Velvet Chainsaw
JULY 25, 2017
Our conference learning spaces affect our audience. We must learn to think like designers. Then we can focus on changing our conference participants’ learning spaces with the right goal in mind—nurturing their learning. Be forewarned! We are not decorating learning spaces. We are designing them to foster, nurture and amplify our participants’ learning.
Picatic by Eventbrite
AUGUST 24, 2017
Employees today lead busier lives than ever before. They are striving to advance at work. Juggling work-life balance at home is harder than ever. Today’s workforce is often finding themselves falling into the rut of “going and coming”. This means that, under normal circumstances, most corporate event announcements are met with a less than enthusiastic […].
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Conferences that Work
JULY 10, 2017
There are some things that the meeting industry doesn’t like to talk about in public. For example: Revenue models. (Who actually paid for all that sybaritic F&B? You’ll never know.). Clients from hell. (They might figure out it’s them I was talking about and I need the business.). Women and people of color’s frequent under-representation on stage. (‘Nuff said.).
Event Farm
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
Technology is shaping the way we do business, and smart tech relies on good data—the more the better. As I outlined in the first post of this series , event marketers need to ensure that they have processes in place that will make them smarter today and simultaneously set them up for success in the future. The best way to do that is to collect data.
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Eventinterface
JULY 31, 2017
Take advice from these successful meeting and event planners. See how their daily routines and behaviors make them successful in their jobs. CAROLINE KAY. Event Director Extraordinaire with C.KAY International. I get up at 5:00 a.m. and get a head start on my day when it is quiet, especially when I am onsite, managing an event. I start my day by scanning my email, see if anything urgent has popped up.
Event Pro Update brings together the best content for event, conference, and meeting planning professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Gallus Events
MAY 3, 2017
A couple of weeks ago we started crowdfunding an event for the first ever time. The event will be (should it reach its funding level of course) a Virtual Summit for Europe’s largest blog for PAs: Practically Perfect PA. You can see the Practically Perfect PA Crowdfunder appeal – it is live until the 1st June. As with all of the PPPA events we provide event management and guidance, this time, our advice is to crowdfund the event!
EventMB
DECEMBER 9, 2017
Entertaining large crowds at your event can be difficult and limiting. Here are 16 ways to engage a greater number of attendees all at the same time. Big crowds can be difficult to please, particularly because there is usually limited space and communication across a vast amount of people can be difficult. However, it is […]. The post 17 Interactive Entertainment Ideas For Large Crowds by EventMB Team appeared first on [link].
Velvet Chainsaw
MAY 23, 2017
Work and life are transforming at a rapid rate. When considering long-term conference or organizational strategy, it’s wise to future-cast the impact major workforce trends may have on your profession, particularly because conferences are about people first and content second. You need to determine who (target audience) you’re designing for before you address the what (content) and how (experience design).
Velvet Chainsaw
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Your conference could be a place for your customers to experience unrestricted curiosity and play. But most of the time it’s not. Curiosity becomes codified into bureaucratic traditional expert-centric instructional models—lectures and panel discussions. And that passive sedentary process actually controls and squelches most curious thinking. And forget play!
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Velvet Chainsaw
JUNE 14, 2017
The mass-personalization wave that is dramatically changing what and how we buy as consumers has application to conferences. I’ve been doing a lot of research and have learned that personalization can be achieved in a number of ways: Individualized — The customer gets exactly what meets their preferences or needs. In other words, they can order a tailor-made shirt to fit their body measurements perfectly in the style, fabric and color of their choice.
Velvet Chainsaw
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
Most annual meetings have used the same template agenda for decades. They just replace the filling each year. If you want to breathe new life into your conference, and increase relevance for next-generation attendees, start with this kill/change list. Part two of this series will include the remainder of the list. 1. Annual Business Meeting. Don’t do this as part of a general session.
Velvet Chainsaw
OCTOBER 10, 2017
Editor’s Note: This article was originally penned for PCMA’s Convene in the beginning of August, early on in the discovery that the Apple App Store’s change in guidelines could affect branded mobile event apps. Much has been written since, including evidence that Apple is taking action with some event app providers. From our view, our opinions haven’t changed.
Velvet Chainsaw
JUNE 6, 2017
“My presentation is fine. It’s the audience’s fault if they don’t get it?”. “Why do I need to change the way I present? My lecture has worked for years. I get great scores and reviews.”. I’m sure you’ve heard statements like this. Maybe you’ve even said something similar yourself. So, why should speakers change how they present at your conference? The Lecture—The Presenters’ And Learners’ Desert Mirage.
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In this best practices guide, you’ll learn how to tap into the cost-efficiencies of advocacy and word-of-mouth marketing with video. Examples include speakers providing a preview of their upcoming sessions, exhibitors creating “please stop by” invitations and attendees creating “looking forward to seeing you” introduction videos. Learn about best practices and programs created by leading companies and associations including ASIS, AUVSI, SuperZoo, National Restaurant Association, World of Concret
Velvet Chainsaw
MAY 3, 2017
Most conferences are stuck in a rut! The experience has not changed in three, five and even ten years. They are predictable and often commoditized. So how do you create a conference experience that is not like all the others? Start by considering one or more of these conference big ideas. They are the conference planning road less traveled that harvests success!
Velvet Chainsaw
JUNE 28, 2017
Everyone’s talking about the need to create customer experiences. (Yes, including us, the Velvet Chainsaw team.). It’s as if Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore’s Experience Economy is just now hitting its stride—for conferences at least. The word is out: we’ve got to create conference experiences, not just conferences that feel like a patchwork quilt of our great grandmother’s dresses.
Velvet Chainsaw
MARCH 6, 2017
Your real conference competition is not that event held six months after yours. Nor is your competitor time, money and resources. Your real competitor is mediocrity to paraphrase authors Karin Hurt and David Dye. You’re In A Difficult Position: Look Backwards Or Forwards For Programming? Today’s technology driven, hyper-connected, instant gratification, real-time world puts you as a conference organizer in a difficult position.
Velvet Chainsaw
JULY 10, 2017
In order to design relevant education and networking experiences at our conferences, we need to be focused to the point of obsession with our target audience. Over the past 18 months, we’ve carefully scrubbed and analyzed the attendance of 20 major conferences. These projects had an aggregate attendance of 110,000-plus participants with registration revenue in excess of $30 million.
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Picatic by Eventbrite
DECEMBER 8, 2017
Over the years of working with non-profit organizations, changemakers, and community builders we have learned that these selfless groups have big hearts with the sole purpose of raising money, not for themselves, but for the better needs of others. The post Join the Movement – Picatic for Good appeared first on Picatic Event Planning Blog.
Velvet Chainsaw
AUGUST 3, 2017
Personalization—it seems to be the 2017 buzzword for nonprofit associations and conferences. Everyone seems to be talking about it like here and here. Yet, personalization is more than technology. It means more than our past purchases or posts in social media. We have likes, dislikes, preferences, strengths, weakness, emotions, experiences and knowledge that do not show up in organization data systems.
Velvet Chainsaw
AUGUST 22, 2017
There’s a place for sponsored content in conference programs, if you’re thoughtful in your approach. The seventh of the TED Commandments — “Thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, or thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness” — is especially timely advice. Why? As more sponsors embrace content marketing or thought leadership as arguably the most powerful strategy for improving attitudes and perceptions of their brand, co
Velvet Chainsaw
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
The most effective sponsorships are all about the attendee — the fan, the sponsor’s target market. If they don’t win over the attendee, the sponsorship may not be sustainable. The same could be said for the naming of your sponsorship levels. It’s time to reimagine the precious metal sponsorship categories — and unless you’re the International Association of Gems, it’s also time to retire Diamond, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire levels, too.
Speaker: Adam Dorfman, Lindsay Harrison, and Erin O'Brien
Did you know that 4 out of 5 consumers use local search and 88% use smartphones for those searches? With that in mind, I think it's safe to say your online presence is the silver bullet of your business. Think about the revenue you could be missing by not prioritizing local search optimization. Fortunately, there are a handful of steps you can take right now that will immediately impact your business's pace in local search, and we're happy to share them.
Velvet Chainsaw
APRIL 12, 2017
When Velvet Chainsaw Consulting conducted speaker research with 120 associations with research and consulting company Tagoras Inc. in 2013, we found that nearly 77 percent use a call for speakers/sessions process. Associations value member input. One-third of these organizations accept 60 percent or more of the proposals, indicating either a low number of submissions or very forgiving quality filters.
Velvet Chainsaw
APRIL 6, 2017
What’s the role of the 21st Century meeting and conference professional? In the past, the answer was easy. Perform very straight forward, transactional, functional tasks related to the logistics of conferences, meetings and events. S/He fulfilled the same types of tasks on a daily basis. When asked to make improvements, s/he focused on efficiency and cost savings.
Velvet Chainsaw
NOVEMBER 6, 2017
A strategic look at your marketing spend, as well as what you spend on your attendee experience, can be telling. According to Convene ’s most recent Meetings Market Survey , on average 6 percent of a meeting’s direct expenses fall in the marketing/promotion category. After studying 100 or so meetings’ profit and loss (P&L) statements in great detail, I can confirm that this expense line item varies greatly.
Velvet Chainsaw
MARCH 31, 2017
Over the past decade, there have been significant upgrades and newcomers in the event technology space. These solutions claim to increase revenue, streamline processes, drive attendance, improve the attendee experience, provide data/insight and/or deliver ROI. There are several hundred event technology providers competing to win your business. When you consider varying pricing structures, functionality, and built-for-purpose options, choosing the best solutions is no easy task.
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Velvet Chainsaw
MARCH 17, 2017
I’ll admit that in 2011, when the Virtual Edge Institute (now called the Digital Experience Institute) first co-located its conference with the Professional Convention Management Association’s Convening Leaders, the experience fell flat for me. At the time, a mere six years ago, the fledgling for-profit entity that wagered its future on the potential of virtual meetings staged sessions that were too heavily weighted toward the online audience in the verbal communication and moderation by the spe
Velvet Chainsaw
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
Too often when we think about conference growth or sustainability, we assume it means attracting next gen customers. We pinpoint a specific generation, usually Millennials. Then we discuss how to plan, program and market to that specific age group. Eventually our planning discussions turn to generational differences. Those conversations can quickly digress into personal pet peeve complaints about each generation.
Velvet Chainsaw
JULY 27, 2017
Most conferences offer some type of learning opportunities for their participants. From informal peer networking to roundtable discussions to formal expert lectures and panel discussions. The education opportunities abound. Traditionally, the goal of conference education is to deliver as much information as possible as fast as possible to as many people as possible.
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