Next Generation Event

Sometimes "Sorry" Is the Best PR

Be sure to stop by Cece's PR blog to take a look at a guest post I wrote about a conference I was running that veered off track. I actually wrote it while still at my last job, but the power of "sorry" transcends time.

Here's an excerpt:

I’m in Sacramento because I organize and run legal conferences around the country–about 24 each year. Usually, things go seamlessly (or almost seamlessly–it’s hard to imagine a completely error-free event). Occasionally, things don’t. Today was one of those days.

Each mistake, on its own, is relatively innocuous. The conference room is moved and is difficult to find. But people find it and life goes on.

We notice the printer left a section out of the materials. Okay. We can get Kinkos to deliver the missing section within hours.

But then the computer dies mid-presentation, forcing a speaker to finish without PowerPoint. Now people are starting to think, “What is going on here?”

Indeed.

Read more...

Guest Post: The Green Event Summit

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the Green Event Summit took place in San Francisco last week. I was not able to attend, but Shannon McCorison, Global Events Manager at ProLogis, attended and was kind enough to write up a summary of her impressions. Sounds like I missed a great program.

From Shannon:

The Green Event Summit was more than a conference about how to plan a single event using eco-friendly methods. The sessions covered a full spectrum of event marketing – design practices, tradeshow properties and marketing, large expo planning, green marketing strategy, and special event design and execution.  I focused on the Event Marketing and Special Events and Meetings tracks. Key insights I brought home:

*    Momentum of green event practices is already high speed and the drivers are continually changing – therefore, there can be no definitive checklist to make an event or meeting green. Instead, there are major areas of focus which overlap. Improvements in each area are only limited by creativity and budget. Major Areas of Focus: Energy Reduction, Waste Reduction, Paper Conservation, Carbon Footprint, Human Health, Social Responsibility. (even the areas of focus aren’t finite)

*    The goal of event and meeting managers and planners shouldn’t be to create a wholly sustainable event – instead the goal should be to measure and achieve marked improvement in each area. Then, to continually raise the bar as improvements are achieved.

*    Huge opportunity for collaboration and sharing of ideas. Unlike other trends, greening of events is driven by a communal purpose. Even competitors have the ability to share ideas for eco-friendly practices without infringing on their overall competitive advantage.

*    To be successful in greening an event or meeting, the manager or planner will need to take a very active role – educating vendors, taking direct action to implement methods, measuring and verifying the results.

*    The methods to make events more eco-friendly are not necessarily “new”. There is no doubt a huge surge in interest, but many practices have been in place for years, or utilize relatively old technology to make happen. Interesting note: in 2002, the concessions of the Winter Olympics composted more than 60% of their waste, due to pre-planning.

*    Methods must be constantly re-evaluated. A practice that wasn’t viable 2 months ago, may now make more sense due to economy, technology, etc. Example: locally sourced food that may have been deemed to expensive in early 2008, may now be closer in cost to traditional trucked in foods due to transportation costs. OR 1 large meeting may have been more economical last year, but 3 regional meetings may now make more sense due to increases in airfare.

Since joining ProLogis in 1998, Shannon has had a variety of roles in the Global Marketing department including media relations, project management and event and tradeshow marketing. In recent years, as ProLogis has continued to grow at a rapid pace, Shannon’s focus has turned almost exclusively to event marketing. Shannon keeps a full calendar of 30-40 events each year, including everything from traditional tradeshow exhibition to high-end incentive events. Currently, Shannon’s work includes implementing standards and practices across the ProLogis event portfolio to reduce their environmental impact in support of the company’s sustainability initiative. More information about ProLogis can be found at www.prologis.com.