Great Expectations: What Sponsors Want

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What would happen if sponsors at tradeshows and conferences suddenly disappeared? Most likely there would be significantly fewer events, as there would not be enough money to pull most of them off. Much like our post that looked at events without a speaker, we likely won't see sponsor-less shows, but we may see sponsors playing a different role at events--becoming more of a participant and less of a funding source.[Tweet "What would happen if sponsors at conferences suddenly disappeared? #GovEventsBlog"]

Part of this transition is in response to many organizations who are no longer content to hand over money just to receive a logo on a sign in return. They need (and deserve) tangible returns for their investment. This evolution is being driven by sponsor and exhibitor expectations but has an incredibly powerful impact on the attendee experience as well. Sponsors want to be more involved in events. This can mean including their executives and experts as speakers or being involved in the event planning process. It can also mean providing access to attendees beyond waving them over on the show floor. Sponsors are hoping to build relationships with attendees that extend beyond the show dates.[Tweet "Sponsors want to be more involved in events. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →

Behind the Curtain: 2016 AMSUS Federal Health 2016

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AMSUSIn this Behind the Curtain feature, we're taking a look at one of the longest running events for the federal market, the 2016 AMSUS Annual Federal Health Continuing Education Meeting. AMSUS, The Society for Federal Health Professionals, was founded in 1891 and formally chartered by an act of Congress in 1903 for the advancement of federal health. In the time that the Chicago Cubs were without a World Series title, AMSUS has continued to evolve through medical trends, wartime needs, and peacetime support. Their annual conference is a unique venue that brings together military health officers for in-depth education on the latest technologies, tools, and techniques.[Tweet "A look behind the curtain at #AMSUS Federal Health 2016 #GovEventsBlog"]

This year's event is scheduled for November 29-December 2 at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort just outside of Washington, DC. The theme for 2016 is "Raising the Bar" and the Executive Director of AMSUS, VADM Mike Cowan, MC, USN (Ret.) took time to share some details about what attendees can expect at this year's event.[Tweet "Executive Director of AMSUS, VADM Mike Cowan, MC, USN (Ret.) discusses #AMSUS 2016"] Continue reading →

The State of the States

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While attention is rightfully focused on the national stage with the Presidential and Congressional elections, we wanted to take a moment to focus on the people in state and local government who keep our towns running. The work of state and local agencies has a huge impact on our day-to-day life. They are the people that issue our driver's license, police our streets, pick up our garbage, and give voice to the elderly and children through social work.[Tweet "State of the States: local governments keep our towns running. #GovEventsBlog"]

Across the country there are more than 12 million state and local government employees. This population is incredibly diverse with more than 5,000 different job classifications. While these numbers are large, state and local agencies are chronically understaffed and have become experts on doing a lot with very little.[Tweet "Across the country there are more than 12 million state & local gov employees. #GovEventsBlog"] This mixture of immediate and critical needs, with limited resources, has spawned some of the most innovative programs in our country:

  • Albany, NY - The city wanted to move unpaid traffic fines out of the system to reduce the administrative burden on staff that needed to continuously follow-up. The city instituted Food for Fines where people could donate to food banks to get their minor traffic fines taken off the books.
  • New York City -- Using data from 311 calls, officials could see and predict which areas of the city had tenant harassment issues and focus programs there.
  • Tigard, OR - Facing fast growth, this Portland suburb sped up the process for getting building and business permits by moving it all online.
  • Fairfax County, VA - Police increased transparency and made valuable community data available to the public by providing access to 911 calls through an open data portal.
  • North Carolina - Moving resources online for Veterans, the state reduced the backlog for military veterans seeking support from both state and federal agencies.

Even in support of federal activities like voting, states are investing in technologies that will make it easier for citizens to register to vote and cast absentee ballots. Continue reading →

The Event House of Horrors

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In the spirit of Halloween we thought it might be fun to create our own haunted house of sorts. We started thinking about how the traditional elements of a haunted house could be applied to the event world. What would happen if we combined common mistakes and missteps into a single show? [Tweet "Hold on tight as we walk through the GovEvents House of Horrors! #GovEventsBlog"]

  • Hall of Mirrors - Tradeshows can be overwhelming. Even attendees with the best laid plans can get sidetracked on the show floor. They can be confused by layout and/or distracted by competing audio and visual assets of exhibitors. Try to set a clear path through the show floor and plan booth layout so that two super loud or super visual companies are not set up right next to each other.
  • Cobwebs - Tradition can be heartwarming but when year after year you are "treating" attendees to the same thing it gets stale. Make sure you brush off the cobwebs. Look at attendee feedback and keep the elements of your show that are consistently praised and change up the elements that not only get negative feedback, but also those that never get mentioned at all.
  • Zombies - In the event world Zombies are people manning a booth that clearly have no knowledge of the product they are selling. They work off a script and take no interest in engaging in two-way conversation. Instead of mumbling, "brains....brains....I want brains" you can hear them asking, "leads.....leads...I need to meet my lead quota."
  • Trap Doors - Make sure session descriptions are accurate. You don't want attendees leaving a session or the event in general feeling like it was not what they expected. In a similar vein, make sure to clearly indicate which events are product-focused. Imagine an attendee looking forward to a session on "How to accelerate your move to cloud." They think there will be some best practices shared, actionable tips, etc., but instead it ends up being a sales pitch for a specific cloud service. At that point they may wish an actual trap door would appear to take them away.

[Tweet "What are some of the scariest situations you've found yourself in at events? #GovEventsBlog"]We'd love to hear from you. What are some of the scariest situations you've found yourself in at events? Let us know in the comments.

Survey Says…..Poll Your Audience!

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During election season we hear a lot about polls. Polling is integral to our democratic society. In fact, the Declaration of Independence requires that public opinion be taken into account. It states that our government functions expressly with "the consent of the governed." Abraham Lincoln took this heart when he said, "What I want to get done is what the people desire to have done, and the question for me is how to find that out exactly." This same concern should be shared by every event planner.

It is critical to remember that events exist to serve the attendees with a benefit to the planner (be that monetary or in intangible brand reputation). If attendees are not satisfied, the benefits will not be realized. To be successful, polling must go beyond leaving paper questionnaires on chairs and sending post-event surveys via email.  Just like in political races, polling must happen throughout the event process.[Tweet "Just like in political races, polling must happen throughout the event process. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading →