Enjoying the Cold Sunshine

I took the time in the course of research last week to visit the AIIM Expo at the BCEC(Boston's new massive convention center). It was nice to see an event pretty much fill the huge expo floor, dwarfing the first event in the hall, Macworld, which I ran in 2004.

I always enjoy visiting events as an attendee, as I think seeing these shows as a customer always informs one's opinions on how to run them. I have to say that these events are tiring, especially in a big hall....

Winter time in Massachusetts and after this weekend's rains the Concord River overflowed at the Old North Bridge making it impossible to cross the river and enjoy a long walk. Still, got to love the four seasons in New England...

Models for Profit

As I move forward with my business, I am interested in those who come up with new models for events, based upon what seems to the nirvana, getting C-level attendees in front of high paying sponsors, and doing in a way so the upfront risk is low and return high. Occasionally I see a few.

I have learned that there are three types of events:

• the 'regular' event, the type of which comes and goes, usually not the #1 or #2 events in the market;
• the 'have to attend' event, usually the number #1 or #2 event, which people may not want to attend, but feel they have to because the rest of the industry is there;
• the 'want to attend' event, usually an event where the stakeholders look forward to attend.

The first category is 80% of all events, the second 15%, the third 5%. Which category does your event fit into?

The other distinction is that organizing the first two categories is science, i.e. that a formula can be applied to get the result, the third is art and much harder to do. The result, the reason that 95% of events are in the first categories is because of the investment one needs to put in over time to get the 5%. The new models help you get into the third category, but don't guarantee it.

As John Mooney(the Chairman of MC Communications) says, 'Content is king' and is the foundation for attracting the audience you want. Once you get the audience, the world is your oyster....for now until someone else attracts the attention of your audience, and gets them to act(ie look at your website, register for your conference, etc)...

Make this week a profitable one...