Event Planner Blog – Pagina 7 – Fedra Meetings & Events

Categoria: Event Planner Blog

How LinkedIn Helps You Event Plan

Posted on 27 Gennaio 201718 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

While there certainly are ways to use LinkedIn for events, it has a less viral nature than Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. And it takes a much more intentional focus to make it work for you. That being said, LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool and I think you will see there is a lot that can be done – when you know how to work it.

Speakers

Ever wanted to contact a really great speaker and you just couldn’t find the contact information? LinkedIn is the perfect solution to that.

You can look it up, see if you have any connections or groups in common and reach out directly. It’s perfectly acceptable to send a connection request with a detailed message about the fact that you would like to hire them as a speaker.

And, best of all, since LinkedIn is used more sparingly than email, you will often get a response faster than if you were to directly email them.

Of course, it’s a huge benefit if you can name a person you both know or a group you are both a part of. It really helps make a great connection and gets you in the door much earlier.

Groups

When you are publicizing an event, LinkedIn groups are a great way to do it.

Just reach out directly to the group moderators and let them know about the event. Ask their permission to share and perhaps even give their audience a discount.

This is a great way to make a relationship with the group owner and share the word without spamming people.

Direct Connections

Finally, there’s nothing like a personal invitation to an event.

Make a list of all the people who would directly benefit from the event and then I reach out one-by-one to personally invite them to attend. I customize each letter so they know it isn’t a mass mail.

It is time-consuming, but none of the good stuff in life comes for free.

How Destinations Can Improve Fam Trips

Posted on 25 Gennaio 201718 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

Fam trips are of educational nature to give planners ideas, inspiration and networking opportunities with local suppliers.

Fam trips, or familiarisation trips, are designed for event planners to get acquainted with a destination. They are often organised by the Convention Bureau, hotel (or hotel chains) and other local suppliers. Organisers invite top decision makers to experience the best of what the destination has to offer.

Fam trips are exciting and fun! Destinations will go the extra mile to give you a lifetime experience. They will show you all the secret gems and be attentive to all your needs. You’ll often stay in luxury hotels or get the suite or best view. Most importantly, everything is organised for you and you just have to be there and can relax. This is one of the job perks.

Keep first day “light” for attendees

On the first day attendees are coming from different destinations, some have short, others long journeys to the airport of origin. Depending on the flight duration they can arrive exhausted. Often fam trip organisers plan a very packed programme on the first day but attendees can be exhausted to fully enjoy it. I recommend keeping the first day light, with a relaxed evening programme so we can have a good night sleep and save the energy for second day. Alternately offer your attendees an extra night the day before.

Facilitate attendee networking

On the first day when everyone arrives, most probably we are strangers to each other. Try to facilitate introductions, make an ice breaker or name badges including name, company and maybe a flag of the country of origin. Usually during the fam trip we find ourselves chatting on the bus, between the venue tours, at the table and introducing ourselves to each other. But would be better if the host plays a bigger role in facilitating networking.

Too much food

We appreciate the fantastic hospitality, but sometimes there is too much food. Starting with breakfast at the hotel, continues with splendid buffet lunches, coffee breaks, desserts, afternoon snacks and three course dinners can be too much. And because we also talk about sustainability, last thing we want is to waste food.

Invest in the invitation

If you want to attract decision makers, you must think creatively to prove it’s worth their time. The invitation is the first impression you give them if you cold call or even inviting an existing client, because they get many invitation so yours must stand out.

How is your experience with fam trips? How often do you go and what are the challenges you encounter?

How To Accelerate Sustainability In Events

Posted on 23 Gennaio 201718 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

Sustainability needs to be embedded into business models: it is a catalyst for innovation and a driver for profit. It is an opportunity for businesses, society and the planet.

With live events increasingly becoming part of many brands content marketing strategies, it makes sense that brand professionals need to be considering the implementation of sustainability into their events.

Sustainability & Responsibility

Too often people think that implementing sustainability into events includes that it is too complicated or too expensive.

People assume the government is taking care of it, event professionals assume the hotel is taking care of it, marketers assume that the event organisers are taking care of it.

As event professionals we have the ability to change behaviour in a multi dynamic way.

We can demand sustainability from our suppliers. If suppliers do not have a sustainable offer then we can encourage them to adopt one. We can change the behaviour of delegates by implementing small changes to the delivery of our events to ensure we leave less of a carbon footprint – changes that actually enhance the attendee experience. We can also educate delegates by explaining why we are making these changes.

By making attendees consciously aware of the changes we make, we are able to improve our own business image, reduce our impact on the environment and change delegate behaviour to reduce their impact on the environment. We are able to support social projects and local businesses.

In Conclusion

The world won’t save itself and individual torch bearers can’t do it alone. This is is going to take collaboration between all sectors to create an industry wide shift.