First off, CONGRATS! Celebrate the win as events are difficult to put on...I mean does anyone else remember the frantic cleaning that took place at home with your mom yelling at you "WE HAVE COMPANY COMING OVER, CLEAN YOUR ROOM! (even if it's just the neighbor kid coming to jump on the trampoline)" as she scurries about? I feel like that when putting on events.😂
Second, this is why I have such a respect for event teams and field marketers. I laughed so hard at your meme "this is where we throw our heads back..." cause honestly, I'd increase those numbers just a tad personally (25-30% drop-off attendance rate). Also I absolutely loved the fact with how flexible you were with the scheduling adjusting to the audience needs...I guarantee you that will help you in dark social for your next event. Now it does become tricky once partnerships/sponsorships get involved.
Third, totally agree with your location bit. What has worked in the past for me was more centered around short dinners/meetups/happy hours to try first to just build local community and then coral into a larger commitment in terms of half day/full day slightly more structured events. But what I'd really like to explore more are events that aren't necessarily centered around panels and presentations, thinking more activity/experience type events based on industry (hack-a-thons as an example) or partnering with local charities (I just did a volleyball tournament over the weekend for the Ronald Mcdonald house, had live music, food and drink vendors) just to give choice and variety so it's not all so "bar" type focused. I'm also curious on what your audience is able to takeaway from it...what does that followup look like? So often we just see the highlight reels like you mentioned, but nothing really ever comes of it (not saying it has to be deals and all, just a lot of the time the content isn't all that great to even repurpose) besides attendees being annoyed from being hit up from SDR teams/email spam. I certainly don't have all the answers, but you have this hamster on the wheel again.
That quote of your mom yelling at you to clean up hits too hard 😂
The experiential events are definitely starting to gain more traction. Nick Bennett has been championing + executing these for a bit with great success, so eventually I'm fully planning on joining this camp as time goes on (and we have more resources to devote towards field marketing).
First off, CONGRATS! Celebrate the win as events are difficult to put on...I mean does anyone else remember the frantic cleaning that took place at home with your mom yelling at you "WE HAVE COMPANY COMING OVER, CLEAN YOUR ROOM! (even if it's just the neighbor kid coming to jump on the trampoline)" as she scurries about? I feel like that when putting on events.😂
Second, this is why I have such a respect for event teams and field marketers. I laughed so hard at your meme "this is where we throw our heads back..." cause honestly, I'd increase those numbers just a tad personally (25-30% drop-off attendance rate). Also I absolutely loved the fact with how flexible you were with the scheduling adjusting to the audience needs...I guarantee you that will help you in dark social for your next event. Now it does become tricky once partnerships/sponsorships get involved.
Third, totally agree with your location bit. What has worked in the past for me was more centered around short dinners/meetups/happy hours to try first to just build local community and then coral into a larger commitment in terms of half day/full day slightly more structured events. But what I'd really like to explore more are events that aren't necessarily centered around panels and presentations, thinking more activity/experience type events based on industry (hack-a-thons as an example) or partnering with local charities (I just did a volleyball tournament over the weekend for the Ronald Mcdonald house, had live music, food and drink vendors) just to give choice and variety so it's not all so "bar" type focused. I'm also curious on what your audience is able to takeaway from it...what does that followup look like? So often we just see the highlight reels like you mentioned, but nothing really ever comes of it (not saying it has to be deals and all, just a lot of the time the content isn't all that great to even repurpose) besides attendees being annoyed from being hit up from SDR teams/email spam. I certainly don't have all the answers, but you have this hamster on the wheel again.
That quote of your mom yelling at you to clean up hits too hard 😂
The experiential events are definitely starting to gain more traction. Nick Bennett has been championing + executing these for a bit with great success, so eventually I'm fully planning on joining this camp as time goes on (and we have more resources to devote towards field marketing).
Glad to get that hamster wheel churning!