Tag Archives: event planning

Death, Taxes, and Social Media

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Whether we like it or not, social media is here to stay and it is an incredibly powerful way to promote brands and ideas. For event organizers and attendees alike, social media is a valuable tool to utilize.

For attendees, events provide a terrific way to quickly expand your follower base. By using event handles and hashtags you can expose like-minded people to your thoughts and account. Try it just once. Tweet at an event using the hashtag and see how many new followers you gain. Likely the number from just a couple of tweets will be greater than you typically see in a week or even a month's time. For organizers, social media can drive attendance and expand the exposure to your content during and after the event.[Tweet "Social media is a valuable tool for both event organizers and attendees. #GovEventsBlog"]

With the value of using social media clear, how can we make it less burdensome? Here are a few tips: Continue reading →

Measuring the Success of Your Events

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During the summer months, the rate of government events tends to slow down, presenting a great time for reflection and planning. With this in mind, we wanted to outline some thoughts on how to measure the success of events. Whether it's setting goals for future events or looking back on past events, these tips will help ensure everyone is informed on what success looks like.[Tweet "Slower summer season is a good time to reflect and plan. #GovEventsBlog"]

  • Set Clear, Specific Goals and a Call-to-Action - Events are a piece of an overall marketing strategy and serve as a way to advance the brand and drive business. While setting goals around revenue and attendance are important, each event should also have a post-event call to action tied to it. What do you want attendees to do after they leave? Buy a product? Schedule a meeting? Attend another event? Clearly define this goal and ensure that the event is planned with this desired result in mind.[Tweet "Clearly define the goal of the event to ensure planning is done with this in mind. #GovEventsBlog"]
  • Measure Twice - While overall satisfaction scores gathered through surveys are important, it is also critical to measure satisfaction across different elements of the event. This includes speakers, venue, food, timing/logistics, registration, cost, staff, and more. An overall satisfaction score could be pulled down by just one element or by a combination of multiple elements. Knowing the satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, in each element helps pinpoint the biggest opportunities for improvement.
  • Dig into Social - If you highlighted social interaction as part of your event (or even if you didn't) take a look at what was said over social media. Go beyond the number of shares, likes, and hashtag mentions and look at the sentiment. Were attendees simply saying they were there or were they excited enough about what they were hearing to share soundbites from speakers and thoughts on the event content?
  • Missed Numbers Doesn't Mean Failure - If the event went over budget or did not bring in the expected revenue, it does not mean that it was a failure. These numbers indicate a need for more informed planning and forecasting. Look at what you may have gained beyond the bottom line. How much did you increase the number of opt-in email addresses gathered through the event? Did event content generate social media buzz and/or media coverage?[Tweet "Look at what you may have gained beyond the bottom line. #GovEventsBlog"]

We'd love to hear your thoughts on what signals success for your organization and how you measure it. Let us know in the comments.

Online or In-Person: It’s Not a Zero Sum Game

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Streaming video and high availability of video collaboration applications have made virtual meetings and events more viable and desirable. This does not mean the demise of in-person events and meetings; on the contrary, it signals a human desire to see and interact with one another.

As we've written in a number of posts here, attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors no longer want to be passive participants in an event. Sitting back and just listening and taking notes is not enough. A logo on a sign is not enough. Booth space is not enough. All participants are looking for interaction and engagement with each other and with the event as a whole. While online interactions are convenient, the connection made online translates into a desire for in-person interaction. A study from Digitell found that "up to 30% of people attending a live streamed event have attended the live physical event the following year."[Tweet "It's Not a Zero Sum Game. The balance between online and in-person events. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

Update Your Event Through Sponsorship

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Virtual Reality, Streaming Video, Mobile Apps, Fitness/Health sessions - these are all hot trends at events and can make one event stand out among the rest. But how do you integrate them into an event that is working on a tight budget and even tighter resources. The answer? Sponsorship.

We've written about the changing expectations of sponsors. No longer is a logo on a sign enough incentive for companies to support your show. They want interaction with attendees, they want a deeper connection. Creating a whole new sponsor program to accommodate this need can feel like another item on the to-do list, but if you combine these opportunities with your desire to update your event you end up killing two birds with one stone.[Tweet "Combine the updates to your event with updates to your sponsor opportunities. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

High Tech, Low Budget: Tech-ing Up Your Event

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The vast majority of events listed on GovEvents are technology related. However, the events themselves tend to be manual and paper-based. This reliance on the "old-school" way of doing things is often driven by time and money (or lack thereof).

Events as marketing tools are an expense so keeping spending in check is critical to producing a return on the investment. Often, these events are organized by a small staff with other job responsibilities beyond planning the event. Knowing this, it's understandable to default to the "way we've always done it." This "status quo" thinking might keep the expenses low but ROI will continue to fall as less people attend a show they see as stuck in the past.

We've pulled together some ideas on how to affordably add tech to your events to increase your relevance without increasing bottom line spending.[Tweet "Ideas on how to affordably add tech to your events. #GovEventsBlog #EventTech"] Continue reading →