Author Archives: Kerry Rea President of GovEvents

About Kerry Rea President of GovEvents

Twitter: @Kerry_Rea | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrea/ I am a business and marketing professional with an extensive background in company start-ups. I have 20+ years direct experience in the information technology, government, franchise, and construction industries. Having a passion for business, I love brainstorming, collaborating and strategizing on the best ways to achieve our clients' and partners' business objectives.

Your Privacy and the iPhone–What You Need to Know

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Cybersecurity practices, privacy policies, intelligence community best practices are all hot event topics on GovEvents.com. These topics are also garnering intense media focus with the ongoing battle between the Justice Department and Apple to provide access to data on the phone of the main suspect in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA. While the back and forth between the FBI and Apple has been well documented in the media, it is a complex issue in terms of what it really means for us as citizens and government professionals.[Tweet "Your Privacy and the iPhone -- what it really means for us. #GovEventsBlog"]

The background: Following the San Bernardino shooting, the FBI realized there may be critical evidence on the shooter's iPhone, which they have been unable to access.  The FBI hopes this information will shine a light on the motivation and any terrorist ties.

The reason the FBI cannot get into the phone without Apple's help comes down to one setting that anyone can turn on or off in seconds. Within Settings, users enter their passcode to lock the phone. Once that's done, a screen appears with the option to "Erase Data. Erase all data on this iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts."  This makes traditional hacking attempts useless. However, the shooter had an older version iPhone and iOS, which, according to the FBI, means Apple has the ability to override this erase feature and access this phone. Newer phones, and those that have updated iOS, would not be accessible as this 'loophole' was eliminated as part of a 2014 operating system update. Continue reading →

Through the Looking Glass: Adventures in Social Media

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Social Media has become a critical component for marketing an event. It has also proven to have great worth in providing real time feedback on the event. But even with these benefits it can feel overwhelming to manage all of the work and data resulting from social media. Without focus, it can turn into a never-ending quest with many distractions. Like Alice traveling through Wonderland to find the white rabbit, we can get distracted by all of the new and interesting things we see along our way.[Tweet "Through the Looking Glass: Adventures in Social Media #GovEventsBlog"]

To make social media management easier, we need to focus on the data that really matters. This means looking beyond likes and shares and really digging into what people's social activity is telling us. If you know what you are looking for, you'll have a better chance of finding it. There is a good deal of work and analysis involved, but there is also a valuable level of insight that can be gained if you put in the time.

Here's a quick list of what to spend time looking at within your social media strategies.[Tweet "Quick list of what to spend time looking at within your social media strategies. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

Getting the Most Out of Tradeshow Investments

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Exhibiting at tradeshows involves a lot of time and money. From the upfront costs of renting the exhibit space, to travel expenses, not to mention staff time working the event -- choosing to exhibit at a tradeshow may be one of the costlier line items in a marketing budget.[Tweet "How do you know if you are getting the most out of tradeshow investments? #GovEventsBlog"]

How do you know if your investment was worth it? How do you measure and then ensure ROI? Here are a couple of tips for making the blood, sweat, tears, and dollars all worth it.

  • Know your audience. Presumably you've done your research on show attendees before committing to attending, but when planning metrics and ROI measurement take another look at the attendee profile. Do they have direct buying power or are they the influencers? If they don't have direct buying power, setting a metric around closing new sales within a month of the conference will likely be unsuccessful. If your audience is influencers, look instead to measure success by follow-up meetings or increased engagement with your brand online.
  • Be clear, stay focused. Make sure everyone staffing your booth knows who your target audience is at the show.[Tweet "Make sure everyone staffing tradeshow booth knows who target audience is. #GovEventsBlog"] Focus efforts and time on qualified leads and set clear expectations for follow-up. You may collect 200 names at the show but if no one is tasked and incentivized to follow-up, those leads will just be names on a list. You can even make it easy to start the follow-up at the show.[Tweet "Make it easy to start the follow-up at the tradeshow. #GovEventsBlog"] At a recent networking event we had a goal of setting a minimum of 15 post-show appointments. We designed a promotion where any attendee that scheduled a phone appointment with us to discuss their marketing needs for 2016 was entered into a drawing to win their choice of a $350 Visa gift card or an Apple iWatch Sport. We had a printed calendar on the table with available times for meetings so we could easily write in their info on the day/time that they chose for quick follow-up and action.
  • Create a theme. If you are taking the time to create and print new materials and design a booth or signage, make sure there is a unifying theme within all of these materials. This theme should, of course, tie into your brand but also reflect the theme of the show you are attending. This will help make your booth more relevant to attendees and will provide a focus in message for your staff.
  • Get to know your sales rep. Stay in touch with your sales rep after you sign the contract. Make sure you understand all of the benefits of your sponsorship or space buy and make sure you are using them to their fullest. As the show gets closer, check in to see if there are any other additional opportunities to promote your brand. They may be running deals on additional sponsor activities as the show gets closer, making additional exposure at the show more affordable.
  • Be Picky. Choose your booth staff carefully. At too many shows we see staff on their phones who barely look up when someone comes by their booth. Find the people that will be able and willing to carry your message and will respond to the overall goals of the event. Make sure they are qualified to talk to all sorts of potential customers on a variety of topics. Arm them with key messages as well as incentives for bringing in qualified leads.
  • Get creative. Creativity does not just apply to your theme, it can apply to how you measure success. Leads and sales are obvious metrics, but don't stop there. If your company has a social media presence or a blog, use the show to drive more followers. Set a goal around the number of new followers gained from a show. Make your social properties prominent in materials and find ways to encourage people to start following your company. Collect details on the social properties of attendees and prospects and begin following them. This interaction on social will give you touch points with these leads long after the show doors have closed.

We'd love to hear from you. How do you ensure you are getting the most out of your tradeshow investments? Let us know in the comments. If you have not decided what shows might work for you, spend some time searching the listings at GovEvents.

Exploring Vendor Relations

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In this post we're going to to get real about our relationships. Before you think we've changed our focus here at GovEvents, this post is focused on the relationships with the vendors who make events happen. This vendor group includes hotels and other venues, catering companies, AV services and product companies, as well as transportation and logistics partners, and photographers to name a few.

A great vendor relationship is worth its weight in gold. Having a great relationship with all vendors involved in an event has benefits for attendees and planners.[Tweet "A great vendor relationship is worth its weight in gold. #GovEventsBlog"] Attendees get a seamless experience and the event planner or  host can feel a sense of calm even during the mad rush leading up to the event. But how do you cultivate long-term relationships and how do you get off on the right foot? Continue reading →

Behind the Curtain: AUSA

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AUSAFor this behind the curtain peek at event organizers we're learning more about the Association of the United States Army and two of their more popular events. LTG(R) Roger Thompson, vice president, membership and meetings at AUSA, took the time to talk to us about the planning behind the group's Global Force Symposium and LANPAC.[Tweet "Behind the curtain peek at AUSA and their events. #GovEventsBlog"]

The Global Force Symposium runs March 15-17 in Huntsville, AL, just outside Redstone Arsenal. The featured command at the symposium will be the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness - technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment.  If a soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.  LANPAC takes place May 24-26 in Honolulu, HI.  This annual event brings together military and industry to highlight the role of land forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater and their contributions to the Joint Force in peace and war.

We talked with LTG Thompson about how trends in the event industry and the government market in general are shaping the way they produce events.[Tweet "We talked with LTG Thompson @AUSAorg about trends and the events they produce."] Continue reading →