Event Planner Blog

I recently attended a local Meetup group that’s monthly meeting was focused around social media. It didn’t take long for the group discussion to focus squarely on Twitter - and to continuously return to the topic. Obviously, if you are researching how to start or optimize your social media campaigns you can’t leave out the power of that little, micro-blogging blue bird.

Everyday a new twitter tool or service comes out, thanks to the ease of the Twitter API. However, to the twitter newbies, trying to harness the power of twitter and all of the third party applications can be daunting. I have only been on Twitter myself for a few months. Although bg Theory has a company account (@bgtheory) I also have a personal account (@leslieclark). I don’t tweet a lot, normally only a couple of times a day. Most twitter power-users would have a heyday massacring myself just for my low volume of tweets.

I wasn’t going for quantity, in either followers or tweets, but quality. Also, I knew I was going to make mistakes, and I prefer not to do so in front of thousands of eyeballs. So I wanted to share the insight I have gained.

1) It’s all about me! No, it’s not… The idea of Twitter is conversation. Sharing your insight, knowledge, and experience with others, and vice versa. Do NOT let your tweets turn into a laundry list of how fantastic your products or services are. Rather share industry news (whether your own blog post or one you enjoyed reading, stats from a recent report, etc.) If someone @replies you, respond. If you @reply someone, watch for their response and try to continue the conversation.

2) I am going to follow everyone and hope that they all follow me back! I see this strategy used a lot - it’s stupid. Mr. Tweet and Twellow are fantastic for finding people to follow. Using Twellow, you can search by geography, industry, or keyword. Mr. Tweet will make recommendations based upon who you are already following, and who those people are following. Only follow people who either 1) are in your industry and may be a beneficial contact in your network, 2) may have a genuine interest in your product or services, 3) discuss topics that are interesting to you, both professionally and personally. Do NOT follow just hoping to get your follower count higher.

3) I will automatically follow everyone that follows me! SocialToo has an optional service to automatically follow everyone who follows you. I know many people who do this, I can’t figure out why. If a spammy twit using the above mentioned strategy follows me, I don’t want to follow them. I normally use the following criteria to determine if I want to follow someone back: 1) Based on their bio or provided URL and/or past tweet content, will this be someone I may gain something from in terms of knowledge, expertise, or entertainment. 2) Their follower ratio. Are they following 50k people and only 5k are following them back - there is probably a reason for that… 3) Are they conversational? Look at their recent tweets. Are they only posting URL’s or what they had for breakfast, or do they have at least a few @replies.

4) Whenever we have a promotion, discount, whitepaper, or blog post, I am going to remind my followers over and over again until I am sure everyone has seen it! No..no.. Please don’t do that. I am going to emphasize this statement just in case I am following you. If you have a strong, relevant follower base and a genuine offer - you will see the magic of the retweet. Your community will share this information with their own networks and suddenly you have reached countless eyeballs. Normally once or twice, spaced between other tweets, is enough self-promo per day. If every time you show up in my feed you are touting the same tired offer, I am likely to un-follow you pretty quickly.

5) I am going to tweet everything! Adding tweets like “Met my mother for lunch at Joe’s cafe, the corn chowder was great” does add a human touch, especially to a corporate account, and for your local followers they may be happy to know the soup at Joe’s is noteworthy. However, I do not want to know that you just walked the dog, now are drinking coffee, just spilled your coffee, and now the dog is making a bigger mess of the spill. Try to find the right balance of personal, professional, and conversational tweets.

Now, since this an event marketing blog, let’s finally get to the good stuff! The do’s and don’ts when promoting your events.

First, you only have 140 characters, so put the same amount of thought and precision into your tweet as you put into the ad copy of your ppc campaigns. You want your tweet to grab attention, clearly state the offer, and include a call to action. And don’t seem spammy while your at it. Go ahead, give it a try, not exactly easy. For an event discount, try something along the lines of

“Google Advanced AdWords Seminar in Philly May 20 & 21- Use code twitter12 for a 10% discount http://tinyurl.com/dnm5lv”

The above tweet worked well for me and was ReTweeted to thousands of eyeballs. Why? It includes the topic, the location, the dates, a promotional discount, and a link. My followers quickly see who, what, when, where and the discount code made the tweet useful and retweet-able. The URL is a quick call-to-action. The seminar topic is relevant to my follower base, and for many of my community’s followers. Up until the event, I may tweet something similar to this about once a week.

Second, if you are going to use twitter as a major component in your advertising campaigns, you want to build your follower base. One of the best ways to do this is to put the link to your twitter account or a “Follow Me on Twitter” button on your website, blog, and other social media pages. Obviously the visitors to these sites are already interested in your company, and if they are on Twitter, they are more likely to follow you then someone you are blindly following yourself.

Third, track your success. Cligs is a free service that gives you real-time tracking of who is clicking on the links you tweet, not to mention it is useful for other campaigns such as email, or other social media sites like Facebook or Eventful.

Fourth, never just stop tweeting because you are busy. If someone on your team is responsible for the twitter account and is taking time off (or worse leaves your team) make sure someone is there to pick up the account. Twitoria is a free service that easily allows you to see who has not tweeted anything in over a week, month, etc. If you haven’t posted anything in at least a week, you risk losing followers. Also, if people are asking you questions or for advice and they are not getting a response, you no longer hold a lot of value for them to continuing conversing with or following you.

You can use Twitter successfully without being a social media expert.  Just use common sense, basic online marketing ethics and principals, a little creativity, and patience. Good Luck!

Last month we hosted a 2-day event at the Embassy Suites La Jolla in San Diego. Overall, I would rate this venue an 8 out of 10. 

The Event Details: Two days; 8 am - 5 pm; ~100 each day; classroom setup; breakfast and am/pm breaks; audio/visual; only minimal guest room reservations.

The Sales Process: Michelle Meza, the Catering Manager was well organized and prompt when responding.  I sent out the RFP months before I actually needed to book the event and when I finally did contact her, she still had all of the information ready.  We did several rounds via email negotiating the food/beverage minimums and room rentals and eventually came to a mutual agreement.  The sales contract was detailed with all of the specifics we had discussed down to wi-fi costs and discounted parking.

The Pre-Event Planning Stage: A couple of weeks before our seminars I realized our group size was already exceeding the estimated head count on the original proposal and I emailed Michelle.  She was OOO, but her assistant, Debbie Muller, who had been copied on the email threads from the beginning of the sales process, answered my email promptly and we reviewed the max capacity of the room.  Both Michelle and Debbie reminded me the week before that I they needed my BEO specs, and were extremely patient as I continued to revise the menus as our headcount grew larger.

The Event: We actually ended up selling out the event and having nearly double the number of people that we had originally anticipated.  The banquet staff was aware of this when I arrived on site the day before and were quick to walk me through the room, the change in set-up I had requested, and all of the little details were already taken care of.  The service each day of the event was on par for accuracy of items ordered; although, there seemed to be some confusion on times of the breaks even though they were clearly listed out on the BEO.  It also took quite awhile for food or beverages to arrive when I called banquets throughout the day.

The Post-Event Follow Up: The master bill was broken down for me and Michelle had accounting send me a copy the same day I requested it.  It was accurate and matched the charges to my credit card.  Michelle did follow up via email to make sure I was satisfied, and apologized for the banquets break time errors.  Her assistant also followed up with several boxes I needed shipped out to my next event.

The Venue: The guest rooms were recently cosmetically updated and a little above average for the typical Embassy Suites.  However, it was a long ways from the airport and downtown, and they do not offer shuttle service to and from the airport.  This would be something to keep in mind if you have large groups that are flying in.

The Verdict: We will likely be back in San Diego the same time next year, and I look forward to working with the Embassy Suites in La Jolla again.  Highly recommended!

One of the easiest and fastest ways to gain visibility and raise awareness of your event is to post on the major event websites. This not only includes sites that are dedicated to listing public functions, but also social networking sites that allow users to post, view, and share event information.  Each site is unique in the features and functionality it offers to it’s users, but each is dependent upon user-generated content provided by event planners and marketing folks. In return, you are allowed to market your event free (in most cases) to the site’s varied but loyal user base.

Sites like Eventful have events ranging from music concerts to marketing conferences while social media giants like FaceBook have everything from your neighbors birthday party to political gatherings. So no matter what your upcoming meet is about you should be taking advantage of these free listing services.

Eventful: A site dedicated to event listings. Not only can you post your event, but you can create groups and performers as well. Users may use the “demand” feature that tells performers or events that they want them to come their location - a fantastic metric for meeting planners when trying to decide on future locations.

FaceBook: If you already have a FaceBook account and are the face of your events, you can create event listings, pages, and even groups from your personal account. If you are the behind the scenes and don’t want you personal account associated with the event, you can create a business account.

Upcoming.org: A Yahoo! property that may not be as popular as some of the other sites, but I have had decent luck generating traffic from both my event listings and my group page. My personal recommendation: make a fresh Yahoo! account for your event listings rather than using a personal account.

LinkedIn: Ideal for targeting the business crowd, the site has a built-in event listings portal that is dedicated to conferences, seminars, and training workshops. Don’t forget to ask administrators of groups you belong to if you can post in their news section.

ZVents: Very similar to Eventful in functionality and nature but definitely worth posting at as they have a loyal user base.  As with a few of the other sites listed here, Zvents does allow you to get a leg up on the competition by offering paid enhanced listings.  I have never tried it myself, but it is an option.

Craigslist: Still a top dog in the SERPs, it may look a little web 1.0ish, but posting your event here is a must.  You may not get a ton of converting traffic from your posting here, but Craigslist is widely used across all demographics that it just makes sense to post here.

There are literally hundreds of places online you can post your event, but if you are not sure where to start, or want to know where to dedicate your time, these sites are a good bet. If you have had success with other sites, please shoot me an email or leave me a comment.

In January of this year we hosted a 2-day event at the DoubleTree Hotel Austin.  Overall, I would rate this venue a 4 out of 10.  This may seem a little harsh, but the Director of Catering did the number one no-no when it comes to dealing with event planners.  Although I had a signed contract months in advance for the event, I was told (with no more than 3 days notice) that we were being “bumped” on the second day of our meeting to a smaller room - so that a loyal group to the hotel could host a last minute event.  But more on that in a minute.

The Event Details: Two days; 8 am - 5 pm; ~70 each day; classroom setup; breakfast and am/pm breaks; audio/visual; only minimal guest room reservations.

The Sales Process: The Director of Catering was quick and responsive to my request submitted through Hilton’s Online RFP system.  I always details my specifications exactly and his proposal addressed all of my needs.  We went back and forth via email for the following week as I evaluated about a dozen different venues.  He was polite and professional during the entire negotiation process and the sales contract was spot-on for what we discussed.

The Pre-Event Planning Stage: I waited until about a week before the event before sending over my BEO specifications.  The venue contact was responsive and the BEO came back correctly.  However, I had sent my request for two guest rooms and these were not confirmed until the third time I sent the email.  Then, three days prior to my arrival on-site, I got a late Sunday night email from the Director of Catering stating that a frequent group to the hotel wanted to book a last minute event.  That group needed the ballroom that I was supposed to be in the second day.  This was not a discussion, but a statement, and was given a weak monetary compensation for the last minute move.

The Event: The first day, was fantastic!  The room was set up beautifully and to spec, and all of my boxes that I had shipped for the event had been organized and put aside.  The food and beverage was correct and quietly placed in the room prior to all of our breaks.  The banquet staff was attentive to our needs and, outside of a little noise from the group next door, I had no complaints.

The second day; however, was an absolute nightmare.  We were moved to a small, cramped room that could barely hold all of our guests.  The audio/visual in the room was poor and not all of my attendees could see the screen as there was no dim control for the ugly fluorescent lighting.  The food and beverage station was set up less than 5 feet from the last row of my classroom setup.  The group that had pushed us out of our original meeting room was also using the connecting lobby area and had set up slot machines right outside of our meeting room door.  These were finally moved later that afternoon after several requests to the event staff.  My on-site contact avoided me the entire day.

The Post-Event Follow Up: There was none, I think the Catering Director knew not to give me a call…  I am still waiting for the itemized break-down of my master bill; although it has already been charged to my credit card on file.

The Venue: Overall, the venue itself was decent and I would give the guest rooms and grounds a 7 out of 10.  The hotel had undergone a recent cosmetic renovation; although, structurally they haven’t done much in terms of updating probably since the 80’s.

The Verdict: Skip It!  This hotel has the potential and resources to be a fantastic venue for events such as business meetings, trainings/seminars, and receptions.  However, with a sales staff that doesn’t seem to understand the legality of the contract, and displayed a total disregard for our groups pre-arranged needs, it isn’t worth putting the success of your event in jeopardy.

First, let me introduce myself.  I am currently the Vice President of Marketing at bg Theory, a company that emphasizes on educating businesses that offer online marketing products and services to advertisers on all aspects of interactive marketing.  We also host the Advanced AdWords track of Google’s Seminar for Success series.

I have been in the online advertising world for nearly ten years.  My experience mainly falls in the area of ppc, a dash of SEO, product dev and management, and a mixture of everything else that falls in that arena.  When Google launched their seminar series a few years ago I was tasked with planning and executing the events that Brad Geddes, Founder of bg theory, was slated to host.

Thrown into the unchartered territory of event planning, I was dismayed by the lack of information and resources available online for this industry.  Over the years I have slowly but surely figured out the difficult steps involved in the sales process, planning stage, and event execution.  I figure it is time to share my successes, failures, and experiences I have endured when planning my events.

I have been lucky enough to have Google on my back for marketing the seminars over the years, but with a down economy I have began to use creative methods with social media and other interactive methods to fill seats and keep our events profitable without having to increase the cost to our attendees.

I hope you find the information on event planning and marketing useful and are able to apply the same techniques I have discovered to aide you in planning successful events.

I appreciate all feedback, and hope to use this blog as open discussion for meeting planners world wide.  If you have suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to contact me.