Audience segmentation within events

A lot of the attraction of industry events is that attendees can see everything under one roof. The umbrella event.  All things to all people.

Oops, maybe that last sentence goes too far…and a good thing becomes a bad thing.

Its important to frequently think about the event in terms of each audience that attends.  Maybe you cater a bit to the largest groups, or to the most qualified/most attractive to exhibitors.  But there’s gold in other segments as well.

Robin Raskin created a new show within a show at CES by targeting aging boomers with the Silver Summit.  As reported in Expo’s May 2009 issue, she promoted the concept to 25 companies that had products for people over 50, created specialized content, and partnered with AARP.  Audience tracking was woefully lacking, so unfortunately we cannot tell how many people came to the event (though it was packed), or how many people came to CES especially because of this new area (though half of the 1500 survey respondents said they did).

How many key segments can you identify within your event that deserve special programing and focus?  [Boomers aren't a bad place to start!]  The benefits are enormous:

• A segment of current attendees that are even more devoted to the event
• New attendees who come specifically because of the new area
• Incremental revenue, both from new exhibitors and from second booths from existing exhibitors
• New sponsor partnerships
• Keeping the event vital and recharged
• Extra press attention
• Eliminating one more opportunity for a competitor to create a show that leaches off your audience

 

Improving event flow

Run across ethnoMetrics yet?  They put 45 video cameras with 360-degree panning in the ceiling of a convention center and watch what really happens at an event.  A lot of the value comes in analyzing the behavior of attendees at individual booths…information that, if acted on, could really improve an exhibitor’s results from an event.

The data is also useful to the show producer in looking at overall event flow.  A case study in the May 2009 issue of Expo discusses what RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) does with the data it receives from using ethnoMetrics over multiple years.

• Instead of eliminating the poster area, they realized its importance, but poor layout.  It has now been redesigned in a hub-and-spoke plan with sessions organized by topic.
• Video analysis showed large numbers of people leaving at lunchtime, due to long lines at the center restaurants. The new RSNA Bistro resulted in a 30% reduction in cab activity from 11 – 2, and a 20% increase in lunches served at the center.

Once they leave, you don’t know if they come back.

• Cab loading was redesigned, with two lines working simultaneously, to cut wait times in half.
• Registration was also streamlined… in layout, to speed registration for exhibitors, whose self-serve area was roadblocked, in staffing (reducing after peak days), and in repurposing much of the area by the third day.

These are all great ideas any event can learn from.  And while ethnoMetrics can give great data, it isn’t cheap.  But if you know what to look for  many flow issues can be seen at eye-level if you take the time to look.

 

What attendees want

HCEA (Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association) presented the findings of their 2009 study of what medical event attendees want from events at the Annual Meeting in June.  “How Physicians Would Design the Exhibit Hall of the Future.”

We get used to repeating what we did last year, but step back and re-think your program based on what the healthcare providerssay they want from your event.  (Most of these comments apply to any industry.)  Make the attendees happy and the exhibitors will keep coming back.

• Events serve a very important function
  • Opportunity to see everything related to their speciality under one roof
  • Hospitals and small practices need events more than ever, as they have less exposure to pharmaceutical reps in their normal practice than previously
• Organize the event by therapeutic area
  • Mixing all exhibitors up is confusing and difficult to navigate
• Navigation: Large signage, information desks, representatives
• Schedule: Extend hours and start early.  Drs are used to it!
• Multiple lounges and refreshment areas.  Wifi
• Exhibitors:
  • Put product experts in the booth: Clinical peers, not just sales reps
  • Educational approach
  • Interactive demos or virtual simulations
• See exhibit hall as
  • Providing a break from the dark lecture halls
  • Social time–interacting with peers while interacting with exhibitors
• Schedule meet the expert round tables

 

Conference scheduling for peak awareness

One thing I love about my line of work (the event industry) is the variety of challenges we face in any given day.

So I had to pass on this tidbit from the May issue of Convene (PCMA’s magazine).  An article with Carolyn Schur, specialist in circadian-rhythm disorders and author of Birds of a Different Feather–Early Birds and Night Owls Talk About Their Characteristic Behaviors.

Do you use roughly the same conference schedule every year, regardless of whether your national event is in Hawaii or New York City?  An 8 a.m. keynote in New York is pretty painful to a Californian, for whom it is only 5:00 in the morning.  Likewise, the Saturday evening pre-event party in Hawaii is going to be a wash-out for those on ET.

Its hard to work around, but worth thinking about.  Here are her tips:

A Sleep Expert’s Top Tips for Meeting Success

1. Schedule the most critical components of the meeting between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
2. Keep lunch light and based on protein, fruits, and vegetables.
3. Plan tours and activities after 2 p.m. or in the evening.
4. Schedule networking events in the morning or evening. This allows attendees to decide if they wish to attend, without feeling that they are missing key content if they do not.
5. Repeat sessions so that attendees can choose the time that allows for greatest alertness.
6. Particularly when you are organizing a national meeting on the East Coast, plan the first full day to start with breakfast between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and the opening keynote at 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. This is when most attendees will be comfortable and get the most out of their experience. Alternatively, consider the impact of that late Saturday-night banquet and dance on early birds when holding a national meeting on the West Coast.
7. Closing keynotes between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. will greatly tax early birds’ attentiveness and patience, particularly if the speaker addresses difficult issues.

 

Making the world a better place

Most people attend events to learn at the conference and compare products at the trade show.  And network.

We do not generally expect to receive a transformative experience. But isn’t that the goal? To set the bar a little bit higher and help our community achieve something they could not have done without this event?

Some events, like GreenBuild, have a tradition of leaving a lasting mark on each city their conference is in…encouraging attendees to participate in building a home, for example.

Some find other ways to give back to the community, like the Installfest held at LinuxWorld 2008, where old PCs were rescued from recycling to be refurbished with open source software and donated to California schools.

Another, perhaps simpler and more direct, way to let attendees get directly involved in helping their world is in brainstorming sessions as part of the conference.  First off, anything to help sessions become more interactive! But even more importantly, picking a challenge to let the regular people in the industry solve together is inspiring and uplifting.

I posted about AIHA (Industrial Hygiene) taking this approach recently.  Now I see how the PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) put together a Think Tank of 3 dozen event industry professionals to figure out how to “convince the outside world of the value of face-to-face events”.  Unfortunately, this is a one-off event, not part of the annual PCMA meeting (perhaps in the future).  But on the plus side, the results were published in the May 2009 issue of Convene, making them available to all.

Even better, Convene published quotes from the participants, highlighting the value of the session in terms of a real opportunity to connect with peers, encouraging a different way of thinking, and contributing back to the community.

“When you stop for a day and put industry veterans in a room to work together and share ideas on how to improve our profession and/or specific meeting tactics, it is an amazing experience!”

“Learning from your equals through the exchange of ideas, large and small, is the best, in my opinion.”

“It was very helpful in encouraging me to think differently and focus more on the industry rather than the specific events that I normally work on every year.”