Start with the End in Mind

Donna Sanford
Founder and former Publisher of EXPO Magazine
Program Consultant for the Virtual Edge Summit
dsanford@virtualedge.org





If you’re like many in the event industry, 2011 will be the year you go virtual. And you’ll likely call someone like me to ask “how,” when what I wish you’d ask is “why.”

Do I think you should produce a virtual or hybrid event? Maybe. OK, probably. But for the right reasons – not because it’s trendy.

What I want to know is what you hope to accomplish with a virtual event. Are you trying to “tease” potential attendees to come to next year’s event? Or is your goal to make those who couldn’t attend physically still feel a part of the event? Are you hoping to position yourself as an education resource for your industry? Or is revenue your ultimate objective?

These are all legitimate goals, but each requires a different approach in terms of content and production for a virtual event.

If you’re going with the “tease” to try and give the 70 percent of your potential audience that never comes to your event a taste of what it’s like, then consider simply livecasting your keynotes and a few of the stronger breakout sessions. Maybe include a few video interviews with attendees talking about key takeaways from the meeting.

If the immersion of your home audience is what you want, then I’d suggest a robust offering of sessions and networking opportunities, with plenty of two-way communication. Add a streaming studio with “color commentators” who fill dead air between sessions and during food functions. And consider some product announcements and demos from exhibitors or sponsors so the home audience feels like they, too, got the latest news from the show floor.

If revenue is your goal, I’d up the ante on the above hybrid event and offer all the education sessions. Make it an on-demand event for at least six months, and include scheduled Q&A sessions with key speakers throughout the six months. Consider certification and accreditation for the online audience. Marketing will be key here to continue to drive attendees.

If positioning your organization as an education resource for your industry is what you really need, what could be better than a year of well-planned, well-executed Webinars? Not everything has to be a full-blown virtual event with an exhibit hall and a networking lounge. Add a link to a well-stocked resource room to your Webinars and you can become the go-to source for industry education.

For even more insights into the right kind of virtual event for your organization, I really recommend you attend the Virtual Edge Summit in Las Vegas, January 12-13, co-located with PCMA's Annual Meeting: Convening Leaders. There are 36 great sessions on every topic you need. It’s a full-blown hybrid event, too, so if you can’t make it in person, plan to attend from your office!

If you’ve got virtual questions, start sending them my way, and I’ll be sure to get them to the right VES speakers and get you some answers. I look forward to a discussion here or on Twitter at @virtualedge and #VES11.

Implementing APEX/ASTM Standards at Convening Leaders

Michelle Stoddard
Specialist, Project Management
PCMA




When the PCMA Green Task Force began discussing the new APEX/ASTM Standards on a spring 2010 conference call, I started to think of how PCMA could teach its members about these new standards.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the APEX/ASTM Standards, they are guidelines to produce more environmentally-friendly meetings and conventions. CIC has been working on them for a few months now, to produce a set of industry standards to make meetings more sustainable. Currently, CIC and the APEX/ASTM Standard Committee are working on finalizing the 9 standards to prepare them for voting, to be approved and published early 2011.

Now, PCMA’s annual meeting, Convening Leaders, already has an incredible number of components, forcing our meetings team to be spread pretty thin. I approached PCMA’s Vice President of Meetings & Events, Kelly Peacy, to see if she thought it would be possible to attempt two of these standards (On-site Office and Food and Beverage) for the January 2011 meeting.

Kelly agreed that PCMA should showcase these standards and asked that I work with Vicky Betzig on the Meetings Team to implement them. After reading and reviewing the list, we found that PCMA already meets some of the requirements; however, there was room for growth. By early fall 2010, we decided that our goal would be to achieve level 1 for all aspects of the On-Site Office and Food and Beverage Standards.

These standards are not just for planners, half of the requirements are for suppliers as well. It is important to distribute the supplier requirements to all parties involved as soon as possible. The MGM Grand was happy to work with Vicky to respond to what items they already do and what they can do by January. Make sure you leave yourself time to work through these standards, and keep in mind the meetings contact at the conference center will not generally have this information readily available.

Since Vicky and I began this process, we have developed an implementation and marketing plan, in order to understand what needs to be completed by January.

We hope that by working to achieve these standards for the 2011 PCMA Convening Leaders, we are able to produce documents to assist you in implementing these standards for your own organization’s meetings.

Please join us on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 for our education session, Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Standards, at Convening Leaders, to see the case study on what was done and to learn tips and gain tools for you to use when exploring these new standards.

If you have any questions relating to APEX/ASTM Standards and how we implemented them at Convening Leaders, feel free to contact me at mstoddard@pcma.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

SMM At PCMA Las Vegas

Posted by:
Jennifer W. Brown, CMP
President, Meeting Sites Resource




For those of you attending my Strategic Meeting Management (SMM) workshop at the PCMA annual meeting: Convening Leaders in Las Vegas this January, I am looking forward an interactive discussion and analysis on how to get the most value and ROI from your SMM plan.

The big picture goal of course will be on "how to demonstrate real meeting value to senior management" and specific metrics to define and measure success. Whether you control enterprise wide meetings and events for your organization, or only meeting activity in a corporate office, division or department, SMM is a game changer and will play an important role in your overall success. Meetings are big investments and a carefully planned and implemented SMM plan can save 14%-24% annually, which clearly will peak the interest of senior management.

"Value" has different definitions by different stakeholders, which will be revealed during the critical SMM needs assessment and action plan phase. Often, too much emphasis is placed on cost savings and not enough focus on meeting design, architecture and attendee experience / learner outcomes. We all want to squeeze (and demonstrate) more $$$ to the bottom line, however, if you save money but do not achieve meeting goals and objectives, that is not ROI, but ROB (Return On Budget), which is an "F" by SMM standards.

We’ll also discuss additional SMM components, including the need for robust technology that drives data management, including cost savings and risk reduction report by meeting.

I look forward to more dialog on this topic in Las Vegas. Participating as a driver of this essential business initiative will have a big impact on your organization...and career!

If you have any initial questions or thoughts on the SMM initiative, please send me an email...I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at jbrown@meetingsites.net.

Jennifer W. Brown, CMP is President of Meeting Sites Resource, a global Specialist in meeting site research and hotel contract negotiations. The company also offers professional meting support services, custom meeting education, SMM consulting and advanced meeting technology solutions.
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To learn more about Jennifer's session at Convening Leaders, visit pcma2011.org or contact communications@pcma.org for more details.

Never Replace Face-to-Face

Posted by:
Jordan Schwartz
CEO, Pathable



Perhaps it sounds heretical coming from the president of an Internet-based “social media company”, but I don’t think on-line social networks and communities can ever replace the power and value of face-to-face meetings.

At this point, you might be asking “but isn’t that your business?” No, it isn’t. Here’s why:

The value that on-line social networks for events provides come from the way they can enhance and extend face-to-face meetings, not replace them. Here are three simple ways:

1. Increased Attendance: On-line social networks are uniquely suited to set off viral marketing cascades: one person posts a note to Twitter or Facebook and all of their friends see it. If only a small percentage of those respond or “retweet”, you can quickly build a chain reaction where your news or message can flow through to an audience of thousands. By leveraging this network effect, you can get the word out about your event in a much more effective way than traditional ad buys or other channels.
2. Increased Satisfaction: If your attendees are coming to meet each other and build new relationships, they will judge the value of your event on their success at achieving their goals. If they walk away with a passel of new connections and relationships, they’ll be back next time. If they don’t, they may not.
3. Extended Duration: Typical face-to-face events last anywhere from several hours to several days. It’s a rare event that lasts all year. But that’s exactly what on-line communities can do. And not only do they extend your event for months after it’s over, but think about what kind of value a 24 / 7 tradeshow can offer your exhibitors!

With Thankgsiving wrapped up here in the U.S. and more holidays on the way, we’ve had many opportunities to see how emotionally impactful getting together with people face-to-face can be. Looking someone in the eye, hearing the silence between their words, feeling the grip of their hand: these powerful experiences can’t be matched by words or pictures on the screen.

But if you want to get the most out of the face-to-face experience, taking advantage of all that on-line communities and social networks have to offer is essential.

None of this is to say that virtual meetings and hybrid meetings (i.e., meetings with both an on-line and physical component) don't have value: they do! The way information can be transmitted and ideas exchanged without the accompanying travel costs (both time and money), are fantastic and these types of meetings will continue to grow with good reason. But will they replace face-to-face completely? Never.

Attendees at your events have a limited time to see each other, so they want to make the best use of the time they have. How can you help? Provide them with the tools to get to know each other before they arrive, to set up meetings in advance and to stay in touch when the event is over.

And that is enhancing and extending the face-to-face meeting.

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To hear more from Jordan, be sure to attend PCMA's 55th annual meeting: Convening Leaders in Las Vegas, Jan 9-12,2011.

Jordan's session, Successful Online Communities for Events, will help you identify best practices in building an online community, create synergy between face-to-face and online communities, and utilize online activity to improve year-round relationship with your community.

Giving Back: Community Service as Part of Events

Posted by:
Debbi Beldon, CMP
Experient National Account Manager




Community Service is an important part of my life. I have served on the committee for an annual local industry event that raises money for the Food Bank of the Rockies for years. I am currently serving as the Chair of the National Network for the Needy Committee for PCMA. Community Service has always been important to my company, Experient and I am grateful that they give us the ability and support to participate in some very important activities.

The Denver Experient Office holds an annual event called Pack for Impact that combines raising money and doing good work. We collect leftover convention bags and spend the afternoon with clients and supplier partners at the Food Bank of the Rockies stuffing the bags with food with the children that participate in the Kid’s Café program to take home every weekend. This year, in addition to actively stuffing 500 bags, I am very proud to share that with the help of some very generous sponsors we presented a check for $7,750!

I know that many groups include some community service component in their events, so I was curious to learn what groups were doing at their meetings.

I spoke with Diane Miller, Senior Coordinator Meeting Services for the Church of the Nazarene. She told me that they have been holding service projects at their events since 1987. The Church feels that it important when they go into a city – that they don’t just “take” – hotel rooms, food and beverage, etc. but also “give back” to the community. I was most impressed that at their Youth Conference, the service project is mandatory. Attendees are instructed to bring two suitcases – one for their personal belongings and one filled with food. Once the teens get to the event, they sort the food and fill boxes that will feed a family of four for a week. In 2007 in St. Louis they were able to provide enough food to feed 10,000 families! According to Diane, they believe that if you can expose these teens to service early enough, hopefully the practice of giving back will stay with them for life.

I then reached out to Heather Plush, Senior Meeting Manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Heather explained that they have done a community service project the past two years. The last two years their project was an adult “paint by numbers” activity where attendees could come and paint for as long as they had and then the paintings were donated to a local hospital. This year, they are working with the USO, selling specially designed children’s books in their bookstore for attendees to purchase. The books are equipped with recording devices and after the event, NCSL will send the books purchased back to the USO who will send them to parents on active military duty. Those parents can then record themselves reading the book to their children.

I spoke with a corporate planner that is celebrating their 25th anniversary, so every employee has been challenged to commit 25 hours of volunteer service over the course of this year. In an effort to support this challenge, six charities were showcased at a networking event at their office. A pre event video montage (viewed as pre-work in the virtual environment) described the charter and works of each organization prepared the attendees to meet with charity representatives and discuss the possibilities for personal and team volunteer opportunities. Additionally, they incorporate volunteer and community/charity work at almost every internal event.

If you are doing a Community Service project at your events – thank you. If you are not, maybe you should ask yourself why not? The projects are good for the community and rewarding for your attendees that participate. If you are concerned about not knowing how to get started, contact PCMA who has a Community Service committee and may be able to guide you. The Convention & Visitors Bureau in the city where you are meeting is a great resource for ideas. Destination Management Companies can also help you put on a great event.

If you are attending PCMA’s annual meeting: Convening Leaders, be sure to attend our session “Giving Back to Your Host City”.