Schedule time with a meeting expert >

+1-866-337-7799

What Is Crowd sourcing and How Do You Use It for Event Planning?

What Is Crowd sourcing and How Do You Use It for Event Planning?

by | Aug 27, 2019 | Attendee marketing

 

One of the greatest quandaries for many brands is how to get information from consumers. How can companies connect and engage with consumers in order to find out how they feel about the brand and what would make them happy, satisfied, and more likely to exhibit repeat patronage and make trusted recommendations to their family and friends?

Getting people to fill out traditional surveys can be like pulling teeth. Even though modern technologies have added considerable convenience, allowing for delivery of surveys through email or social media and providing for easy click-through to online surveys, still it can be difficult to get apathetic participants to pull the trigger, so to speak. This makes getting feedback and insight a hit-or-miss proposition.

What if there was a way for hosts and event management companies to reach and engage an audience in the planning stages of an event in order to find out exactly what attendees want? This would give you the ability to deliver a superior experience and ensure overall satisfaction with every meeting, conference, or event you host.

As it turns out, there is an option available to you that you might not know about: crowdsourcing. If you’re at all familiar with companies like Kick-starter, you’re probably aware of crowdfunding, by which startups present an idea for a product to the public and allow them to vote on its relative bankability with their consumer dollars.

Crowdsourcing is similar, except the currency of note is information. What, exactly, is crowdsourcing and how can it be used by your corporation or event company to improve future events? Here’s what you need to know.

What is Crowdsourcing?
Put simply, crowdsourcing is a means of gathering information from the public. The word is a portmanteau of “crowd” and “outsourcing”. Modern communications technology, mainly the internet, makes it easy to reach a vast audience in order to solicit input for tasks. One incredible example of this principle at work is Wikipedia. This online compendium of knowledge has been created entirely by crowd input.

Crowdsourcing Benefits in Event Management
There are plenty of ways to use crowdsourcing to improve your event, and your event management company can almost certainly make suggestions that help you meet your goals. You might ask event attendees and prospective guests to suggest and/or vote on topics of discussion, activities, and speakers for your event. You could even open up a sort of contest for attendees to suggest panel discussions, with the opportunity for those with suggestions approved by the crowd to lead the panel, just for example.

Says Josie Rubio, Director of HR and Global Acquisition at AMI “Crowdsourcing is a great way to get audience suggestions, gauge interest in topics and speakers, and increase overall participation and engagement. It can even become a form of gamification. When attendees are involved in the process of planning the event, they’re more invested in the outcome.”

Event Company Controls
You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where the inmates are running the asylum. When you introduce the concept of crowdsourcing, you should do so with the understanding that participants might come up with ideas you haven’t anticipated, and they may not be appropriate, relevant, or ultimately useful for your meeting or event.

Back in 2012, Bratislava thought it would be fun to crowdsource the name of a new pedestrian and cycling bridge, allowing the public to create and upvote names. Unfortunately, someone jokingly submitted the name “Chuck Norris”, which garnered over 12,000 votes during the 2-month polling period and won. The city ultimately chose a more suitable name (the Freedom Cycling-Bridge), but this example aptly demonstrates the potential pitfalls of crowdsourcing minus controls.

If you want to open the floor to suggestions and let participants vote, make sure you and your event company reserve the right to eliminate inappropriate or irrelevant suggestions, and ultimately, to choose the suggestions that best suit the meeting or event you’re planning. Your goal is to provide value to event attendees, and while crowdsourcing can certainly help to deliver new ideas and encourage engagement, you still have to keep a steady hand on the reins.

Let’s go back to the example of Wikipedia. Although anyone can enter information, it is open to review by moderators and the community, and when information is uncited and unconfirmed, it is noted so that readers understand it may not be accurate. Implementing the right parameters can ensure that you and your event company maintain control of your event.

When you partner with a reputable and experienced event management company like American Meetings, Inc. (AMI), you have the best opportunity to explore the strategies, technologies, and logistics that are going to elevate every meeting and event.

American Meetings Network Prime Member: Iberostar Hotels

American Meetings Network Prime Member: Iberostar Hotels

by | Aug 26, 2019 | The American Meetings Network

Meet our Prime Supplier: Iberostar Hotels

Our Prime Supplier Member, Iberostar Hotels joined The American Meetings Network and they are already seeing the benefits by meeting 1:1 with AMI’s Meeting Planners and Sourcing Managers at Global Procurement Day.

About Iberostar Hotels:

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is a hotel chain with more than 120 four- and five-star hotels, located in the most popular holiday destinations in Europe, Africa and America. The Iberostar hotel portfolio offers customers beachfront hotels, city hotels and heritage hotels. In addition, there is the Grand category, the highest level of luxury and excellence.Enjoy an All Inclusive holiday with your family, partner or friends at a hotel in Majorca, Tenerife, on the Costa del Sol, in Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica or Brazil. Experience the essence of the city at one of our hotels in Madrid, Barcelona or New York. Alternatively, immerse yourself in the history and tradition of a destination such as Santiago de Cuba or Montenegro.

How to Determine How Much Attendees Spend at Your Event

How to Determine How Much Attendees Spend at Your Event

by | Aug 22, 2019 | Meeting content and planning

It’s easy to figure out how much you make from registration at your event, even if you offer different tiers of access at varying prices.  That said, meetings and events can be expensive to host, and you and your global meeting planner need to consider the best ways to recoup costs and earn a profit if possible.  A lot of return can come from selling out tickets, but you can do more.

Whether you’re selling food and beverages, offering branded or event-themed merchandise, or providing popular products like phone chargers and handheld fans, there are ways to earn more during the course of your event.  Don’t forget about revenue that comes from sponsors, exhibitors, and vendors that want to participate and are willing to pay a fee or a percentage to do so.  It all goes in the pot, so to speak.

With all the hubbub, you and your event organizer could have some trouble keeping track of the money attendees spend at your event.

How can you track it so you don’t have to spend so much time separating revenue streams after the fact?  Here are a few tricks you should have up your sleeve.

 

Ask Your Convention Planner to Customize Payment Tracking Technology

Calculating how much attendees spend at your event first requires you to compile all the necessary data, and the easiest way to do this is with integrated payment tracking technology that puts all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.  If you have to rely on vendors and event staff to deliver sales data, your overall picture could be understandably spotty.

With a single, integrated POS platform in place to track and report sales data, you’ll have all your data in one place and you can organize it as you see fit.  This may require custom software, so you should discuss the possibility of hiring an experienced developer with your convention planner.

 

Work with Your Event Organizer to Track Top Spenders

It’s not enough to look at total sales if you want to optimize spending at future events.  You need to know who is spending the most and what they’re buying, or alternately, which items seem to be the most popular.  You and your convention planner can use this data to cater to top spenders and carefully choose which merchandise to offer at future events.

 

Take Notes on Contributing Variables

When you and your event organizer look over the numbers, it’s important to note why sales of certain items may have lagged at a particular event while others sold like gangbusters.  Environmental factors can play a role and understanding them can help you to plan for greater success at future events.

Says Maria Coker, Meeting Planner at AMI, “If you host an outdoor event, pay attention to the weather.  A warm day might result in increased beverage sales, whereas a cold day could see greater merchandise sales if you offer branded hoodies and scarves, for example.  Morning events might not see the same alcohol sales as an evening affair.  These variables can affect earnings and profit margins, but help you to spot trends and increase profitability down the road.”

Tracking spending data, breaking down sales, and considering contributing factors can all help you and your event organizer determine not only how much event attendees spent, but also how to increase profits moving forward.

5 Major Advantages of Hiring a Corporate Event Planner

5 Major Advantages of Hiring a Corporate Event Planner

by | Aug 8, 2019 | Meeting content and planning

You might think you can go it alone when it comes to planning and executing your company’s next big meeting, conference, or other event.  The truth is that you could probably pull together an adequate event with only minor hiccups.  But why would you struggle to pass with an average grade when you could partner with reputable corporate event planning companies to create a truly impressive spectacle that attendees will talk about for years?

If you want your next event to draw a crowd, create FOMO, and compel attendees to sign up for future events, you’ll find that there are major advantages to hiring a global event management services company like American Meetings, Inc. (AMI) to take the reins.  Here are just a few benefits you’ll gain when you partner with corporate event planning companies.

 

Corporate Event Planning Companies Deliver Expertise

Unless you already have some background in corporate event planning, you probably don’t have the same level of knowledge and experience as the trained professionals at corporate event planning companies.  Neither do they have your particular expertise – they probably couldn’t step in and do your job.

The point is that you need to play to your strengths and partner with professionals that are proficient in areas foreign to you.  Says Lilia Rosenfeld, Senior Meeting Manger at AMI, “Event planners are good at what they do because they learn a lot as they go.  Constant innovation yields hits and misses, but overall it makes us better at listening to clients, offering guidance, and getting it right down the line.”

Experts Can Help You Plan and Stick to a Budget

It’s not entirely surprising event hosts lack awareness of the costs involved in planning and executing corporate events.  Why would you know the cost range for renting venues and hiring caterers and entertainers, for example?  Event management services providers, on the other hand, are well aware of related costs for the various facets of their industry and they can help you to maximize an existing budget or even create a workable budget if you’re really lost.

 

Event Management Services Have Connections You Don’t

Because of existing relationships and insider knowledge of costs, your partner in event management services has the leverage to negotiate in ways you would be unable to.  While you might have trouble booking a popular venue for your event date or gaining access to the hottest entertainment, your event planning company could get the job done using an established network of connections and dealing in favors.

 

Insider Knowledge Takes Your Event from Concept to Reality

Corporate event planning companies have the knowledge and skills to interpret your vision and translate it into a concrete plan.  While you might ask for something “edgy”, not really knowing precisely what you want, your event planning service could offer you options for utilizing current technologies to wow attendees, boost engagement, and encourage online sharing, just for example.

 

Assistance Beginning to End, and Beyond

An event planning expert like AMI can help you to plan and promote your event, implement logistical elements, add innovative technologies, and manage events in progress.  You’ll also get follow-up services like surveys and metrics to gauge the success of your event.  Partnering with a reliable and innovative global meeting services organization like AMI comes with so many advantages that businesses simply can’t afford to ignore.

Get Strategic to Maximize Your 2019 NGLCC Conference Experience

Get Strategic to Maximize Your 2019 NGLCC Conference Experience

by | Aug 1, 2019 | Attendee marketing

Almost 1,500 supplier diversity, procurement, LGBT-owned and other professionals will be participating in the 2019 National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) International Business & Leadership Conference, August 13-16, in Tampa, FL. The event will be hosted at the Tampa Convention Center which is connected directly to the Embassy Suites Tampa Downtown Convention Center and the Tampa Marriott Water Street via sky-bridge.

The conference is an invaluable opportunity to learn how LGBT-owned companies can help grow your business.  It’s also an opportunity to incorporate more LGBT-owned businesses into their supply chain and build their professional network. Because we’re top supporters of the NGLCC and the annual conference, we’re sharing our top five tips to help you get the most out of your conference experience this year.  As AMI proudly prepares to be the corporate advisory and procurement meetings sponsor we’d like to share ways to maximize your experience while in Tampa, FL.

  1. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Review the schedule of events ahead of the conference, and, where available, the companies and speakers that will be attending. Ask previous attendees in your network what they found most helpful, or check out the conference hashtag on Twitter (#NGLCC19) to see what organizers and attendees are already talking about. Set goals for what you’d like to focus on and achieve.

Also, make sure you’re bringing what you need to do some heavy networking. Do you have enough business cards, collateral, and promotional items to get you through all four days of the conference? Do you have a good way to keep track of new contacts for follow-ups?

  1. Strategize your networking plan

Introduce yourself as is comfortable before the event to attendees you’d like a meeting with to ensure that you get on their schedule during the conference. Don’t be afraid to ask LinkedIn connections to make the introduction or give a friendly cold call.

During the conference, divide your time up strategically based on what you’re hoping to get out of the conference. In addition to one-on-one meetings, put yourself in group networking scenarios to meet more people. Don’t forget about existing business connections who will attend—it’s a good time to build upon your existing relationships at the conference as well.

  1. Take advantage of all the conference offerings

There are both pre-conference and opening-day receptions that you won’t want to miss, amazing performers and keynote speakers, as well as NGLCC events every evening. Select your breakout sessions wisely—not just by the title, but by the credentials and experience of the speaker. The Marketplace Expo is a great time to visit the booths of Corporate and Supplier attendees.

NGLCC’s Supplier-to-Supplier and Corporate Matchmaker sessions are ideal for making B2B introductions in your industry, or connecting LGBT businesses with opportunities in your supply chain.

These are by appointment only, so schedule in advance.

  1. Pace yourself

Conferences can be exhausting, and no matter how hard you try or how organized you are, you won’t be able to do everything. Prioritize what’s most important and what can wait until next year’s conference. And make sure you have moments of planned downtime to avoid burnout. To keep up your stamina, consider healthy eating and drinking, and try to take part in the organized Morning Group Exercise, or Corporate/Supplier Walk & Talks.

Don’t forget to have fun, too!

  1. It’s all about the follow-up

After taking notes on a breakout session, list three key takeaways before moving on to the next presentation. It’ll be easier to scan later if you capture essential points while they’re fresh.

Keep careful track of any new connections, noting meeting context or details on business cards. Timely and specific follow-up with next steps via email or phone will be instrumental in securing new relationships after the conference.

Stop by the AMI booth in the Marketplace Expo at this year’s NGLCC Conference to meet our team and pick up a free gift that will keep you charged throughout the conference.

Enjoy the event and good luck on your networking efforts!

Contact us at bd@AmericanMeetings.com to gather more information about AMI or the conference.