With the start of the new year, we have gone through some transitions at MRA Services which have required some of us to learn new roles within the company.  This can be a challenging task within a small-staff organization when each person is responsible for such a large portion of the day to day tasks.  It is, however, important to be cross-trained in multiple areas of the company to help cover for travel, extended leaves of absence or even just to help a co-worker during a particularly busy time.  The process of learning that new role while still carrying on your other tasks can be time consuming and challenging, so patience and an open mind are key.

The pros of cross-training within your own organization extend beyond our company-specific benefits I described above.    Having more knowledge regarding services and clients allows more people to help in the day-to-day customer service-whether it is handling phone calls from attendees on how to register for a conference or walking an exhibitor through the exhibit purchase process. 

Additionally, more knowledge and experience can generate more revenue for an event producing organization.  With exhibits and sponsorship bringing in a majority of revenue for an event, having more people trained and knowledgeable can add valuable sales resources to your staff dedicated to function.  Through our own cross-training program, we have doubled our exhibit and sponsorship sales team. 

So if you are in a similar situation, it can be hard to see the benefit of learning a new role or cross-training when it seems like its more work being added to your already full plate.  I would strongly recommend you stay the course and look ahead to the long-term benefits, some of which I described above, to see the ultimate goal of the company and the benefit it can offer those you serve.  We have already seen very promising results in the few short months since this transition started, and I am excited to see where we can go from here!

While recently speaking with a colleague about my last trip, she asked me a few questions that proved to be very insightful and useful as I begin to prepare for upcoming events.

1.       What were some of your observations of the conference setting – meaning the hotel/event area itself?

The registration desk, exhibit hall, general conference sessions, and social events were all within close proximity to one another. This makes giving directions easy and helps attendees to  quickly become familiar with their surroundings. They are less likely to be confused on where to be and when, as all of their upcoming events are only a short walk away. There was excellent signage throughout this space –visually assisting conference attendees where events are taking place. The registration desk itself was located at the entrance of the conference space and close to the hotel front desk. This is an ideal set-up. You want participants to feel like they are equally a part the event taking place as they are to other amenities provided at the conference location.

2.       What were your initial thoughts when meeting your clients for the first time?

From the very start, I could see a dynamic relationship that MRA Services strives to build and maintain with our clients. The Blackboard team first greeted us with smiles and hugs. And after briefly ‘catching up’ (with what felt like long-time friends), we started discussing the agenda at-hand and tasks that needed to be done. Seeing this professional and open rapport between our two teams demonstrated how truly valuable developing partnerships are to our service-focused business.

3.       How did you prepare for your tasks on site?

After several months of planning and discussion with our clients, we arrived onsite prepared and with few last-minute to-dos to complete. We developed a list of questions to discuss with our clients, confirming specific details and outlining expectations. While onsite we also maintained constant communication regarding any changes or updates to the event.

4.       Based on what you learned while there, what would you do differently or how would you advise others to prepare for their first event?

Communication is key – prior to and during the event. Outlining and discussing the event in its’ entirety helps everyone be prepared for any unforeseen challenges or issues that may arise. I also found it helpful to learn more about the client’s purpose of holding this event for their customers.  As with Blackboard and many of our other partners – there are several different products and services they provide to their own clients. While onsite, I become more familiar with Blackboard’s organization overall – but more specifically, I was introduced to the particular services being presented at this event. Knowing why your audience is attending, facilitates answering questions at the registration desk and directing people where to go.

I. Advice from the Experts

Look at the performance metrics of apps and providers…

According to Kathleen Gilroy, Entrepreneur and Owner of SWIFT Mobile, the options available right now to event planners can make it difficult to select an app that really matches the needs of the event.  “There are so many options now that it is very hard to differentiate the app providers.  Meeting planners need to look carefully under the hood to make sure that the apps can support the show data.” The larger the show, with more sessions, events and attendees, the more critical this is. 

Kathleen encourages event planners to look at benchmarking numbers to compare performance between providers on the usability of their apps.  She suggests asking for combined page views for last five meetings; percent of unique users; repeat visit rate; average visits per day; and average time in app.  

The attendee experience is critical…

Testing the waters with cheap or free apps can end up being a waste of time, according to Silke Fleisher, Founder of ATIV software.  “An app that performs poorly or doesn’t offer real value won’t create buzz and won’t be remembered.  If the app requires too many steps to navigate through the content, is confusing to use, doesn’t function, crashes, or doesn’t allow you to do basic things such as adding two sessions at the same time to your schedule, attendees are left wishing for a paper guide and the implementation turns into a nightmare for organizers.”  It’s better to invest in app that performs well, even in offline situations, and is truly an asset to the overall event experience.

Consider your organization’s larger objectives…

Show organizers should consider their mobile deployments as part of a larger organizational strategy, says Nadav Shifman, of AllianceTech,  a company specializing in session tracking and lead retrieval, as well as mobile apps for conferences.   He encourages clients to focus on a larger objective, “to produce rich business intelligence that improves return on investment [for show organizers]”    Leveraging a variety of event technologies, mobile apps can offer specific features based on actual attendee patterns onsite.  Analytical data available to show organizers can be much broader than just mobile use trends. It can be combined with data on session attendance, exhibit hall traffic patterns, etc.

II. Trends to Watch

Like all technology environments, mobile is a field that’s constantly changing. And with new companies entering the market all the time, it’s very competitive.  Successful app developers have to stay on their toes and anticipate trends.

More flexibility for show organizers…

Apps will continue to get more sophisticated and offer more features and benefits.  In fact, Kathleen Gilroy says that event organizers can expect to see “more self-service options [for show organizers] and a larger emphasis on enterprise solutions that can manage multiple meetings in one set of native apps…”

Easier data integration…

Silke Fliesher says apps will continue to “offer better integrated functionality not just from a feature set, but also from a backend integration point of view.”  In addition, she says app developers will likely find ways to leverage the benefits of near field communication.

Growing support for tablets…

Everyone seems to agree that the growing tablet market will continue to influence the marketplace and service packages offered in the future.

III. Additional Resources

Every app developer has to show off their expertise with a whitepaper, right?  If you really want to immerse yourself in mobile, here are a few I found worth reading:

Embracing Event Apps by ATIV Software

Mobile Strategy for Meetings and Events by SwiftMobile and MPI

How to Create Successful Mobile Apps.  This one is not written for meeting planners specifically, but has some great ideas for marketing in general and creating engaging mobile experiences.

“Event planning! What a glamorous job! How did you get started?”

I’d like to answer that question here and share how I started my career in the event industry with you. Keep in mind that the meeting and event profession is multi-faceted, presenting a variety of opportunities for involvement.   In fact, I’ve encountered such an interesting array of stories of how others have landed in the meetings and event industry that I want to share their stories with you, too. Welcome to Part 1 of my new series featuring the unique careers of  meetings and event professionals and how they earned those positions. Considering a career as an event organizer? Read on!

My own story begins with a few words of advice that my Dad shared with me as a kid,

“Do something that you loved when you were a child. Find what you enjoy. If you make a little money doing that, that’s an extra bonus.”

(Apologies to my Dad if I didn’t get the exact quote right, but, at least you know I was listening!) Somehow, those words took root deep in the recesses of my mind…and to this day still make an appearance when I am pondering professionally, “What’s next?”

Upon graduation with my Liberal Arts degree from community college, it was time to decide what, indeed, was next. My Dad’s advice bubbled up and the answer to “What’s next?” became I want to own my own restaurant. Being “the boss” was something I enjoyed as a child, much to my younger sister’s dismay.  And, what I enjoyed pretending about the most was having a restaurant. After learning that colleges and universities offered a major in restaurant management, a moving truck and a family caravan later, I arrived at Washington State University and joined their Hotel and Restaurant Administration program.

Two and a half years later with retail, catering, barista, corporate dining and restaurant experience to complement my formal education, the time had come to select my first career – once again I had to decide what’s next? In addition to being a full-time student, I had worked in some facet of the food service industry both during the school year and over the summer through internships. As a result, I amassed a good sample of job offers and had narrowed it down to management positions with either a prominent coffee chain or a popular nationwide seafood restaurant. But then, in one of my classes during my last semester, there was a lesson devoted to event planning. This was the first exposure I’d had to this being a professional option. I was intrigued! Traveling all over the world for events, meeting prominent speakers, planning fancy events with fabulous food and wine – how glamorous, indeed! And, surely better than arriving at work each day while it’s still dark outside or peeling and de-veining shrimp!

At the time I was graduating, the recruiting companies were almost exclusively offering starting positions in either hotels or restaurants with entry into their management training programs. There were no convention centers, associations, consumer shows or convention management companies actively represented on campus. I had shared my desire to look for employment opportunities in event planning with my professors and department administration. Lucky for me, a friend and fellow student in the department was in a position as our Career Placement Coordinator that semester. She’d received a job posting from a company in Seattle looking for an Exposition Producer. I submitted my resume, traveled to their office for an interview and in January of 2001, began my professional career with MRA Services.

So, you say,

“Nice story, but that was a long time ago! I’m graduating soon – how can I get my first job in the industry?”

 I offer the following suggestions based on what I know now, that I didn’t know then:

Cultivate a Broad Business Education

Fortunately for me, WSU’s Hotel and Restaurant Administration program was built on a business education backbone. And, while I didn’t appreciate it while I was taking those classes, there is not a day now that I’m not grateful for having studied marketing, public speaking, business law and accounting. Focus too narrowly on hospitality in general or event planning specifically and you will lack the essential skills that you will need for success and longevity in the profession. With the exception of Calculus, I have used all of my business education fundamentals on a routine basis.

Look Before you Leap – Get Acquainted with the Industry

Internships, volunteer opportunities and participation in professional associations are just a sample of ways to get exposed to a career in the meetings and events industry. Not only will early involvement in the industry garner valuable professional experience for building out your resume, but given the current job prospects, you’ll likely be spending more hours at work and have a longer tenure with your employer. Better to know that you’ve chosen a career that’s right for you based on what you’ve learned through participation, than to jump in with nothing to support that glamorous image you’ve heard about. Industry involvement will also expose you to professionals already in the industry that can serve as business contacts, mentors and perhaps your next employer. Be known by the company you keep!

Know Your Passion

I’ve come to learn that my Dad’s advice about doing what you love is timeless guidance. Though I am still passionate about food, restaurants and entrepreneurship, what these endeavors have in common with what I am doing now is independence, creativity and big picture vision executed with precise detail. I’d thrive in any profession that offers an outlet to express any one of these characteristics. I’m fortunate to work with a company and a manager that encourage me to use all three of what I consider to be my best talents. Examine your own short-list of professions and determine what core traits they have in common. Then, reflect back on those things you’ve enjoyed doing most in the past. Look for the intersection between your professional and your personal characteristics to find the job that complements you.

That’s my story – What’s yours? 

Do you have an intriguing position in the meetings and events industry, advice to share on how to secure an event management position or want to share your unique professional journey? Let’s talk! Leave a comment after the post with the best method for contacting you and your story might be featured here next.

Coming up next month, I’ll introduce you to my friend and fellow industry professional, Paige Alcorn with the Tennessee Valley Fair. A career in fairs and festivals is more than farm animals, carnival rides and deep-fried candy bars! Get to know Paige and her story in the April installment of “How’d You Get That Job”.

And, for more insight on the subject of landing that first (or next job), be sure to check out Emma Nelson’s post, “How to Find the Right Job or The Right People”.

When Applying for a Job:

• A unique cover letter says a lot! Try to stand out and tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t otherwise know from reading the resume. Tell us why you think you make the perfect fit for our organization. Take the opportunity to anticipate questions that may arise when hiring managers are looking at your resume. If you are out of work, moved jobs often, or anything of the like, explain it and accentuate the positive about your particular situation.
• Dress to impress! Sometimes I wonder if our culture is growing too casual. Even if you know that the potential employer has a casual office environment, I always say “dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Come to interviews dressed as professionally as you can.
• Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions! Do not be afraid. One of my biggest pet peeves is when interviewees say they do not have any questions. How is this possible? Conference management is a very specific industry that a lot of people with event experience do not fully understand. For any job, if you aren’t interested in hearing what a “typical day” looks like, than you aren’t interested enough in the position!

When Hiring Conference Professionals:

• Read all submissions with a fine tooth comb. If there are spelling, grammar or punctuation errors, this is telling you something. This person does not have a close eye for details and did not take the time to ask others to proof read the submission!
• Find the right fit! Try to get to know the person. Make them at ease instead of intimidating them. The more comfortable your interviewees are the more likely they are to be honest. The more you know about them the more you can tell whether or not they will fit into your organization. Personality is key. You want to cultivate a team and that can only happen when everyone’s personalities are able to mesh together.
• Look for signs of motivation. Personally, I want people who are likely to stay late when needed and want to work their way up in an organization. Again, as Jim Collins taught me, you can’t teach someone to be motivated; you need to hire motivated people. Does your applicant tend to take on more than one experience at a time? Did they finish college in less than four years? Double major? Lots of extra-curricular activities? These are all signs of motivated people. Talk to them in their interview about their goals, dreams and career aspirations. These conversations give you an insight into what motivates them.

Most of all, as future conference professionals, my best advice is to be yourself and sell what you have. Look for jobs that excite you and where you feel confident in your abilities to contribute to the success of the organization. For conference planners looking to hire great new talent – focus on the right fit for your organization and for your current needs. Really think about the attributes for the ideal person and don’t give up until you find them.  With so many talented people looking for jobs and successful companies needing the right people, you are bound to find each other eventually!

Collins. (2002). Good To Great. New York: Harper Collins.

Janet: After your first few weeks, what are your impressions of MRA and is it a good fit for you?

Vanessa: I felt at home right away with MRA Services. The atmosphere is very welcoming and it’s an incredibly comfortable environment in which to learn. Having two office dogs, Sky and Lucy, is a big perk as a dog lover, too! I’m increasingly drawn to the small company atmosphere here that has a large impact with annual conferences on a national and even global scale.

Janet: What stands out as the top things you’ve learned so far?

Vanessa: Learning the in-house technology has been a process, but now that I’ve become quite familiar with it all, it has been much easier to navigate customers in the right direction. I’ve had to learn how to differentiate between the variety of conferences and annual meetings we put on each year, as each one has a different set of requirements and standards.

Janet: What are you most excited to learn about or do at MRA Services and why?

Vanessa: I’m looking forward to learning more about convention processes. I’m a hands-on person so having the chance to travel and experience these conventions, first hand, after working on the backside of them for months, will be rewarding!

Janet: What makes a great work day?

Vanessa: A good day for me is a busy day. I have found there are not enough work hours in the day and there is always something to do, which is a good thing in my opinion! I enjoy working with people on a daily basis so the more I get to interact with customers and clients, the better it is. It is my goal at the end of every day to feel like I have accomplished something, whether that is checking things off of my to-do list or fulfilling a customer’s needs.

Janet: Who is Vanessa outside of the office?

Vanessa: I am a people person- which is probably why I enjoy working with our customers every day! I deeply value my friends and family…some like to refer to me as Auntie V. Enjoying wine and good food (notably anything with chocolate) is a necessity in my life, as is laughter on a regular basis. Although I wish I could do it more often, I love to travel and hope to eventually eat and drink my way through Italy and go shark cage diving in South Africa!

Janet: What do you like to do in your spare time (outside of traveling!!)?

Vanessa: I love my dog! My Westie, Oliver, loves to go to the dog park with me whenever the sun is out. I enjoy cooking and baking regularly…which leads to me keeping active and working out accordingly! Playing sports is a big hobby of mine; last summer I spent my time training to run three half marathons and have a passion for beach volleyball. My perfect weekend would include attending and tailgating a pro sports game with my friends, typically football, and having a get-together with my family. I usually take on the “party-planning” role between all my family and friends for weddings, birthday parties, showers…etc. (I can create a pretty mean desert table!)

Welcome Vanessa, we are so excited that you have joined our team and truly appreciate all your hard work. And I’m looking forward to hearing about the shark cage diving!

Generally speaking, those in IT rarely demonstrate an acumen for business or even share a common language. Similarly, those in business rarely demonstrate an interest in the fundamentals of IT operations nor could they tell the difference between a MAC address and a Big Mac™. In any case, this is the gap we are presented with, and it needs to be spanned if we’re to achieve optimal results.

Below are the fundamental steps that I took to get IT working more effectively for our business. While they are adequate for many in IT, the specifics and effort required may be different based on a variety of factors including: organizational maturity, experience of those in leadership positions, the business model, and the culture, just to name a few.

The Path to Eternal Enlightenment Alignment

1. The realization of necessity
2. Get our IT house in order
3. Communicate – Get business leaders in the loop
4. Understand the business needs
5. Earn a seat at the table
6. Ensure that IT priorities are driven by the business strategy

The Realization

“We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality” – Ayn Rand

Based on accounts of other IT leaders, and from my own experience, alignment is rarely the result of pre-planned, contemplative reasoning. If it happens at all, it is not without herculean efforts, and as some would attest, a lot of grey hair.

As the demands for new and improved services, and the need to support new customers increases, those in IT are forced to juggle between managing the tangible things that customer and business users see, and those not-so tangible things like: servers and facilities management, data storage, network security, hosting, etc. Do we ignore our infrastructure needs and focus on supporting the sales team? Or, do we focus our efforts on keeping the systems running and ignore new sales opportunities? Seems like a silly choice to make, but this is often the dilemma for IT shops who’ve slipped into a state of permanent “firefighting” mode.

At this point, it’s pretty obvious that if we want to play an effective role in supporting business initiatives, we need to own up to the exigency of our situation. Sounds pretty straight-forward right – so, where do we begin?

Get Our House in Order

This may seem a bit too obvious for most. But the fact is, IT cannot be in a position to support the business needs, let alone our own intradepartmental interests, if we are spending all of our time in a chaotic state of putting out fires instead of improving services and capabilities.

The most important resource I ever came across to assist with this type of housekeeping was a guide called, The Visible Ops. The goal of this book is to provide guidance for IT departments so that they can achieve a stable, predictable and secure infrastructure in order to free up resources which can be allocated towards strategic goals of the company. Based on an in-depth study of high-performing IT organizations, they distilled their research into 4 prescriptive phases:

1. Stabilize the Patient – Avoid risky changes. Their study findings show that 80% of outages are self-inflicted.
2. Catch and Release – Identify risky infrastructure components and ensure adequate change management controls to increase uptime.
3. Establish Repeatable Builds – Key objective is to make it cheaper to rebuild the infrastructure than to repair. The ultimate goal is to automate the process. By freeing up resources from firefighting, resources can be allocated towards new projects.
4. Enable Continuous Improvement – Establish metrics for evaluating system performance and areas for improvement.

The Visible Ops should be on the bookshelves of all IT leaders, in my opinion.

Communication – Get Business Leaders in the Loop

Now that our house is ready for guests, we can take the next step. We begin by providing insight into our “mysterious” world to business leaders. Start by sharing what initiatives are on the table and their relevance to not only the IT department, but the company as a whole. Also, be sure to share your ongoing challenges and your vision of IT’s role in the company.

For example, if you’re coming up on the end of a 3- or 5-year refresh for your web and database servers, explain your decision for opting towards a virtualized environment in the cloud vs. the mirrored environment onsite, if that is the case. Consider costs, risks, and impact on availability and service delivery when framing your comments. Addressing costs when talking with IT leaders is always a winner – but, be sure to address the elements beyond procurement and monthly costs alone, so they can see the overall, indirect value as well.

Understand the Business Needs

It became clear early on, in my attempts to understand the business perspective, that alignment would only happen if the business strategy was clearly articulated. While it is not the responsibility for IT to define the business goals or strategy, it is our responsibility to underscore the necessity for having one so that IT can play an important role in helping the business achieve their objectives.

If the business strategy has already been defined, we should spend some time identifying the specific needs and challenges. Next, we want to start thinking of IT initiatives that can support them. Keep in mind, that we don’t always have to start at the top of the organization when trying to understand what is needed. We can start by talking to end-users – folks in the sales department, service delivery, and managers to get a good understanding of the current state. This is a great way to obtain valuable insight into how things get done, and it allows us an opportunity to validate our proposed initiatives against needs at other levels in the organization.

Over time, as we start to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the business processes, we will earn the confidence of business leaders and slowly inch our way into a seat at the table.

Earn a Seat at the Table

As previously mentioned, the key to earning a seat at the table with business leaders begins by understanding the needs and challenges of the business.

If you want greater influence in the decision making process, you will need to take additional measures to demonstrate a vast array of skills. A few key areas for IT leaders to focus on are: business process improvement, project management, and cost management. Of course, you also want to demonstrate that you can contribute to innovation and strategy efforts.

Ensure that IT Priorities are Driven by the Business Strategy

This last part of our journey is where the magic happens and all of our hard work starts to pay off. Our house is in order. Communication with the business leaders is open. Strategic decisions are being made collaboratively. We are efficient in the allocation of our IT resources because we are working on the highest priority projects, and we have time to step out to lunch because the servers aren’t on fire, headless chickens aren’t storming the hallways, and IT is driving business results.

Speaking of lunch, I’m sure hankering for a Mac Address and a large order of fries, right about now.

It didn’t take long for me to take all this for granted. I can’t imagine a world where I couldn’t check on my location any time I wanted to. Well, as long as I’m outside … and as long as the margin of error can be within 20 meters. I can accept that limitation, right? At some point in the future, I may not have to. Imagine you are in a super mall and want your phone to show you your exact location (within a couple feet) in that mall. You want your phone to give you precise (literally step-by-step) directions to a specific store in that mall. On top of that, you want to be able to download a 2-for-1 coupon for that store while you are walking towards it.

I was surprised to learn that this ‘Indoor’ GPS is not just a future possibility, but an existing technology.  There have been a few different approaches to solving the problem of indoor positioning system (IPS) without the help of GPS, including radio, ultrasound, infrared and other signals, but, the most promising breakthroughs have come most recently include the use of existing wireless networks and smartphones. There are quite a few companies and research groups involved in the development of this new technology, some efforts are collaborative but most seem to be independent work on proprietary systems with closely guarded secrets. But basically, it all has the same end result-enabling smart phone apps to pinpoint one’s location indoors, in real time, to within a few feet using Wi-Fi signals already present in a building. The phone’s internal compass and accelerometer may also play a role in determining its location. Not only does this new type of mobile way-finding technology know one’s position and provide navigation throughout a multi-floored facility, but can also provide other location- based services like interactive maps, multi-media content, news alerts, social networking activities, coupons, etc.

How does it work? Well, it’s complicated.  According to wifarer.com, and I quote; “It has taken a pod of geeks with advanced degrees in engineering, computer science and math a long time to figure it out.”

Needless to say, the fact that it is being figured out is pretty exciting, and the possible uses for indoor positioning mobile apps seems limitless, especially in the event industry. Some of the more obvious applications include; personal navigation through a venue/exhibit hall with optimized routing, friend/contact finding and networking (with permission), location-based content delivery (exhibit discounts or video as examples),  optimized exhibit hall viewing by product category,  exhibit hall “hot spot” and traffic flow analytics.

Of course the down side is that we might end up with an exhibit hall full of people walking around with their heads bent forward, watching their virtual selves walk from point A to point B, occasionally bumping into each other, but, that’s the price of progress.

Links for Further Information:

http://blog.wayfindersoftware.com/?p=250

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/getting-a-fix-on-indoor-gps/2888

http://www.gpsworld.com/list/wireless/indoor-positioning-59

wifarer.com, Sherpa-Solutions.com,  Locata , Qubulus, WiFiSLAM, sensewhere

If you’ve succeeded in delivering a conference that combined relevant learning experiences with quality networking sessions, your attendees have left feeling energized and enthusiastic about your next event. As a result, attendees are searching for information on the next event long before you’re ready to formally promote it. Strike while the appetite for information is high and feed that post-conference enthusiasm! Here are six post-event promotion ideas to engage attendees after your event and encourage them to return for the next.

1. Photo Sharing:

Who doesn’t love seeing their photo on the big screen during the closing event?! Even better is re-living the conference and viewing those photos days or weeks later on a Monday morning when you’re not quite ready to jump into the workday. Post your conference photos to your favorite photo sharing site (flickr, Picasa and Shutterfly to name just a few) and email, tweet or update your status to notify attendees where the photos are posted.  If you don’t have the budget or staff to capture the entire conference, select a few key areas to highlight such as a recognizable keynote speaker, awards recipients, first-time attendees, etc.

2. Create a Group on LinkedIn:

Though conference-goers tend to exchange contact information at an event, it takes some effort on their individual parts to reconnect after the event. Keep those discussions going online by creating a LinkedIn group. Promote your LinkedIn group at the event and follow-up with email invitations to attendees. Then, post-event, routinely highlight blog post articles on popular topics from your event and encourage speakers, exhibitors and sponsors to post questions or share their expertise with the group.

3. Encourage Guest Blog Posts:

Anyone with a blog knows that creating new and fresh content can be a daunting task. Consider your event as inspiration for “writer’s block”! Much can happen over the span of a few days at a conference. Think like a reporter during those days and take note of those people and events that are newsworthy. Connect with speakers whose sessions were ranked highly, new sponsors and suppliers that are launching a product or service at your event and either interview them on a topic you plan to write about or, even better, ask them to author a guest post for you on the subject. If you have a few outgoing attendees, invite them to share a guest blog post about what they learned at your event and a few months later, a follow-up post featuring a case study on how they applied that knowledge. If your speakers, partners or attendees have noteworthy blogs, promote them on your blog roll.

4. Engage Speakers

Most conferences feature at least one speaker whose session is well attended and highly ranked either because of the subject matter, delivery or the notoriety of the speaker. Chances are, you know who that speaker is or what that session will be. Plan accordingly and when contracting with that speaker or panel, get their commitment to a few post-event engagements. Have a blog? Suggest the speaker author a few topics that would be of interest to your readers after the event. Host webinars? Feature a follow-up session to delve deeper into the conference topic or host an online session on a similar subject that was not presented at your event.

5. Involve Attendees in the Planning Process

If you’ve ever engaged your membership with a survey, you know that opinions abound! Capture those diverse interests by involving your past attendees in the planning process for your next event. For example, I recently received an email invite from an event organizer to nominate 3-5 speakers that I’d like to see at the next event. A few weeks later, I received another email with a list of potential speakers and topics (presumably the short list from all the previous submissions), asking me to rank those I’d be most interested in seeing and those I had no interest in seeing. For my participation in the process, they offered a chance to win a complimentary registration to next year’s event. Neither process took much of my time and I enjoyed the prospect of shaping next year’s program.

6. “Save the Date” landing page with social sharing options

Prospective attendees are searching for your event even before next year’s marketing materials are ready. As long as you have your dates and your location under contract, make sure those searching find something online about the next event. A “Save the Date” landing page can be an effective tool for communicating basic information about your next event until the formal site is launched. At a minimum, include dates, venue, city and state, and options for sharing with the viewer’s online network so they can encourage others to also “Save the Date”. Ensure that your show is considered in next year’s budget by accelerating the traditional marketing cycle.

The moral of the story? Begin with the end in mind for creating a complete event promotion strategy that includes engagement methods that target your audience after the event. The post-conference glow fades fast once we return to the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Nurture that enthusiasm by providing value that extends beyond the conference dates.  Your efforts will keep your event top of mind and create a compelling reason for attendees to return.

OK, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but there is no question that smartphones are on the rise and changing the way people interact with the world.  Pretty soon everyone, including conference attendees, will expect a mobile app that provides the information they need, when they need it.  Mobile apps for events offer an alternative to printed programs, add new media channels for advertising and sponsorship, and offer new ways to facilitate communication and engagement between attendees.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to mobile apps.  Consider the following strategies before you make the mobile app investment:

1.       What are your primary objectives for launching a mobile app and how will you measure success?

Are you trying to encourage adoption so you can phase out a costly printed program?  Are you trying to foster stronger engagement between attendees?  Are you looking for an easy way to collect session evaluation data from attendees?  Are your sponsors looking for new and better ways to engage your attendees?

How you define your own objectives will determine your metrics for measurement.  For example, if your goal is to transition your printed program to an online only version, you may want to simply measure what percentage of your attendees downloaded the app.  Depending on your specific objectives, other measurements might include survey completion data, or click-throughs to sponsors ads.  Your mobile app company should be able to help you with these metrics so be specific about the kind of data you want.

You’ll likely also want to conduct your own cost-benefit analysis – money saved by eliminating print, perception of going green and saving a tree, the possibility to increase (or sustain) current sponsorship and ad revenue, etc.

2.       Native App or Mobile Web?

Native apps are designed using the specific programming language of each platform.  An iPhone app won’t work on an Android and vice versa.   Native apps are generally fast and reliable and work well in offline situations.

Mobile web apps are generally not platform specific, and work on all web enabled devices.  They generally require access to the internet.

Right now, I’m of the opinion that native apps have the edge in overall user experience.  The biggest advantage, I think, is that the data resides on the phone so once you download the app, you can use it even when there is no Wi-Fi or cell reception at the conference.  This is pretty critical since many show organizers can’t afford to buy out the Wi-Fi in a conference venue, and even if they can, the infrastructure of most facilities doesn’t support the type of high volume use, so attendees often experience dropped connections or complete lack of access.

Having said that, mobile web is the solution to watch.  It’s much cheaper and faster to deploy, and new standards and advances in HTML may likely compete with the current advantages offered by native apps, improving the user interface, speed and overall experience.  I think that WiFi accessibility in convention venues will continue to improve, and (eventually) the cost will go down.

 3.       What kinds of devices are your attendees using?

Survey your attendees, if possible.  If that’s not possible, there are some general smartphone trends that can guide you.  iPhone and Android are competing neck and neck for the most market share.  Blackberry is still strong but on the decline and iPad and tablets are growing, often as an alternate device for Blackberry users. 

Since the numbers of platform you choose directly impacts the cost of the app, you don’t want to invest in a platform if you don’t have a strong user base.  A good starting point might be to offer native app for iPhone and Android, along with a mobile web solution for other users. 

Blackberry apps are the toughest to build, because there are so many variations in the operating system between devices.  If you must have a Blackberry app, make sure your app developer has experience building them.

4.       What features would you define as must-haves?

There are so many options to choose from it can be mind-boggling.   Each app company specializes in their own array of super cool features.  Before you get lured into fancy features or overwhelmed with product comparisons, start by making a list of the top 5 or 6  things that are critical to achieve your objectives.  That may help narrow the choice down to a few providers who do those things the best.  Here is a list of the basics:

• Session listings by theme or track
• Custom branding and high quality graphics
• Social networking and privacy controls
• Venue maps – layouts of conference facility
• Exhibitor listings and interactive exhibit hall maps
• Banner ads and sponsorship branding
• Analytics – data on how people use it, where they spend their time

 5.       How will you promote the app?

Promotion is critical.  Let your attendees know, in advance, that an app will be available.  Give clear instructions for how to access it and what it will offer.  Promote in on your website.  Blog about it.  Get your attendees to tweet about it.  Promote it on-site too, as people check in and announce it in your opening session.

Make sure your staff or host committees have the app and are well versed in its use so they can answer questions.

6.       What other technology offerings do you currently have and how will your mobile app complement it?

One of the stickiest issues, I think, is creating a seamless user experience when you already have systems and tools in place for attendees.  Do you offer an itinerary builder on your website?  How will that translate into the app?  Are you using QR codes or mobile-based games?  Will those be built-in to your app or will attendees have to download 2 or 3 apps in order to engage with your event?  Do you offer lead retrieval, session tracking, and online session evaluations?  How will each of those elements integrate?  It’s not often feasible to integrate everything, especially in year one, but it’s important to understand the experience of your attendee so you can give clear instruction on how things will work (or not work) together.

7.       Define your budget and pricing requirements.

Full featured, custom branded, native apps for a single conference will likely cost between $15,000 and $30,000.  You may be able to offset some of the cost through savings in printed material, but overall you should think of a mobile app as an investment, and consider the ways in which you plan to get a return on that investment.  The ability to maintain and grow sponsorship and advertising revenue is one way.  Offering an engaging experience for attendees and encouraging networking is another.

Less expensive options include offering only a mobile web solution or using a shared app that might be branded for an organization and shared for multiple events. 

Make sure you understand the pricing model, especially if it includes a revenue sharing component.  Revenue sharing offers a way to lower the initial cost in exchange for sharing ad or sponsorship revenue with the app developer.  In some case the app company might even offer commission-based ad sales.  I personally will not consider a revenue share model.  I prefer to know the entire cost up front.  And like any other high visibility sponsorship opportunity, I believe it should be managed and sold as part of a comprehensive sponsorship program, not as an a la carte benefit.

8.       Test-drive the app.

Now that you have defined what you are looking for and developed a high level plan, share this with several app companies so they can provide proposals for service.  And most importantly, download their apps and test them out.  Most are available for free.  Many apps require authentication (you have to be registered for the conference in order to take advantage of all the features) so you will need to request a demo account from the app developer.

Take notes on what you like and don’t like about the app while you are still in “new user” mindset. Assign people to evaluate and rank usability on each platform.  Compare notes.  Ease of use should be one of the most important criteria.

So you ask…who are the strong players out there right now?  Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll share my favorite app developers, describe what I think sets them apart from the competition and share some of their advice on the mobile trends that will impact events in the next 12-24 months. 

If you are currently researching mobile projects and can’t wait until my next post, send me an email and I’m happy to share the status of my research so far, as well as some stories from the trenches.