The Hottest Trends in Event Management: New technology, mobile apps, video conferencing and emerging markets

Biggest Challenges in Event Management: from differentiation and adaptability to changing legislation

Impact of Social Media: Something every industry needs to consider and be adaptable to, it has a great impact on practices and how events can be run.

Not surprisingly, at least to me, he found that some fonts did make the content seem more believable than others (the most believable font tested was Baskerville, the least was Comic Sans).

What fonts do you use in your conference marketing materials?

(Image by tarrytown at Flickr.com)

Mother Nature has a habit of creating unexpected challenges. Unfortunately, disaster can strike when least expected, so it is vital to have a plan in place to help prepare for any circumstance. As meeting planners think about events to incent or motivate their employees or channel partners, the first thing they consider is destination. While emergency response or disaster preparedness is probably pretty far back in their minds, but it should be an important consideration.

When an event such as a tsunami, wildfire or volcanic eruption occurs, it can leave planners scurrying to rebook at the last minute. Just a few weeks ago, Colorado was devastated by a rage of wildfires – including Colorado Springs. Maritz Travel was scheduled to hold an incentive program at the Broadmoor Hotel and was able to effectively troubleshoot any issues. The key to any successful program is planning for just about anything.

Think back to the Iceland volcanic eruptions of April 2010. Air travel was stalled but hotels were open for business. What can a planner do in a situation like that to protect their program? Here are four tips.

1. Be aware of weather patterns. Planners should be aware of the seasonality of natural events. While you can get great deals on hotels during this season, you must remember the overall risk you face and have appropriate back up plans.

2. Review contracts and insurance packages. Whether you’re a do it yourselfer or hire a company to plan your trip, all contracts with hotels should have language in them to protect the company from issues of force majeure.

3. Monitor the situation. Sometimes situations arise suddenly that can affect your event. Simply monitoring the situation could help make small or large decisions easier. It takes a lot of planning and resources to research and execute a large-scale plan, and if you’re lucky you may have anywhere from 48 hours to a week to implement the program change. The best ally a company can have is a partner who has strong industry and supplier relationships in place to work or rework a contract.

4. Communication is key. A final thing to consider and maybe most important, is the need to keep your attendees informed about their trip. Most incentive programs have approximately 30 to 80 percent of their winners extend their trip. With an already tight time frame, you need a team to communicate with your winners and keep them abreast of what is going on.

In some cases, attendees may want to keep their own plans intact. It is important to make sure the company is protected, but also that the award winners feel valued and respected. Emergency response or disaster preparedness may not be at the forefront of planners minds. However, if meeting planners follow a few simple tips, even if the worst occurs, they can be prepared to act quickly, keep everyone safe, and ensure the best possible experience.

More about Meg: Meg Proskey helps Maritz Travel generate new sales and secure its renewal business through qualifying and customizing programs for a variety of Maritz clients. With more than 14 years of operations experience, Proskey’s responsibilities have included managing airline contracts and air reporting, client technology solutions, participant registration and airline bookings. She has supported all of Maritz Travel’s operation sectors as well as the sales teams.

Don’t do this.

Also, I have gone to register for a conference and book my hotel, only to be completely stumped when it came to finding a link to official hotel registration. Not only was there no obvious link to housing from the conference reg form (which I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do by now?), but there was no link I could see anywhere on the site. There was just a list of hotels, rates, and direct links to the hotel Web sites, so I assumed you were supposed to book directly. But when I called the hotel, they told me there was in fact a housing vendor the organization was using that I needed to go through, and told me who it was and how to reach them. I went back to the hotel page on the organization’s site, and by virtue of diligently clicking every conceivable item on the page managed to discover that the “Book Your Hotel” heading was actually a link to the official hotel registration site and not just what it looked like: a heading. Boy did I feel stupid.

Don’t do this either.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but evidently I do: Make it easy for people to find out who you are, what you’re offering, how to register, and how to stay in your block. Someone would really have to want to go to spend the amount of time I did on these two seemingly no-brainer tasks. Don’t assume everyone will get it, because they likely won’t.

Have you ever attended a social event at a conference where everyone seemed to know each other already, even though they had never actually met face-to-face? Thanks to social media, you too can get to know other conference attendees before you step foot in the hospitality suite. By expanding your networking skills to include social media, you can also learn more about sessions and special events, and share information and resources. In short, combining social media with in-person networking can make conferences much more productive—and fun.

Social Media Basics for Conference Attendees

The main social networks used by business professionals are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

• LinkedIn has more than 160 million users worldwide. It’s a great place to promote yourself, make connections with others in your industry, and find groups of like-minded professionals. Many conferences will set up a LinkedIn group so that attendees can connect.

• On Facebook, you can turn to a conference’s page to get updates and RSVP to events.

• Twitter makes it easy to follow all the news about a conference through hashtags used for tracking tweets. For example, a medical equipment conference might use the hashtag #medequip. Tweets containing a hashtag can be searched and even saved as a stream in platforms such as HootSuite.

• On Google+, you can easily communicate with other conference attendees by adding them to your circles. Or host an audio or video conference among users, known as a hangout.

Before the Conference

When you sign up for a conference, find out if there is a social component. For example, South by Southwest (SXSW), the annual music, film and interactive conference, offers a robust social platform where attendees can set up a profile, ask questions, find others with similar interests and participate in conversations. The SXSW Facebook page and Twitter feed offer valuable updates, tips and more ways for attendees to connect.

Preconference tips to try:
• Check your conference registration page for links to its LinkedIn group, and Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages. Join in the conversation by tweeting and posting. Use the official conference Twitter hashtag to find more attendees.

• If you’re new to a particular conference, ask previous attendees for tips on restaurants, panels or breakout sessions. Then seek out other newbies to share your insider information.

• Make plans to meet up with your new connections at the conference to continue the conversation and share information. Schedule a lunch, after-hours social time, or coffee break.

By getting social ahead of time, you’ll meet plenty of new connections before you arrive at the check-in table.

During the Conference

Here’s how to combine in-person networking with social media networking:
• Keep following the hashtag: You’ll find plenty of attendees tweeting at the conference. Keep up with what’s happening by following the conversation on Twitter, including getting valuable information from sessions and panels you missed.

• Check in on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+: Use social media to find out where your new connections or favorite speakers are hanging out or having dinner.

• Maximize face time: Social media is very useful but there’s nothing like making face-to-face connections. Make sure you take advantage of your time at the conference by establishing new relationships. Collect business cards or digital contact information for following up.

After the Conference

Following up after a conference is vital to maintaining relationships with new connections. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ make this much easier, although there are some tips to keep in mind:
• Don’t wait to make contact; get in touch while post-conference enthusiasm is still high.

• Don’t forget to send referrals and opportunities to appropriate contacts, especially if you hope to get the same in return.

Whether or not you enjoy in-person networking, combining it with social media can make it much more effective and fun. Leverage the power of social media before, during and after your next conference.

P.S. I just found this guest post by William Thomson on the Event Manager’s Blog on how you can make your meeting’s networking opportunities more valuable. There’s some overlap with Jeffrey’s ideas, but some different takes as well.

What works best in your experience? The best networking (and I really don’t like that term much either—it makes us sound like a bunch of computers in search of USB ports or something) enhancers I think are just providing time, proximity, and social objects that help get conversations started, as opposed to merely getting business cards to transfer from person to person. This is at least in part why I think more and higher quality relationships get built at small meetings than big conventions—you are with the same people for the length of the meeting, in sessions, during meals, and during down time, and really do get to know each other on a deeper level than job title and elevator pitch.

The cost of printed directional and branding signage can add up. One way to control it: If you haven’t already, consider investing in banner stands for your events, conference planning sessions, or sales training.

These lightweight and retractable options are usually 40 to 50 inches high and 24 to 36 inches wide. They come in different shapes and can even be put together to make a simple backdrop. We love the vibrant first impression they create at a registration desk, in front of a breakout room, and in the hotel lobby. Make them creative enough to be pleasant to the eye (including the company logo, event series logo, conference logo, etc.), but also generic enough to be used over multiple meetings. Here’s a secret: You can customize them using foam core call-outs (attached with Velcro), making them flexible enough to be used over and over again.

Once you have created your reusable meeting banner stands, where are some of the best places to use them? In addition to the registration area, breakouts, and even on mini-stages in sales meeting breakouts, you can also pop them up as last minute backdrops. You also can drop them off at the valet stand, where they can be used for sponsor branding and directional signs for attendees as they get off the ground transportation. We love to use them at sales meetings and KOL advisory boards to add that extra level of professionalism inside a meeting room. If you are using them outside, make sure you tie them down (we love fishing line) so they don’t blow away or get damaged.

They also enable you to save money on shipping: They are lightweight, can be packaged easily in transportable bags, and even fit in the plane’s overhead on as a last minute carry-on. Many manufacturers are also making them out of recyclable materials and offer a way to make your next meeting greener.

Flexible, affordable, and reusable, banner stands can become your “go to” meeting signage—why not consider using them at your next tradeshow, incentive trip, or employee appreciation event?

The right venue today isn’t just about atmosphere and location. With attendees expecting a range of on-screen displays—from straightforward presentations to video and even interactive tools—and crystal-clear sound, it’s essential to pick a venue that enables you to use the AV technology you want, rather than restricting your choices. Here are five key factors our team at Convergence AV has put together to ensure that your event can offer the multimedia experience you imagine.

Room size: how many seats can you really have?
Most venues now state their seating capacity for a theatre-style layout. But in reality, the seating space available may be less than they claim if you’re looking to use rear projection—currently popular for interactive whiteboards, for instance—for your presentations. That’s because when you use rear projection, you need more space behind the screen: In fact, the rule of thumb is that whatever the width of your screen, you should allow twice that to accommodate rear projection.

Ceiling height: can they see at the back?
A 10-foot ceiling in a room for 100 people may sound sufficient. Indeed, when you’re standing in an empty room of that size, it feels fine. However, when it comes to display, there’s a problem: With a 10-foot ceiling, you can’t use a screen wider than 8 feet. This would create poor lines of sight for the back rows of seats—and would be highly problematic if a top table was required.

Hanging points: saving you floor space
When looking at larger venues, check whether there are secure hanging points for mounting lighting bars and other rigging. These are not only invaluable as a way of saving floor space—with no cumbersome lighting stands required—but also improve the overall visual effect.

Power: keeping the lights on
This is an area where there really is no room for debate: If you want to have any lighting for your presentation, then three-phase power is a must. A standard ring main can only power eight standard spotlights safely, leaving no capacity for projection or sound equipment. It’s also worth checking the number of power outlets: Older venues tend to have fewer, which can limit your options.

Access: time and space
This is always a tricky element to take into consideration. If the venue is likely to be fully booked, the chances are you’ll have a limited time slot for setting up your event. If that’s the case, you need to make sure that you know exactly what time you have, and that the access routes are clear for that time: You don’t want to be sharing that half-hour you have to unload your AV equipment with the catering delivery!

While none of these issues is insurmountable, if you bear them in mind from the outset, you can avoid last-minute hitches and changes, and make sure your event has the best possible audio visual solution.