Decibel Picks: 5 Great Books for Event Organizers
EVENT INDUSTRY
Good event managers do it all: they understand the principles of marketing, they can respond to crisis situations with relative equanimity, they can deal with people and wrangle details. It s a career path that s part tactics, part technical experience, part money management, part psychology, and part grit. That being the case, when we sat down to pick five books that were relevant to the industry, we didn t exclusively choose books targeted at event professionals (though there are a couple here). Instead, we chose a few reads that address these core attributes.
Special Events: A New Generation and the Next Frontier by Joe Goldblatt
We d be remiss not to mention this start-to-finish resource by event production guru Joe Goldblatt. Not a work for those just starting out in the industry, Special Events takes a textbook approach to understanding ins and outs of event production. The latest edition covers modern trends in the industry, like green events and event technology.
Made Possible By by Patricia Martin
The non-profit sector spends an incredible amount of time and energy on fundraising. Targeted at that hard-to-crack market, this book is chalk-full of advice about how to do fundraising right. Patricia Martin talks us through how to not only put together a sponsorship package and land the right sponsors, but also to nurture those relationships so that they become long-term, mutually beneficial arrangements. Read between the lines, and you ll find that the material is very applicable to event fundraising.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling
Written by three veterans of corporate leadership, this book focuses on how to get initiatives executed and get your teams organized and goal-focused. The book s a little bit old-school and it s less about setting personal goals and more about helping teams get stuff done, but for event professionals who often need to keep disparate vendors and groups pointed in the same direction, it s a good read.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
Why do people come to your events, anyway? What is it that convinces your sponsors to say yes ? How can you better persuade vendors and land clients? This classic ad-industry handbook is full of Machiavellian gems that explain why human beings agree to, well, just about anything.
Freelancer s Guide to Corporate Event Design: From Technology Fundamentals to Scenic and Environmental Design by Troy Halsey
The scrappy approach to wrapping your head around the basics of lighting, rigging, seating, A/V, and all the other practical aspects of event production.
Four Moments of Zen All Event Production Pros Have Experienced
EVENT INDUSTRY
There s more than one kind of zen, grasshopper. And in an industry with such a strong penchant for tossing up curve balls and all-nighters, where there are such extreme alternating periods of high-energy intensity and then low-energy, we glimpse those moments of nirvana perhaps more often than most.
Psychedelic Exhaustion
You haven t slept in 39 hours. Something fell through at the last minute and you had to pull an all-nighter. You re on your sixth double espresso (you think) with at least seven more hours to go before you can crash. Your vision is swimming in a yellow-y, blasted out haze and you feel like you re having an out-of-body experience. Looking back later, you re not sure how you continued to function, but you did, and you got er done.
The Calm Before the Storm
The sun s coming up, the name cards are going on the tables and the final A/V checks are running smoothly. The attendees are about to arrive, but before the doors open and the day gets rolling, there s a moment of quiet where you stop, sip your cuppa, and appreciate the culmination of several months of preparation.
It s Out of my Hands
You ve ticked every box, but sometimes, the unpredictable happens. The weather channel announces an incoming blizzard, or someone central to the project falls ill. These times remind us that in some things, all we can do is offer up our best response to circumstances that are ultimately out of our control.
The Productive Groove
You ve hit your stride, Neo. Your hands are moving faster and more fluidly than spacetime would seem to allow and you re not even trying. You glance at to-do items and they fall off your list. Obstacles melt before you, solutions to the impossible spring into being effortlessly. The Dao De Jing calls this wuwei, or Non-Action , the state of perfect energy expenditure, where your lightest touches have the most profound effects. These are the moments you remember why you ve found your calling.
[Heads up] UK s Event Organizers Summit is Coming Sept 7 & 8
EVENT INDUSTRY
The UK isn t our typical stomping grounds, but the upcoming Event Organizer s Summit, produced by Forum Events and scheduled to be held at the Hilton London Wembley, caught our eye. What s different about about this industry pow-wow? No-BS decision-making, that s what.
The Event Organisers Summit brings together reputable suppliers and Corporate Event Organisers who want to find inspirational and innovative ideas for their future events. The Summit is the ultimate hassle-free, no-time wasting platform for executives, managers, directors and buyers who are directly responsible for the purchase of their organisation s event organizing products and services to create new business relationships with key suppliers for the event industry.
A get- er-done get-together where attendees are screened for their ability to sign that contract? Yes, please.
Hey, we love multi-day, everyone s-invited, three-speaker-tracks event industry conferences, we do. It s a nice way to get energized and keep a toe in the wider stream. But a high-impact, business-focused environment where every minute is maximized is a very welcome counterpoint if you re short on time (aren t we all?) and looking to expand your supplier list.
Plus, tickets are free for delegates. If you re in the UK, do follow these guys on Twitter and reserve your place.
A Collection of the Web s Best Event Management Infographics
EVENT INDUSTRY
A couple of years ago, we designed and released an infographic detailing new regulations for events held on D.C. s National Mall. Ever since that piqued our interest, we ve been bookmarking event-related infographics as we ve come across them. Here s a preview of the best infographics in our collection. Some of these are long, get ready to scroll like mad.
Guide to the National Mall for Event Planners, by Decibel
How to Build an Event Budget, by Planning Pod
How Technology is Changing Events, by Event Manager Blog
Four Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Events, by Eventility
Space Planning and Story Telling, by GES
Green Events & Exhibits, by MC2
Noteworthy stats from 2015 s biggest event marketing study
EVERYTHING ELSE
We re just now getting around to giving the Event Marketing Institute s latest EventTrack study a look-see (shame on us this thing dropped in May), and
For those of you who aren t familiar with EventTrack:
The Event Marketing Institute and experiential marketing agency Mosaic released the fourth-annual EventTrack, the largest research on event marketing ever fielded. This groundbreaking annual study monitors the continual growth and expansion of the event and experiential marketing industry. Unique to EventTrack is its dual-channel format. Two research studies are created and fielded, one to brands across the Fortune 1000 and the other to thousands
of consumers. The result is an incredible pool of data that connects what experiential marketers are doing and why with how consumers react and buy.
Here s what caught our eye:
Good news: the industry is growing
A significant 79{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of the brand respondents say they will execute more event and experiential programs this year compared to last year. There s also this: Companies and brands are increasing their event and experiential marketing budgets by a healthy 6.1{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} in 2015. This is up from an increase of 5.4{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} found in the 2014 EventTrack study.
Event planners really, really need to facilitate social media
It s no surprise that 85{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of brands that they measure event success in total attendance and 58{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} said they measure that success in leads, a whopping 61{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of brands said that event success is measured in Facebook likes and social media posts. That means that regardless of whether or not more social media activity means more sales (we think it does, but hey), clients perceive it that way. The more your attendees post, the happier clients will be.
Young men are more likely to buy during an event
Sixty-five percent of consumers purchase the product or service promoted at the event or visit. This finding is up significantly from the 54{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} found in the 2014 survey. Males are more likely to buy at events and experiences than women, according to the cross-tabulated survey findings. The age range most likely to buy on-site are those between the ages of 25 and 35.
Free samples are king
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, people like free stuff; in fact, 81{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of consumers said that giveaways are the primary motivator for event participation. But 78{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of also said that trying a product increases their liklihood of buying it. Combine those two statements, and we feel this confirms that freebies are still a powerful tool for driving sales at events.
Thanks EMI and Mosaic, we look forward to next year s write-up.
Throwback Thursday: Vintage Freight & Logistics Pictures
EVENT INDUSTRY
We re on a freight and logistics roll this month as we take a look at a couple of neat cargo, trucking and train transport pics from bygone days. In this episode of Decibel s #tbt, we learn that the more things change, the more things stay the same. These images from back-of-the-house logistics operations over the last 150 years are full scenes both familiar and alien.
1866: Central Pacific Railroad Company
Holy moly. When this picture of a Central Pacific Railroad Company train was taken, the American Civil War had just ended, and Kodak hadn t yet invented photographic film. This image shows a freight engine hauling goods across the post Gold Rush California landscape.
1943: Sleeping Truckers
This 1943 shot by photographer John Vachon shows drivers getting a little shut-eye in bunks at a Baltimore-based trucking terminal for the Associated Transport Company. Long hours and tiring routes: the rigors of the trucking industry haven t changed much in the last 70 years. Luckily, these days, the Department of Transportation has implemented that govern the number of hours drivers can be asked to stay behind the wheel (and you can checkout our write-up on new 2013 DOT rules here).
1906: Cargo Hold
Taken around the turn of the last century and owned by the Detroit Publishing Company, this shot shows the hold of the freighter S.S. JH Sheadle, empty of cargo.
1942: Train Dispatch
Hard to imagine a pre-computer world where dispatchers had to keep track of hundreds of trains on a chalkboard, but that world did once exist. This mid-World War II shot shows the engine dispatching office in Tulsa, Oklahoma s Frisco rail yard.
1909: Storage Company Truck
Good on ya, Guarantee Storage Company, for fireproofing that warehouse.
Event Logistics, Freight and Shipping: Questions to Ask When Choosing a Provider
EVENT INDUSTRY, TIPS & TRICKS
Organizing a large-scale event often means ensuring that bulk amounts of oversize items arrive on location, right on time. Considering that precision is so vital to a successful event, it follows that contracting a sloppy logistics company can quickly turn into a nightmare. Here are a few vital questions you should ask before you sign that contract:
Can I speak to some of your clients?
This one s a no-brainer: reputable logistics companies should have dozens of clients with solid recommendations who are willing to vouch for the company s timeliness and follow-through. Naturally, no one s going to give you names of unhappy customers, so it also makes sense to Google around and check reviews online to make sure there haven t been any major complaints. If you do find bad reviews, don t be shy about having a what happened there? discussion with the company reps.
What technologies are you using?
Tech-forward companies are forward-thinking companies, and logistics providers that have the foresight and care to employ the latest tracking and communications tech are more likely to have a better handle on where your stuff is at any given time. It s a good idea to ask when their back-of-the-house system was built, installed or updated. If the answer is more than five years ago , that should raise some eyebrows. You might also consider asking if they have an in-house IT guy or tech team, and whether or not they have a client-facing tracking portal, as a good provider will be able to keep you informed and relaxed with a system capable of providing to-the-minute updates on the location and condition of your stuff.
Have you shipped to our destination country before?
Did you know you re not allowed to import mineral water to Nigeria? That you can t bring electric fishing equipment into Lithuania without permits? Just because a provider has handled overseas shipping doesn t mean they ve got a handle on shipping to your specific destination. Every country has its own import laws, required documentation and shipping quirks, and if you need to move supplies internationally, you don t want any surprises on the other end. Ideally, your logistics provider will have a history of moving items to the destination country, will know the ins and outs of the local customs bureau, what types of items that country is likely to flag as problematic for cultural or legal reasons, any typical wait times in terms of cargo clearances, taxes and fees, and other place-specific issues.
Where are you going to store my stuff?
At some point during a long trip, it s likely your gear is going to be placed in storage. Tent sailcloth can get awfully moldy sitting in a poorly-cared-for facility, rats can chew on electrical cables, and in some places, warehouse theft is rampant. Get storage policies in writing, and make sure your provider clarifies how much liability they hold if your items are damaged, stolen, lost, or destroyed while sitting in a temporary holding space. And speaking of which
How can I verify your insurance policy?
No one wants to imagine the worst, but it does occasionally happen. Better to ask in advance: Does insurance cover the gear during each leg of the transportation process, or only some? What will happen in case of embargo? What is the process for filing a claim, if one is required?
Check all those boxes, and that ll be one more load off your mind.
4 Truly Useful Associations Providing Services for Event Producers
EVENT INDUSTRY, TIPS & TRICKS
The event industry is a connected, supportive place where you don t have to go anything alone. These great groups specialize in creating industry-specific networks where event producers can share resources, trade insights, and stay inspired.
International Festivals & Event Association
You want the most bang for your membership buck? Look no further than the IFEA, whose membership benefits include workshops, yellow pages, market places, award ceremonies for best-in-class work, industry surveys and worldwide support for overseas events. Members are also eligible to drum up further cred by writing for IFEA s magazines and publications, distributed to industry professionals all across the globe.
Event Marketing Institute
It s not just you: everyone feels a little bit behind on their event marketing know-how, a state of affairs EMI aims to overthrow. Their membership benefits list is extensive, including exclusive access to industry analytics, marketing training, quarterly conference calls with an EMI analyst, and custom educational programs.
International Association of Speaker s Bureaus
You can t join the IASB unless you re part of the speaking industry specifically, but they do offer a membership search page where you can dig through association-approved speakers bureaus (in case you wanna find a local firm or vet your existing one). And in an uber-meta move, the IASB holds their own conferences. With speakers. That speak about about speakers.
National Association of Catering and Events
NACE takes a holistic approach to event management and catering with the tagline One industry. One association. True that where s there s people, there should be food. If you re looking for a catering pro to plug into your event or as a partner for your event production shop, do have a peek at the NACE s member directory. And if you re seeking inspiration and business connections for planning your next mega-banquet, NACE s Experience! Conference and Expo is a can t-miss.
Get it in gear, event people: the 2016 SEGD Design Awards submission deadline is Jan 31
EVENT INDUSTRY
It s that time, brothers and sisters. There are two weeks left to submit your best experiential project for consideration at the SEGD awards.
If you ve never heard of SEGD, allow us to enlighten you: the Society for Experiential Graphic Design describes themselves as the global, multidisciplinary community of professionals who plan, design, and build experiences that connect people to place. We describe them as the cool kids end of the playground. And true to that form, the SEGD awards recognize badassery in, dare we say it, the coolest and often most-overlooked end of the event industry: immersive experiences, wayfinding and signage, experiential graphics, exhibitions, public installations, that kind of stuff. If you do any kind of spatial design yourself, scrape together a presentation and make an entry. If you don t, break out the popcorn and brace for awesome when the prizes are handed out.
Check out some of these madcap winners from last year s pool:
Wayfinding: Mount Stirling Alpine Resort Interpretive Trail
Man, I don t know what an interpretive trail is. Sounds like something they only have in cold places with high winter suicide rates where everyone s really good at making their own fun . Places whose major exports are herring and thinking too hard. But these wayfinding posts are pretty:
With a limited budget, timeframe, and limited access to the trail, a simple, cost-effective, and easy-to-install solution was required. HeineJones created a suite of interpretive elements that highlight local history and resources and presented the information on trail markers that provide visual clarity while blending into the natural environment. Sturdy cypress pine posts are laser-etched with the name of the resort and at eye level, partially encased in three-sided aluminum panels with digital prints applied. The interpretive panels provide simple trail wayfinding as well as walking distances between points of interest and information about animals and plants, helping to enrich walkers enjoyment of the trail.
Exhibits: Eldheimar Volcano Museum Interactive Exhibits
Ooh, another one filed under excellence in existential dread :
Launched in May 2014, the Eldheimar Volcano Museum is dedicated to one of Iceland s biggest natural disasters: the Heimaey eruption in 1973. In the middle of the night on January 23, a volcanic fissure opened up on the outskirts of the town and continuously ejected lava and ash for five months. The island s inhabitants were immediately evacuated to the mainland and many never saw their homes or belongings again. The event shocked the nation and for those involved, the emotions are still as intense and raw as ever.
There was a concerted effort by the exhibition designer to use as little text as possible. There are no panels with swathes of explanatory text that require visitors to read. Rather, visitors walk through the exhibition and learn about how the events unfolded by listening to an audio-guide. The exhibition is partitioned into zones and the audio system senses the location of the visitor and automatically reads out the relevant descriptions.
Experiential: #Trashtag
For Elevate 2014, an annual pop-up festival sponsored by the city of Atlanta, the Goat Farm Arts Center, a creative industrial complex that produces vanguard arts programming, conceived the D_MPSTERS program. They acquired 10 large roll-a-way trash containers, parked them on underused downtown streets, and curated a weeklong exhibition within them. Second Story, part of SapientNitro, was responsible for activating one of the dumpsters based on Elevate s central theme: Social City.
Bring your A Game
Competition is stiff for this one, folks, and entry fees are $50 for students and $450 for firms, so if you suck, you re just kinda throwing money down the drain. But if you got it going on and we think you do jump in. We d love to see you on the roster next year.
Tips for Forming Event Production Partnerships in 2016
EVENT INDUSTRY
In their annual end-of-the-year survey, Special Events Magazine identified the key business improvements measures event professionals are planning to adopt in 2016. Top of the list? 51{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of respondants said they d primarily be looking to form partnerships with copacetic service providers.
And it makes sense: there are so many bits and bobs that go into event production catering, A/V, printing and graphic design, PR, engineering, design, digital that even the largest firms can t reasonably bring every service in-house. Decibel has been fortunate to find and develop some excellent, long-standing partnerships with like-minded vendors over the last several years, so if you re one of the many looking to find new opportunities for cooperation in the new year, here are a few pointers for drumming up solid vendor relationships.
Identify your weaknesses
If you ve been in business any length of time, you can probably fire off a few thoughts about where you can stand to improve, or where your service listing is lacking. Identify two or three of your most pressing needs requests your clients most often make that you re forced to refuse or that leave you scrambling for a solution. Start there.
Do the research
Fire up the search engine and the networking skills and get busy. You might consider browsing Bizbash for suppliers in your area. Your ideal partner will:
- Specialize in filling one or more of your immediate needs
- Lack one or more of your specializations
- Service a similar client base
- Have a portfolio of work you admire
- Be local. Yes, we know. It s 2016, and everyone s working remote. But if your partner will need to be on site for events, locality kinda matters.
Put Together a Partnership Package
The information that a potential partner needs is not necessarily the same information you offer on your client-facing website. Create a PDF (or other document) introducing yourself and your company to prospective allies. Your partnership package should include:
- A very short background on your company, including key team members, primary service area, and how long you ve been around
- Your primary strengths and areas of expertise
- Short portfolio of recent projects and past clients
- Typical service volume (how many events you do per year on average)
- A brief blurb about your ideal client and the type of project that gets you excited
- Your contact info, naturally
No need to dig into numbers and pricing yet, that ll come later.
Contact individuals, not companies
Sadly, email spam has become increasingly sophisticated, and partnership spam is on the rise. If you don t want your introductory email to get lost in the mix of unsolicited SEO service form letters, you d better hop on LinkedIn and find out exactly who you should be talking to. Send them a personal email, and attach your partnership package for quick reference.
Start courting before a project appears
Most event management businesses begin to develop partner and vendor relationships when an immediate need for that service arises and a project is already in the pipes. While that situation can t be avoided in every instance (sometimes you didn t know you needed until a client asks), it s best to court vendors before you re pressed for time. This gives you enough wiggle room to establish a more organic relationship and get insight into your prospective ally s business ideology to see if you re a match. Speaking of which
Ideology matters
The best business relationships are mutually invigorating. Take the time to find out what your partner loves about the industry, what clients excite them, what type of projects they prefer to undertake, what their working speed and turn-around times are, and how they measure their own success once the event is complete.
Now, go forth and multiply.