Meet the “Meet-up”

 

At a recent gathering of FOSE speakers and Federal IT bloggers, there was a lot of discussion around the tightening of budgets and the impact that has on event attendance. A suggestion was made to stop calling your events "events" or "conferences" or "seminars" and call it a "meet-up." More than just changing the name, the idea of a meet-up is a smaller, more intimate, more tightly scheduled  gathering. Govies reported they are better able to get approval to attend these smaller events because of the lighter time and financial commitment.

For marketers and event planners this means really looking at your event schedule. Can you break up your big once a year event into smaller, more focused, and more frequent events? You can still get the economies of scale in bulk ordering and material creation (likely each event will need the same "stuff") and potentially you can save on venue and catering costs by moving to smaller locations (check out some of our suggestions for DC area lunch venues).

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Checklist: 10 Vital Things to Have on Your Event Web Site

Originally posted on BizBash by Jenny Berg

A well-planned Web site can be a highly effective tool in engaging an event's audience, boosting ticket sales, or relaying information to those who weren't able to attend. We asked Web design and event planning pros to share tips on Web site essentials. Here are 10 things to include on your event Web site.

1. A clear description of the event's purpose 
It sounds basic, but don't forget to offer a quick event overview. "Event Web sites often lack a simple and clear description of what the event is about and who would get the most value from attending," says Eric Downs of Grain & Mortar, a strategy, branding, and design company.

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