The Evolution of Meeting and Event Communications through New Technologies

Reposted from Elite Meetings Blog - click here for link

Successful meeting and event programs are built on the foundations of effective communication efforts with audience members. Communicating well and communicating often is a proven way to keep your audience engaged, informed and motivated. Today, companies have more communication options to choose from based upon their meeting or event needs, as well as the preferences of their audience. But, this wasn’t always the case.

Historically, meeting and event planners were limited in terms of what communication options they had available. Creating and supporting levels of engagement during a program period was one thing, but leading up to and creating an afterglow experience post program involved a number of challenges that required new, more interactive tools and approaches. Through the course of the last several years, communication options have vastly evolved, leading towards much broader opportunities to further excite, engage and extend the overall attendee experience.

Think of it this way, today’s communications have shifted from just supporting one-way informational exchanges to helping better create more engaging, two-way dialogues between hosts, speakers, sponsors and attendees. Consider the following periods of meeting and event communications, from where we were to where we are now:

• Event Communications 1.0 - In the early years, meeting and event communications mainly involved traditional hard copy mailings, outbound calling and fax transmissions. These one-way communication exchanges may have helped logistically, but were highly limiting when it came to one-to-one promotional relevance or communicating real-time shifts, changes or program updates.
• Event Communications 2.0 - The dawn and mass market adoption of the Internet brought an immense improvement to meeting and event communications. Websites were created as a central linking point for program attendees to reference and register. In addition, emailing was integrated into communication strategies, providing a new and more effective mix for marketing efforts; it also could be used to provide ongoing announcements leading up to and following meeting and event programs. We’d have to wait just a bit longer for technologies to evolve and enable us to create more effective, two-way and interactive communication experiences.
• Event Communications 3.0 - New technologies and new uses of existing technologies have impacted and created significant shifts in how people manage, operate and socially interact with one another. Face-to-face meeting and event interactions now are more informed and greatly influenced by social networking, virtual engagements and the use of mobile applications.

• Social Networking  - Whether you like it or not, social networking is occurring already with regards to your meeting and event efforts. Ignoring it would place your program and organizational objectives at a disadvantage. Embracing social networking involves a number of considerations and can range in its level of adoption, but its inclusion can greatly enhance your ability to inform, motivate and extend your program’s communication reach.
• Virtual Engagements - The term “virtual” is often defined differently based upon who you ask. There are a number of technology advancements that have created different engagement options. For instance, the use of virtual worlds or Virtual Engagement Platforms (VEP), regional satellite broadcasting, web casting and collaboration as well as telepresence are all primary industry formats available and in use today. However, each type has its strengths and weaknesses, but the right combination with specific face-to-face meeting and event types and audiences can substantially improve levels of reach, engagement and program performance.
• Mobile Applications - A growing number of attendees are demanding more integration of mobile applications into the meeting and event programs they participate. Mobile platforms have become today’s intersection point of the physical meeting or event, virtual experiences and social networking interests. Put simply, program attendees want experiences that are more convenient, interactive and integrated with their mobile devices. Making appointments, noting calendar commitments, sharing contact details and having access to interact with other attendees, sponsors and speakers 24/7 are among a variety or inclusions they’re looking for in today’s meeting and event programs.

These types of communication options can be deployed as tools to extend the overall attendee reach and experience throughout the lifecycle of a program – before, during and after your meeting or event.

Organizations have greater opportunities today, over programs of the past, to create better business outcomes with the right integration of two-way, interactive communication options thanks to new technology advancements. Such opportunities enhance the value of meetings and events by further engaging an organization’s people – employees, channel partners and customers. While situations vary, so should the strategy. Otherwise, organizations run the risk of an ineffective, one-size-fits-all approach. Planners need to consider what the right mix of communication options can best help extend their program’s content, expand the audience reach and create enhanced ways for program attendees to interact and engage others.

The future of meeting and event communications isn’t coming, it’s here. What have you found that works better for your program, organization and attendees?

Increasing the Awareness of Your Incentive Travel Program

Reposted from Meetings & Incentive Travel - click here for link

True or False?  3 of 10 people eligible to earn travel rewards don’t know it?

 

Answer:  Fact.  The existence of your company’s travel incentive program should not be debatable.  Leave that kind of uncertainty for Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.

Shockingly, anywhere between 25 percent and 35 percent of your incentive travel participants may not even know about the program’s existence.  That’s a large number of participants that won’t be motivated or influenced, which reduces the potential impact to your business goals and objectives.  What’s the main culprit?  A primary suspect could be the communication’s model.

Today, companies need to assess and design a communication’s strategy that takes into account a fragmented participant base.  Technology has created significant shifts that are impacting how we communicate.  We, as individuals, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse when it comes to what we read, listen to and how we interact.  Consider the following two communications model approaches:

§         Traditional Communications Model

Filled with one-way print, dimensional, direct mail and web communications, these approaches follow legacy practices that do not incorporate or benefit from viral or two-way interactions with and between program participants.

§         Advocacy Communication Model

In this approach, participants help create and foster communications that further drive awareness and program advocacy.  For instance, by leveraging and sponsoring program rallies or social media networking events, whether proprietary or third-party based, participants are encouraged to show, share and talk about the incentive opportunity with their friends, colleagues and family.  

Program sponsors and planners can further encourage these discussions, as well as benefit from them, by not only sharing additional program specifics, but also determining enhancements that further drive the participants’ motivational appeal and perceptions of program value.

Embracing one communications approach over another doesn’t take into consideration that participants are at different levels of preference and maturity as it pertains to receiving and participating in communications.  Today’s communication efforts need to be less about which channel you use and more about integrating efforts in ways that further inform and engage diverse program participants in different and more meaningful ways around incentive travel programs. 

Family Friendly Incentive Travel

So, what’s up with kids and incentive travel programs you ask?  Well, there’s certainly a growing shift towards being more family friendly these days, which is being driven by a variety of factors.  Primarily, these would involve today’s demands at work with leaner and “doing more with less” philosophies, family lifestyles as well as the idea and desire of organizations to create stronger motivational value for participants in order to achieve greater business performance.

If you or anyone within an organization have been thinking about whether or not a "Family Friendly" element within your incentive travel strategy is a worth while idea, consider reading this article - click here

As organizations make family friendly decisions, concerns typically surface regarding potential distractions, objections by participants without children as well as with regard to how they would fund such inclusions. Here are a few short insights to keep in mind:

• Distractions – Typically this surrounds the desire to have an educational, networking or award element within a program. With the right destination selected and good planning, there are a number of ways to have one-on-one time with your participants, and they with their families.
• Participants without Children – Based upon a National Study by Maritz Travel and Maritz Research, we found that nearly 4 out of every 5 incentive travel participants without children believe that kids should be allowed to participate. It seems that they want to celebrate with their colleagues and peers, as well as get to know their families better too.
• Budgets – Whether you’re paying for, subsidizing or creating special buy-in rate options, incentive travel earners are looking for ways to bring their families along and reward them for their support in helping achieve business objectives.

Overall, organizations that don’t’ think family friendly incentive travel programs can play a big role need to think again. Helping create the opportunity to share these rewards and experiences go a long way in building stronger affinity with the organization. While it might not be right for every program, it’s worth the time and effort to do some research and gain a better view of what’s best for your participants and your organization.

New Era of Risk Management for Meeting, Event and Incentive Travel

Reposted from Elite Meetings Blog - click here for link

It’s been a rough ride these past few years for the meeting, event and incentive travel industry. As a result, we can’t presume that it will ever be “business as usual”. We’ve learned quite a bit from these events and much has changed. These changes require us to operate differently today, especially when it comes to the areas of contracts, liabilities and bankruptcies.

The series of massive program cancellations over the past few years not only impacted business performance of buyer organizations, but the supplier industry as well. Destination management companies (DMCs), hotel properties, ground transportation providers, airlines and others were faced with some of the most challenging financial times in their history. As our industry begins to rebound, one significant shift in business operations for both buyer and supplier surrounds risk management.

Now, more than ever, buyers and suppliers need to work not just harder, but together to better manage their respective risks. Good, solid best practices need to be incorporated that equally protect one another’s interests. The most significant risk management areas and practices to be aware of, consider and avoid include:

• Attrition and Cancellation - Expect stricter provisions regarding attrition and cancellation clauses as well as higher deposit requirements. These are common practices in today’s market and are not solely based upon situations of “buyer” versus “seller” market conditions, or “peak” versus “off-peak” seasonality. 
• Underbooking - Avoid situations of underbooking space because you don’t have a clear view on the total number of participants that will attend a program. This is a tremendous gamble as supplier capacity to scale may not exist and put your programs performance at risk.
• Financial Stability of Suppliers – Understand the financial health of direct suppliers throughout the lifecycle of a program, not just at the beginning. Protection from a worse-case-scenario such as a bankruptcy or foreclosure is something that should be incorporated within your contract’s terms and conditions. In addition, consider the following:
• Properties going through financial trouble may change flags or branding. If this occurs, you need to ensure your contract provisions provide options. In some cases, this might include the right to exercise a cancellation based upon ownership changes.
• For suppliers who you may not have a history with, consider securing language within your contract that identifies what deposits are purposed towards. Depending upon the size of your event, a letter of credit wouldn’t necessarily be out of the question.
• Choosing to stay with a hotel, DMC or convention center through financial challenges isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but you do need to ensure there are no service barriers that could impact program logistics or participant experiences. Be sure to ask a lot of questions, especially surrounding such areas as staffing levels, property upkeep and maintenance. In addition, establish service level agreements (SLAs) and keep tabs on supplier issues through hotel ratings, websites and social media posts. 
• In DMC relationships, ensure your supplier possesses the appropriate levels of umbrella insurance coverage for all third-party relationships. 
• Service Levels – Some properties responded to the increased financial stress of the past two years by decreasing service levels and deferring property reinvestments. Protect yourself by conducting thorough site inspections and talk with others that have operated programs at the properties you are considering, to make sure the property can deliver the service experience you expect.

Today’s planners need to make decisions that go beyond just low rates. It’s a new era for meeting, event and incentive travel; especially when it comes to risk management positioning. These past few years created a significant shift, calling for a more balanced and shared set of risks between buyer and supplier. How has this changed your approach?

Why Incentives Trump Cash

Great article featured in Meetings and Incentive Travel titled, "Why Incentives Trump Cash".  Take a look to further seperate fact from fiction as to why non-cash based incentives, specifically Travel, create more Motivational, Meaningful and Memorable experiences that provide both immediate and long-term tangible and intangible returns - click here.

The New Normal for CMO's

Avi Dan authored an article featured in AdAge titled, The New Normal for CMO's - click here. Based upon the blog comments he received, there were mixed sentiments on what people thought. Regardless, customer engagement is a key takeaway from this article.

Ideal customer engagement today would be best defined as the appropriate timing of relevant messages that are unique to each individual consumer - an aspirational tone from past and current CRM efforts. Beyond that though, there are various ways to engage today. From social media marketing, traditional advertisements to other engagement strategies such as meetings and events, the one thing we know based upon past experiences is that everyone is wired differently. Such is the case, having a one-size-fits-all strategy is a thing of the past, now is the time to truly adopt integrated strategies that better connect organizations with their customers (past, present and future) for more effective outcomes that better support and align to business objectives.

There's an obvious shift in the media mix more so now than ever; and that will continue to further evolve moving forward. We've moved on and evolved our preferences, as consumers (whether B2B or B2C), from an engagement standpoint. Digital tactics, both web 1.0 and 2.0, are increasing in their roles as traditional media plays less of a dominant one; although still critical to varying degrees depending on a variety of variables such as markets and customer types. However, the first-level of engagement evolution, specifically websites and email marketing, have saturated and overwhelmed many customers. For the most part, we've managed these new media platforms with a traditional approach. Analytics needs to and will be key way in how these and other contemporary channels integrate with traditional formats to increase relevance, conversion rates, advocacy and other key performance indicators included in a robust lifetime value model.

The CMO's main responsibility has always been to focus on market needs and identifying how the organization best addresses these through product and service offerings. However, to remain effective in a rapidly changing set of markets, CMO's have to work in a more latitudinal way. Latitudinal from the sense that while identifying effective strategies that support business objectives remain a core function, they also need to better ground their evaluations and expectations of their business plans and priorities based upon sensible tactical executions. Considering the many changes and shifts in the market, identifying best-practices and keeping a keen eye on their customers needs and preferences (at the individual level) will better ensure the continued level of competitive differentiation, customer demand and market presence required to be successful.

A Different Point-of-View: Why Bashing Millennials is Wrong

We've all read our fair share of "generational" articles and, for that matter, probably harbor your own thoughts on the degrees of fact or fiction that apply. This is especially true when it comes to either B2B or B2C marketing for the purposes of promoting relationships through motivational incentive and loyalty based programs. I encourage you to read the article published in Fast Companies titled Why Bashing Millennials Is Wrong - click here.

Here were my thoughts...

Individually, we're all wired a bit differently in terms of our social norms, beliefs and values. There are strong commonalities when we breakdown our population into demographic buckets based upon age (i.e., traditionalists, baby boomers, generation x and generation y, etc.). This is clearly due to key influencers of the time; for instance, the technological explosion that continually shifts attitudes and behaviors in how we work, relate and interact with one another. However, the important point here is that we can't assume or stereotype too much solely based upon simple generational cuts alone. We need to go deeper and focus on what best works for a personal, business or individual perspective; especially when it comes to the areas such as education, communication, motivation and others.

Overall, the focus shouldn't be about millennials in the workplace, but rather more so about how we better engage different people in varying ways to drive performance in the work place. The ability to help individualize work experiences and engagements through areas such as meetings or even motivational efforts to leverage unique talents and skills has and remains a key towards driving a diverse workforce. This is NOT just a millennial issue; it's about "how you engage others" to best achieve both individual as well as business level performance objectives.