Why
When an infant asks a parent “Why” it can be the most irritating word in the English language. Do they have a genuinely inquiring mind or are they just being cute little manipulating bastards trying to remind us who really is in charge? We often unconsciously answer the child with “Go ask your father” or “Because I say so” hoping such a response will gradually break down the child’s annoying resolve. Or worse we answer flippantly or sincerely “It was during the time of Nasi Goreng and, arr, it was to keep the rabbits out”. Well if you fall into either category stop that behaviour immediately because understanding “why” (to ask about the reason, purpose or cause of something) is paramount to succeeding in life.
A few years ago I introduced the word “Why” to Event Planners Australia to force staff (and later clients) to question why they did things the way they did. In many cases the response was “Because that’s how we have always done it” and my response was “Why – can you do it better, faster, cheaper etc?” The results have been stunning for both us and our clients.
I decided to write about “why” after several encounters with potential clients who could not understand “why” I was asking hard questions about their business objectives etc., when in their opinion all I needed to know what that it was a corporate dinner or a conference for 500.
Case 1 – A large engineering firm was looking for an event management company to take their clients to private boxes at various sporting and cultural events. “Why” I asked. “Because the competition do and we like sporting events” they replied. I asked a few questions about their clients, their business and longer term objectives. Getting answers was like extracting teeth. It turns out that a large portion of their clients were from Government and frankly this market has to be seen to be squeaky clean – its code of conduct states “The main risk of accepting a gift or benefit is that it may result in an actual or perceived conflict of interest. At the extreme, it could be perceived as a bribe, which is an offence under the Criminal Code and a breach of the APS Code”.
To cut a long story short we recommended that they stage a series of free seminars located at some of the more impressive projects they had been involved in. Proposed content would cover a range of hot topics such as sustainability, environment, energy conservation, waste management, work force relations, cost control etc. The seminars would have a high standard of food and beverage as well as participation by noted luminaries. The result would be that the company would be recognised as having a high level of corporate social responsibility and actually deliver benefits in terms of education and training to an appreciative audience. And significantly the cost would be fully tax deductible (corporate hospitality is not). We did not get that “gig” because “We like sports”.
Case 2 – a large financial services company wanted to hold mass dinners in each state for its agents. On questioning their motivation I discovered that they had not released any new products in the past 12 months and sales were flagging a little. The dinner in their opinion would “jolly up the troops”. After more investigation I arrived at the conclusion that the dinners would probably be poorly attended and have a large last minute drop out – these days people have lots of commitments and it is too easy to fob off the dinner as a waste of time (which it was). I recommended that the CEO hold a series of small intimate dinners at desirable restaurants for the top 10 sales people in each state. A key draw card was that there would be a special “guest” at each dinner which reduced drop out to zero. Sure our fee income was dramatically reduced but I was pleased that their sales grew 34% in an otherwise lacklustre year. They went on to do a series of lunches as well for the bottom 10 performers and managed to “Jolly them up” more than a little.
Now back to conferences. When I meet a new client I ask a number of hard questions. The answers often lead to substantial changes in time honoured formats.
“What are the key issues facing you in your industry/vocation?” The answers often lead to the realisation that the conference can canvass these issues, develop new policies or at least provide a format to let of some steam. The answers can have a major impact on program development.
“What are the key issues facing the host body/association?” Invariably we talk about things like greying of membership, declining membership, attracting and keeping Gen Y’s, membership benefits and communications etc. I am continually amazed that many Associations don’t really utilise their annual conference to address their issues or push their cause.
A classic conversation stopper is when I ask “Are your members happy with the Association’s services?” The answers can be brutally direct. If they are not enamoured with the Association why would they spend good money and time to come to the conference?
“Why do you hold this meeting?” “Do you own this meeting space?” “What compelling reasons do delegates have to attend?” “What is the percentage of first time delegates versus repeat attendees?” I could go on but suffice to say that once we have the answers to these and many more questions we can make a real difference to the annual conference.
The proof – in 2007-2008 Event Planners strategies increased delegate numbers by an average of 37.98% (range 2.67% to 171%) and sponsorship and exhibition income by an average of 53.84% (range 8.46% to 277%). All of these events had a long history and such significant increases, despite good economic conditions were not the norm. Having such strategies are vital in tough economic times to minimise delegate and sponsor dropouts.
I don’t usually advertise in my editorials but I do want readers to know that there are differences between traditional PCO’s and Event Planners. I have guided our clients to so many “light bulb” moments that I could sell the excess energy back to the power grid…
If you want to significantly improve and grow your meeting or event contact me – you won’t be disappointed. rays@eventplanners.com.au.
