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December 16, 2014MUBS, HamraBeirut, Lebanon
Prepared by Mario KanaanProject ManagerAl-Iktissad Wal-Aamal
History, Importance & Current StatusEvents Cycle
10 ingredients to prepare and initiate an event9 marketing strategies to promote an event
Future Trends
Events industry can be traced back to Europe and North-America
The first events took place in universities where there was the needto share information in academic circles
This created the need for larger event spaces
Officially, 1896 is the year when the events industry came into
light with a group of businessmen from Detroit, Michigan who invitedlarge meetings to be held in their town.
At the beginning of the 20th century new types of events emerged
Types of Events
Annual General Meetings
Board Meetings
Breakout Session
Business Dinners and Banquets
ConferencesColloquium
Conclave
Congress
Consumer Shows
Conventions
Exhibitions
Expo or Expositions
Fairs
Functions
Fundraisers
Galas
"Green" Meetings
International Events
Meetups
Networking Events
Party
Plenary or General Sessions
Political Events
Press Conferences
Product Launch Events
Receptions
Retreats and Team Building Events
Seminars
Shareholder’s Meetings
Social Events
Symposiums
Trade Shows
Workshops
The events sector went through some very tryingtimes.
Despite the turbulent environment, events have
proven their worth and are here to stay.
The events industry makes a significant contribution tothe country and is a big economic driver.
Importance of Events
Myanmar ex:
What did this event CHANGE?
Enabled Trade InitiativeCreated efficient and sustainable healthcare in East AsiaImproved Mining and InfrastructureAchieved the New Vision for AgricultureBuilt Peace in MyanmarBuilt the Investment and Financial Services Ecosystem
On a destination level, there are several other benefitsto hosting an event, some of which include:
Economic benefits
Educational opportunities
Research and Development
Charity and philanthropy
Job opportunities
Strengthen destination brand
History & Current Status
GCC as an Events HubLebanon’s Pending Status
Dubai is the leading events destination in the UAE with a
market share of over 75% international events in the
UAE in 2011.
Dubai hosts to almost 27% of all events staged in theregion
Dubai positioned itself as a leading events destinationglobally and hosted some world famous internationalconferences and events.
UAE will host World Expo 2020
and set to welcome more than 25 million visitorsover a period of six months during the Expo.
The GCC's holds 1.3 billion dollars from the MICE Industry(Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions)industry and is set to grow
The number of meetings in the region has more thantripled over the last 10 years making the Gulf a popularevents hub.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman have emergedas the top three MICE destinations in the region:
State-of-the-art infrastructure
Facilities such as world-class venues for conferences and seminars
Well-developed hospitality industry, supported by their strategic location
Easy connectivity with the rest of the world
History & Current StatusGCC as an Events Hub
Lebanon’s Pending Status
Affected by the conflict in the
regionRise of the Arab
Spring
Internal security and unstable
political situation
Drop in occupancy and tourism rates
Fear and lack of trust in the
Lebanese market
Lack of foreign investor interest in the Lebanese
market
Events Cycle
Pre-eventInitiation & Preparation Marketing, Sales & PR
ExecutionOperations Logistics
Post-eventSurveys & RecommendationsParticipant Loyalty
Pre-event
Milestone 1: Initiation & Preparation
Marketing, Sales & PR
Pre-event
What do you think are the tools/ ingredients for planning an event??
Theme & Agenda Dates & LocationInternal Stakeholders External StakeholdersWebsiteSocial Media AccountsSuppliers Speakers Participants Deliverables
Remember:Many tasks go in parallel
Theme & Agenda
After the concept is discussed and clear:
Conference Name
Objective: Why?
A clear message describing the vision and mission of the event
Target Audience: Who?
Create an attendee sampling profile: Geography, industry, background, and education
Agenda: What?
The key topics that the event will highlight
Date: When?
Selecting the dates
Should not:
Coincide with other events
Coincide with holidays
Should be:
Held between the months of September – June
Location: Where?
Selecting the location
Must be booked at least 6 months prior to the conference
Must match the scale of the conference in terms of space (both rooms and function areas)
Must be within the conference budget
Must be within the conference image
Internal Stakeholders
Event Manager
Top Management
Marketing & Social Media
Manager
Sales Manager
Web Manager
CRM Manager
Operation & Logistics Manager
Designer
Copywriter
An Event Manager is a bit of EVERYTHING
External Stakeholders
Partners & collaborators: Organizations thatsupport you in organizing the event through barterbasis
Speakers, Suppliers: TBD later
Sponsors: Companies that are active in the industryand have a marketing budget and vision that is inline with the event
Media Partners: Agencies, news outlets, TV, radios,online and print publications that support you inspreading the word
NB: Associated with theme of the event
Website
The website should be user friendly
A space where:
All the conference’s information and updates are mentioned
Participants can easily register
Participants can download material
Participants can view list of attendees and book meetings (added value platforms)
Interested professionals can easily understand the theme of the conference and contact the organizers
Suppliers
Suppliers should be booked in advance according to budget and conference scale:
AV Equipment & Technicians
Sound Systems & Lighting
Photographers
Simultaneous Translation
Hostesses
Giveaway Providers
Signage & Branding Providers
Registration System Providers
Speakers
Invited SpeakersInvited speakers are the top notch industry experts that you need at your conference
Usually identified through research
They expect personalized invitation with expenses covered
Call for Paper SpeakersApart from the invited speakers, there are industry experts who have something to say and would like to be present on stage at the conference
Usually they reach out to organizers, they cover their own expenses
Participants
Invited Participants
These are usually VIPs and governmental officialsthat you need at the conference
Paid Participants
Paid participants are the ones you need tostrategically target to be present at the conference(marketing strategies will be discussed in laterslides)
Deliverables
Logo
Branding (Banners / eBanners)
Synopsis, Hotel Forms, Forms & Packages
Brochures or mobile apps materials
Ads
Badges
Signage (Backdrops, Rollups)
Other Collateral (Folders, Pens, Giveaways)
Logo
Branding
Forms & Packages
Ads
Brochure Badges
SignageBackdrop
Other Collateral
Roll-ups
Pre-event
Initiation & Preparation
Milestone 2: Marketing, Sales & PR
Why Marketing, Sales & PR?
Drive attendanceIncrease Sponsorship AcquisitionAcquire Partners
What are you Marketing & Selling?
OPPORTUNITIES LearningNetworkingExposureCertificatesQ&A platform Access to info
Online StrategyEmail Campaign StrategyMedia Relations Telemarketing Direct Mail Advertising Promotion at other events Pricing StrategySponsors & Partners
#SocialMedia
Mostly used channels for events (twitter & facebook & Instagram)
Mostly used channels for conferences: LinkedIn pages & discussions and Twitter
For Specialized events: Blogs, specialized social network
Post your updates on a daily basis on the accounts
Post videos & photos
Engage the stakeholders and ask them to share
A unique, short, memorable branded hashtag: ex: #SAFF2015 #DGTLU #LEF2015
Include hashtag and account names in printed material or any online collateral
Encourage live tweets from your event
Customize your TWITTER profile page
Always direct your audience to your website
#SocialMedia Twitter
Use the LinkedIn Events application to create your event
Ask people to mark that they’re “attending”
Start & Join Discussions – the best way to bring experts in the field
Share the event through your LinkedIn status
Reach out through InMail
Connect with industry leads
#SocialMediaLinked
Build your event in the Facebook Events application:
Post on event wall and send updates
Invite others to your Facebook event through email
Include the event on your organization’s Facebook page
Share your event on relevant Facebook pages and groups
#SocialMedia
Email Campaign Strategy
1- Save the Date Campaign: TO BOOK THEM
2- Intro Campaign: profile about the event: sponsors, speakers, topics
3- Incentive Campaign:(Newsletter): Early bird, group packages, good travel and hotel rates.
4- Final call for registration: 10 seats left
5- Pre-event information guide
General: Send to a large databasePersonalized: Most effective combined with incentive
Participants do not tolerate content errors
Very brief and highlighting benefits
Avoid words that will identify email as junk: free, click here, large emails
Avoid long subjects: they should be brief and direct to the point
Direct contact information of manager/coordinator
Email Campaign Tactics
Media Relations
Media Agencies are your Best Friends
Send Press Releases to Media contacts every time youhave a big announcement
Invite Media to Press Conference to write about theevent
Ask Media partners to promote the conference on theirmarketing channels
Telemarketing
Work with an up to date database / Marketing list
Make sure to write down all the points you want to discuss
Keep it brief and clear
Ask for full info to be able to send them an email
Book a meeting if in the same country
Showing your prospects how your event meets their need
Ideal Timing for Prospects in Lebanon & Europe:
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
Ideal Timing for Prospects in GCC:
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Timing is Everything
Direct Mail
Although the online world is eventually taking over, stillmany countries deal with direct mail/faxes
Send a personalized direct mail to the prospect (usuallyVIPs and officials)
Make sure to include all information and your accuratecontact details
Send them all required forms
Advertising
Both online and offline advertising are still very effectivemarketing tools
Advertise in local/regional magazines and newspapers
Advertise online on partner and sponsor websites
Radio and outdoor campaign if the budget is enough
Most organizers hire a media agency to submit anoverall media plan that covers the pre, during and poststages of the event
Promotion at other events
Attend industry conferences and events
Network with industry professionals
Look out for who is who in the industry
Spread the word during networking breaks
Early Bird Discount & other discounts
Offering incentive and introducing a sense of urgency toprospects is very important
Early bird discounts with clear deadlines
Group packages for prospects from same company
Discounts for loyal participants (from previous years)
Discount for certain association and students
Pricing Strategy
Sponsors & Partners
Engage with sponsors and partners on social mediachannels
Ask sponsors and partners to talk about the conferenceon their marketing channels
Ask sponsors and partners to promote the conference viaa link/banner on their websites
Prepare an email/poster for your sponsors and partnersto send to their clients
Same message across all channelsEx: early bird – promote it on SM, telemarketing and Email camp
During event
OperationsLogistics
Checklists Checklists
Checklists
OperationsPREPARE YOUR SCENARIOWHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR SCENARIO?
Who are your main teams? Organizing team, Hotel Staff,Suppliers, Temporary Staff, Sponsors, Partners
Who is in charge of what?
Main checklist:Signage & Branding,Stage, podium, microphone, table and chairsSeating (VIP, Regular)Registration processStands of sponsors & partnersRehearsals & Technical checkups (Presentations)F&B functions
Logistics
Logistics in the event management cycle is all tasksrelated to arrival/stay/departure of your local, regionaland international guests.
Main checklist:
Airport representatives
Flight list
Transportation list
Rooming list
Room drops for guests
Post-event
Surveys & RecommendationsParticipant Loyalty
Surveys (Evaluation Forms)
Important to distribute toward the end of the conference or tosend via email after the conference
Recommendations
Each conference ends with a set of recommendations for theindustry as next steps for professionals – it is very important tohighlight these recommendations on all your channels
Post-event
Surveys & Recommendations
Participant Loyalty
Discuss dates for next edition and offer incentive
Thank external stakeholders by email & Social Media channels
Make presentations available
Media Clipping to show coverage & importance
Always stay in touch online and personal communication
Media Clipping
Mobile event apps have become mainstream and will continue to
grow in 2015
Big data will become a key component of event marketing and design
Data breaches and app hacking will likely target events in 2015
Real-time, automated language translation capabilities will be used for events
Future Trends
Event and hotel Wi-Fi is becoming expected and mandatory
The transition from “attendee” to “participant” will continue
Aerial (drone) video will provide new perspective for event photography (if regulatory hurdles are passed)
Attention spans will continue to decrease
Despite the increased use of virtual meetings technology, face-to-face meetings and tradeshows will remain viable
Future Trends