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Utilising Social Media to Make Your Next Event a Success! |
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Monday, 16 April 2012 11:53 |
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by Liam Kirk, Eventcorp Marketing Specialist
 Struggling to reach your registration targets? Direct marketing not working like it used to? Perhaps it is time your event embraced social media.
Whether you are planning a conference, gala event, product launch or exhibition, social media is a powerful and cost-effective tool to promote the event, generate buzz, drive registration, increase sponsorship participation and enhance networking opportunities for attendees.
With so many different platforms out there it can be a little bit daunting to get involved but here are some tips that will help you on your way to creating a successful social media campaign for your next event.
Step 1: Have a plan!
Before you go anywhere near your first tweet you will need to prepare a plan identifying the following things:
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What are your goals and objectives?
Do you want to increase registrations or sponsorship? Do you want to gain feedback from delegates? Define your goals and make sure your plan identifies the steps to achieve these goals.
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Five Tips to Deliver an Outstanding Conference Dinner |
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Friday, 17 February 2012 10:36 |
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by Justin Holsinger, Eventcorp Director
Here's our five tips to deliver an outstanding conference dinner:
1. Event Manager Experience
Ensure the manager responsible for the event is experienced or at least acting with suitable guidance. Experienced event managers simply understand the capabilities of suppliers and what options are available to make your dinner really pop. They know what will and will not work. A good event manager will know how to produce an excellent event that flows, without any of those awkward dead moments. The event manager will also ensure suitable technical staff are “on the job” so the audio visual components run without hitch.
2. Funding
Make sure funding or sponsorship is available for the production of the dinner. Networking is an extremely high priority for most conference attendees and the dinner is a major medium for this. Like it or not many delegates will rate their experience at the conference on how good the social program was. As a conference convener you need to give the dinner the attention it deserves as a pivotal aspect of the conference.
3. Food and Entertainment
Focus on the quality of the food, the quality of the entertainment and the comfort of the venue. Theming and visual elements do help to create a buzz however ultimately guests will judge the event on food, entertainment and comfort. If you achieve those three things successfully you will be on to a winner.
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Tuesday, 24 January 2012 16:28 |
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by Justin Holsinger, Eventcorp Director
 Exhibitions and conferences are a great way to reach a targeted captive audience and if you have a great product or service that suits the audience you should have no problems creating opportunities. I have seen million dollar contracts won as a result of participating in conference trade shows.
1. Be open for business
People are shy by nature and you have to make you, your staff and your trade display as inviting as possible. Everything you do needs to say “we are open for business”.
Start introductions and conversations. Do not sit in the corner of your booth looking at a computer monitor. Put yourself in a friendly mind frame and actively look for people to welcome into your stand.
2. Keep your stand structure open so you are accessible
Having a counter at the front of your stand is one more barrier between you and a potential customer and it really does not serve any great purpose. If you must have a counter to hold or display something put it at the rear of your stand so visitors have to enter your booth to get to it.
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Building Regional Membership and Momentum |
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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:44 |
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by Justin Holsinger, Eventcorp Director
 Conference organisers have to be careful with expenditure and at the same time be aware of the risks of losing their audience if the program does not appeal. If there is an extreme lack of funding, it is important to both negotiate with suppliers and increase the value of your sponsorship packages.
This is where creativity and experience are worth their weight in gold. Assuming you have your marketing channels under control, it is important to deliver a conference program that keeps your audience interested and builds long term momentum.
As a destination the whole of New Zealand looks and feels sensational and offers strategic benefits as well as program appeal. New Zealand has a lot to offer Association’s and especially Trans Tasman organisations that have a need to service members in both countries.
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Five Tips: Maximise ROI for your Next Association Event |
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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 14:22 |
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by Justin Holsinger, Eventcorp Director
 1. Build Hype early
People tend to not want to miss out on an event that everyone is attending. If you can get a good number of registrations locked in early you will not only have cash flow to enhance your marketing but you will have people in your industry talking about the event thus creating hype and momentum.
2. Have a killer program
Be absolutely sure about who your audience is and what they want in a program both in terms of content and structure. Use your networks to get some respected keynote speakers, paid or un-paid. You need to feature at least one keynote in your first email or flier so you stake your position and intent. Then put real effort into building an amazing program… this is what will sell the event.
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