Attracting and engaging VIP attendees

The very most qualified attendees at our events are the ones invited by our sponsors: their customers and prospects.  Our sponsors have lists we don’t have access to, and a relationship that enhances response from them.

The trick has always been, “How do we entice, exhort, encourage, enlist our sponsors/exhibitors to invite their customers to our event?”

Certainly the first step is to create a comprehensive kit to make it easy for the exhibitor: banner ads of various sizes, email templates, “I’m exhibiting at” web and print ad tiles, postcards, etc.

I haven’t seen contests that reward this activity work (tell me if you have!).

The best I’ve done is provide my best offer to my sponsors/exhibitors, so that they are offering their customers something of value.  “Because I am inviting you, you get a better deal than anyone else.”  Make your client a hero.

But here is an even better idea, copied verbatim from Travis Stanton’s editorial in the June issue of Exhibitor Magazine:

TechTextil The highlight of this event for the industrial-textile industry was a VIP Buyer’s Lounge with refreshments, meeting spaces, etc. All of the show’s exhibitors are encouraged to nominate their top clients and prospects for this special status, and show management selects and alerts the VIPs of the amenities they are thereby entitled to at the show. What a great way to make big spenders feel extra special on site.

I would simply tweak TechTextil’s program into an attendee marketing promotion.  Simply include these benefits in the templates you give the exhibitors for their invitations.  Limit how many people each sponsor can bring into the program.  NOT because you want to be exclusive, though you might.  But because by appearing exclusive, you add value to the program, and more sponsors will participate.

 

Case Study: Twitter at a Conference

Time Magazine just published the best description I’ve seen for the power of using Twitter at a conference.  (Scroll down to the heading: The Open Conversation.)

At first, all these tweets came from inside the room and were created exclusively by conference participants tapping away on their laptops or BlackBerrys. But within half an hour or so, word began to seep out into the Twittersphere that an interesting conversation about the future of schools was happening at #hackedu.

Making the point that not only does the Twitter feed capture the thinking in the room, but also:

1. enhances the discussion by creating the second outlet that bubbles that into the verbal conversation

2. allows people outside the conference to join into the discussion, and have their thoughts blended into the conference itself

3. continues the discussion online among those who attended and those who didn’t long after the physical event is over

4. retains a written record of the discussion, including, essentially, running commentary, footnotes, and bibliography, with tinyurl links

What a powerful set of impacts, for the cost of one large plasma screen!

If the conference director or education lead does not feel inspired to extend the conversation online (really?!) then the attendee marketing side of the business needs to push this.  Because it is clear in this example that the online discussion made the physical meeting MORE of a must-attend, I can’t believe I missed it event!

 

Losing credibility through pricing

Be sure to keep an eye on long term consequences as you try to navigate the current economy. The worst possible result?  Devaluing your event by overly aggressive price cutting.  This can hurt you on either the sponsorship or attendee side.

Wherever possible, go for value-add rather than a drop in price.  Your customers are looking for ROI, not just a low price.  Make sure they can articulate how their organization can benefit from their attending, far beyond the cost to attend.

Some discounting can be done without long-term consequences.  Hotel and travel deals to attend your event. Grandfathering last-year’s prices. Bring a colleague to get a reduction on both tickets.

Seth Rosenblatt’s blog on marketing and management at Autonomy gave a great example on his most recent post: Selling value and not price.

Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and presidential candidate, was selling a leadership seminar that he was speaking at, along with other luminaries such as Colin Powell, Steve Forbes, Zig Ziglar, and even Michael Phelps (presumably without the pipe).  Sounds interesting and valuable, right?  Rudy told me that I could attend this session – which could change my whole life – for only $19!  Wait, not $19 per person, but $19 for my whole office!  Incredible – how could I pass up on such a deal?  Well, you’re now probably thinking the same thing I did, which is how valuable can Rudy really think it is if my whole office can attend for less than $1 per person?

As Seth points out, offers like these hurt your credibility…not just in the longterm, but immediately.  How useful could it be for this price?  Sounds like a waste of my $19. If this were a business-to-business event I’d expect attendance to plummet.

Though this consumer event, held only to build a mailing list (they don’t make money on the event itself), may defy that expectation.

 

Content-driven events

Just saw this article in Macworld called “What Photoshop World can teach other trade shows.”

Essentially, Peter Cohen is pointing out that a focused, content-driven event remains relevant to its core audience in market ups and downs, and blissfully uncaring about the size of the show floor.

For-profit events find this concept very hard.  It is all about growth, and you get growth by adding more product segments, more audience segments, and biggering the show floor with ever larger booths.  Which guarantees a bubble and the resulting burst.  Even with a quality conference and free content on the show floor.

What if we designed events around creating a transformation experience for a targeted group, around content and interactive experiences?  Sure, we’ll include the right exhibitors: but not allow the show to be driven by the growth of the floor.

And not be seduced by the  “something for everyone” approach?

[Thanks, Cindy Hart for linking to the article from Facebook.]

 

Medical Events Adapt to New PhRMA Code

I attended the excellent HCEA (Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association) Summit in Boston yesterday. Attendance was at record levels, with attendees from all across the country flying in to learn more about the new PhRMA and AdvaMed codes.

Essentially the new rules (voluntary, but widely adopted), prohibit vendor reps giving gifts to healthcare professionals.  No more pens, mugs, or lunches.  While, according to the discussion at the event, these rules were not intended to apply to indirect gifts (a lanyard or conference bag with the pharma logo given by the association event), many vendor compliance groups are erring on the side of a very broad interpretation of the rules.

But it was very clear at the meeting that interpretation is everything.  There will be very different interpretations over the next year as this plays out, with direct competitors taking a different position on what they will or will not sponsor, or hand out from a booth.

Attendees were vocal about their concerns:

• How will exhibitors incent attendees to visit their booths?
• How will associations fund their events with a decline in traditional sponsorships?

Ten years from now we’ll all look back at this as a transition year to a golden age of medical promotion.  Freed from the traditional approach and forced to get really creative, the industry will get really creative:

Exhibitors will create really innovative and interesting product demonstrations; electronic white papers and presentations the Drs can re-use in patient education and training; interactive games and demonstrations that are fun and teach new skills; hand-outs that include patient education materials and models.

And the events will come up with innovative features that fit the new standards: demonstration areas on the show floor that highlight new technology; unbranded memory sticks attendees can use to download electronic materials from each booth of interest to them; lightning talks (5-minute vendor pitches) in a conference room; virtual events online to complement the physical event and retain reference information.

All event professionals should be keeping an eye on medical over the next year as they create new best practices that will influence the entire event industry.

[Check out the related article in Pharma Voice, January issue, and NY Times.