Tag Archives: Social Media

How Venues are Changing to Meet Event Needs

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Each day there is a new article out talking about how the meeting and event industry is changing. From use of social media, to the growth of virtual events, to attendee and sponsor budget constraints, the meetings industry has embraced change as the new normal. As part of the industry, hotels and event venues are also making some changes in what they offer to event planners and attendees.

Below we share some of the more interesting changes or enhancements venues are making to entice planners and attendees alike. [Tweet "Interesting enhancements venues are making to entice event planners and attendees #GovEventsBlog"]

  • Social Media Manager - The Hilton Anatole Hotel, near downtown Dallas, TX is offering a social media manager to support the social media efforts of event organizers. At the Hilton, this role includes doing social media for the property as well as providing social media strategy and tools to people using the property for events.
  • Light - This may seem like a really minor thing, but traditionally natural light has been hard to come by for events. Windowless ballrooms may be great for projecting to screens, but as events veer towards more collaborative sessions rather than power point- heavy presentations, the use of natural light becomes logistically desirable. New facilities are building meeting spaces with views that can inspire creativity or at the very least help attendees better gauge what time it is.[Tweet "New facilities are building meeting spaces with windows and views. #GovEventsBlog"]
  • Wellness - Hotels are offering more healthy and sustainable catering options including more spa-like food and drink choices. Water stations are being set up rather than offering all attendees bottled waters. Event planners can also add on extra perks for guests like the "Sleep Advantage Program" at the Crowne Aire Plaza in Bloomington, MN which offers upgraded bedding and aromatherapy kits for guests.
  • Technology - The network capacity of a venue is quickly becoming a discriminating factor. Hotels and conference centers alike are upgrading their technology infrastructure to offer fast WiFi that can accommodate all attendees using it on multiple devices.[Tweet "The network capacity of a venue is quickly becoming a discriminating factor. #GovEventsBlog"]
  • Flexible Spaces - Venues need to offer more than a massive room to house attendees for keynote presentations. More and more hotels and conference centers are taking care to build in smaller spaces designed to facilitate collaboration and small group discussion.

We'd love to hear from you what are some of the newer amenities you see offered by venues? How are they impacting where you hold events?

Recognizing Public Service

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public serviceFor over 30 years Public Service Recognition Week has been honoring the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county and local government employees. The goal of this event is to raise the recognition both within the government and citizenship at large of the 20 million people who make our government run.[Tweet "Public Service Week May 1-7: Honoring the 20 million people who make government run. #GovEventsBlog"]

Recognition Week is organized annually by the Public Employees Roundtable (PER) and includes a number of events May 1-7. The week will kick off with a 5K run that includes other health and wellness events. Proceeds from the race will be donated to the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund. The group has also organized outings to DC area sporting events. Federal employees outside of DC are invited to participate virtually by organizing their own events across the country. All of these events are designed to celebrate public servants and draw attention to the critical role they play in our government.[Tweet "Events are designed to celebrate public servants and the role they play in government. #GovEventBlog"] Continue reading →

Behind the Curtain: Sea-Air-Space

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SASIn this peek behind the curtain we look at the work that goes into the planning and execution of the Sea-Air-Space event, the largest maritime exhibition in the United States. The exposition is produced by the Navy League, a non-profit organization designed to communicate the challenges and successes of the U.S. sea service to the American public and government at large. This event has become a key platform for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to interact with each other as well as the private sector.[Tweet "A look at what goes into planning the Sea-Air-Space event. #GovEventsBlog #SAS16"]

This year's event takes place May 16-18 at the Gaylord National Convention center just outside Washington, DC. We spoke with Kevin J. Traver, Staff Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Membership with the Navy League of the United States, about what goes into planning a show of this scale and what trends are shaping the content and delivery of information to our maritime forces.

Q: What impact have the shifts in training and travel budgets had on your event?

There has been a shift away from the hard restrictions to travel and training requests. With a few years of strong cut backs in these areas, I think government has seen, more than ever before, the value in gathering in large groups and having discussions. They see how this powers the innovation that is being called for across government.

We were "lucky" in that the majority of our audience is within an easy day trip to DC so we did not see a huge impact in attendance numbers. We do see that people are able to get approval easier and earlier than in recent years. Also, being an official non-profit of the Navy we are able to provide this event free of charge to government. This includes any exhibit space that government organizations want to use. We have also increased our bussing from various locations around the DC region. Attendees can hop on a bus in Quantico, Mechanicsburg, and the Pentagon (among others) making it easy for people to get to the event.[Tweet "As an official non-profit of the #Navy, Sea Air Space event is free for Government. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

How Ambassadors Extend a Brand

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Our connected world has enabled everyday people to become trusted sources for news and information. Take for example, buying a car. "Historically," you would do research through the mainstream media reading Consumer Reports and car magazines. You'd get the input of professionals in the car industry, likely someone you had never heard of before, but trusted them because cars were their job.

Today, you may still do some traditional research, but you may also put a post on Facebook or Twitter asking your friends and connections their thoughts on the models you are considering. What you get back is first hand knowledge from the people you know. The feedback is in more than the words they offer in their response. What you know about their personality and lifestyle will likely impact how you view their input. Those offering positive feedback have become ambassadors for the car brand.[Tweet "Those offering feedback have become ambassadors for the brand. #GovEventsBlog"]

Now, let's move this to the event world. Events are not objects like cars - they are living, breathing entities that are powered by the people that plan and attend them. Because of this, the perspective of people is critical in making decisions about what events to attend. With this in mind, a formalized event ambassador program should be part of event marketing. 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 →