Just commented on a post from Kevin on the importance of the first 10 minutes of your event's opening general session. Kevin brings up some excellent points regarding excitement and the importance of having "rock star" keynotes if you can afford them.
But I don't know if the rock star treatment works if you don't have someone of Malcolm Gladwell's standing as your keynote.
Which brings us to another article that Sue pointed to. This one an interview in Chief Marketer with Carl Pugh and Joel Davis on "What Makes a Conference Worth Attending?"
Excerpts:
CARL PUGH: First and foremost, to get somebody’s attention, an event has to be relevant and important. Someone who reads your promotion for the event has to be able to say, “Wow, those are exactly the issues I’m grappling with right now. I’d love to hear how other people have solved those problems.”
The feeling of credibility comes from who’s producing the event. Is it a magazine I respect? An association of which I’m a member? Who are the keynotes? Are they people I’ve read about in the papers or the trade magazines and whom I’ve long admired from a distance? Those I’d like to hear from up close? Are the people giving the sessions names I recognize?
Probably the most granular form of credibility is who’s attending. Are my peers coming? My competitors?
There's an argument here for a community portal that answers the question of "Who's attending" a particular conference while also showing what other conferences these folks attend. Think of a TSNN database with a Bloglines networking approach. John Rice and I spoke briefly about such a concept while at SISO, although he was quick to point out there's no money in it at the moment. Or next year. Or probably the year after that. But when it happens, remember you read about it here first.
If I could program it myself, it would be done already. Stupid left brain.
JOEL DAVIS: The first and really foremost critical component for success is getting people’s attention regarding the conference content. On some shows it’s a topic that gets people’s attention; on others it’s the roster of speakers. In travel, for example, the roster of speakers is really most important. On the other hand, when we do our satellite conference, it’s really what people are talking about that’s important. So every industry is different, but basically the point is that content is really what gets the senior-level executives in any industry interested and expected about an event.
But content has to be thought of broadly. Speakers are content. The subject is also content.
Sometimes of additional importance is the networking aspect. Who’s going to be there? Who am I going to meet, and who am I going to rub shoulders with? What types of contacts am I going to make there? We put a lot of emphasis on functions, receptions, parties, whatever can create networking.
And more and more these days there are matchmaking programs enabling people attending a conference to connect in advance and set up appointments. There’s also matchmaking that puts together people with like interests in an informal environment where they can talk with one another. We try to facilitate targeted forums, sponsored forums, or lunch meetings in smaller groups. In those groups you get a little more intimate, you get to know people.
If you, as a show marketer, are not involved with determining your event's conference content, you need to start getting involved yesterday. For years we've heard that content is the magazine editorial. It's why you choose to pay $4.95 at the newsstand.
Content is your product. And so is the packaging of your content.
If you think packaging isn't important, think again. The packaging is a big factor in why you visit some websites and not others. If you can't get to what you want when you want to access it, you'll try a different website to find similar content.
Same thing with conferences - the content is vitally important, but the packaging has to be well executed too. Make it easy for attendees to connect with precisely the speakers (and exhibitors) they want to meet. And make sure they get what they want when they sign up to attend.
In other words, add value to their experience of registering by showing them precisely where the content they want is - package it for them. Then add more value when they attend by directing them to it on site and putting them in contact with others who share their interests. Then add even more value after the event is over by keeping that content and networking available to them and even offering more.
While show marketing is still a numbers game, it's more and more about fostering relationships and using those relationships to build your numbers.
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