Posts Tagged ‘Event Planning’

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The Long, Hot Summer…A Good Time to Regroup & Re-strategize


2010
07.15

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Posted in Consulting, Meeting Planning, Special Events, Tradeshow Management | 1 Comment »

  Certainly it’s been a hot one so far and as George & Ira Gershwin wrote…and Janis Joplin sang, “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.”

It’s during these temperate times when many association members and clients are in vacation mode.  And while meetings, tradeshows and special events are less frequent than in the spring and fall, we as professional event producers and suppliers should take the time to regroup and re-strategize.

Regardless of the recent (supposedly) positive pointing economic indicators, unemployment continues to rise and business in almost every American based industry is down.  As Steven Hacker, CAE, President, International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) mentioned in his June 2010 Association Meetings magazine article, The State of the Exhibitions Industry: It’s Not Simple, “Once again, the experiences of 2008 and 2009 demonstrate that the exhibitions industry is a mirror image of the industries served by our events.”  Obviously, the same can be said for meetings, conventions, and special events, i.e., as business is slumping, participation in the majority of events is down.  Bottom line is companies just cannot afford to spend money to send people (or at least as many as they used to in the past) to events.

So while it may be difficult for association executives, meeting planners, trade show producers, special event coordinators, or supplier partners, to directly influence participation in our industry events (short of making participation fees and/or services free…which would drive us all out of business), there are lots of more positive things we can be doing during these challenging times that will help our businesses.

Strategic Planning

I’m sure many of you (especially association executives) have participated in some type of strategic planning process.  The process itself is fairly straight forward.  An outside facilitator (this is one of those business activities, like survey development and compilation, where it’s best to utilize outside expertise) works with the management team from an organization to prioritize a doable number of business initiatives. The concept being that an organization can’t do everything on its “wish list”, so it’s better to prioritize three to five initiatives and then figure out what resources, i.e., financial and personnel, will be needed to accomplish them.  Definitive timelines are also applied to the initiatives. 

Typically, strategic planning includes short range initiatives (one to three years), and also longer range goals (five to ten years).  However, in today’s economic quagmire, I would think that an organization would focus on shorter range initiatives.  And keep in mind, the strategic planning process isn’t just for trade associations or professional societies.  corporations (big or small) should definitely consider this process.  If you do decide to move forward with strategic planning, consider engaging an outside facilitator to maximize unbiased participation.  It will be money well spent and keep the ship pointed in the right direction.  Two strategic planning facilitators I recommend are;

Buz Buzogany, Buzogany Associates, www.buzoganyassociates.com

Harrison Coerver, Harrison Coerver & Associates, www.harrisoncoerver.com

Survey Members or Clients

I’ve received a number of surveys from the member organizations I belong to.  Recently, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) sent me one having to do with ethics within the industry.  Also, the Association Forum of Chicagoland sent me a survey asking me what programs they might offer to benefit supplier members, like me. 

Surveys are an excellent way to accomplish two things.  First, you continue to stay in touch with your members or clients.  And secondly, you can obtain valuable feedback.  This is an excellent time to do both and the process is easy and inexpensive with on-line programs such as www.surveymonkey.com, www.zoomerang.com, etc.  A professional survey and research company I recommend is:

Linda Wing, Premier Research Solutions, www.premierresearchsolutions.com

Update Website & Develop/Reorganize Social Media Strategy

Many of us neglect to update our Web site content from time to time.  I don’t know if there’s a recommended schedule, and it doesn’t need to be a total overhaul, but certainly a refresh every quarter or so would be a good habit to get into.  As well, if your organization does not have a social media marketing strategy in place, you need to start developing one.  If you are already using social media to market your business, now might be a good time to evaluate how it’s working for you and adjust anything that needs adjusting.  I have an excellent resource to recommend for Web site development and social media strategy:

 Brian Basilico, B2b Interactive Marketing, Inc, www.b2b-im.com

Consider Outsourcing

This is also a good time to think about how your meeting and/or tradeshow staff is being utilized.  Are there strategic projects you would like them to start investigating, but they don’t have time?  Perhaps it might be a good idea to consider outsourcing certain event-related projects which could free up some of your staff’s time for more strategic initiatives.  Not to sound solicitous, but there are plenty of experienced folks out there (EXPOexpert included), and it’s a buyer’s market, so the price is right!

Keep Up Sales & Marketing Efforts

When times are slow and money is tight, it’s tempting for organizations to cut things like advertising, sales and other marketing initiatives.  However, I think that would be a huge mistake.

Consider the story of Procter & Gamble during the great depression of the 1930s.  While most companies were cutting advertising budgets, Procter & Gamble actually increased its advertising budget.   They realized that despite the economic mess, people still needed household products…like the soap they produced.  Through targeted advertising to women via radio shows based around their products (these eventually evolved into television soap operas), they not only increased their revenues, but improved their customer base and brand image.  Procter & Gamble understood the power of message management.

    Similarly, the meeting, tradeshow and special events industries must continue our message management with campaigns to encourage event participation.  Certainly there are some campaigns out there, i.e., IAEE and the Center for Exhibition Research (CEIR)—“Exhibitions Mean Business” and the Convention Industry Council’s (CIC) “FACE Time. It Matters” (www.facetimematters.org).  But more is needed and we as individual companies within our industry must do more and continue to keep advertising, selling not only our products and services, but the message that ”face-to-face marketing is the most cost-effective way for American industries to sell.

So, while we enjoy the long, hot summer and times are a little slower…regroup, re-strategize, and keep positive.  Thanks for reading and I welcome your thoughts and comments.

P.S.  Here’s a funny little video about “teamwork” I’d thought you’d enjoy!

           

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Greening Your Events


2010
03.17

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Posted in Consulting, Meeting Planning, Special Events, Tradeshow Management | No Comments »

  In the spirit of Saint Patrick’s day, I wanted to share some thoughts about why…even in an environment of budget cuts and job scarcity in our industry…we should work hard to continue to support and implement sustainable practices and the “greening” of meetings, tradeshows and special events.

The concept of environmental responsibility and sustainability have been around for some time now, but we have a long way to go in terms of 100% participation by the meetings/tradeshow and special events industry.  But with that said, there are lots of great sustainability initiatives going on, and I’m sure you’ve read numerous articles in the industry trade journals about what some association and corporate groups are doing.   But rather than rehash those, I’ll share with you some recent personal experiences. 

  While attending the PCMA Midwestern Chapter March Educational event at the Chicago Hilton, I noticed a couple of simple, yet important things related to sustainability in the meetings environment.  During the educational sessions, the hotel provided water stations with eco-friendly plastic like cups made out of some type of corn based product. 

Apparently, these cups can be thrown out and will disintegrate quickly in a land-fill…as opposed to regular plastic cups which I think take like 90+ years to disintegrate…if ever.    Additionally, the hotel had recycle bins throughout the public areas and in the meeting rooms.  These are small things, and there may have been more I overlooked, but obviously the Chicago Hilton is making an effort by implementing sustainable practices and being environmentally responsible with their group meeting business. 

And here’s the beauty of this example at the Chicago Hilton and why it’s is win-win for everyone.  As a meeting planner who decides or influences where meetings are Chicago booked, obviously I noticed the eco-friendly plastic like cups.  And, it made me feel good that the Chicago Hilton was using them.  If I noticed them, you can bet that many other planners in attendance at the PCMA meeting did too.  So, even though the eco-friendly plastic like cups may cost the hotel a little more money than regular plastic cups, the Chicago Hilton, by branding itself as practicing sustainability and being environmentally responsible (which a lot of people care about and think highly of these days), may in fact influence me or other planners in our decision to select them versus another hotel to place a meeting.  And, as affirmed by the age old adage, “people buy from people they like.”  So, not only is what the Chicago Hilton is doing great for the environment, but it’s also smart business. 

I also recently attended a session sponsored by the Association Forum of Chicagoland, “Pushing Your Vendors: How to Get Affordable, Local, Organic Foods for Your Meetings and Events.”  The presenter was Greg Christian from gregchristianconsulting.com.   Recognized as “Chicago’s Conscious Caterer™,” Greg is a professional chef, caterer and entrepreneur, author (he has a new book, Food and Forgiveness) and a pioneer in the foodservice industry’s zero-impact movement.   His message is very moving and inspiring.   Because of a variety of reasons, including unsustainable farming practices, and creating a tremendous amount of waste, Greg feels that the food service industry has been a destructive force and has been using up a lot of the earth’s non-renewable resources at an alarming rate. 

Greg believes that the meeting, tradeshow and special event industry (especially because over 5 billion dollars is spent annually on catering) can have a tremendous positive impact on the environment by selecting foodservice providers that use seasonal, and locally grown organic foods.  And, that if event producers begin this requirement process early on, i.e., at the request for proposal (RFP) stage, with suppliers (hotels, convention center, caterers, etc), the requirements and process will be easier to implement.  And most importantly, the positive impact event planners and suppliers can make on our community, and our environment.   

Additionally, Greg has been instrumental in working with the Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX), an initiative of the Convention Liaison Council (CIC), to write policy and procedure focused on bringing together best practices and standards related to food and beverage for green meeting and events, including sample RFPs.  For more information about APEX, visit http://conventionindustry.org/apex/inprogress.htm

Here’s a  video of Greg talking about his journey and message.

        

And last, but certainly not least, I recently received an invitation to join and participate in a relatively new (6 year old) membership-based professional organization, the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC).   As described on their web site, www.greenmeetings.info, “The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) is the premier global community solely dedicated to sustainability in the meetings and events industry, not only through education but also by spearheading research, policy and standards.”

GMIC’s membership dues are very reasonable ($185 per year for individual membership, and varying levels of participation for supporting business memberships) and a good friend of mine, Barbara Connell with the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), is going to be heading up the Chicago chapter as president.   

Following are the organization’s mission and vision statements, and a short video from the organization’s founders.  If you’re interested in getting involved and doing more in terms of implementing sustainable practices and “Greening your Event”, it might be a really good idea for you to join GMIC. 

       
 

GMIC Mission:
The Council seeks to transform the global meetings industry through sustainable practices which incorporate environmental considerations throughout all stages of a meeting in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment. The Council will promote environmentally responsible strategies through the collaborative efforts of meeting industry stakeholders, balancing economic, environmental, and community objectives. Your support is an integral component of our success.

GMIC Vision:
According to the Green Meeting Industry Council , a green meeting incorporates environmental considerations throughout all stages of the meeting in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment.

In conclusion, if you’re not doing so already, there’s lots of easy ways to start implementing sustainable practices in your meetings, tradeshows, and special events.  For example, event organizers can utilize eco-friendly name badge holders, and reducing printed promotional and on-site materials.  Additionally, organizers can request that their supplier partners utilize things like sustainable carpet at trade shows, recyclable trash liners, and that food service suppliers use water stations with the aforementioned eco-friendly plastic like cups, recycle, and compost.

It’s all good and helps the planet too. Take care and I welcome your thoughts, comments and ideas.