Meeting the challenges in 2010
Australia was the one modern nation that avoided a technical recession – yet the adverse impact on the meetings and events (M&E) industry was profound with many thousands of meetings, conferences and special events being cancelled, deferred or scaled back. The industry relies almost solely on business confidence and when that is depressed the funding tap is turned off or at best runs at a bare trickle.
Participant’s attitudes have changed from “I like to support my annual association conference or event” to “What is in it for me?” Simple economics really – if the rewards don’t justify the expenditure then let it go.
The challenges in 2010 for all M&Es is to justify their raison d'être and to make up for any lost ground. As Chairman of Event Planners Australia my expertise leans to the meetings side so let me explain a few things you can do to remain viable in that space.
Plan
Meetings are just like any business. You need to know what you do well, what you can do better than the competition, keep abreast of the ever changing times and have sound business, marketing and financial plans. They are not, as many potential clients seem to think, about simply booking a venue, finding some speakers and having a good time.
Unfortunately the vast majority of meetings don’t plan – they repeat the past and to paraphrase Albert Einstein “If you do the same thing you will get the same results – or worse” (referring to entropy the creeps in to the equation).
To combat entropy and to grow meetings Event Planners prepares a comprehensive business plan for each meeting or event that identifies Key Performance Indicators, Objectives, what you would do if there were no impediments (wish list), what you must do (core requirements), marketing plans, sponsorship/exhibition strategy, program outline, what it should cost, risk analysis and a time line. We call it Event Design© and after having invested years developing and honing this process we, and our many repeat clients would not organise a meeting without the “plan”.
Why?
Why are you holding the meeting? What do you want to achieve? Do you own that particular meetings space (relevance, competition issues)? What are the compelling reasons to attend? Could there be a better format, time or place?
“Why” is an uncomfortable word because it requires you to think and delivers astounding results. One Association responded that it held the meeting because it always had - tradition. It also needed a vehicle to host the annual general meeting. Sorry that may be from the Association’s perspective but it does not meet the needs of the real stakeholders – delegates, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, media etc. We researched the stakeholders and found (amongst a long list of issues) that the choice of dates (October) was in their busiest period in the year preventing many from attending. A change to the least busy period (May) was proposed and over the next few years the meeting will move and should reap the attendance benefits.
Treat it as a product
The theory behind product development says that you don’t produce puce widgets when the market demands red ones. We often find that the M&E product is not what the stakeholders want and we know this because we ask them (research) - tired formats, too long (occasionally too short), poor or irrelevant content etc. My advice is to start with a blank sheet of paper and analyse all elements of the M&E using a basic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats approach. Then accentuate the positives and eliminate the weaknesses. One meeting we manage was very good at attracting the Associations members but lousy at gaining non-members. We found that the Association had polarised the industry and a simple “philosophical” move and rebranding from being the Association’s event to the industry’s event paid off in spades.
What’s in it for me?
What are the compelling reasons delegates, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors or media support the event? Invariably the client mentions education, loyalty, networking and occasionally reward. These are not compelling reasons – they are “place holders”. What education are you providing, is it relevant, can you get it elsewhere more easily etc? What are you doing to facilitate networking (first timers and repeat offenders)? Is the reward component (dinners etc) really a draw card? Are you meeting sponsors needs?
We develop a list of compelling reasons to attend making every post a winner and removing objections. For example asking the potential delegates to help develop the content – what is important to them, what issues impact on their daily job, who would they like to hear make the program compelling. We ask about value propositions and try to develop more relevant packages (a move from the traditional one size fits all, member/non member rates to more tailored packages).
Competition
Unless you are a monopoly no Association owns 100% of its turf. There are kindred bodies, break away groups, non-members (think about why they are not members) and commercial M&E entrepreneurs that organise competing events.
Once you have a well developed product you can declare what you do, what areas of education are you expert in and who is your target market – stake your turf.
Marketing the product
Even if you build the perfect meeting you still need to promote it or they will not come. Traditionally M&Es are promoted via mail and email and sometimes advertising. These methods are failing (86% of bulk email is now automatically rejected by spam filters).
Part of our Event Design© process is to conduct a marketing and communications audit to reveal what potential delegates read, who the opinion leaders are, how to get to them, relevant media and much more. A plan is developed to ensure that all sectors are reached either via email, social networking media, printed materials, promotions, word of mouth and more. Feed back loops are built in to ensure that each approach is measured for success or changed if its not.
So in 2010 plan, plan and plan. Invest in making real, not cosmetic changes to your meeting or event and be prepared for substantial change for the better.
