Event Promotion

Yesterday I blogged about how Cvent's new social media features make it easy for your event invitees to share information about your meetings with all their friends and colleagues. Well, that's not all the August 2009 release is bringing to your events when it comes to social media. After all, with all my talk about promoting your events on Twitter, it just wouldn't be right to not have included something for all the Twitter users out there, right?

One of Cvent's many new features is the ability to include a link to your event's Twitter page on your event website. Similar to adding the Share-Save link, planners need only select the Twitter link option when building their website, then enter the Twitter URL. For example, to link to Cvent's Twitter page, I would enter "http://twitter.com/cvent"

The familiar Twitter logo will appear on your event summary page online:



Keep in mind that even if your event does not have it's own page on Twitter yet (what are you waiting for?), you can always link to your company page or even your own—whatever makes the most sense for your event. Either way, this convenient feature makes it easy for you to advertise your Twitter account, gain followers, and promote your event!

I blog frequently about the benefits of using social media for event promotion. It's inexpensive, effective, and now, thanks to Cvent's new social media features, easier than ever!

As part of Cvent's August 2009 release, planners can allow event invitees to share event information to their social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It's great free marketing for your event, and all it takes is a few clicks thanks to Cvent's new customizable options for your event summary website page.

In the page setup, just click on the Share-Save link option.



By checking this option, the ShareThis logo will appear on your event summary page.



Invitees looking at your website can click on Share-Save and update their Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, MySpace, StumbleUpon, or Reddit networks with the news of your event.



And keep in mind, because Share-Save appears on the summary page, anyone—even guests who have not registered for your event—can spread the word to all their friends and contacts.

If I haven't convinced you to take advantage of Twitter for your conferences—whether by using event hashtags, a Twitter roll, or another technique—then perhaps a new study by a group of scholars from Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom will. Their case study "How People are using Twitter during Conferences" found that the majority of conference attendees (95.1 percent) already had a Twitter account and that the majority of those who did (67.5 percent) actively used it to tweet during a conference.

Nearly three-quarters of the attendees send between 11 to 20 messages per day. About 51 percent discussed topics with other Twitter users by sending direct messages or @ replies.

Conference attendees are using Twitter in several ways, with "sharing resources" and "communicate with others" being among the top reasons cited. Interestingly, in response questions about what the value of tweeting at conferences was, respondents said, "Twitter helps you reach out to others with similar interests, provides networking potential, and allows people who could not attend to gain some value from your experience."



The study only collected responses from 41 attendees, so overall, it certainly cannot be considered a conclusive analysis of Twitter and conferences. But still, it's interesting to see that many of the attendee benefits that Twitter proponents (such as myself) have been preaching are actually shared by the attendees themselves.

If you need some help getting your conference up and running on Twitter, make sure to check out my 5 Tips for Event Promotion on Twitter.

You know I'm all about using Twitter for your event promotion. Back in May, I gave you five ideas for keeping your event's Twitter page fresh and current, one of which was to let others do the talking. More specifically, you can set up a hashtag for your event and have attendees use the hashtag every time they tweet about your event.

That's just one way to make use of what others are saying about your event, though. I came across another great idea from ASAE, whose Annual Meeting & Exposition is coming up next week.

The organization has created a "2009 Annual Meeting Twitter Roll" for the conference. Here, attendees who plan to twitter from the conference can submit their Twitter handle, organization and name, which ASAE publishes on the roll.



This is such a creative idea! It makes it easy for other attendees, or even those people who wanted to attend the meeting but are unable to, to keep tabs on what's going on at the event via Twitter.

Sometimes it can be hard to enforce the use of a hashtag, and with so many people tweeting about a conference under different terms, you can't always be sure that a search in Twitter will yield. But the Twitter roll makes it so that guests don't need to do a search, they can just follow those who signed up!

Now that you know what to include in your invitation reminder emails, you may be wondering, "Ok, now when should I send them out?"

With Cvent, you can schedule your reminder emails to automatically send at certain times. However, it's important to not take advantage of this easy-to-use functionality and barrage your invitees with email after email to remind them of the pending invitation. In fact, there's probably no quicker way to guarantee a "No" (and maybe even an angry email response) from invitees. So, use discretion with your automated emails.

At Cvent, we recommend you send invitation reminders a few days before:

• An early-bird discount or other event promotion expires (if you have one)

• Online registration is approaching its closing date

• Event capacity is close to being reached

Sending your event invitation reminders at appropriate times will help boost your response rate without overloading your invitees.

So you've decided to start a Twitter account for your event. Great! In the past, I've given you some tips to how you can update your page, for example, by posting links to your event registration and asking for suggestions from your attendees.

It's important to keep in mind that these are just suggestions for how to update your Twitter page, and by no means are they a comprehensive list. You can, and should, be creative with how you use Twitter.

Consider the results of a poll conducted via Twitter by Kalena Jordan of SiteProNews. She asked, "If you represent a business using Twitter, what is your/their "main" reason for doing so?" The majority of respondents (37 percent) cited customer interaction, while 23 percent said driving traffic. Among the other reasons were news/product announcements (11 percent), branding (7 percent), reputation management (7 percent) and fun (9 percent).

Where do the updates on your event's Twitter page fall into these categories? Are your tweets all about the same thing, or do they encompass a wide range of types (e.g. @replies, news announcements, shared links, etc.)?

There's nothing wrong with having one key purpose for marketing your event on Twitter. However, it's important to keep in mind that if you don't vary your updates, your Twitter page will appear spam-like and unappealing—neither of which will go a long way in gaining followers. So make sure to create some interest by changing up your updates!

This week I wanted to know if you use Twitter to promote your meetings and events. I blogged that according to Nielsen, Twitter is among the top 10 fastest growing social media sites, attracting the likes of Amazon and Marriott.

But, to be fair, it's important to note that opinions on Twitter will certainly be different depending on who you ask. Take for example, a LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll conducted month asked both professionals involved in advertising decision-making and members of the general public to choose three ways to describe Twitter.

In the professionals group:

• 45 percent said "Twitter is something that is just in its infancy, and its use will grow exponentially over the next few years"
• 21 percent said "Twitter is something that mostly young people and the media will use, but it will not move more into the mainstream"
• 17 percent said "Twitter is already over and it's time to find the next best thing"
•17 percent had no opinion

Among the public group:

• 12 percent said Twitter will grow exponentially
• 12 percent said it won't go mainstream
• 8 percent said Twitter is over
• about 69 percent said they don't know enough about Twitter to have an opinion

The poll then asked each group whether Twitter is effective when it comes to promoting products and ideas. It's "very effective" to 8 percent of ad professionals and 8 percent of the public; "somewhat effective" to 50 percent of the professionals and 42 percent of the public; "not that effective" to 24 percent of professionals and 21 percent of the public; and "not at all effective" to 8 percent of professionals and 19 percent of the public.

Keep in mind, though, that this question was only posed to those who had expressed an opinion about Twitter—meaning 17 percent of the professional respondents and 69 percent of the public respondents were excluded.

So what does this mean for your meetings and events? Personally, I'm going to stand by my belief that it can be a useful marketing tool. That doesn't mean it's the most effective, and that doesn't mean it's the only way to market. You have to do what works for you.

But when it comes down to it, Twitter is simple to use, requires minimum time and resources, and is free! For all that, even reaching just a few more event attendees via Twitter would be a win.

Meeting planners in need of a Toronto ballroom, meeting space, and accommodations can find it all in one place at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Welcoming guests with a 2.5-acre waterfall garden in its new lobby, the hotel offers an elegant yet modern environment that sets the stage for a productive event.

With its new ballroom and exhibit hall, the Sheraton Centre Toronto has over 10,800 square meters (116,000 square feet) of space. Among its 59 meeting venues is the Grand Ballroom, which can host galas or weddings in Toronto for up to 1,900 guests, or theater-style presentations at events of up to 2,300 people.

Complementing its versatile spaces are the full-service Business Centre, available for fax, photocopying and graphic needs, and a wide range of catering options, which have been recognized by The Gold Platter Award and DiRona Award. Additionally, the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel was one of 10 facilities in which Starwood recently said it would install telepresence technology.

Located in the heart of Toronto's business and entertainment districts, this Four Diamond, 1,377-room Toronto hotel is just steps from the Eaton Centre shopping mall. It features the city's largest year-round pool, a 24-hour fitness center and two levels of shops and restaurants.

View more information about the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel—including its Toronto meeting promotion—on the Cvent Supplier Network

Have you started using Twitter yet to promote your events? If you're a regular Cvent blog reader, you know that you can use Twitter to increase your event attendance and to promote your events for free. But despite its advantages, I'll bet many event planners just haven't gotten around to starting a Twitter account.

It's just a fad, they say. Why bother getting into something that's just going to become outdated in a few months?

Well, because it doesn't look like Twitter is going anywhere. In fact, Twitter.com is among the fastest growing social media sites, according to Nielsen, growing 1,928 percent year-over-year. It jumped from one million unique visitors in June 2008 to 21 million unique visitors in June 2009.

And it's not all just casual users looking to chat about what they did during the day. A number of big corporations are on Twitter: Amazon, Starbucks, Zappos, JetBlue, Whole Foods, even Cvent—the list is extensive and still growing.

Members of the hospitality industry have joined the Twittersphere as well. Major brands such as Marriott International and Starwood Hotels have Twitter accounts, as do countless individual properties across the globe.

Consider the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, who last week posted a billboard along Route 50 near Washington, DC, instructing passers-by to follow the company on Twitter.

"Twitter has become, for us at least, a great way to interact with a vocal and vibrant segment of our customer base," Gloria Hammelef, senior director of marketing of the hotel, said in a statement. "We've been able to reach out to people via Twitter who might have been unaware of us otherwise."

I'll admit that from time to time I've wondered where Twitter was really headed long term. But then, people expressed the same doubts about Facebook, and look at how it's thrived.

The fact of the matter is, Twitter is here now, and it's an easy and free way for you to promote your meetings and connect with event attendees. So what are you waiting for? You can sign up for an account anytime. (And once you do, don't forget to follow Cvent!)

Increase attendance at your events without spending more money. It's every meeting planner's dream, but really more of an oxymoron, right? Not necessarily.

You can roll out an expensive marketing campaign or turn to discounted event prices to encourage registration, but you don't always have to do so. Here are three great ways to reach more attendees without having to spend more money:

• Use social media. The importance of social media in event promotion is undeniable. By jumping on Twitter, blogging, creating a Facebook group and more, you can access an entire network of potential event attendees who are interesting in learning more about your organization and its conference.

Using social media you can provide real-time updates about the goings-on of your event, give people a behind-the-scenes look at how it's coming together, share testimonials and happenings from last year's event, etc. The various social media platforms allow you to illustrate the value your event can bring to attendees, all at no cost to you other than time.

Just remember: it's important to whole-heartedly enter the social media sphere—any other approach will appear contrived or spammy, which is a surefire way to actually lose interest.

• Encourage guests to tell a friend. Your meeting attendees are an easy connection to a host of qualified contacts. Encourage them to invite these friends and colleagues along to your event.

Using Cvent's Tell-a-Friend feature, meeting planners can easily allow attendees to enter the names and email addresses of those who may want to attend the event. Not only do you gain access to a whole new set of potential invitees, but you also get the benefit of word-of-mouth marketing about your event from a trusted source.

• Leverage partnerships for promotions. As you plan your event, you're likely working with a number of people outside of your organization: speakers, restaurants, entertainment, etc. Why not use these outside sources to help promote your events? Professional speakers, for example, generally have their own website or blog—ask them to post something about your event, and in turn include their bio and contact information on your event website.

You might even be able to secure discounts and promotions to offer to your attendees in return for promoting certain partners. For instance, if you are hosting a cocktail reception after your event at a local restaurant, see if you can work out a deal with the manager in which you promote his/her venue in exchange for a meal discount you can give to attendees. It's a little extra incentive for encouraging registration, and it won't cost you a thing.

It started last week when I was spending some time on Twitter. I noticed that conference and event manager Karen Brown (whom both Cvent and I follow) had sent this message: "FINALLY sending out new RFPs for 2010 and 2011."



Great news, but I didn't think much of it. That is, until I kept seeing this topic pop up again and again in articles and industry reports. No longer was it all doom and gloom, canceled conferences and low attendance in the world of meetings and events. Rather, news coverage revolved around something positive: meetings are picking up for 2010.

An article in Boston Business Journal featured interviews with industry leaders who have started to see signs of improvement in meetings business and are optimistic about the coming months.

"Starting in December through March, we definitely were holding our collective breath, but coming into May it seemed like people started coming back and spending money again," Jimmy Callanan, president and owner of JCALPRO, Inc., which handles rigging and logistics support for several Boston venues, told BBJ.

Michelle Ray, director of sales at the Four Seasons Boston, agreed that despite recent challenges, things are looking up.

"The good news is that we are seeing strong levels of business for 2010," Ray said. "Companies recognize the value of face-to-face meetings both for relationship-building and productivity."

The meetings environment in Boston is not surprising. In fact, meeting planners across the country are anticipating a pick up in events in 2010 and beyond.

According to Special Events Magazine's 8th annual Corporate Event Marketplace Study, corporate event professionals say they expect to host the same number of events or more in 2010 as compared to 2009. These events range from incentive trips to marketing events to product launches.

Don't get me wrong—the challenges of the past year have not gone away, nor should they be forgotten. Still, it's great to see some positive news. Like Karen, I want to know, are things looking up for everyone else?

Cvent has announced a strategic partnership with Starwood Hotels! With its preferred placement on the Cvent Supplier Network, Starwood will increase exposure to the thousands of qualified meeting planners using the Supplier Network's electronic RFP tool and will generate quality lead flow for its Sheraton and Westin brands.

"The group business lead quality from the Cvent Supplier Network speaks for itself," said Brian Povinelli, vice president, brand management, for Sheraton and Westin. "Over the past 120 days, Cvent Supplier Network meeting planners have booked over 10,000 sleeping rooms at Starwood properties. That was a key driver in our decision to enhance our partnership with the Cvent Supplier Network."

Unlike other group business channels, the Cvent Supplier Network electronic RFPs are well qualified and targeted. On average, a Cvent RFP is sent to only nine properties, giving Starwood properties a chance to earn consistent and unique group business with Cvent’s audience of meeting planners.
 
"Hotels are more selective about how they deploy marketing dollars in today’s economy. An online channel like the Cvent Supplier Network offers hotels cost-effective marketing options and a true return on investment. The average contract value for Cvent Supplier Network electronic RFPs is $68,000, and hotels can establish direct contact with qualified meeting planners who are using the Cvent Supplier Network when they are ready to buy," said Bharet Malhotra, Cvent vice president of sales. "We are pleased to partner with Starwood and to provide our meeting planners with direct access to Starwood properties during the sourcing process."

Starwood is also using the Supplier Network to promote its "Value Added Meeting Promotion," one of the best deals in the industry. This Cvent Supplier Network promotion includes a 4% discount off the master bill and complimentary food and beverage breaks. The meeting planner will also be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a charitable concert for their community starring Grammy-nominated singer Natasha Bedingfield. All Cvent Supplier Network planners who book meetings before March 31, 2010, will be eligible for this promotion.

Learn more about the Cvent-Starwood partnership.

The long-awaited meeting space at Swissotel Chicago is now open! The 661-room hotel's Event Centre expansion brings adds 38,000 square feet of Chicago meeting space to its facilities, which now boast an impressive 65,000 square feet of flexible space.

Venue options include the new 14,000-square-foot ballroom, the 43rd floor Edelweiss penthouse and two elegant executive boardrooms. Designed with meeting and business professionals in mind, the entire Chicago venue is equipped with wireless Internet capabilities, 400 amp service and flexible lighting control.

Chicago event planners can enjoy the groundbreaking space at a great price when booked during the 2009 Hot Dates. This Chicago meeting promotion includes discounted room rates, complimentary access to the fitness center and pool, one upgrade per 25 rooms, one complimentary room per 40 rooms, complimentary room rental and more.

View more information about Chicago hotel deals and Swissotel Chicago on the Cvent Supplier Network

In my recent post about event promotion, I explained how you don't always need to go all out on advertising. Especially in today's increasingly "social" world, full of tweets, blog posts, and forum discussions, people are looking for some more personal communication and interaction—not a glossed-over, corporate message.

I came across an example of great marketing the other day at Xotels. Its blog featured the post, "Homage to La Quinta," about the brand's hotel marketing videos from 2007. This is my favorite:



It's simple, yet memorable. (I know I'll have that happy-go-lucky music in my head the entire day.)

What are some tactics you've been taking lately to promote your meetings and events? Any simple, cost-effective tips for what strategies went a long way?

Check out the other La Quinta ads.

An event can't happen without attendees, and you can't get attendees with some event promotion! However, you don't need to blow your entire budget on an expensive ad campaign. I've come up with five super easy ways to promote your event, all at no cost (and very little time spent) to you.

• Add your event to a community calendar—Eventful.com is a great place to start.

• Ask your staff members to place your event and registration link on their social media networks.

• Open a Twitter account just for your event, and use it to notify attendees of registration deadlines, event agenda updates and more.

• Send your keynote speakers/presenters information about the event to include on their websites and/or blogs.

• Search for trade publications or organization websites related to your event, then connect with members by participating in Twitter chats, forums, blog discussions, etc.

I recently read that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is going to represent the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association. As part of this partnership, he'll be used on the CVA's website and in targeted messages to convention and meeting planners, including email campaigns sent directly to planners and print ads placed in trade publications.

This isn't the first time I've seen a famous/celebrity spokesperson working on behalf of a meeting destination. Another incidence that comes to mind is the Atlanta CVB, whose website features a celebrity video of Ludacris, Alton Brown, Shawn Mullins, Ted Turner and John Smoltz elaborating on the great things about Atlanta.

Have you ever used a celebrity spokesperson, whether it be a local news personality or famous actor, to promote your meetings and events? I think it would definitely make for great event promotion. However, in today's tough times, I'm not sure that a celebrity's approval alone would be enough to make me pay for registration. Do you think the use of a well-known name can boost event attendance?

"The Meetings Market: Outlook 2009/2010," a survey conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association, American Express and the Y Partnership, has revealed some interesting information, from the cost of meetings to planners' intentions for booking events in 2009 and 2010. It also provided some pertinent data specific to meeting venues.

According to the survey, about one in 10 planners (11 percent) said they expect to increase the number of off-site meetings booked at hotels in 2009 and 2010. Airport hotel proprieties may especially benefit. One in six planners (16 percent) said they expect to use these venues more in the months ahead.

Not surprisingly, "upper upscale, "luxury" and resort venues are expected to take the biggest hit from the decline in booked meetings. About half of professional planners expect to use "upper upscale" and "luxury" properties less in 2009 and 2010. Nearly one half of planners (47 percent) expect to decrease the number of off-site meetings booked at resorts in 2009 and 2010.

If you're a planner in need of a change of venue for your upcoming meetings, make sure to check out the Cvent Supplier Network. You can search a range of venue properties, from hotels and conference centers to restaurants and museums. Plus, you can filter your search based on criteria such as distance from airport, number of sleeping rooms, and total meeting square feet.

Eliminating meetings, canceling conferences—how much does it all cost? Billions of dollars, according to the report "The Meetings Market: Outlook 2009/2010," conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association, American Express and the Y Partnership.

The average meeting planner expects to cancel or postpone meetings worth $560,000 in revenue in 2009 and 2010. These canceled or rebooked meetings account for an average of $81,000 per planner in penalty fees.

When considering all PCMA members and AMEX clients in addition to the survey's mix of association and corporate/incentive meeting professionals, the report projects $781 million in lost hotel room revenue and $2.5 billion in total revenue lost for destinations, hotels and meeting suppliers. That's a pretty hefty amount, considering it only represents a fraction of meeting planners.

Read more about the report's findings at MeetingsNet.

Trying to figure out exactly what information you want to collect during the online event registration process can be tricky. Check out the sample registration form below for a July networking luncheon.



Five important things to include in your online registration process:

1. Request for Contact Information – Even if you already have contact information, it is important to remember that this data is always changing.  Online registration forms serve as a great way to verify the information you currently have in your database and update outdated or incomplete contact information.  Make all contact fields mandatory.  Be sure to gather complete information as some contact fields such as title change more frequently. 

2. Pre-registration Questions – Since every participant must complete an online registration form, use this as an opportunity to gather additional information from attendees. Use questions during the online registration process to learn more about your registrants such as what they want to eat or what they would like to hear the speaker talk about druing the conference.  Registration questions can also save you time.  Don’t bother calling each registrant to find out what t-shirt size they need or if they want to rent golf clubs; simply include these questions during the online event registration process.

3. Tell-a-friend Functionality- Never underestimate the power of viral marketing.  Increase online registration numbers by giving registrants the opportunity to forward the event information and registration form on to colleagues and friends who may be interested in the event.  Allow registrants to include a brief message as part of the online forwarding functionality so that they can help promote the event with comments like: “I am registering for this event right now.  It is going to be great.  You should definitely join me.” You also receive the benefit of branding your organization to prospects who would not traditionally be on your list. 

4. Pre-populated Fields – Save your registrants time by pre-populating fields such as name, title,  billing address, t-shirt size or any other information that is collected from event to event.   When the online registration process takes too long, potential registrants may drop out of the process before their registration is complete.  Although the intention may be to complete the online registration form later, your event invitation gets lost in an overflowing email inbox and the deadline for registration, or worse the date of the event itself passes before any action has been taken.  It is critical that you streamline and expedite your online event registration process so you do not lose registrants. 

5. Online Payment Collection - Mailing a check or faxing a credit card authorization form adds one more step to the registration process, not to mention your event management process.   Avoid frustration and save your registrants time by securely collecting payments online.  Permit registrants to input check numbers or purchase orders.  Most online registration systems are integrated with one or several of the e-commerce gateways such as Cybersouce, PayPal Express and Touchnet.   However, you should make sure any online registration company you are working with is PCI compliant. 

Online event registration increases efficiency for both the registrant and the event coordinator.  With online event management software, the options are limitless: create dynamic multi-track, multi-session conference registrations; allow attendees to modify their own registrations online; upload key documents such as an exhibitor prospectus; customize pages to match the look and feel of your branding and much more. 

To read more about registration forms and online registration services, please visit our website.

In monitoring the Twitterverse recently, I came across a tweet from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (@HIMSS) offering free VIP registration to those who will blog/tweet during its Virtual Conference June 9-10 about the event. How interesting!



You may be skeptical of this tactic at first: Offer registration—VIP registration, at that—for free, just because someone has agreed to tweet about us? So not worth it!

I disagree, though, for two key reasons.

First of all, blogging and/or twittering during your conference is an important component of your event promotion and marketing; plus it's a great way to engage your attendees. But with decreased event budgets and staff, you may not have the resources available to dedicate to social media for your event.

Why not get some attendees to do it for you? In fact, having it information about your conference come from a third-party may be perceived as more useful to other attendees anyway.

Second, the search for getting people to provide real-time commentary on your event will garner coverage in and of itself. HIMSS's offer alone has been retweeted over 10 times in the past 20 hours among twitterers. Obviously, their offer was an easy and inexpensive way to get some buzz going about the event.

Integrating social media to your meetings and events is a growing trend with a number of benefits. If you don't feel ready to take on the task yet, or at least not completely on your own, then enlisting your attendees who already have a passion for social media can be a good option for you.