Inspiration Hub

What is creativity? So much has been written about it and there’s probably no other topic, which is as mystified and glorified as creativity. Finnish creative director, Saku Tuominen, defines creativity as the ability to see and the desire to do things better. What I like about this definition is that it doesn’t only focus on planning and ideas but emphasizes the point of making an effort for attaining better results.

Tribalization (aka “Take Me to My Peeps”) has ruled supreme at many events. And let’s face it – our brains are hard-wired to prefer mingling with like-minded people. People of the same gender, age, ethnicity, professional experience, etc. But there are unintended and sometimes dire long-term consequences for this short-term tribal play.

Planning a menu for an event can be a hassle, especially in our gluten-free, keto and vegan world. Whether an attendee has a food allergy, is health conscious or stands firmly by their personal or religious beliefs on how food should be prepared, creating a menu that accommodates everyone can be a headache.

Luckily, most venues are pretty accommodating to dietary restrictions. They just need to know ahead of time.

Phone interviews are a great way to connect with a candidate without the time and effort investment (on both sides!) that an in-person interview requires. If the position you’re hiring for includes time on the phone with those you serve - even better! You get to test drive the experience.

I have been struck by the disparity in how an association’s organizational culture translates (or doesn’t translate) to the on-site implementation or planning of its live events. There are many associations that tout their open and supportive cultures. But when it gets to “go time,” does that culture manifest at your conferences and meetings?

Uber-novelist Stephen King once offered some deep insight into hype and buzz. He said when the message lands, and there then becomes a groundswell of genuine interest, that becomes “buzz.” It almost always portends good things (the success of your product launch, new feature rollout, etc.)—and creating that spark is what marketers live for. Marketers should pay attention to this insight because it goes straight to the heart of why consumers get excited about certain things.

In 2018, 281 billion emails were sent and received. That causes a problem for event creators trying to compete for attention in event-goers’ cluttered inboxes.

There are many email marketing strategies you can use to stand out in event-goers’ inboxes, but the most important is your email copy. Here’s what you need to know to stand out with your event invitation email copy.

Conference-goers are a discerning lot. Sure, they’re looking for great content to further their career development—but at a good price. And like 88 percent of savvy consumers today, the first place they’re going to look for more information about your event is online: your event website.

But just because a potential attendee finds your conference website doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. You’ve only got 10 seconds to capture their interest, so your site needs to present the right information to capitalize on that window, especially by providing a seamless checkout.

With 85 percent of responding planners saying that the latest generations of attendees are forcing greater integration of new technology into events, and 85 percent of planners also saying that “experience creation” is a more prominent task for them than ever before, the 2019 Meeting Room of the Future report from the International Association of Conference Centers shows that planners must work multiple angles in order to ensure the effectiveness of their events.

In the spirit of the theme of Meeting Professionals International’s World Education Conference 2019in Toronto, the Smart Meetings team gathered lessons from the main stage and The Village floor to share with event professionals who couldn’t attend.

Is your daily routine leaving you tired and burnt out? Do you find it hard to build up the energy to get even the smallest tasks done? Well, you’re not alone. The job of event professional is consistently rated one of the most stressful after emergency responder and surgeon—a condition that can lead to stagnation. But even the most junior meeting manager knows that nothing gets the blood flowing like crossing things off a checklist.

Finding ways to include corporate social responsibility initiatives in events is an increasingly important detail as employee-driven activism is rising around the world. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a significant amount of funding available in the budget to design and implement give-back activities. While this does present a challenge, it’s also an opportunity for savvy event professionals to think creatively about how to help organizations achieve these goals.

Dreaming of a bigger budget? You’re not alone.

The 2019 Eventbrite Pulse Report found that the second key concern for event organisers is insufficient budgets. Just under 45% of respondents said it was a challenge for them in 2018 and, although it looks like budgetary pressure is expected to improve this year, 37% of organisers still state that it will be a challenge.

When a curious event-goer lands on your website, you’ve only got 10 seconds to capture their attention. Will your event website grab someone’s attention in such a short amount of time?

If it’s not, that might be because event websites are very different from every other website. And if you don’t understand why your site should be different, your event attendance may suffer as a result.

Mistakes happen — even to the most organised event planners. It’s hard to be perfect when you’re juggling endless details and deadlines, corresponding with dozens of caterers, and trying to woo sponsors, all at the same time!

After all, you’re only human.

Take a look at some of these common event planner mistakes to see if you can relate. If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid these mistakes so far, follow the bonus strategies to keep that error-free streak going.

To get a handle on some of the positives and negatives of your meeting, start your planning with a “sensory exposure audit” of what attendees will experience, from pre-meeting mailings through the meeting itself and afterwards. Just as political campaigns have “advance agents” who walk through every step of an event to consider all that might go right or wrong, you can mentally visualize each “vignette” attendees could encounter.

I recently read an article about the drivers for stress on Forbes and how they can impact how we see ourselves and our future. There are several ways that stress enters our lives. One of the major ways is through the collision of work and life. Eventprofs like everyone else have to jump in the battle for balancing both of these areas of their lives and it isn’t always a clear path to look to. Let’s take a look at these top drivers for success, and explore how as Eventprofs we can take necessary steps to decrease the amount of stress that these areas have hold over our lives. We’ll take a look at these drivers for stress, evaluate the impact for our industry and give you some tips to overcome them.

Inbox zero is something people love to talk about, but it remains elusive for many of us. That need not be the case any longer.

Audrey Thomas, founder of Organized Audrey, recently shared tips in an FICP webinar on how to achieve inbox cleanliness and how to maintain it. With proper use of the calendar, task feature and rule creation, you’ll be an expert at Outlook in no time.

One of the signature traits of event planners is their ability to negotiate. While common, everyday setbacks might put most people into a tailspin, event planners have a knack for handling mini-crises easily. That’s because they’ve faced similar situations on the job, and have come out on top – all through their power of negotiation.

It seems like Instagram has been the talk of the social media world lately. But is it really a good fit for your organization? Or, is it like Snapchat in the sense that it might be a “nice to have,” but only if 1) a majority of your members are using it, and 2) you have the resources (staff, content, etc.) to make it work? Well, let us start by saying when it comes to social media success, you get out what you put in. Regardless of platform, you have to put in some time and thought to see results. And while every organization and industry is different, overall, Instagram is worth putting some time and thought into. 

Attendees are hungry. It’s your job to feed them before they get hangry. A new Eventbrite and OnePoll survey shows that food matters more to attendees than almost anything when they’re deciding which events to attend. In fact, 74% of Americans are sure to show up to an event if they know the food served will be good, no matter what kind of event it is.

As anyone who’s ever sent a professional email knows all too well, figuring out what to say and how to say it is hard work. There’s a fine line between being assertive and being passive aggressive and finding that line can be a tricky feat. There’s nothing more tempting than throwing a “per my last email” when the person you’re corresponding with clearly ignored your last message or a “moving forward” when someone on your team screws something up,” but all those phrases do is ignite annoyance on the receiving end. 

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to dive into the topic of machine learning and events. We are currently witnessing one of the biggest technological revolutions of all time. Right now, in real time, terms like AI and machine learning are being thrown everywhere. And while it may seem like we’re far from all the crazy, futuristic-like concepts we see in the movies, we’re not. Technologies like this will start making a huge impact in industries throughout the world. And of course, the event industry is among them.

You’ve heard the saying, “What you say is not as important as how you say it.” Well, what you say is certainly important, but when it comes to marketing - and particularly, marketing to young professionals - how you say things is key.  

“The conference costs what?” That may be the first sentence a potential attendee hears from her boss when asking to attend a conference, training or networking event. So, despite all the hard work you’ve put in securing that famous keynote speaker, the terrific educational breakouts and the great networking opportunities, whether or not the attendee can actually attend may simply come down to dollars and cents.