Events as Economic Development

Why don't communities think more often of using an event strategy for economic development?

- events generate immediate income from attendees, while exposing the community to potential outside investors
- statewide and national event are magnets for out-of-town money
- event subject matter can be tailored toward the needs of a community

If a community is going to employ events for economic development, why not focus on growing new events, rather than attracting events that already exist in other communities?

- Home grown events can more easily be designed to meet the needs and leverage the advantages of a community.
- Home grown events will stay; whereas events that have been attracted can just as easily be lured to some other location

Thank You Notes

When it gets right down to it, our grandmothers were right about pretty much everything -- especially the importance of sending thank-you notes.

For events of up to 200 people, sending personal, hand-written notes to attendees can make a huge impact. It doesn't (and shouldn't) be anything grand -- 50 words can make all the difference in the world.

For example, two days ago we finished an awards luncheon for 160+ people (www.tribuneawards.com). By tomorrow, pretty much every single one of those folks will have a hand-written thank you note from me.

Why?

1. It provides one last chance to give attendees a warm feeling about the event and to reinforce the brand and messaging.
2. It reminds attendees about you and will help them remember if they ever need help with their own event.
3. It is just really nice, and will set you apart because nobody ever does this kind of thing anymore. Don't you want to be remembered for being nice and thoughtful?

E-mail is okay, and might be necessary if there are over 200 attendees or if you don't have a couple of people on the team who can help you. E-mail absolutely does not pack the punch of a hand-written note on nice stationery or note cards.

No matter what, be as personal as you can; reinforce the messaging of the vent; and be sincere. If you really appreciate that someone supported your event, and can effectively communicate that, it will make a big difference.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Event Volunteer Tips

At the Community Events Web site (www.commevents.com) I just posted an awesome checklist for working with volunteers. Are you detail oriented? Then this list was made especially for you.

Here are a few things I've learned about working with volunteers (in no particular order):

1. Always recruit at least 1/3 more volunteers than you need because there is always a good chance that some of your volunteers will not show up when they said they would. (This is probably the single most important thing I know about working with volunteers.)

2. Provide written instructions -- as short as possible, but explaining exactly what is needed.

3. Recruit them -- immediately send each a thank you/reminder e-mail -- send each a second reminder e-mail a day or two before the event

4. If someone else is doing the recruiting, don't settle for anything less than a list of specific volunteers with names and contact information (people have a tendency to be "optimistic" about the number of volunteers they have recruited).

5. Feed them if you can.

6. Have them sign in with addresses, phone numbers, and e-mails. You want to make sure you have this list for thank-you notes and future volunteering.

7. Send hand-written thank you notes, not e-mail (no one does this anymore and it makes a lasting impression).

Do it yourself event Web site creation

Over the years, I've created a lot of event Web sites and, no, this is not my forte. Yes, it would be better to have professional Web designers do this. When there is enough money to hire a professional, then I do, but what about when we are on a shoe string budget?

That's what hosting company templates and sitebuilder software are for. When it comes to stretching tiny Web design dollars, these are lifesavers.

As you might guess, there is a wide range of quality when it comes to these things. So here is what I look for when I'm evaluating a new sitebuilder:

1. Peruse the site templates offered by the company. Across the industry, these are getting better, but there are still real disparities in quality. Set aside 20 minutes to an hour to skim the album of templates for a company you are considering. You want to see at least a few that seem really exciting and professional; there are still plenty of templates out there that look do-it-yourself shortcuts, and simply won't satisfy anyone with a discerning eye for Web design (which seems to be just about everyone these days).

2. If there is a free demo of the software, give it a spin. If not, this should be a red flag and it would probably be better to look at other options. During the demo (which might be free for as long as 30 days) you should look for two things. One, ease of use. For my part, I have basically no technical skills, so I need something that the average cat could use. The second thing is the widest range possible of editing power -- too many sitebuilders have huge sections of their templates that can not be manipulated. In most cases, the templates weren't that great to begin with, so this is particularly disappointing.

So far, the hosting company with the best sitebuilder I have used is Homestead.com. It has many, many cool templates and offers incredible versatility in design. For my money, it vastly outpaces Yahoo!, GoDaddy, Hostpapa, Hostmonster, and any of the other services with which I have spent time and money.

Nice paper

Today I drove to Kansas City (about two hours away) to visit my favorite paper store. It would be better if I could find a good paper store here in Columbia or closer than 120 miles away, but we make do with what we must.

I went because I needed paper for invitations. Yes, many events now handle all invitations electronically, but there is still no substitute -- in terms of sending a message of quality and class - for paper. In addition to the class issue, people also still pay a lot more attention to high quality, mailed paper invitations than they do to electronic. Paper will increase your response rate (and their is no reason not to couple paper invitations with electronic follow-up).

With that settled, the big issue is cost. We must provide high quality at the lowest cost possible.

For me, the answer is typically to print my own invitations on nice stock that I've bought at a bulk paper store. Doing this also shortens the printing time (since printers typically take a week or two to do what I can do in an afternoon).

Even with the cost of gas, if I several jobs worth of paper at at a time, going to the Kansas City store is a worthile expenditure of both money and time.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Get the money in the door

For a long time, I was a fulltime political professional, doing a lot of fundraising. I still do quite a bit. Today, I had a meeting with a gentleman who is chairing a fundraiser for a candidate.

In fundraising, all that matters is getting the money in the door. In this case, we have a June 30th filing deadline with the state -- everything we do is focused on raising every dollar we can by that date.

Originally, this fundraising event was scheduled for the last week of June, to accomodate our deadline. When I arrived, the host told me he needed to move it to early July. Ugh. You'd think that the change of a week or so wouldn't matter, but all that matters in fundraising is getting the money in the door. And if there is a deadline involved (because of a state filing, or a bill that is due, or whatever) then nothing else matters.

My initial response was to make an effort to shift us back to June, but it was quickly apparent that this couldn't happen.

So here's the salvage plan -- we'll send the invitations on June 18th. That's three weekends before the event (right in the 2-3 weekend timeframe that is best for event invitations). Importantly, it will give us almost two weeks to collect money that can apply to the June 30th deadline. In the invitations, we can include a line like, "Contributions received by June 30th will be particularly helpful." And we can focus on the deadline in follow-up calls and details.

None of this will make it as good as if the event itself were scheduled earlier, but it might just be good enough.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevent.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Keep it short

One of the best ways to increase the chances of a successful event is to keep it short. Think about how much time events of a similar sort usually are and then cut it by 25-50%.

The event we did tonight was a business awards dinner. Two hours or longer is an average length for this kind of thing -- three hours or more is not unheard of.

Our event started at 6:30 and was over just before 8:00. In terms of the program, this included presentation of several awards and three speakers -- one scheduled for ten minutes, one for five minutes and the third one for two minutes. With the speakers, we emphasized the importance of staying on schedule at least three different times, verbally and in writing. This message was also driven home with the MC, who was inclined toward brevity, anyway.

Still, leaving nothing to chance, I stood at the back of the room, in the direct line of sight for the speakers, and they knew that if I stepped forward, that meant it was time to wrap up, immediately. All three had assured me that this would not be necessary because there was no way they would exceed their alotted time; for all three, giving the signal was absolutely necessary, and absolutely worked.

Streamlining the events does several things. It shows attendees and everyone else that we value their time. It gives little time for attendees to think of other things they could be doing, and forces speakers to use their best material.

In all cases, I would rather leave my guests wanting more, instead of wondering why that event couldn't have ended just fifteen minutes earlier.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Better event follow-up -- Send hand-written notes

Earlier this week I put together an event for The Bank of Missouri -- a welcome reception for Columbia, Missouri's new school superintendent. We had almost 100 people there, and kept a complete list of attendees.

Afterward, I provided the list, with all available contact information, to the bank so they could do whatever follow-up made sense for them (e-mail messages, notes, or whatever).

For my part, I sent a hand-written note to all of the attendees that I know, personally, or with whom I had a significant conversation at the event (almost half).

Whoever is doing the thanking, the key is to extend the impact of the event, the positive feelings. A thank you note -- especially a hand-written one (which no one does anymore) -- is an opportunity to say thank you, as well as to reiterate the message of the event.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Pick up the trash!

I mentioned that there were two events Thursday night, but I haven't said anything about the second.

It was a massive event with way too many people (a few thousand, I'm sure), but still cool. Lots of food and music and other entertainment.

The problem? After the first hour, trash started overflowing the trash cans and collecting around the room. Tables all over the huge exhibition hall were piled high with plates, cups and miscellaneous garbage.

Assuming that there was no way to predict this problem, it should have been dealt with swiftly, sparing no expense. If the hotel couldn't add extra staff to address the problem, then the event promoters should have been dragging staff out of their homes and texting friends to get there and help. Whatever it took, this is one of those problems that is just inexcusable.

It can happen to anyone. If it happens to you, make sure you fix it quickly and completely.

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Conflicts with other events; competing with an 800 pound gorilla

Last night I attended an event -- two, actually, and I'll probably address the other in another post.

The first event had a problem that any of us can understand. Only maybe half of the chairs in a very large ballroom were filled. Is that an event planner's nightmare or what?

On the surface, the problem was pretty simple: it was scheduled on the same night of a very popular event that appealed to many of the same people who would typically attend the first event. Two events. Similar audiences. Same night. Yes, this could obviously be a problem.

The real problem, though, was that the event organizers did not adapt to an easily forseeable problem. Once it became clear that their event would be competing with an 800 pound gorilla, it was time to go into action, to do things that had not previously be necessary for this annual event.

Here are a few things that could have/should have been done:

1. All past attendees could have been called and/or e-mailed to help motivate them to attend.
2. The organizing board could have had at least two or three meetings to brainstorm the names of potential attendees. Those names could have been assigned to individual board members, whose job would have been to motivate attendance.
3. Alliances could have been struck with organizations who have large memberships, offering some consideration (probably just a special thank you at the event) in return for e-mailing their memberships about the event.
4. People from all over the community could have been recruited to bring blocks of two to four people with them to the event.

The key is simple -- it is about aggressive, personal contact and motivation. Pay attention to the RSVP list. Count the number of people who are expected -- specific names of people who have committed to attend. Never take anything for granted. Get the names on a list and get the people in the door.

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Prepping for media appearances

Community Events is in the middle of creating/managing "Columbia Business Times Entrepreneurial Excellence Week" and this morning we scheduled two of our sponsors (David Keller from Bank of Missouri and Cathy Atkins from Sandler Training) for a TV appearance to promote the event.

They both did a wonderful job and I'll tell you that it was quite a relief. There's nothing quite so professionally depressing as creating a media opportunity and having it go poorly. The worst part is that the only thing the client remembers is that you put them into a situation where they looked bad. Thanks goodness that was not the case here.

One of the reasons they did so well (in addition to natural ability, which they both have in abundance) is that we took time to prep. Surprisingly, people skip this step far too often. Honestly, we could have done more, but what we did worked so I'm not going to worry about it.

The key was that I created a prep sheet with the key questions that we could expect in a general interview about an event -- such as "What is it that you are doing?" and "Why are you involved with this?"

The prep sheet was intentionally just one page because a longer document would have made it harder for the sponsors to focus on our key messages. In addition to a list of six broad questions, with suggested answers based on our messaging, the sheet included the three key points that the sponsors should stress above all others. If they couldn't think of something else to say, these three points could fill in the gaps.

When interview time came, both sponsors were total pros and repeated back a combination of the prep sheet with their own personal backgrounds.

Team work at its best.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308

Panel discussion time limits

Years ago I coordinated a panel discussion of media professionals. It was moderated by a seasoned PR pro, so I let him handle all of the details of the panel. BIG MISTAKE! He didn't set time limits for answering questions and had no mechanism for letting panelists know that they were running long. At first it wasn't a problem... until we got to a long-time TV journalist who, literally, took just under 25 minutes to answer a question. Painful.

A good panel discussion event sets time limits, clearly explains them, and makes sure participants stick to them.

Forget this and your panelists will get rightfully upset when others monopolize the time and the audience will be unhappy that there isn't enough time for a variety of questions.

Here are the guidelines I use for a panel discussion:

• Each participant is given 2-3 minutes (depending on the subject matter) for an opening statement.
• Each participant is given 1-2 minutes to answer each question.
• Each participant is given 2-3 minutes for a closing statement.
• I don't set time limits on questions from the audience, but I mention that they need to be kept short, and if a question exceeds about 30 seconds (rare), I step in and gently push the questioner to get to the point.
• I have a yellow sign to hold up when a panelist has 30 seconds remaining and a red sign for 15 seconds. At the end of the time limit, I verbally call "time" even if the panelist is in mid-sentence. People quickly get the message and it doesn't have to happen more than a time or two. If you don't do this, answers tend to grow longer and longer.

The key is to explain the limits clearly and to be strident in enforcing them. It can feel strict, but it makes for a much better event.

- sean

Sean Spence

Community Events

www.commevents.com

seanspence@earthlink.net

573-823-1308

Fun student resources

I'm doing a small event for a local business -- bringing in a local speaker and making sure we fill the room with 100 or so guests. We are working hard to keep the budget as low as possible, while still having some fun features that add something special to the event.

One of the ways we are doing this is with student resources. Living in a college town, there are times we might turn to the university, but in this case I mean high school students.

Specifically, we are working with the culinary arts program to do the catering, the music program to provide a trio of talented musicians, and a student service group to work the door. Not only is this an incredibly inexpensive way to go, the quality can be surprisingly good (although you really need to make sure you check it out, particularly if you choose this route for catering). Further, at least some of your guests will see it as uniquely cool that kids are helping them have a nice time.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
573-823-1308
seanspence@earthlink.net

Event Evaluations

Yesterday I put together a small event for COLORS (www.colorsalliance.org), an organization for local, independent busineses. It was small, but as big as we wanted it to be, and made a small profit for the group.

At the end of the meeting, we distributed a short (five questions), subjective evaluation. One hundred percent of the attendees gave it back, with varying lengths of response (thankfully, almost entirely positive). Collectively, the evaluations will provide a wealth of information as our group moves forward. For example, we asked for suggestions for programs the participants would like to see in the future, and we received some great ideas.

I find that this evaluation piece is too often forgotten, despite the fact that is so essential. First, because it provides information that can help future events. Second, because it helps people see that their input is valued by the presenting organization.

For this event, I added a second level of evaluation, and we are still seeing how that will work. I received an e-mail this morning from an events consultant I respect, Eugene Loj (www.eugeneloj.com). His suggestion came from someone else -- he said to send an e-mail immediately after the event, thanking people for attending and posing just one question, "What did you not like about the event?"

Loj says the question makes people think and communicates that you are serious about improvement. That makes sense to me and I'm already receiving great feedback that makes me want to make this a permanent part of my event marketing mix.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

online event registration services

I recently found an online event registration service that I like pretty well.

www.eventbrite.com

So far, I have only used the free functions. It allowed me to create a page for an event with its own URL (mine is www.colors.eventbrite.com -- which I suspect will go inactive after the event, on 2/10/2009). It isn't super fancy, but it allowed me to post my group's logo and descriptive text.

Credit card payments are processed through my PayPal account, but registrants do not need an account, just a card. It allowed me to create several levels of tickets, which was cool, but it did not allow me to restrict who gets which kind of ticket. So, for example, I have to hope that non-members of the organization will not register at the cheaper "member" price. That's a pretty small problem, though.

Setting up my event took no more than 15 minutes.

For a quick and easy way to have online registration for your events, I definitely recommend www.eventbrite.com.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

The key to being popular at a potluck.

What's your favorite dish?

Perhaps counter-intuitively, this is not a particularly important question to consider when choosing what to make for a potluck dinner.

The key to being a successful pot-luck guest (i.e. taking something that most people will actually eat), is taking something recognizable, that LOOKS appetizing. It is all about visual presentation, and some level of familiarity. It is about appealing to the lowest common denominator.

My favorite things to take to a potluck are chocolate covered strawberries (cheap and easy to make), homemade chunky guacamole and chips, and stuffed mushrooms. Recognizable. Appetizing to most folks.

Happy Super Bowl!

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

Rule -- ALWAYS first class stamps!

Mostly, this rule is for fundraising events, but it really applies to everything. And I'm sure there is an exception, but I haven't found it yet.

People are much more likely to open a piece of mail that has come from a real person that they know. So my overall rule of thumb is that you want letters of any kind -- in this case, invitations to an event -- to follow the same rules as for a letter to your grandmother. You want the letter to feel as personal as possible to whomever is receiving it, increasing the possibility that they will respond favorably.

1. If what you are sending is an actual letter, make it to "Dear Bob," not "Dear Supporter," or "Dear Friend," or whatever. You wouldn't send a letter to your grandmother starting with "Dear Senior Citizen" would you?

2. Have the return address be yours or that of some other person (such as the chair of the board, if the event you are doing is for a non-profit), NOT an organization. Nothing seems less personal than a letter from "National Association of...".

3. Use a hand-writing font for the outgoing address (and blue ink, if your printer can handle it).

4. Use stick-on, first class stamps! In the long run, it will be worth the extra expense because more people will open what you have sent them. If you are fundraising, you'll raise more money, and certainly enough to cover the extra postage cost if your list is good. If it is just a social or PR sort of event, these are the kind of personal touches that will set you apart from the very beginning.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

Success secret -- Hand-written notes

Yesterday I spent about forty-five minutes writing personalized, hand-written notes to VIP attendees at an event I had co-chaired.

Note writing is something of a lost custom (much to the chagrin of our grandmothers). Because it so seldom happens anymore, people remember it when they get a hand-written note on appropriate paper. It reminds them of the event; it reminds them of you; and it increases the chances that you will be the one they remember the next time they need someone to do whatever it is you do.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

What time should I schedule my after-work reception?

At 5:30 last night I tried to go to an event. I got there right on time... but not really.

The event -- a downtown, stand-up reception targeting business folks -- was actually scheduled for 6:30-8:30, NOT 5:30-7:30, as I had thought.

Total rooky mistake.

If you're hosting an event targeting the after-work crowd, the best time to do it is 5:30 until 7:00 or 7:30. This gives people plenty of time to wrap up work and just go straight to your event. Doing it at 6:30 is about as bad a time as you could possibly choose because a lot of folks won't want to just stick around work, and if they go home, they will be less likely to go out again.

- sean

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

Always get more volunteers than you need

This evening I helped execute an event that I had co-chaired for the Mizzou Alumni Association, Boone County Chapter. It was a state legislative forum and, honestly, there was very little for me to do. My major responsibility was to get volunteers to help with set-up, to staff the sign-in table, and to do a few other odds and ends.

As is pretty typical, one of the volunteers e-mailed at the last minute to say that he couldn't make it.

No panic, though, because I had recruited about twice as many volunteers as we really needed. Why? Because some percentage of people who say they will help you, will let you down every darned time. My estimate is a third to a half.

Always get more volunteers than you need; twice as many couldn't hurt.

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.commevents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

Piggybacking

This evening I attended the Columbia MO Chamber of Commerce new member meeting. I alwas like Chamber events; they tend to build effective mingling events -- plenty of business people, good food, nice locations, decent give-aways.

What most impressed me today, though, was not something that the Chamber or the event organizers did.

The mixer was held at the University Club at the University of Missouri (www.uclub-mu.org), which served tasty finger food (including homemade guacamole) in a spacious, well-lit room.

The organizers introduced the manager of the club, and after talking about his establishment he asked for a few extra moment to introduce someone else.

Apparently, the boys at Hot Box Cookies (www.hotboxcookies.com), members of the Chamber, had learned of the meeting and had badgered the club manager until they were allowed to serve their cookies at the event and get an introduction.

With persistence, willingness to part with just a little free stuff, and the initiative to try, these young business owners received all of the benefits of event sponsorship essentially for free.

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.CommEvents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net