digital, Events, Resources Tagged With: Alarm, F Score, Fascinate, Power, Prestige, Sally Hogshead, TAOM, The Art of Marketing

The Art of Marketing: A Grand Success

March 3, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Seth Godin. Mitch Joel. Sally Hogshead. Max Lenderman. James Othmer. Dan Heath. Six marketers, authors and visionaries brought together by The Art of Marketing, a conference inherently designed to radically change how you live in the wonderful world of marketing.

Yesterday, I was in the midst of an awe-inspiring conglomerate of thinkers, or to take a page from Godin, geniuses. The energy that these six individuals emitted into the massive room of 1,600 (“…of the top marketers in Canada,” as MC Ron Tite repeatedly put it and I didn’t mind!) was palpable and envious.

I must admit that the day is still a bit of a haze as I gather my thoughts, learnings and inspiration for my future in marketing, so what follows is a brief summation (with more to come!) of the 6 sessions:

Mitch Joel — Six Pixels of Separation
Right off the top, funny and engaging, and Mitch knew what he was talking about. I trusted him immediately and that is a wonderful tone to set for the marketing event of my year.

Key Takeaway: Burn your ship and press ctrl+alt+del on your marketing. Start over with a fresh slate and outlook, and focus on caring about who not how many.

Seth Godin — Creativity, Innovation & Leadership
When Seth walked onto that stage, I tweeted that I would’ve had goosebumps if it wasn’t so hot in the room! It’s true. When the almighty guru of marketing decides to grace you with his presence, you can’t help but hang onto his every last syllable. What makes Seth the best: engagement. He tells a story that means something, and he tells it with an authenticity that is near impossible to fake.

Key Takeaway: Decide whether or not you’re a genius. A genius is someone who solves interesting problems in novel, unexpected ways. To hone that genius, abandon the factory, the manual, the status quo and the lizard brain so that what you’re left with is leadership, change and success.

Sally Hogshead — Persuasion, Influence & Fascination
So can we please hear it for a whole lot of female empowerment? Sally was beyond sincere, down-to-earth and expressive in all the right ways. And frankly put, I want to be her friend.

Key Takeaway: You and your brand need to be fascinating. And by being fascinating, you ensure that you’re telling the right story to those who want to listen.

James Othmer — Branding & Storytelling
Admittedly, he was a nervous speaker, and I’m sure the 1,600 sets of eyeballs didn’t help. But James’ forward-thinking ethos connected tradition with what is yet to come.

Key Takeaway: The lines are blurring between mediums. It is now the marketer’s responsibility to minimize the tension between art, commerce and ethics, which make up the brand.

Max Lenderman — Experiential Marketing
A young guy with a broad view and an equally far-reaching voice. Max was an experience, and, as he likes to put it, experience makes people act. Again, he reiterated those central and all-powerful themes of leadership, engagement and connectivity.

Key Takeaway: Think of and integrate the visceral experience in your marketing.

Dan Heath — Marketing Strategy and an Elephant
An all-round (but very pleasurable to listen to) smarty pants. Dan drove home the importance of change. Giving it an human edge and perspective by offering an analytical exposé of the mind. I might like to be a fly on the wall of his brain.

Key Takeaway: Rational vs. Emotional. The Rider vs. The Elephant. If you want to create change, you must acknowledge and understand the roles of both the rider and the elephant. And then you must learn how to get them to do what you want.

Brilliance in Eight Hours or Less
Every speaker offered me wisdom. Every speaker offered me a choice. In sum, they found a way to cram brilliance into 8 hours or less. And if I do have the choice, I choose genius and change and leadership and fascination and engagement. We should all be so lucky to do the same.

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: Conference, Dan Heath, James Othmer, Marketing, Max Lenderman, Mitch Joel, Sally Hogshead, Seth Godin, The Art of Marketing

PodCamp Toronto 2010 In Review

February 21, 2010 By Simren Deogun 5 Comments

PodCamp Toronto 2010, a new media unconference, brought together a bevy of like-minded social media and tech geeks, entrepreneurs, experts and amateurs.

I attended six sessions: 3 were Priceless and 3 Less than Lukewarm, my reviews follow:

ePress Kits for Podcasters, Web Owners & Social Media Users — Julia Hidy

From the title alone, Julia’s sessions sounded extremely insightful. All about how a marketer, a PR agent, or any entrepreneur on the street could create a complete press kit to bring a stronger voice either to themselves or to the organization for which they work.

Julia’s an author, multimedia producer and overall PR guru but her talk was rushed (due to time and lack of organization) and her insight vastly lacking. I could see the golden morsels underneath the sporadic switching between pages in her PDF document/presentation. The saving grace of her session was the “one sheet.” For both those who did and didn’t know about it, Julia exclaimed its importance, versatility, and possibility as an interactive piece of content.

You can request Julia Hidy’s presentation here. Follow Julia on Twitter, @juliahidy

How and Why to Tell Great Stories — Mark Evans

Julia Hidy’s uninspiring glance into ePress Kits certainly left me wanting, and Mark Evans was able to fulfill that need. A tech reporter, social media expert, PR rep and blogger since 1994, Mark Evans delved into the ever-current and ever-popular subject of storytelling.

When I think stories, I think Godin or Jobs. Mark certainly agreed by setting the tone for his session with a snippet from Steve Job’s presentation introducing the iPhone. I enjoyed Mark’s candour and personality and how he cultivated the energy in the room with his own storytelling.

The best takeaway would have to be his recipe for a GOOD STORY: Interesting, Educational, Engaging, Entertaining, Informative and Authentic. Too bad they all start with vowels or else we would’ve had a new acronym on our hands!

Follow Mark on Twitter, @markevans

Crowdsourcing Volunteer Technical Communities with Crisis Commons — Panel

An odd, supposedly panel-formatted presentation with little focus and direction, Crisis Commons failed to capture me both emotionally and mentally.

They attempted to tell (or prove to?) me the efforts and strides they’ve made through the employment of social media to “spread the word” and “help Haiti” and “connect with traditional media”. At the end of it, I was left thoroughly confused and most disappointingly uninspired.

Follow CrisisCommons on Twitter, @crisiscommons, and/or CrisisCamp, @crisiscamp.

The business of online communities for women — Panel featuring Erica Ehm, Kim Vallee and Eden Spodek

An all female panel showed tremendous promise. Following the Crisis Commons debacle, a strong feminist (though not exclusionary) outlook on media and business was what I needed. I did’t get it.

It felt more like a Yummy Mummy Club promo tour led by Erica Ehm than a serious exposition on female communities and their impact on social media. One questioner explained that Erica’s Club gave her a voice which she could not have found otherwise. A second questioner, while postulating on the difficulties of using WordPress, exclaimed mid-sentence that she was single and wasn’t fortunate enough to have a techie husband like Kim Vallee. Oh, despair.

These remarks, among others, left a distinct and sour taste in my mouth. Women should be, and are, proud, powerful, influential and smart. What’s remarkably unbearable to watch is the dismantling of this truth with the ignorant and unaware.

The session was poignantly concluded with Erica Ehm’s assertion that “Most women have blogs, you know.”

Techvibes.com – Creating a Toronto Community — Karim Kanji

Thank goodness for Karim Kanji’s powerful wit and perfectly placed “right ons” throughout his presentation. Thank goodness for his authenticity and his unabashed admittance of not knowing it all and being more than willing to learn.

Karim was there to tell his story more than anything else. Though the title of the session is vastly misleading because he wasn’t there to tell you how to create a community but rather explain his personal journey to develop a brand and a community of his own.

A writer for Techvibes.com, Karim used to write 3 posts a day and had managed in the first half of January to publish more than 70 posts! I asked if he every slept and he responded jovially with a sly smile, “Yea, I sleep everyday.” ‘How much’ should’ve been my next question.

He started off not as a writer or a geek or a techie but as someone who wanted to change and possibly make change. He made mistakes (probably still does) and has learned from them all. Speaking is his thing, I hope he knows it.

Follow Karim on Twitter, @karimkanji.

Applied Communilytics (In a Nutshell) — Sean Power

Sean Power was brilliant even without a working slide deck! The smartest of all the speakers I encountered at PodCamp, a true expert and powerhouse when it comes to communilytics (community + analytics).

He was energized and equipped with a strong voice that was unfortunately heard by only a few at the final session of the day. My favourite tidbit was his pronouncement after citing his third list, “I love lists!” 4 types of sites. 8 types of media. 4 types of goals. There’s much more in his funnel than he explained, but the knowledge that he has is what all organizations are looking for right now. To explain, implement, optimize, and measure media/online/community etc.

Powerful content and I only wish I had more. Sean’s presentation is available here. His book, Complete Web Monitoring, written with Alistair Croll, available here. Both of which I think I’ll be reading and then re-reading!

Follow Sean on Twitter, @seanpower.

Thanks PodCamp for an all-round exciting, entertaining, and albeit tiring event!

Filed Under: Digital, Events, News Tagged With: Community, Conference, Eden Spodek, Erica Ehm, Event, Julia Hidy, Karim Kanji, Kim Vallee, Mark Evans, New Media, PodCamp, PodCamp Toronto 2010, Sean Power, social media, Storytelling, Techvibes, Toronto, Women

Tradeshow Exhibit Design

November 19, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I was reading this blog post on the correlation between effective tradeshow design and the right side of your brain and found my own brain tickled.

It’s a neat exposé on when designing a tradeshow booth organizations should place more value on aesthetics instead of bulleted feature lists and recycled stock photography. I think it beyond respectable and inspiring that the designers (and the client!) were willing to take a risk on a giant baby’s head because I doubt many others would do the same.

Tradeshows are for showcasing the product not obtuse graphics and unclear marketing messages, right? But these designers have it right, don’t they? In a sea of look-a-like booths, banners and salespeople who’s not going to be attracted to the giant baby’s head? Ultimately, it serves its purpose and effectively does its job: recruits prospects to walk over, with or without the intent of buying, and be sold to.

Marketing is a game of perception. We can be so paralyzed with the fear of sending the wrong message, we forget that sending the same redundant message can be more dangerous.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Booth Design, Tradeshows

Event Marketing 101 – Part 5: Execution

August 7, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I don’t mean execution in the head-under-the-guillotine sense but rather day-of event execution.

You’ve planned for months, maybe even close to a year…

In part 1, I stated that the Development phase should begin at least 6 months prior to the date of the event. This is true if you wish to achieve desired results with plenty of lead time and not as much overtime. Timing is another one of those fluid entities determined heavily by the size of the event, number of event planners and the breadth it aims to reach. Just know that the professionals are not pulling them together last minute, so why should you?

RIght now, you’re probably 10% over-budget and nothing went as smoothly as you imagined, but tomorrow’s the big day and you are promising nothing but perfection.

– Event Staff – Event staff will typically be made up of appropriate members of your organization — client care, marketing, sales etc. You want to ensure that you have people working with you on the day-of not against you, which means people you can trust and who can talk intelligently about your organization and the event as a whole.

Who should be attending from your organization? What roles will you assign them? From registration to speaker to networker. Equip them with key information about the event so they can answer questions when approached. Also, don’t forget the details such as dress code and event etiquette.

– Registration – As stated in the previous section, staff will almost certainly be helping with on-site registration. They carry many roles in this position since they’re the greeters, the informers, the badge hand-outers and therefore should be well-prepared. You need to be fast and efficient in moving through registrants, so don’t leave it to just 1 person.

Develop a simple ‘assembly-line’ setup with mini stages that attendees work through and ensure that each staff member is aware of the best process and adheres to it. Set everything up beforehand for easy access and a smooth flow of bodies. Tracking attendance is very important. Relying too heavily on name badges can be problematic especially if people arrive on-site, bring a friend or change their minds on-the-spot. Finding an effective way of tracking everyone who was there is difficult but crucial.

– Scheduling – If you’re the coordinator/manager of the event, you’re the lead which means everyone should and will follow your example. It also means you have to know anything and everything that crosses your path. It’s critical to stay on schedule, keep sessions and speakers and caterers and technicians moving.

Be the go-to person and make sure everyone around you feels at ease. If you’re chaotic, so shall be your surroundings. This is not to say you or the day-of won’t be chaotic (it without doubt will be) but you have the ability to maintain control and ensure limited to no hitches or glitches.

– Post-Event – I wanted to briefly touch on post-event activities because how you respond afterwards can be as vital as everything accomplished leading up to the event.

You did it! The event’s done, all signs show that it was a huge success and, if you’re lucky, the compliments are flowing. Some things to keep in mind now that you finally have 2 seconds to breathe:
    – Send out a Thank You email to all attendees accompanied by an electronic survey for them to fill out online
    – Send a separate Thank You email along with a specialized survey to speakers and sponsors respectively
    – Have a post-event meeting with critical members of your company to brainstorm what you thought worked and what didn’t and what can be improved for next year
    – Analyze the success of the event — consider leads generated, ROI, press coverage, word of mouth, overall internal opinion
    – If success = yes then book the venue for next year
    and
    – Start planning all over again!

By now, you’re a veteran! If you’ve read through all five parts, then you’re really a veteran!

Know that there is so much I didn’t touch on this series, but I have tried to strike a balance between high-level, critical information and the dirty basic details. If you have comments or questions, always feel free to post and I will do my best to respond.

Event Marketing is an ambitious undertaking, but it’s always important to know that the resources around you are those that can prove to be the most fruitful. Happy Planning!

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Event Execution, Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Planning

Event Marketing 101 – Part 4: Marketing & Collateral

August 6, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

In the previous section, we discussed ‘marketing’ the event to a certain extent with respect to pre-event marketing and promoting registrants and boosting attendance.

In this part, marketing refers more to materials, swag and what you communicate and present to participants on the day of.

– Swag – Whether or not your attendees have paid, swag is an expectation. If they have paid, swag is a must. Swag equals frills. From pens to notepads to gadgets and more. You don’t have to give them everything and you certainly don’t want swag to distract them but rather be an added bonus.

I like the idea of packaging swag altogether. For example, pass out a compact-sized leather or cloth padfolio with a built-in notepad and pen filled with the marketing materials listed below — all branded with your event and/or company logo, of course. Why not keep it simple and clean?

Of course, you have to consider the breadth of information you need to give away, maybe something bigger will be more sufficient but remember appearances are everything. You want your attendees to keep the swag after-the-fact and associate it with a high-level event. I’ll take quality over quantity any day, especially when the stakes are high for swag being thrown away. The kicker is giving them something they won’t want to toss — and cleverly filling it with crucial company/product/service/event information.

– Marketing Materials – In your swag packages should reside all the marketing you can fit about your company! Actually, it should provide just enough. There is such a thing as too much material. Aim for adequate not overload. How much do you think they’ll read? Take the time to explore? Want to follow-up on?

Design something specific for the event incorporating its branding and communicating your company’s central marketing message. Granted your event branding will be everywhere on the day of but you want the delegates to take it home with them too!

Think brochures, pamphlets, short case studies, business cards, advertisements, etc. Something interactive is always great, a piece of material that forces the attendee to engage.

My aim is never overload the attendee, give them your exact message in as concise and creative a format as possible.

– Signage & Other Branding – Attractive and helpful signage is a quick and dirty way to dress up a venue (without bringing in contractors to redesign everything — often unnecessary unless conducting an exhibition). Make sure signage is clear and concise — list directions, sessions, speakers and/or what you feel is important information to highlight.

“Other branding” is my attempt at covering everything else, including business cards, table cloths, banners, table-top signage or centerpieces, t-shirts etc. In what other creative ways can you showcase your branding? This is where you spread your marketing wings.

– Giveaways, Awards, & Prizes – All of these are great incentives for attendees, but don’t let them overshadow the merit of the event. Keep giveaways in line with your industry and organization and try involving your sponsors and/or partners. Keep in mind that the gifts and prizes are not why people are attending — at least that shouldn’t be the reason why — they’re coming for you, the speakers and the content you have to offer.

– Sponsorship Materials – Your sponsors have likely paid a lot of money and now they would like to the see benefits of their investments. This includes everything from branding on signage to providing branded swag to including marketing materials in that aforementioned padfolio.

Offer plenty of opportunities to your sponsors to showcase themselves depending on the level of sponsorship. The sponsors (along with the speakers) are the secret VIPs, meaning behind-the-scenes they’re treated like royalty but on the day-of you want your attendees to feel like true VIPs.

NEXT: Execution

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Planning, Giveaways, Signage, Swag

Event Marketing 101 – Part 3: Launch & Registration

August 5, 2009 By Simren Deogun 1 Comment

Certain aspects of Parts 2 & 3 can overlap and therefore offer some fluidity. However, by Part 3 your Agenda should be as close to 100% complete as possible. Sponsorships and Catering are more fluid areas because those deadlines have more impact on internal operations than external. Sponsors can be continually added throughout the launch process, and catering usually only needs to be confirmed a few weeks out from the event.

Your launch date has been set, so here’s what you need to know to launch successfully:

– Event Webpage – Develop a website, landing page or dedicated section of your website for your event. This should include access to basic event information, the agenda, speakers, feature sponsors logos and advertise the big day.

This is where your branding is most important. Where you must textually and visually define your event. Develop an event-specific logo with the name of your event and design the event pages around it. Make the information easy to access and navigate. Consider issuing a press release. And ask prospective speakers and sponsors to post information about the event in the news or blog section of their website. It’s all about building traffic and awareness.

– Email Marketing – Design an email invitation to send to your target audience (see Part 1 below). The email needs to advertise all the key selling points of the event: when, where, who will be there, content, benefits, name-dropping and lastly how much.

Please keep the invitation clean and simple. Don’t sacrifice design. And don’t overload the recipient with too much content.

Once again capitalize on your network. Think about your customers, partners, speakers, sponsors, news contacts, venue contacts. Who do you know that could pass this invitation on? Depending on how many people you are hoping to attract, the size of the invitation list can be integral. Plan out a schedule to send out repeat invitations in the weeks approaching the event. Reminders are great but don’t be excessive,

– Print & One-to-One Marketing – Certainly more outdated and costly methods (particularly, print) but not completely unimportant in their approach.

Is the timeline long enough for print brochures to be effective? Also, consider the industry and whether or not print documents will be well-received.

Picking up the phone and making a few calls is highly personal and sets a tone of importance. Contacting big industry players and names with whom you have strong relationships is a perfect way to entice multiple registrants from a single organization. Remember that you want the best-of-the-best speaking AND attending. These calls can be time consuming but they can make a significant impact on the quality of the event.

– Online Registration – The e-invite is ready to go, your list of who to call has been distributed and now you need to register everyone. Whether paid or unpaid, there are many gateways that will integrate with your current website’s infrastructure to create a seamless online registration process beginning at your event webpage.

Registration should be online and quick and easy. Provide a secure payment gateway to receive payments and issue electronic receipts with all relevant event information emailed to the registrants. Also, if registrants have the ability to choose what sessions they would like to attend, the online registration process must accommodate the selection process and include all details in the confirmation email.

– Lanyards & Nametags – Part of the registration process is ensuring the creation of name tags for all those that will be present at the event. This can be a bit of a logistical nightmare, so plan in advance on how you will tackle the design, production, printing, stuffing and distribution of the tags.

Purchase lanyards in excess to accommodate for extra registrants or, perhaps, a speaker that unexpectedly decides to bring a friend. The same goes for name tag badges and holders, order more than you will need to be safe.

Setup a design template highlighting name, company and title and use badge ribbons (my preference) or different design templates to differentiate speakers from sponsors from partners etc. Order them alphabetically and having them printed and cut out-of-house can help simplify things.

—-

Now that you’ve launched, what other marketing techniques could be used to promote the event — social networking is hotter than ever as is multimedia (think video and podcasts) — what else?

NEXT: Marketing & Collateral

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Planning, Event Registration

Event Marketing 101 – Part 2: Pre-Planning

August 4, 2009 By Simren Deogun 2 Comments

Now you have the basics. Your event has a name, a purpose, a prospective audience, a budget, and a date. But did you forget that your date needs a venue?

Let’s discuss the Pre-planning or pre-launch logistics of the event:

– Workback Schedule – Before proceeding any further, develop a workback schedule outlining all the major milestone tasks and activities that need to be completed and the date they need to be completed by. The level of detail is a personal preference but having one place you can consistently refer to helps simplify the process. Try project management software to help you along, see Basecamp (popular) or AtTask (my preference) or a handy Excel spreadsheet.

– Venue – The venue is the perfect opportunity to set the tone and level of expectation for the event. I have a preference for professional, high-class and all-inclusive. Venues must be booked well in-advance, 6-12 months to ensure you get the date of choice.

Consider how many people in total will be attending the event (including registrants, non-paid attendees, staff, speakers etc.), your venue must accommodate them all comfortably. Conference-style rooms with the ability to house theatre-style chairs or round tables with a stage and appropriate technology including podiums, projectors and screens, mics, sound system, internet access, video recording, and temperature control. Higher-class venues will have all this included but be prepared for a hefty price tag.

Also consider the location of the venue, geography is important and the venue must be accessible to local attendees and those travelling from abroad.

– Launch Date – You should now have the day of your event and the venue. Next step is to set a launch date. When will you begin marketing the event externally? When will registration for the event open? Set a soft start date and a hard start date. Ideally, if all goes smoothly, launch will occur on the soft start date but ultimately cannot start any later than the hard date!

– Agenda – I believe the agenda is the heart and soul of any event. It’s why people are coming, it’s why your organization is spending all this time and money, and it’s a built-in marketing tool.

The agenda should be complete (or as close to complete as possible) before registration is opened and the event launched. Prospective attendees want to know what they’re paying and, to be blunt, they deserve to.

The agenda planning process involves developing the day’s schedule by timing out registration, breakfast, sessions, breaks and other applicable occurrences. Session titles and topics must be brainstormed and refined and scheduled accordingly. This can be an exceedingly lengthy process because at the core of these sessions is the message you want to deliver — content must be interesting, relevant, novel, and exciting; it may also need to be technical, interactive, and demonstrative.

From here, prospective speakers must be proposed. Create a collaborative list of who would/could readily grab hold of a topic and make it their own, which leads us to….

– Speakers – By now, you should have a list of possible speakers assigned to possible topics. The hard part is convincing these speakers to take the time to not only present on the day of the event but also construct entire presentations around possibly spoon-fed topics.

Use your network. Use your executives. Call, make personal requests and sell the brilliance of your event. Elaborate on the the marketing opportunity it provides to the speaker’s organizations and the networking interaction they will benefit from.

Remember, big names from big companies never hurt!

Keep in mind the logistics associated with speakers such as cost, hotels and accommodations, flights, presentation templates and approval and special speaker perks. What will you be responsible for and what onus is theirs?

– Sponsors – Sponsorship packages are a lovely way to entice attendees. It is also an effective way to foster strong relationships with partners, customers and the like within the industry that do not mind lending their name and their money to your event.

There should be packages of varying price ranges with respective levels of branding opportunities. Packages can include everything from lanyards to name tags to signage to targeted speaking sessions. Determine what branding and co-hosting opportunities should be made available at each tier and then assign each a price tag.

Again, that network comes in awful handy. Contact companies with the means and capitalize on strong relationships where mutual benefit can be emphasized and the event as a marketing opportunity can be highlighted.

– Catering – Catering can easily become a negotiating nightmare. With often too many options to choose from and inflated pricing structures, the decision is a difficult one.

Some venues offer preferred caterers, which helps refine your options from the get-go. Acquire preliminary menus and determine what style of food you will be offering for breakfast, lunch, breaks and/or even dinner. Continental or Premium? Cold or hot? Beverages per person and staff service at the event.

Retrieve quotes and negotiate the price down. Choose your preferred caterer and you’re done! I’ve outlined this to be much simpler than it is. Rely on recommendations from others and do not be easily caught up in the swirl of menu options. Catering will quickly become a large part of your budget, sometimes rearing the ugly 30% mark! But food’s important, so don’t skimp.

NEXT: Launch & Registration

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Planning, Marketing, Speakers, Sponsors, strategy, Venues

Event Marketing 101 – Part 1

August 3, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

This week I will be featuring a five-part series on Event Marketing, in which I will explore the many areas of planning a conference-style event. I have had the opportunity to manage – from beginning to end – a full-day professional 250 attendee conference featuring 22+ speakers, 7+ sponsors and 12 information-style sessions.

Event Marketing is an aggregate of event coordination, management, promotion and execution. It can also be referred to as Event Planning or Event Management. Since there are a plethora of areas that fall under the Event Marketing umbrella, I have split up my discussion into five sections:
    1. Development
    2. Pre-Planning
    3. Launch & Registration
    4. Marketing & Collateral
    5. Execution

DEVELOPMENT (At least 6 months prior to event date)

The development phase consists of the initial stages of the event planning process, wherein the purpose, goals, and founding principles are laid out. Before you can begin discussing venues and catering, your team must collaborate on the fundamentals of the event.

These include:
– Event Focus – What is the purpose of this event? Is it to sell your product/service? Stimulate knowledge and awareness of your business? Draw attention to the growth in your sector or industry? Or, perhaps, all of the above?

Without knowing the direction of your event, nothing else is possible. Clearly define its purpose and its goals.

For example, The Simren Marketing Event (better title TBD!) will delve into 3 critical streams of Marketing which will include digital, direct and guerilla, each stream will explore current trends, past successes and failures and the opportunity to hear from the greatest in the field.

This is a working thesis. It defines the purpose of my event — to bring marketers together to learn in a knowledge-based environment brought to you by yours truly.

The goals can range from increasing ROI by x% to garnering x number of leads or simply making x number of new contacts. You must be the expert in your field. As such, you must know what is most feasible and likely to succeed.

– A Name – So, you just witnessed my crass attempt at coming up with a name for my event. At some point during the Development phase, a name should be decided upon. Acronyms are great, many organizations use them but it doesn’t mean you have to. Be clear and concise and avoid being long-winded (which is where most acronyms are born, by the way!)

– Target Audience – Who will you invite to attend? Customers, Partners, Business Associates, Thought Leaders, Journalists? Do you have a large enough network to extrapolate from or will you need the assistance of a third-party company?

Again, define your target audience. Parse out the implications of demographics, psychographics and geography. How many are you aiming to attract? In my case, it was 250 and we successfully exceeded that target. But remember to be realistic and consider the economics involved.

– Budget, Price & Money – If your organization is even considering hosting an event from a mid- to large-scale I will take the leap of faith and believe it can handle the costs headed its way. Events are not cheap, especially when planned correctly and professionally. Pre-plan your budget with the appropriate departments and determine what number is feasible to spend. In the coming days, I will breakdown the specific areas to focus on but you need to know your limits beforehand.

Also, pre-plan a buffer into your budget for the possibility (the very-likely possibility) of incurring overages during the process.

Lastly, will you charge attendees an entry fee? How much? $60, $100, $150, $500 +? Do you plan to earn a profit from the event? Once again, consider the economy and the industry and what makes your event worthy of purchasing a ticket.

– When? – The ‘when’ can really come at any stage during the Development phase, not necessarily at the end. There are politics involved in what date you choose, much of which is based on industry norms concerning downtime and seasonal fluctuations. As a rule-of-thumb, summer is a disadvantageous time to hold events because numerous people are on vacation thereby de-prioritizing your event and negatively impacting its influence as an industry standard.

Registration during the summer months is also exceedingly difficult though not impossible, so keep in mind what unwritten rules your industry abides by.

Also, in terms of days of the week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are considered prime for single-day events, since Mondays and Fridays are write-offs as they bookend the week and Thursdays are often tossed due to their proximity to Friday but not entirely inadvisable. Multi-day or exhibition-style events are not the focus of this series but many of these fundamentals are fluid and can still be readily applied.

NEXT: Pre-Planning

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Planning, Marketing, strategy