Events Production

This article from "Tweak Your Biz" provides a comprehensive guide for businesses interested in hosting successful conferences. The piece outlines key steps involved in planning and executing an event, from budgeting and financial planning to selecting the right venue and managing speaker schedules. It also highlights the importance of technology, attendee engagement, and post-event follow-up in creating a lasting impact. The article aims to empower businesses with actionable strategies to make their conferences memorable and impactful.

Here are some of the most crucial aspects of successful conference planning, according to the source:

• Defining goals and target audience: Before planning, it's essential to establish clear goals for the conference and identify the intended audience. This sets the foundation for the entire event.
• Budgeting and Financial Planning: Creating a detailed budget that encompasses all expected costs, such as venue rental, catering, speaker fees, and technology, is vital. Exploring sponsorships and partnerships can help offset expenses.
• Technology and AV Needs: Selecting appropriate technology, including audio-visual equipment and streaming setups, is crucial for a smooth conference experience. The technology should cater to both in-person and virtual attendees.
• Venue Selection: Choosing the right venue is paramount, considering factors like location accessibility, capacity, and on-site amenities, including Wi-Fi, AV equipment, and breakout rooms.
• Content and Agenda: Crafting an engaging agenda involves identifying key sessions, securing a keynote speaker, and incorporating panel discussions, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities. The schedule should balance learning and interaction.
• Speaker Selection and Management: Selecting industry leaders or experts who align with the conference goals and can effectively engage the audience is key. Coordinating speaker schedules and providing clear instructions on presentation length and content is essential.
• Marketing and Promotion: Generating pre-event excitement through social media campaigns, email marketing, and partnerships with influencers or media outlets can significantly boost attendance.
• Logistics and Event Coordination: Streamlining registration, ensuring security, addressing dietary needs, and having contingency plans for unexpected situations are crucial for a well-organized event.
• Attendee Engagement: Enhancing attendee engagement can be achieved through mobile event apps, live polls, structured networking opportunities, workshops, and Q&A panels.
• Post-Event Follow-Up: Gathering feedback through surveys, sharing recorded sessions or presentation slides, and using event content for future marketing efforts can contribute to the long-term success of the conference.
• Meticulous planning: Overall, meticulous planning at every stage is fundamental to hosting a memorable and impactful conference, ensuring goals are met, and delivering value to attendees.

The source emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to conference planning, encompassing everything from budget management and technology selection to content creation, speaker management, and post-event engagement. Each aspect plays a crucial role in creating a successful and impactful event.

Read the full article at: tweakyourbiz.com

How can you harness data to make a meaningful impact in your marketing and event strategy?

They say the only constant in life is change, and the events landscape is no exception. Driven by the relentless advance of technology, the industry is undergoing significant transformation and growth, which can make it hard for event planners to keep up. Did you know that 73% of event marketers reported budget increases in 2023?

As we strive to create unforgettable experiences, one key to continued success is data. And the more the better. According to Statista, around 328.77 million terabytes of data are created each day. But how can you harness it to make a meaningful impact in your marketing and event strategy?

Read the full article at: www.forbes.com

Aiming for the personal touch, Stephanie Cox began using videos to illustrate customer success stories in her business, Lumavate, in 2018. Although the first use case was for sales, Cox, president of the Indiana-based firm, which makes a low-code app development platform for marketers, recognized the power videos can have.

Read the full article at: www.techrepublic.com

Occasionally, major unexpected developments force entire industries to rapidly change their business model overnight or face the very real prospect of extinction. While widespread technology adoption is traditionally a slow process, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a rapid and necessary global shift to remote work, travel restrictions and digital communication, putting the live meetings and events industry on pause.In response, the events industry and many private businesses have been developing virtual events that attempt to recreate live interactions. With the opportunity to introduce novel digital experiences and present a potentially unlimited number of attendees with information in engaging virtual environments, event producers and businesses are making plans and building platforms that could deliver the compelling virtual experiences that their audiences deserve.

Language is critical to consider when engaging a global audience through virtual events in order to better connect with customers and maximize your ROI.

Breakout sessions give meeting attendees time to engage with their peers and decompress. Learn how to plan one for your next meeting, discover a list of engaging ideas, and draw inspiration from real-life examples from businesses.

Breakout sessions can happen during both in-person and virtual meetings. The former typically send attendees to different areas of a conference venue, and the latter use breakout room functions native to virtual conferencing tools. These sessions are especially important during virtual meetings, where there is already an element of built-in disconnection as attendees are in their own respective locations.

This article from Hubspot goes over some ideas that you can use to incorporate engaging breakout sessions into your upcoming meetings.

Breakout Session Ideas

There are various breakout sessions you can plan for, like those directly related to meeting content and others that are entertainment-focused and involve attendees playing games with each other.

Read the full article at: blog.hubspot.com

This article from SmallBizTechnology.com explores the benefits and features of mobile event apps. It covers their ability to enhance attendee engagement, facilitate networking, and provide real-time updates. The author also discusses considerations for selecting the right platform, security measures, and future trends in the industry.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Event Apps for Different Event Types

The sources primarily focus on the advantages of using mobile event apps for various event types. There is limited information on potential disadvantages.

Here's a breakdown of the advantages based on event type:

Advantages

• In-Person Events:
  • Interactive maps: Help attendees navigate large venues.
  • Real-time updates: Inform attendees of schedule changes or announcements.
  • Networking features: Facilitate connections between attendees.
• Virtual Events:
  • Central hub: Access live streams and recorded sessions.
  • Engagement tools: Live polls and Q&A sessions to keep audience involved.
  • Chat features: Attendee interaction with speakers and each other.
• Hybrid Events:
  • Seamless experience: For both in-person and online attendees.
  • Real-time interaction: Between both in-person and online attendees.
  • Unified content sharing: Updates relevant to all participants.
• Corporate Meetings:
  • Agenda management: Everyone stays informed about schedules.
  • Feedback collection: Surveys for meeting improvement.
  • Secure access controls: Protection of sensitive information.

General Advantages

• Enhanced engagement: Through features like live polls, Q&A, gamification, and personalised content.
• Convenient access: To event information, real-time updates, and digital materials, eliminating the need for paper.
• Efficient communication: Instant notifications, direct messaging, and feedback collection.
• Personalised experience: Custom agendas, tailored recommendations, and user profiles.

Potential Disadvantages (Not Explicitly Mentioned in Sources)

While the sources focus on the benefits, some potential disadvantages to consider might include:

• Cost: Developing and implementing a mobile event app can be expensive.
• Technical issues: App glitches or connectivity problems could disrupt the event experience.
• Dependence on technology: Some attendees may not have smartphones or be comfortable using apps.
• Data security: Concerns around the collection and storage of attendee data.

It's important to weigh these potential drawbacks against the advantages when deciding whether to use a mobile event app.

Read the full article at: smallbiztechnology.com

Event technology shouldn’t replace in-person connections but enhance networking opportunities that strengthen business relationships.

This report from Skift Meetings, in partnership with event management software platform Stova, explores the intersection of technology and in-person networking. It argues that event technology should enhance, rather than replace, human connection, and provides strategies for leveraging technology to facilitate more intentional networking opportunities. The report outlines five key strategies: gathering data to guide networking priorities, leveraging AI for matchmaking and recommendations, providing convenient digital connections, creating a self-directed attendee journey, and reevaluating events to foster an ongoing community beyond individual gatherings. The report emphasises the potential of technology to personalise and enhance the networking experience, ultimately leading to stronger business relationships.

Read the full article at: meetings.skift.com

While businesses should be looking to responsibly and carefully work generative AI tools into their workflow, there are a few areas where the tech comes up short.

There’s an exciting sea change taking place in B2B tech marketing. While organizations got by for years with underdeveloped, middle-of-the-road content, the need for messaging that stands out has intensified thanks to an evolving buyer journey, changes in the social media landscape, new data privacy regulations, and economic uncertainty in the tech sector. In short, content standards are rising across the buyer journey.

To complicate things further, generative AI has emerged—and naturally, content marketing teams are looking to it as the perfect solution for these unstable times. After all, the promise of generative AI is simple: more content at a lower cost. Could great content really be just a few GPT prompts away? Not so fast.

Read the full article at: www.forbes.com

There’s a new virtual/hybrid reach for events this year mapped out through the trials of lockdown, and accessibility, in some shape or form, is the common purpose among these top tech tips for 2023.

From latest platforms, connectivity, live captioning and sign language to presentation hardware and video production solutions, the future is here…

Read the full article at: www.eventindustrynews.com

Prior to the pandemic, the folding of events into marketing departments added pressure to prove event success with the hard data that marketing teams were accustomed to seeing. The recent explosion in virtual events will undoubtedly amplify this trend.

 The virtual event isn't likely to stay that way, but hybrid events can reach more people while delivering in-person benefits.

TechRepublic's Karen Roby spoke with Ryan Carlson of Okta about virtual events. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

 

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A very interesting interview, listen to how Okta made their second virtual event really different than most other product events.

 

Read the full article at: www.techrepublic.com

Marina Worre is someone who is not afraid of change. She embraces it. As co-founder and CEO of Network Marketing Pro, Inc., she and her husband Eric have produced thousands of hours of video-based training content as well as some of the largest and most prestigious in-person training events in the world. When COVID-19 hit, they had to figure out how they were going to reach their community if they could not hold their two signature events: Go Pro Recruiting Mastery and The Most Powerful Women in Network Marketing. That’s when Marina came up with Worre Studios. She curated a team of audio and video production specialists to build a 25,000-square-foot state-of-the-art production studio in Las Vegas to bring more interactive, online experiences to life. She sat down with Jessica Abo to share how companies and presenters can work with her studio and her advice for entrepreneurs.

Read the full article at: www.entrepreneur.com

In 2020, you might have heard your favorite influencers talking about a mysterious new social media app called Clubhouse.

But, unless you had a huge online following of your own, you might just be getting access to the app now.

Until a few months ago, Clubhouse was a platform where big-name celebrities, company leaders, Silicon Valley investors, and some of the web's top global influencers could have uncensored audio group chats about their lives, hobbies, work, or industries.

Now, as the invite-only Clubhouse continues to gain media coverage and a growing pool of non-celebrity users, you might be wondering, “What the heck is it? And, how do I get in on the action?”

Below, we’ll explain where Clubhouse came from, what it actually is, and the pros and cons of using it in your marketing strategy.

Read the full article at: blog.hubspot.com

Wow how quickly this event tech company list in growing, more are being added weekly. 

The above graphic organizes 268 different tools for online event experiences, in 9-14 different subcategories, such as streaming, ticketing, networking, event marketing, and “all-in-one” platforms, including those with 3D virtual environments.

Read the full article at: chiefmartec.com

If Netflix, YouTube, video games and dating apps are any indication, online engagement has massive potential. Why are virtual events struggling to achieve it, and what lessons can virtual events glean from these successful models of digital engagement?