Eventprofs TweetChat Recap for
March 16th, 2009 9pm EST
Note: This TweetChat showed a strong international presence from Australia to Europe
Topic 1 – Strategies for Business growth in a Down Economy:
• @Jeffhurt mentioned using virtual events to augment decline in f2f meetings
• @jefferyhansler mentioned that re-distribution may be a better way to describe the current trend towards virtual events.
• @ready2spark: {moderator} Growth thru acquisition? new products? new services? partnerships?
• @GregRuby mentioned cost control vs. growth from the supplier end of the market
• @Andreagold mentioned looking for opportunities as well as creating them
• @jeffhurt: 56% of our companies have new travel/hotel corp policies 4 ’09.
• Strategic partnerships are becoming a focus as a tatic to survive.
• @mab397 pointed out that growth is possible if your product remains relevant and scalable.
• @marksylvester: Great example of virtual conference was major pharma in Sept – dealer training conf – was 500K, cut to 175K going virtual
• @jessrafferty new strategy is government contracts, can be recession proof
• Questions raised about the perception of virtual events. Do you charge? How much? What is the ROI/ROO?
• Need for new sales techniques mentioned. Specifically mentioned we are not order takers per se, do need to show client value of product even more.
• @Heypeterman, @jefferyhansler, @marksylvester added to discussion on topic of which comes first, the virtual or the live event?
• Consensus made that f2f will always thrive, virtual is useful in it’s own right.
• @marksylvester shared that exhibitors and sponsors on the decline, taking budget dollars for overall conference with them.
• @EventNewsCenter: tradeshows are still a bargin as far as biz dev goes when you look at the cost to meet face to face with qualified prospects
• @nicolejensen raised concern for using SM at event while maintaining confidentiality.
• Consensus was reached that f2f will always remain and virtual can augment live meetings and events. Down side is when virtual replaces almost all live events. @ringettechick: my old company moved to 1 major F2F event per year & the rest virtual. It was good for the delegates, but not good 4 my resume
• @eventbootcamp shared: http://www.cci-leadershipstrategies.com/cci/Blog/tabid/81/EntryID/6/Default.aspx. Excellent article on the next generation of leaders and their adaptation of SM and web 2.0
• ready2spark: {moderator} What do you pros think r the best ways 2 use virtual 2 augment f2f and deliver best ROI 4 attendees + organizers? (Re: @nicolejensen . Video blogs, interviews, streaming, podcasts, blogs, online registration, e-mail marketing… list is endless!)
• Point made about shorter attention spans at conferences and meetings. Should start weeding out bad presenters and making for stronger content.
• Many points made to post event surveys and blogs to keep the momentum moving.
• @dwheller11 says looking to offer future free virtual attendance to live meeting attendees.
• @Jeffhurt “The good spkrs lrn to use twitter/texting to their beneift w/aud. It works. I’ve got scores/evals that show it.â€
• @GloNelsonCSEP in Response to @GregRuby’s question about when only virtual meeting is best: “Greg, if you look at Virtualis and what they’re doing in SL, you’ll see some good examples when/why .â€
• How to use Twitter to engage audience by @OliviaMitchell: http://ow.ly/10h2 courtesy of @JeffHurt
• TED conference used as example to tools available after live conference. Also great example of event/meeting where people want to be for f2f
• Point made that virtual can help with collaboration between people thousands of miles apart while containing travel expenses
• Still a long ways to go within several industries (i.e. banking, pharma, etc.)
• Interesting Stat: Jeffhurt: @ronnyes We found that 74% of our members age 35-65 (insurance types) now use social media and were not afraid of virtual
Topic 2 – Industry Certifications
• Consensus from Cert holders that clients paying more attention to certs. Shows dedication and training
• Non-Cert holders seem to agree that experience trumps certification
• @nicolejensen mentioned that price to obtain cert can hold one back. ronnyes: @nicolejensen MPI has scholarships to help
• @GloNelsonCSEP made the point that certification with up to date experience is best.
• Consensus that Assoc and orgs need to educate their clients and staff about the value of hiring an industry certified professional
• Point made by several that some contracts require certification while others do not.
• Several testified to the benefit of the classroom learning environment for Certifications. Many taking classes have substantial field experience and can be valued asset of said curriculum.
• Jeffhurt: BTW, go 2 http://wefollow.com/ & enter Eventprof (without s) so that you’re listed as event prof in twitter directory
• @marksylvester: How ISES markets their members: http://bit.ly/qufy
• nicolejensen: Australia’s main event industry bodies would be http://www.meetingsevents.com.au and http://www.eeaa.com.au
• goseedo: The cert discussion remind of an Ad Age piece that found that non-MBAs are more effective in marketing than MBAs (Interesting…..)
• Great point: Those in industry look for cert, clients don’t always look.
• A number of clients don’t have a clue what the cert acronyms stand for, more education is needed to general public about our education and standards
• Overall, Certs serve to boost the quality and integrity of our industry as a whole.
• Lastly, you cannot measure ROI on a cert.
The above notes were generously taken by Chris De Ormande of ShowTec, Inc. All notes were taken with the intent of being unbiased and best capturing the essence of the discussion. If you would like to add to them, we invite you to comment in the comments section below.
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
President – ISES Toronto
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