6) Good SWAG On Sale, Bad SWAG. Banned. 7) Better ... Create appropriate spaces for people to work, with charging points
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8 Trends For Better Events In 2012 by Gianfranco Chicco
There are more events than ever taking place, and 2011 has seen all kinds of them.
Trends: 1) Being Present 2) Audience Curation 3) Open Content 4) Better Networking 5) Better Storytelling & Coaching 6) Good SWAG On Sale, Bad SWAG Banned 7) Better Integrated Sponsors 8) Experience Design
Many are still playing it safe in an industry which is heavily influenced by outdated principles of the pre-internet era. Others, still few but growing, are challenging business as usual to create new kinds of experiences that attract media, crowds and businesses alike. During this year I've organized, spoke and attended several events in 8 different countries, big and small, including international conferences, seminars, meet-ups, gatherings and university lectures. This report presents the eight most relevant trends from those events that are shaping the industry for better and how you can use them in your own conference.
1) Being Present
Online before, online after. Face2Face during.
Technology has spread wildly throughout most of our professional and personal lives, and suddenly many of us realize we cannot be without checking email any given minute (and let's not mention Twitter and Facebook). While this is an unstoppable force, the best events I attended during 2011 were those that masterfully communicated online before and after, but kept the presence of technology during the event to a bare minimum or at least invisible. Online communications help you reach new audiences, stay in touch with your event's community, sell tickets, share interesting information, publish videos of what happened and tons of other useful things, all great things before and after people are able to physically gather. During the event they become a distraction from what is happening on stage, in the corridors, etc. The most innovative events are using ad hoc mobile apps less and less, and when they do, they limit them to the most useful features (e-ticket, program, speaker profiles, messaging between attendees and meeting scheduling). The key is to make more meaningful the action taking place at your event than the urge to check emails time after time. To do so you have to first realize that you're fighting against anxiety. A delegate will get nervous when she cannot connect to the internet to routinely check her email. So DO provide a great wireless internet connection, no excuses accepted.
Action Points Become intransigent with boring presentations, which are the biggest time waster at your conference anyway [see trend n.5]. Create appropriate spaces for people to work, with charging points for laptops/tablets/phones, tables, comfortable chairs, and a tranquil enough area for conference calls Eliminate unnecessary distractions. Tech events pioneered the use of a "backchannel" or “Twitter Wall” (a projection of tweets connected to a particular hashtag) and have also been the first to remove them from the conference room. It's distracting for the audience and the speaker, who moreover can not take part in it if she's delivering a presentation on stage. Besides, anyone can have their own backchannel in his/her mobile or tablet by just tracking the hashtag on the preferred Twitter app Active participation. Workshops, intense Q&A sessions (at least 50% of the length of a presentation and not just a few minutes at the end), participatory formats (like Barcamps, where audience and speakers have interchangeable roles) and fast paced presentations (like Pecha Kucha or Ignite) make people more active and makes being present more valuable Involve more senses. There is a visual overload and strong competition for attention but innovative events are stimulating the five senses of the audience in a more holistic way, increasing the emotional relationship with it. Mixing different kinds of content and how it's delivered not only makes for a better experience but also keeps people alert and interested in what's going on. In Europe, some events are transforming the lunch moment into a content-rich group experience, walking us through the discovery of the local cuisine
2) Audience Curation
While content curation --or the lack of it-- is still a big issue in most of events and conferences, it's audience curation that's becoming more important than ever. The web has made discovering and accessing great content easier, and even top events live-stream their talks for free and then publish them online shortly after they happen. If it's so important to make sure that you have a majority of the "right audience" in the room, how are event managers making sure this happens? There are several ways, some more subtle than other. From a recent research on Conference Basics, the top 8 ways to curate your audience are:
Action Points Provide free tickets to the people you want to have. Don't spam people you would like to have but you’ve never met before or don't know your event without a proper intro By "snowballing" the invitations. Invite a first round of people you consider interesting and let each of them invite a fixed amount of other people Choose topics which are attractive to the specific demographic you're interested in Use a location that's attracts your specific audience or makes them feel more comfortable (e.g.: using a traditional hotel as a venue might not appeal to the creative kind, organizing your conference in a discotheque might be a bit off for a corporate crowd) Set a price that is coherent with your target audience. A high price will discourage students, a small one can discourage more senior people Direct your marketing and communications to a specific segment and reinforce that by choosing the right media partners Make your event invitation only Set a reference model. Anyone that wants to attend to your conference should indicate to referrers (that have previously attended your event) in the application form
3) Open Content
"Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy" Tim O’Reilly
Content is not what it used to be (scarce that is) and in 2011 conferences have finally noticed it. If the only thing you can offer is [someone else's] content, you'd better be an amazing curator (finding unique things), have some sort of exclusivity deal or such an attractive brand that speakers share their content for the first time at your event. Otherwise, you might be in trouble…. When you offer an experience that's so good that people want to be present at your event, sharing the content through other non face-to-face channels might be a good idea to reach a broader audience, that might one day convert into a paying client. Many tech events are now livestreaming their sessions and are yet sold out, meaning that sharing the content online does not cannibalize sales. A few conferences create a secondary revenue-stream by charging a reduced fee (compared to the full ticket price) to those that follow the event from home/office. A third alternative that has been growing is that of selling tickets to the C-level officers in a company and broadcasting the whole event back to their offices so that their staff can follow the event too. This last point has a strong formative effect and is cost effective too. It's a classic example now, but TED's popularity really skyrocketed when they started publishing the TED talks online, with high quality and for free… and tickets are still selling out, often one year in advance.
Action Points Consider live-streaming your event (with services like Livestream or Ustream) Record your sessions with the best quality you can afford and publish them using YouTube (the most popular) or other video services (like Vimeo, 23Video or Brightcove) and distribute them across your online channels (including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and others if applicable) If you're sessions are too long, edit them into web-friendly shorter clips: 1-3 minutes for easy online consumption, 5-10 minutes for a more thorough overview of the presentation If your content is really unique, consider monetizing it on content platforms like Fora.tv
4) Better Networking
A recent industry study showed that many companies and individuals were considering to reduce or eliminate altogether their event budget for 2012. Well, let me tell you something: it means that they didn't meet the right people at the events they attended during 2011. This could be for many reasons, the main culprits though are the conference organizers that are not improving the conditions for those meaningful encounters to happen. One of the main reasons to participate in an event is to meet interesting people that help you reach your goals (e.g.: generate new business). These days you can find good content in many places, especially online, but meeting new, relevant people is as difficult as ever.
Action Points Stimulate serendipity, "the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it" by inviting different kinds of speakers and attendees Create group activities that help people introduce themselves to each other Adopt a system that allows attendees to see in advance who else is participating, what they are offering/looking for, and schedule a meeting at your event. If budget is an issue, simply provide the participant list by email (include at least name/surname, company, role) Provide a Concierge Service. Staff helping attendees by introducing them to the right people for them. The Concierge(s) should study who is attending, their interests, if they want to meet other people, etc Create a networking friendly area with lots of "mini living rooms" where people can comfortably talk, share a coffee and start spontaneous conversations Create a ritual that favors new connections. At a post-event dinner where people are assigned to different tables, they end up talking to each other. If you just organize drinks for mingling, it might happen that those that know each other gather but no new connections happen. Parties can be fun but the atmosphere is not very welcoming for talking business and often people are exhausted during the following day's presentations. You can also organize a pre-event sport activity (a light run in the park, yoga session), breakfast, etc Organize a competition that allows companies to pitch their ideas to an audience that might be interested in funding, buying, discovering a new partner or client. Startup Competitions have multiplied like wildfire in technology conferences and the model could be replicated by other kinds of events
Read More How To Stimulate Serendipity In Conferences (And Other Events)
This Report is Sponsored by
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5) Better Storytelling & Coaching We learn through stories and that hasn't changed despite the fact that we are now using different media compared to 100,000 years ago. This year I've seen more good presentations than usual, but still too many of them were boring not because of the content but of how it was delivered. There are plenty of good resources out there for speakers to prepare better talks (see list of books below) and great event organizers are making sure their speakers come well prepared.
Action Points Offer coaching sessions to your speakers to help them better prepare for your event. This can be done in presence or via phone/Skype Schedule rehearsing time at the venue before the event starts Provide thorough information on the audience well in advance. This helps speakers adapt their content and presentation style to match that of the participants (eg. by removing cryptic jargon if they are presenting to a non-technical audience) For new speakers, have them pitch you a short version of their presentation on video (5 minutes are enough). If they are eager to speak at your event but can't make the effort to record a simple video… will they find the time to properly practice their presentation before delivering it to your audience? Thoroughly research videos of your speakers for evidence of their presentation style, and consider suggesting improvements or not inviting them to speak if they're not good enough
Books By Nancy Duarte: Resonate and Slide:ology By Garr Reynolds: Presentation Zen, Presentation Zen Design and The Naked Presenter By Carmine Gallo: Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs By Scott Berkun: Confessions of a Public Speaker
Read More Tips for Coaching Speakers by Bruno Giussani, European Director of TED
6) Good SWAG On Sale, Bad SWAG Banned Few attendees realize of the financial compromises that an event organizer has to sustain before the show starts (speaker fees, catering, travel/accommodation, venue, audio+video setup, etc.). Only once the basics are ready can the organizer hope to at least break even by selling tickets one at a time and having a sales team for sponsoring. Several events I've attended or spoke at kept the price of tickets down by eliminating all possible waste, non-essential services and offering them as extras for purchase during the event. If you go down this road, clearly explain --for example in your event's blog if you have one-- the motivations behind the change and how it's mutually beneficial.
Devices like Square allow you to easily accept credit cards using a mobile phone.
Action Points Reduce catering but provide good alternatives. Offer the possibility of buying a ticket without lunch, which can be purchased at the venue if the attendee wishes so. In a few cases the organizers also suggested several restaurants in the area for people to invite fellow attendees during the lunch breaks. In others, the event provided basic food (like sandwiches) and participants could buy salads, beer and other fancier items Reduce unnecessary SWAG. Do people need another cheap pen, an ugly notebook or a mediocre messenger bag? Even free expensive gadgets are not that meaningful anymore (at a Google conference some attendees immediately put them on sale on Ebay, see article below). Instead, offer the possibility of buying premium items (like good t-shirts, branded bags from high quality producers) together with the ticket and have them on sale at the venue too. Events like South by Southwest are phasing out paper brochures and flyers and moving into digital SWAG Embed smart SWAG. At the first Wired Conference in London, attendees were offered a 3D printed pen so that they could touch with their own hands one of the innovative technologies that were being described by the speaker on stage. That pen became a social object to talk about (and show off) rather than just a cheap writing instrument
Read More Does SWAG work? Google Conference Swag Already Selling for $1,000 on eBay SXSW offers digital swag bags
7) Better Integrated Sponsors The audience doesn't want to be pitched. The event organizers need sponsors. Sponsors want to be present and show off. How do you solve this equation? Answer: by being transparent and honest with your audience and proposing an irresistible opportunity to your sponsors. When you sign-up a new sponsor, especially a big one, it'll want to know how big is their logo going to be in the promotional material, website, on stage, etc; how many tickets are they getting to invite clients and prospects; how big and visible is the space for their booth and how many minutes will their top executive have for her keynote on stage. And most of the time the participants don’t care about all of this or see it as a negative presence and a waste of their money. Right? If the sponsor has to be present (on/off stage), it has to worth the attendee's time, otherwise they'll complain and with tools like Twitter they can effectively reach a broader audience than that present at the venue.
Action Points Allow a sponsor on stage only if: Its presenting a novel product/service. If it's not absolutely new, it has to be it for this particular audience. Suggest the sponsor to offer a special offer (or even give a few away) to those present in the room A sponsor executive introduces or moderates a Q&A session with one of the speakers A sponsor executive makes a very short presentation, possibly not focusing on itself but talking about a new trend in the market Make them part of the content offering by co-creating with them a workshop Clearly indicate when a session has been sponsored. No one likes to be cheated Offstage, avoid promotional paper brochures and flyers. They will eventually end up in the floor, abandoned on the chairs or directly in the garbage cans The sponsors' presence should be useful in the eyes of the attendees. Instead of a booth, they can setup office space with good connectivity, food & beverage, a relax area, etc. If it's a carmaker, it can provide shuttle service to airports/stations, if it produces computer hardware, it could lend tablets to those that didn't bring their laptop but need to check emails or surf the web, etc
8) Experience Design
An event worth remembering is more than good logistics and best practices
I left this trend to the end because it's often the result of all the other ones being brought together at the same time. Event organizers of great events don’t see themselves as logistics or operations experts but act as experience designers. Content and networking are no longer the king and queen of an event. Both have to be present and both have to be outstanding, but they have to be embedded into a properly crafted experience that makes "being present" worth it. Otherwise, people will go somewhere else as content is rather accessible through several different channels and good networking, though not easy to find, is not an exclusive of your event. The event industry is being transformed (and conquered) by some of those fringe players who are challenging the assumptions of "business as usual". Luke Williams, Adjunct Professor of Innovation at NYU Stern School of Business and fellow at frog, offers a few insights on how to disrupt your event in this interview.
Action Points Look for inspiration and new ideas outside from your industry: read books, go to museums, visit conferences that are far away from your sector Try to solve the things that you hate from other events Focus on your top 10 clients and offer them an amazing and personalized service. Can you scale that to the rest of the attendees in your next event? Invite interaction designers, creatives and artists to redesign your conference Why are you doing what you’re doing? Look for an answer. Question it again. Repeat
Books By Richard Branson: Screw Business As Usual Luke Williams: Disrupt - Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business
Read More How to Disrupt Your Conference by Luke Williams
ConferenceBasics.com Explores, reviews and discusses about creating experiences for events, looking for new ways by challenging the statusquo and the “business as usual” mindset. It covers the basics, tips and how-to’s, provides tools, anecdotes and resources, presents event reviews and interviews to notable organizers, speakers and attendees. To be successful, conferences have to be useful, relevant, entertaining and have a WOW factor in them, otherwise they will join the crowded ranks of mediocre events destined to disappear.
The Sponsor: Eventbrite
At Eventbrite, we believe that conference registration is as an opportunity to leverage technology—to help conference directors like you get more out of every marketing dollar, generate new cash flow, and better understand your attendees. Eventbrite’s social media tools turn your attendees i n t o i n s t a n t p ro m o t e r s through one-click integration with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We help all conference o r g a n i z e r s g row t h e i r events, build their brand, and ultimately increase revenue by offering the best attendee experience.
www.eventbrite.com
Photo by Beatrice Arenella
The Author: Gianfranco Chicco Gianfranco (“gc” for short) is a professional organizer of innovative conferences, from business forums to media and technology meetings. He has been in charge of startup, business development, marketing and operations for companies in the creativity, technology, design and executive education areas, challenging the way events "should be" to create amazing experiences for the participants. In the past he was the Chief Operating Officer of Red Innova (Spain/Latam), Marketing Manager of the well known PICNIC Festival (Netherlands), Conference Director of Frontiers of Interaction(Italy), and Marketing Director of the World Business Fo r u m ( I t a l y / E u ro p e ) , d e a l i n g w i t h s p e a ke r s l i ke B i l l Clinton, Michael Porter, Philip Kotler, Kevin Roberts, Lawrence Lessig, Malcolm Gladwell, Rudy Giuliani and Jack Welch among many others but also with lesser known names which where many times much more inspiring than top shots. Having worked in America (USA, Brazil, Argentina), Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands) and Asia (Japan) and taken part of events in many other parts of the World, and after making many of the typical mistakes of the sector and seeing much more being done everywhere else, he decided to share some of the lessons learnt and in particular to dedicate his time to those innovative aspects of conference management that can transform a good event into an outstanding one. He writes at ConferenceBasics.com, Wired Magazine (Italy/UK) and frequently speaks about the Future of Conferences all over the world. Contact him at
[email protected] 