Repeat events provide a great opportunity to step up your game and add more value.
But, there can be a downside to repeat events if you aren’t careful: it can be easy to make assumptions.
When working on a repeat event, it’s all too easy to rely on history and make decisions based on your previous experience because you really want to be focusing on some new wow factors and not reviewing AV specs for the 187th time.
Smart Meetings recently posted the “Five New Meeting Trends to be Aware of” including:
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Marc Boisclar of Connect about the role of diversity in meetings. I’m sure we can all relate to being somewhere where we didn’t feel included or welcomed. Whether it was the food or atmosphere or entertainment or just everything, we’ve all had that experience where we just couldn’t wait to get out and get home.
Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) recently announced a new suite of apps and technologies that will provide a more personal experience for guests. While many of these new features are available at other hotels, what really stood out for us was how the positioned the announcement:
“We continuously gather insights from consumers, which enables us to research, develop, pilot and launch new ways of engaging with guests across their Guest Journey,” said Michael Menis, senior vice president of digital and voice channels for IHG.
A client shared the recent article "15 Predictions About Future Conferences And Shifting Attendance Part 1" with me, and a few of these predictions really stood out from the rest:
Planning a repeat event?
No brainer, right?
We’ve done it before so there are no surprises, no unknowns. Just rinse and repeat. Right?
Sure. If you don’t want to keep that client, or your job, for much longer.
On the surface, it may appear that repeat events are the easiest to plan, but that’s not exactly the case.
Repeat events do give us history, but that’s all it is … history.
We recently finished producing a month-long festival that included more than 20 events. Yes, 20 events in 30 days.
20 events in 30 days does not happen successfully without a strong plan, a committed team and a clear strategy. We had all three of those and all indications are that the festival was a smashing success:
January doesn't usually see a lot of love: it’s cold, it’s a reality check after the downtime we get with holidays in November and December, it’s cold, it’s a month we set (and usually break) resolutions, it’s cold, you get the idea. But, there is something that January offers that we look forward to all year: spending some time checking out what the latest events trends are for the year and deciding which we are going to follow and build into the events we are planning!
Strategic outcomes? That’s just a fancy way of saying “goals” … right?
Nope.
Strategic outcomes are the organizational or corporate end-result of the event. Strategic outcomes are what moves your organization or company to the next level. Strategic outcomes are the entire reason your event exists. Goal-setting for your event will eventually become part of the process, but it all starts with the desired strategic outcomes.
To identify your strategic outcomes, think about two simple questions:
For many companies, the start of a new year is also the start of executing on new plans that you’ve been working on for months. It’s an exciting time as we all rush to put our fabulous plans into action and dive into all of the execution details
If you fit that bill, stop what you are doing. Slowly, step away from the details. Yes, we said step away.
