Event insights, fresh daily.
In session six of our light-hearted look at real-world event issues our “customers” reflect on their event experiences.
How did their events go? Did they save any time and energy? Were they able to pull off their events without pulling out their hair?
Chris Litster, vice president and general manager of the Event Marketing team listens in as “customers” share their stories.
Did you miss previous episodes of Event Therapy? Watch them at the links below.
#NU2012, the official hashtag of the Class of 2012, was broadcast on the big screen at the TD Garden during former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s keynote address.
First, I would like to congratulate my fellow members of the Class of 2012.
Second, I would like to congratulate Northeastern University.
After 110 years, the school finally solved a problem that has challenged institutions of higher learning for generations: how to make commencement ceremonies less boring. And they did it by incorporating a hashtag into this year’s event.
By including #NU2012 in their tweets, graduates were able to share their thoughts about the commencement, memories from the week of celebration, photos from their seats, and even say thank you to their parents sitting in the stands. Even the president of Northeastern, Joseph Aoun, tweeted a congratulations to the senior class.
So in honor of graduation and in appreciation to all the teachers I’ve had over the years, I thought I would share what I learned about using a hashtag so you can also graduate to more social events. [Read more...]
A common mistake many event promoters make is to focus too much on driving registrations without putting any effort towards making sure those registrants attend.
Promotion shouldn’t end with a high number of registrants. You need to think about using emails and social media activity to motivate registrants to show up as well.
Here are a few ways to maximize attendance to your events: [Read more...]
The workshop. A classic event for anyone looking to learn something in a professional environment. Generally a positive experience for everyone involved.
The registration process for said workshop… well, not so much.
Maybe you’re like the Cultural Arts Division of Austin, Texas, and can’t wait to find a better way to do things, a solution that allows you to customize each invitation and registration so attendees know what to expect – and even have the chance to tell you what subjects they want covered before the session.
And, do all of that without having to be on the phone all day.
If so, read on!
This post is the fourth and final in a series pinpointing some best practices for you to follow as you prepare for your own successful nonprofit fundraising event.
In part one of this nonprofit fundraising event series, we talked about all the things you should be thinking about as you plan your event at six months out.
In part two we covered getting your save the date ready, your registration page up, and a plan for ongoing promotion.
In part three we took a closer look at reaching out to sponsors.
Today, we’ll look at the final 2 months of planning and promotion.
It is extremely important to have 99% of all your planning and sponsorships completed at this time. That being said, it’s still possible to collect a new sponsor or implement a new idea just don’t make that the focus anymore.
This is a guest post by Howard Givner, Executive Director, the Event Leadership Institute
One way to tell the difference between an experienced event professional and a novice is how they view lighting.
The novice thinks about it as an after thought, if at all, whereas the pro integrates it from the beginning, knowing that lighting is perhaps the most cost-effective way to make a room really pop.
Lighting can completely transform a room’s look and feel, and with the advent of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), you can display multiple color changes at the push of a button, as these before and after pictures show. [Read more...]
In session five of our light-hearted look at real-world event issues our “customers” wonder how they can keep in touch with their attendees after the event.
How can they get feedback on their event? Will they need to re-enter information to in order to contact attendees directly? How easy will it be to send post-event materials?
Chris Litster, vice president and general manager of the Event Marketing team explains how easy it is to find all the information they need in one place.
Did you miss previous episodes of Event Therapy? Watch them at the links below.
This is a guest post by Howard Givner, Executive Director, the Event Leadership Institute
“Does my timeline look ok?”
This the most common question I get on this topic from meeting and event planners, particularly the “occasional planner” who may not produce events full time.
My answer is always that it’s how a timeline is used that’s important, not what it looks like.
Timelines go by many names, including Run of Show, Show Flow and others. The key purpose of a timeline is to map out what’s happening at your event, including pre-event set up, and post-event break down, so everyone can be on the same page in executing it.
When people register for your event it increases the likelihood that they will attend.
And gives you more information about the people interested in your organization.
Your goal should be to drive as many registrations as possible.
But how do you do it?
Apply these three best practices to your next event promotion strategy to increase the number of registrants: [Read more...]
In session four of our light-hearted look at real-world event issues our “customers” wonder how they can be certain their events will run smoothly.
How will they manage check-ins? Will they be able to work the crowd? How can they monitor what people are saying about their events?
Chris Litster, vice president and general manager of the Event Marketing team explains how easy it’ll be to keep things under control and stress-free.
Did you miss previous episodes of Event Therapy? Watch them at the links below.
