Making Event Things Internet Things

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The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wrapped up in Vegas earlier this month, and there is a buzz around the latest connected devices that will make our lives easier, more connected, and of course, fun. The Internet of Things is a topic covered in many events, but it also has a huge impact on events themselves.[Tweet "The #IoT is a topic covered in many events, but also has an impact on events themselves. #GovEventsBlog"]

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be defined simply as everyday objects connected to a network. This means everything from the Fitbit on your wrist, to the thermostat in your home, to a sensor in a ceiling tile that connects to an app on your phone and welcomes you by name. This talk at a BizBash event highlights some lavish ways event producers and marketers can use the IoT to enhance the attendee experience including networked drinking cups that link you with colleagues on social media when you tap them in a "cheers." There are also social coolers that open up to reveal sodas or other drinks when you walk by with an app open. While some of these ideas may be impractical for the government event market, there are some basic IoT principles that can be applied to keep pace with the consumer-facing event market.[Tweet "Some IoT ideas may be impractical for government events, but a few do apply. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

2015 By The Numbers

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In the annual tradition of predictions, we've already looked ahead to 2016 trends, but we also want to take a moment to look back at the year that was.  As we've reported, 2015 turned out to be a great year for the federal events industry with government budgets and restrictions around training and travel loosening.

In the spirit of using Big Data, we took a look at our own data sets and pulled a couple numbers that speak to the year that was.[Tweet "A look at our own data that speak to the year that was. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

2016 Federal Event Market

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Since we did fairly well on our predictions last year, we decided to drag the crystal ball out of storage and take a look at what we think the federal event market will look like in 2016.

  • More creativity in events - with budgets loosening up for travel and training and event attendance rising, the stress level of the federal event industry is going down. Between adapting to the new normal of longer approval cycles and knowing that events are again on the "need to have" list for federal professionals, event planners can once again turn their attention to innovation. From better integration of social channels, to creative ways to present information, we expect to see some changes to business as usual for federal events.
  • Cybersecurity remains hot - The OPM breach drove home how vulnerable federal systems are to today's threat landscape. With the completion of the Cyber Sprint, agencies have cleaned up their basic security hygiene and now are focused on implanting the policies that came out of the government-wide security exercise. Look for cyber events to be more tactical and less theoretical in nature to support the action-oriented plans of federal IT teams.
  • Video - while MTV may not be showing videos anymore, federal events will be utilizing this medium more and more. With video becoming affordable and easier to produce and stream, even with just a smartphone, federal meeting planners will take advantage of the medium to draw more eyes to their content and expand the life of the information presented at shows. Bandwidth concerns being a thing of the past and the creation of cloud-based, user-friendly video apps makes video a viable option for training.
  • Physical security - as much as we hate to think about it, in the past year we've seen lone gunmen and terrorists target large gatherings. In 2016, we expect to see event planners take a number of additional security steps including taking a closer look at attendee lists, more detailed emergency communication plans, use of metal detectors and security screenings, and more overt reminders of emergency exits, etc., for audiences in large venues.

We'd love to hear your feedback on our predictions and feel free to add yours in the comments. Here's to an exciting 2016!

2015 Predictions: Reality Check

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Last December, we pulled out our crystal ball and called out a couple trends we thought would make a big impact in 2015. Now it's time to take a look back and see how well our predictions fared.[Tweet "A look back at how well our 2015 event predictions fared. #GovEventsBlog"]

  • Virtual events - We predicted that virtual events would grow due to the tight budgets for travel and training. While webinars continued to be popular mediums for delivering training and some events looked into hybrid formats, there was not a huge jump in virtual events, but they held steady. In fact, we saw in-person attendance increase this year. Prediction Grade: C+
  • Smaller Events - This prediction looked at the trend of having more localized/specialized smaller events as opposed to (or in addition to) large conferences. Of all the events posted on our site last year, one quarter would be considered small. While the large, traditional conferences are seeing an uptick in attendance and interest, there is still a huge market for small, targeted events. Grade: B
  • Big Data - We thought 2015 would be the year of Big Data-focused events, but with a number of high profile data breaches in government, cybersecurity remained the top priority.[Tweet "We thought 2015 would be the year of Big Data-focused events. #GovEventsBlog"] However, within those cyber events there was a lot of discussion about how Big Data can be used to prevent and detect breaches. Big Data events were strong in terms of number of events and its #3 rank in top search terms on the GovEvents site behind "cybersecurity" and "job fair". Grade: B
  • Attracting Millennials - We have seen changes in the federal meeting space that are both keeping up with the times and meeting the needs of Millennials. From more active social media presence to photo backdrops to promote event selfie sharing to changing up traditional agendas, we see events looking for ways to differentiate themselves to draw audiences of all ages. Grade: C+

[Tweet "Our 2015 government event predictions faired pretty well. #GovEventsBlog"]Our 2015 government event predictions faired pretty well. In a future post we'll lay out our thoughts for what 2016 may look like for federal events.

Don’t End Up on the Naughty List

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As meeting and event planners, it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work of planning, publicizing, and measuring events. However, this can often lead to overlooking some of the basics or getting caught in the "that's the way we've always done it" trap. Looking around the web for advice, we found five tips on ways to avoid common event failures.[Tweet "Five tips on ways to avoid common event failures. #GovEventsBlog"]

  1. Make them "Just do it" - every communication you send out should have a call to action. Even a 'Save the Date' can invite potential attendees to download a promo code or register to attend a pre-event webinar. Don't let them click by your emails--make sure there is something in it for them.
  2. Be practical - make it easy for attendees. Include details on parking, public transport, nearby hotels, restaurants, and dress code. This will build goodwill among attendees when they realize they don't have to do independent research to figure out the basic logistics they need to attend your event.[Tweet "Tip #2: Be practical - make it easy for attendees. #GovEventsBlog"]
  3. Search for the best deal - while most event planners are shrewd negotiators, it can be easy to get complacent when a price seems "fair." Be it printing, venue, or catering, always make a final ask of vendors to ensure you are getting the best price. Think about ways you could compensate vendors with advertising in exchange for lower rates.
  4. Make metrics measurable - make sure revenue and attendance goals are reasonable and achievable. Look for multiple ways to survey attendees (online, in-person, social channels) to get a bigger number and range of feedback on your event.
  5. Take it with you - in a content-centric marketing world, organizations are always looking for something to share and events are ripe with information. Make sure to capture all of the content presented at your event either through recordings, notes, or speaker materials.[Tweet "Capture all of the content presented at your event for future use. #GovEventsBlog"] Then you can use it for the weeks and months after the event ends. One keynote can become three or more blog posts. A panel discussion could be re-broadcast as a podcast. A number of related sessions could be combined into a whitepaper.

 

We'd love to hear from you. What are some of the biggest "gotcha" traps you see events and their erstwhile planners fall into?