Meeting monthly, NYSAE's Communication SIG has tackled a number of topics over the past year, from Advertising and Sponsorships to Special Events, Galas and Anniversaries. At our May gathering, we focused on special events, galas, and anniversaries. Here are some tips from the session.
Pre-Event-Challenges
What to do when the meeting's schedule and speakers are not firm but you want to get the word out:
- Create a catchy phrased "Tidbit Tuesday" or "Efficiency Wednesday" and send it out at the same time every week. Introduce one speaker or one topic each week.
- Sell the event on past success: "Last year over so many people attended." This is who our speakers were etc.
Losing speakers or the keynote presenter right before an event:
- Always have a Plan B ready!
- Call on board members who are industry experts who can speak to the topic.
- Consider putting together a panel of all the speakers of the day with a moderator for questions from the floor (Provide a future opportunity with the keynote to "make good," such as webcasting a special session.
Connecting the brand to the organization:
- Create an overview document of the event with specifics about the organization from which they are getting the award.
- Make sure relevant signage has not only the event name but also the organization name so that they are always linked.
Need more attendance:
- Develop a pre-scripted invitation e-mail to send to speakers/board members/those who are already attending. This would be for the speaker to send an invitation to "hear them speak" to their contacts.
- Consider removing cost barriers like airfare or registration fees by providing scholarships
- Send a "donut" or "Swiss cheese" press release to speakers so they can personalize and send to their own contacts and media outlets.
- Pre-write social media tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts for anyone involved in the conference to send out on their own. Consider a social media discount code (Maybe nonmembers at member rate?).
- Create a Tweetchat before the event. Give a speaker or two a few questions to feed into the live chat.
- Create a "we would love you to do" letter for speakers outlining all the ways they can help promote the conference.
- Offer associations that buy a certain number of registrations a free registration.
During the Event
How to spread the news of the conference to those not attending (to entice for the following year):
- Create a Twitter hashtag to generate buzz.
- Send a daily digest emails.
- Livestream special events so they won't want to miss in person the following year.
Post Event
Get participants to submit post-event surveys:
- Incentivize (raffle for something).
- Hold back swag until they submit.
- Hold a town hall on the show floor.
Do Pre-Event Surveys!
Looking for other ways to ensure a top-notch member meeting experience, read:
Maria Ungaro is vice president, Kellen Company, and serves as the executive director, New York Women in Communications (NYWICI), as well as the group's philanthropic arm, the New York Women in Communications Foundation. She is also the Awards Director for the Airline Passenger Experience Association. She can be reached at mungaro@kellencompany.com.