Discover the art of crafting a successful event as corporate event planning mavens Nicola, Richard, and Alexandra reveal their playbook for flawless execution and attendee engagement. Step inside the strategic minds that orchestrate proprietary events, aligning sales teams without overshadowing the guest experience. From precise budgeting moves that guarantee impact with every dollar to fostering connections that buzz with potential, this episode is your backstage pass to innovative event design. And if you think you've heard it all, our guests toss in their personal stories from the trenches, sharing the wisdom only years of experience can buy.
We're flipping the script on traditional success metrics, as real-time feedback and attendee joy become the new gold standard in the event industry. Learn how AI is transforming the game, giving professionals like us the power to tweak event narratives on the spot. Moreover, get the inside scoop on cost-cutting tactics that don't skimp on quality – think vegetarian spreads and a hard pass on forgettable swag. Wrapping up, you won't want to miss the good-natured ribbing over Richard's gift-wrapping escapades. Tune in for a session of insights and laughter that promises to shape the way you think about corporate events.
Discover the art of crafting a successful event as corporate event planning mavens Nicola, Richard, and Alexandra reveal their playbook for flawless execution and attendee engagement. Step inside the strategic minds that orchestrate proprietary events, aligning sales teams without overshadowing the guest experience. From precise budgeting moves that guarantee impact with every dollar to fostering connections that buzz with potential, this episode is your backstage pass to innovative event design. And if you think you've heard it all, our guests toss in their personal stories from the trenches, sharing the wisdom only years of experience can buy.
We're flipping the script on traditional success metrics, as real-time feedback and attendee joy become the new gold standard in the event industry. Learn how AI is transforming the game, giving professionals like us the power to tweak event narratives on the spot. Moreover, get the inside scoop on cost-cutting tactics that don't skimp on quality – think vegetarian spreads and a hard pass on forgettable swag. Wrapping up, you won't want to miss the good-natured ribbing over Richard's gift-wrapping escapades. Tune in for a session of insights and laughter that promises to shape the way you think about corporate events.
Speaker 1:
That was incredible. So now we're going to go straight to Event Strategy. We are wrapping about Event Strategy. So we have got three incredible corporate event professionals joining us to talk through some of the things to think about in 2024. Team, are we ready to wrap about Event Strategy? Let's do it, Okay. So I have this incredible question randomizer for the three of you. We have put in a whole list of questions. Now you are to wrap your presents, Get ready for the holidays while I'm asking questions here. So, as I hit the button, my number one question for you is oh, we're just going to start off light. What's your favorite holiday movie, Nicola?
Speaker 2:
I would say Elf. Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker 1:
Richard, do you have a favorite?
Speaker 3:
I also love Elf, but I'll give you a Christmas story. It's also a classic.
Speaker 1:
Oh, that's a good one, Alexandra. What have you got?
Speaker 4:
Well, I am not ashamed of it. Love, actually, I think the best movie ever.
Speaker 1:
Wow, you know what? I've actually never seen that movie. Is it embarrassing, or?
Speaker 4:
what, what, please?
Speaker 2:
no way, you are working right after you wrap up this 12 hours.
Speaker 4:
Wrap up 12 hour marriage on your watching live. Actually, I'll check in with you in the morning, that's amazing, all right.
Speaker 1:
So big question now Do most organizations let their salespeople come to their proprietary events? So, as you're planning for 2024, budgets we know are a little tighter than normal. Salespeople tend to be the first to cut. You don't want to spend all that extra money and then they're all hanging around. Do you let them come, nicola? What do?
Speaker 4:
you think yes, oh sorry. I was thinking about this.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, but you manage it. I mean you have to carefully manage your staff and employee ratio to attendees, but 100% proprietary events are about deepening relationships, building new pipeline, accelerating new pipeline. Yes, you just need to manage it in a proper way, alexandra, what do you think?
Speaker 1:
You just did a couple of roadshows across the world. Do you let the salespeople come?
Speaker 4:
100% like. I mean without salespeople. What's the reason to do it? I mean, they're like the engine of these events. It's all for them, right? The job of marketing is to make sales life easier, so these events are the number one method to do that. To achieve it, so you just need to know how to navigate the relationship and how to manage it and make their job easy and show them why it matters.
Speaker 1:
I love it, Nicola. Well done. I see that you've already finished your present. Do you have a lot more stuff to talk about this?
Speaker 2:
Well, I'm on my second one and I will admit my first one that I intended on wrapping is putting the computer screen, since I'm in a hotel.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so I have a very important question for you. So, as we're managing the strategy for next year, what do most organizations plan first the events or the budget? How does it work in your world, richard? What are you seeing? Do they give you the event and you quote the budget, or do they give you a budget and say make it happen.
Speaker 3:
It probably comes down to. Here's kind of what we're thinking here's the budget numbers we have, here's a blank sheet of paper. Let's go do something special. Then it's kind of talking about what the priorities are, right, and that's where it's getting interesting. The 2023 priorities are not similar. They're all over the map, and so that's where we kind of sit down and come up with something unique. So that's kind of the fun part, right, every day is a new puzzle and it's never the same thing twice.
Speaker 1:
That's so true and I'm not sure we did full intro. So Richard Stenow from Bellwether and Alexandra, I can tell me your last name. I've never been able to say it.
Speaker 4:
By new Hina.
Speaker 1:
You make it sound so easy With Pixels and Nicola Castor, with the event strategist. Okay, are you ready for your next question? What's one unique approach you've seen to elevate attendee engagement and participation at your events? Nicola, what do you?
Speaker 2:
think it's a hard question to answer because it depends on the event in the audience, right? So I think finding a way for people to organically connect on their phone is critical. I'm not sure An example from one who's at TED, which was always a bucket list item for me. I got to go and I met so many people through an WhatsApp group that one person started so to me that I advise all my clients to think about those types of efforts.
Speaker 1:
Alex, do you have any suggestions on attendee engagement?
Speaker 4:
I think what definitely helps is creating a little bit more freedom and a little bit more space within your agenda, so not packing it with only sessions, keynote presentation after keynote presentation and then followed by a panel, and then this and then that but actually looking at the ratio of that time that you're dedicating to that actual networking and connection and then curating that networking and connection time so that it's not like people are thrown in on their own in the pool like we are now with our presence, but actually that you create this little mechanics and techniques to connect them, to engage them and to make it feel very natural.
Speaker 1:
I think you are so right. Engagement goes south when you put people in a darkened room for four hours straight. They can't handle it for very long. So that's you know. We've been working through this, putting 15 minutes segments up throughout the day to see how it works, and virtually nobody has an attention span for anything, so we're doing ridiculous things. Rapid presence while we're having this great conversation. Richard, how do you see metrics and priorities changing and evolving in 2020?
Speaker 3:
So it's interesting. One of the things that we're seeing a huge emphasis on is real time metrics, so so often we do the events, we get through things. Couple weeks later we get the reports. Technologies that are allowing us to see in real time what the attendee satisfaction is, even camera systems that are looking at the audience and using AI to measure their facial expressions and determine their level of satisfaction with content. We've got a client that will be adjusting content on the fly based on the feedback they get real time. Haven't seen it before. I'm super excited to see how it comes together.
Speaker 4:
Good luck to them. That's a bit scary. That's scary.
Speaker 2:
I would love it. I hope they do. In my experience, your content creators are not often that flexible. As a content creator or presenter, someone says can we hit your session midway through? What am I gonna do? Right? So there's a balance of figuring it out. But I mean data and metrics is something I'm so passionate about and I'm so excited that our industry is finally embracing metrics the way that we should.
Speaker 1:
Are we, though? Because I honestly feel like we've been talking about data for 10, 20 years, and then we were able to capture data, and now we have so much data that nobody knows what the heck to do with it, so we're still talking about it. Who's implementing it right?
Speaker 2:
Well, it starts with your objectives. How do you know what data matters if you don't know what success looks like? There's more than 150 data metrics we can capture, so you start with your objectives. That tells you what data you need to capture, and I think that's where we have to go back to not the data. We have to go back to setting the right foundation.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, I think that's fair and I guess it also depends on, yeah, from event to event and the type of organization that you are Like. Obviously, when you are putting on a huge show let's say FrameForce, right as an example that everybody knows and you'll have a totally different set of metrics compared to, for example, what I do, the type of events that we create that are small, intimate, like 150 people max and like when it's all about the business objectives as well, for one single company. So that's very different.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so then that means that you cannot answer my next question and I would just go with, generically, leads, pipeline and revenue, but what are the top KPIs that you think your executives are looking for this year? Are those still the main three?
Speaker 2:
It depends on the objectives, it depends on the event.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, for me I would remove leads from it, like it's less about the number of leads, it's more about the target accounts that are engaged through the programs, but then obviously pipeline and revenue. But that's also because we are deeply rooted in terms of account based strategy. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 3:
Pipeline revenue and then brand image. We're seeing a lot more clients take a look at their image prior to the event and post event. Social and other things impacted them.
Speaker 2:
It's an interesting metric to watch. I did a post about it recently. I felt there's four objectives and there's certain metrics that go against those, and so I think identifying for anybody from the audience listening identifying what you're trying to achieve, then that'll tell you what to measure and what to report on.
Speaker 1:
And then, of course, the really big one that we focused on the last half of the three. We probably not be doing away in 2024, and that is how to do more with less. So what are the cost cutting measures that you think are not going to impact the actual event or results next year?
Speaker 4:
I can share my example. It was for many reasons. One was sustainability, but also budget. It is a removing swag and not doing any swag. It is actually a big chunk of money that you can get released. And switching to vegetarian catering. That is a little bit harder to procure and to manage initially, but it does cost less and it's much more sustainable option.
Speaker 1:
Richard, what are you seeing? I know they come to you and they say, yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3:
So production schedule right, it's always been three days to load in, three days of show, a day or two to get out. Looking at that schedule, changing how rehearsals work a lot of offline rehearsals we're working on now for main stage, so we don't have so many people sitting in a room watching script reviews being done. So I think, looking at that schedule, looking at some efficiencies in the process and then technologies there are some other details break out systems whatever that move in, set up much more quickly. So we've got a lot less labor, a lot less time. We can cut building schedules by a day, maybe two, depending on the event and the executives.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's always better to have the right budget in the beginning than to start cutting the budget two weeks out.
Speaker 3:
I'm not familiar with that first part, but I'd love to see it.
Speaker 1:
Nicola, do you have any great cost cutting ideas?
Speaker 2:
Not really, unfortunately. I came from a world where budget was, there was a lot of it, so I don't know that I have advice that could scale to many. What could you?
Speaker 1:
that's so cute.
Speaker 3:
Nicola. What's their address and phone number?
Speaker 4:
You have a lot of budget, go to Nicola for organizing your next event Apparently. If you have no, budget own me.
Speaker 1:
She doesn't work there anymore.
Speaker 3:
We're starting a GoFundMe account for Alex's account so just help us out with that, if you would.
Speaker 1:
Well, the one that resonated with me was actually do less with less. So just prioritizing the budget is probably the best cost cutting measure that you could possibly consider for 2024.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely is.
Speaker 1:
All right, team, our next segment. Let's see if we're ready for a little break. Okay, so it's thank you. I just want to thank you, richard, nicola and Alex for joining. I hope you got your presence wrapped. Let's see the final results here. Richard, did you successfully get any done? Oh, look at this.
Speaker 2:
I dropped one on the floor, so I'm not going to go get it. It wasn't breakable.
Speaker 3:
Whoa In a hotel.
Speaker 4:
Richard, did you get started yesterday on this presence?
Speaker 3:
Girls, I've got mad skills. Don't be jealous.
Speaker 1:
That's absolutely epic. Well, thank you all so much for joining. We'll put this recording up because there were some incredible insights and we cannot wait to talk to you more in 2024. We're going to take a little break and we'll be back on the telephone real soon.