Social Media?

It's interesting here is a link to a video I always find interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Now cleary this pro social media. Ok so you take the term and you break it down to Social. Ok networking with friends, talking about where you went to eat and when you had a glass of wine or went on a good trip is all very social. People like to tell you all kinds of things on the web about their daily activities.  Now is that kind of like the movie Ed TV or a reality show yes but in a more easy to digest form.
Now let's look at the word media. How does media come into play? I don't know exactly but I will make an assumption because of blogging, and discussions this can become an informative form of media in a more diverse way. Media because it plays online and can be transported to print and television media.

Now how about social responsibility. Ok this can be media as well as it is very p.c. and develops a good ethical standard for everyone to operate by. Viral Social, well that is where the stream of tweets, blogs, message boards, chats,  texts, are all spread throughout the world in nano, seconds.

Social engagement, this is when you engage your network in discussions of topics of common interest, politics, the economy, manufacturing, jobs, marketing, operations, events, education, some common thread for all to jump on.

Social take-away. What's in it for all of those engaged in the discussion, what is the take away that will make we want to engage, drill down and come back for more and also spread the word for others to join in or follow as well.

Social watch; This is where we are not engaging but we are watching from and paying attention to the discussion and possibly gaining a take-away without engagement. It's also the learning curver where you observe and come to an understanding of the environment before you jump in.

Social freight train, to me this is when you are pushing your agenda with a lack of concern for the communities such as over product promotion.

Social trust, this is what we get when we all participate and gain from the experience at one time or another and we aid our fellow online social members.

Social acceptance can be many things but it's generally when the member is embraced into the community.

Social incubation, idea exchange and exploratory discussion and analysis of either existing products or those that should be developed and maybe some R&D assistance on enhancements.

Social leaderships, read the book called tribes by Seth Godin very interesting take on tribes and leaders.

Social reach, the power of reaching beyond your borders

Social Relationships, the power of becoming comfortable and engaging and trusting to someone you have met online and turning that into hopefully a positive f2f.

Social past, going back thru your memory card  and reaching out to those that have moved, transitioned or you have lost touch with.

Social future, new engagements, new relationships net connecting points

Social testimonials, this is your reference your person that says you have what it takes or this community has what they need. You could combine that with social reference.

Social Chain, how your connect to other networks and people thru your connection chain.

Social sales,  well there is alway some for of sales, the connections will lead to that.
Social marketing, again this is something that is done and is beneficial if done correctly.

Social intelligence, maybe the holy grail what we can take away and implement in our life or business.

Social Community; This is a place a neighborhood, for all of use with many common interests to gather and a place for those that have limited commonalities that want to gather to gain more information.

Now you may be saying where did all of the social terminologies come from? I have not read about them, I need more details. I don't know maybe they exist in some book out there or in some online community, I just wrote my thoughts on what I think of social.

The fact is is much of this is in our everyday lives and it's in our f2f events as well. Now can we do better at these social aspect yes? Some people confuse social with being a party person. Well that can be true but were not in the dorms right now with this discussion. Social tells me something has changed or there is lack of social in our everyday life that we are going online to obtain this ability.

Now the question is how do we do Social Connection and remove Social Disconnection?
We need to understand why we are either connected or disconnected with our communities by doing so we will improve our outlook.  Your doing something right for those connected to you and something wrong for those that choose to not connect.

I hope this gives everyone something to think about and see how Social impacts you personally and in business.

Search in the New World

How do we all rank in the search world. Have you tested it? Also not just with just a show name or product and company name but your name as well?

How do we all show up? The world has changed and google continues to change the programing tool and respectable search placement.

Pick an item on the search engine and see how long it takes for you to become front-line news. It could take a while. Also in reference to your website I should ask do you have google in your mind when you connect the dots.

Now the next question is it search or intentions for decision? All of the groups claim they have a plan.
Now what if everything you do is tracking from your DVR and then the internet and direct mail and. Now everyhing come down to your team of consultants who say I don't need to be there.

The new online models are about search intention.  Google's patent expires in 2012.

Do we own the search in our programs? Generaly people have to deal within this business sector.

At the same time we need your help in promotions
Thanks for reading this alot more to come and always I look forward to your thoughts

Web Portals and Events

Web portals, what is that? Yahoo, AOL, Excite, Altavista, etc. are all web portals. How do they play in the tradeshows and events industry? The answer to this question will vary depending on your strategic plan for your association, or your event management or you b2b media product. All of this will also depend on your budget for online programs.

Can we create portals most definitely is that a goal we should have that will again depend on the size and scope of your events and your objectives.

You now need to look at how you obtain revenue online and also who you compete with online. Let's say you are the major vertical or horizontal event serving your customer base. You have a very solid f2f event.
It's growing everything is good,  or it's suffering. Either way you need to look at these online opportunities for your business plan. The print media has taking a beating. I'm not going to call anyone particular group out, but just look at the newspaper industry and the effect of online news and search has had on their business revenue.

Now could this play out in the f2f arena still remains to be seen. However this new economy which no one knows how long it will last is having an effect on marketers.  They want to reach their audience achieve a strong ROI at the most economical efficient way that they can.

Here's what alot of tradeshow and events have going for them as they explore the online model that they really should embrace instead of be in fear of.
1. We collect data
2. We serve and our recognized as a leader in the industry
3. We have two customers that pay to be part of our events.
5. We can take this f2f progam utilizing new techology and put it online.
6. Our customers invest their time and money for our events.
7. Our attendees are more qualified than any b2b product online.
8. We work with multiple groups in marketing and partnerships
9. Social media allows us to be f2f online.
10. How many models can say they have a f2f and a online matchmaking and search engine.

Search is huge, think Google, Bing etc. Do not underestimate search, seo, lead generation and online effectiveness. Also be very aware of how your demographics utlize tools such as laptops, wireless networks, smart phones and more. Also be aware of the next generation of buyers who live by the communication online.

If you think they are not ready to embrase go to youtube.com and search for a video on socialnomics. It's a little propaganda but the point is made loud and clear about online engagment.

Look at retail and see how much of that is now purchased online or researched online. Also do not underestimate the viral activity and potential of your group to encourgage others to engage you online and offline.

My point is portals are search, you need to play in this space for long term sustainable growth. If you cannot get their alone you may need to engage others to shoulder the burden.

With a portal I can be 365 for my customers. News, video, rss, search, education, R&D, white papers, social communities, sales, matchmaking, lead generation, seo, market penetration and more.

To me it's a no brainer. You can create a portal that can allow you to grow into ancillary markets, strengthen your markets and increase value and possibly offset the costs to produce by a new revenue stream.

Portals will take a commitment of resources staff and financial. However keep in mind you may see what you think is your competition out there now, but odds are you may miss out on someone that has the great idea and plan to access what your perceive to be your audience.

I'm not going to say it's going to replace f2f. Nor am I saying everyone should do it. I'm just telling you if you don't or cannot, mark my words someone may already be thinking about it.

Thanks for reading and I always look for input from everyone.

Portals

Portals what does that mean to you:? Have you thought about it?

Data Mining is in your plan?

Proper datacollection is it in your plan

Green is it in your plan"

It's time to know the new current world

Creating demand for your product

Creating demand for your product. Well what is the metrics for demand. X amount of attendees, and Y amount of exhibitors in a location that will bring both and in a destination city that is attractive to both audiences.


Now faced with online tools and an economy that is watching every dollar and is very sensitive to where they spend and what they spend it on. Ok we all get that I hope at this point as travel dollars are under alot of scutiny these days. So if we have had an event for a long time do we still need to create demand for our product?
I hope your answer is yes, because we always need to do so in good economic time and also during times when we are all under duress.

So we all get that this is a new economy or those that do get it will realize that we need to work even harder to create demand for a product that is being questioned during these times.  I'm not questioning whether you have a great product. I'm throwing out the question are you creating demand for your product.
I've already made one mistake to not include vendors, destinations, venues etc. in this equation as well because they need to create demand as well along with exhibitors and believe it or not attendees in their participation in this new supply chain.

It's interesting the web refers to web 2.0 and now up to 4.0. Well should all of us that are participants in the tradeshow model refer to our model as the 2.0 or the 4.0 model? No we don't have to do that but my point is we do need to upgrade our program to the current realities of doing business.

It's not an easy job to create demand from exhibitors and attendees. Yes it was easier but now it's much harder, not because your fighting off obstacles that you have never seen before. However these obstacles are becoming more unified and efficient.

The demand is not as simples as saying we have over x amount of exhibitor and we expect y amount of attendees. They want to know how much business opportunity will come out of this marketing vehicle. The attendee wants to know their take away and the exhibitor wants to know their take away. This not as easy as just saying we brought together 50,000 people in a global marketing showplace.
Both of your customers bases are going to push you for tangible measurable results. What does this mean?
Well what is means is you need to collect more data. You need to collect more intelligence you need to begin to evaluate all of your offerings for a measurable return.

Example if I buy a snickers, if I like it enough I will buy another one. If I buy your event and I like the satisfaction results I will also buy it again. This all goes to all of the other groups involved in events as well.

We need to become very pro-active in the way we gather data and I would suggest that we begin to understand and collect metrics on who our attendees buy products from and create a measuring stick going forward to continue to track this metric. This proves true ROI also you should look at collecting data from your attendees on their search process from every show they attend and collect that data to measure performance of the product and long-term ROI.

Exhibitors will give you the numbers that they want to hear. You need to collect more data then they are offering. Also in creating demand you need to understand your attendees wants and needs and their justification for attending an event. What is their take-away.  Also work with your base and see how they can help you get a better understanding of their needs from a attendee and exhibitor standpoint.

You might be surprised by the results and the direction the overall group gives you and the good part is they are going to give you the data you need for creating demand.

Hope all is well in your industry sector and look forward to you continuing to read this blog. Just like everything I mentioned above I need to see how a I can create demand for this blog and what topics and information people want to talk about. If I do this hopefully we can have a very engaging blog for the industry.

Do we chase the dollars or the customer/prospects ?

What a loaded question. Do we chase the dollars or the customers? Heck everyone is going to say the ?
Customers should be the answer but in reality do we chase the dollars. Now let me please clarify because I don't want to let any exhibitors off the hook and let's them assume they chase the customers.

Ok, yes some would say they are one in the same. Chasing the customers/prospects leads to dollars. Alright so were chasing dollars that is what everyone would like to believe that is anti-shows. Now everyone that is pro-show would like to say we are chasing customers. I hope so anyway.

Again if we look at in reality whether we are a vendor, show management, exhibitor or attendee we are all chasing dollars. Now I  would be glad to be corrected and be told that in the capitalist society we all live in that our primary purpose is not chasing the dollar chain.

So if that is the case then you say why is he even writing about chasing dollars, is he just trying to call us out and get us to admit were all in the game for the Revenue word.  No we all learned early in math classes about being positive in our numbers vs. negative. There is also a reason that debits and credits accounting is taught in high schools so you understand accounts receivable and payable. There is also a reason at a very young age we are all taught to understand currency and basic mathematics.  Now we all have went on to understand the higher standards of math as well. The reality is if you know basic math, division, multipliers etc. you are on your way to understanding the science of math. Again I have said this in previous blogs, math and numbers are they key to everything. Everyone I talk to I tell them numbers will provide you the answer to every problem. Scientist use numbers, doctors use numbers, theorists use numbers, generals and business use numbers as well.

Ok, so I bored you with Decartes, and Nietchie (sp) in reference to math. So let' s get back to the basics of the world of dollars or customers. I'm sorry I will touch on one more currency subject. Every empire that has desired to grow has done so based upon currency. Think about it all of the way back to biblical times. It's interesting if you look at history as well. How many conquerors would say they expanded their empire to expand their customer base? Not alot I suspect. How many of those conquerors and invaders can say they have had long term success based on that model. Most of the empires have disappeared or been engulfed by a new conqueror..

What does this have to do with the event business? Thanks for the historical but really come on does this have any value to my business?

Yes and Yes. See what is their meaning the conquering group or invader sustainability factor. Are they still in business, do they still control the world? Do they still control the currency of trade? Every group in history has been toppled in some form in their search for the holy grail of currency.

Now what if I was looking to expand my empire of customers? If I focused on the customer and not the dollars I could extract could I make more dollars. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying events, exhibitors, vendors, or attendees are in all it for the almighty currency. I'm saying that if we focus on the customer first and deliver a product that our customers can benefit from that will lead them to better serve their customer than have we not achieved the dollars and not put our house in jeopardy by only going after the money?

My point is focus on the customers, not the currency. If you deliver them a product that enables them to benefit and serve their customers with a product that helps them pay it forward to their customers than have you not won and found the "holy grail" I say yes.

Serving the customer base is key to our survival. That is what will ensure that we don't become victims of extinction because we have taken the steps and understand that the customer base that we have if served correctly will lead to new customers.

We want as many customers as we can have that fit our business model. We want them to be succesful based upon our offerings and if we do we are creating a sustainable program. This is critical to our survival and growth and should not be short-changed.

Give this some thought dollars or customers? I bet and hope you will decide customers because if you serve them correctly the currency will not be a problem.

Again thank you for reading the blog,  I'm sorry for any typos or lack of a plan on this blog. I'm doing this to engage a group and really just put my random thoughts out there and engage or as I say facilitate a response.

Thanks again for reading and best of luck with your business.

Going Vertical Or Horizontal

Shows over the years have grown differently depending on the cycle. Some are very horizontal serving multiple sectors within their event. Others have had success in concentrating on vertical segment with more concentrated products, education, and networking programs.

Both have grown and some tend to do better during different economic swings. Now both vertical and horizontal are faced with some new competition online for marketing dollars. Now another question enters the online world is is better to horizontal or vertical. Can a tradeshow that has been very horizontal get more vertical in a f2f event. Also can they get more vertical in their online offerings? This all remains to be seen.

What's also interesting is the number of niche/vertical events that are trying to survive via co-location or horizontal expansion. So you have the horizontal and the vertical events heading to the railroad crossing at the same time. Now the question is who can better serve the marketplace? There is no easy answer to that question as it comes down to who is delivering the most effective ROI opportunity to engage the correct attendee customers.

Vertical is like pursuing your advanced degree in IT for example. Now you are no longer in the mix with the liberal arts people but you are networking with your advanced peers. So does the horizontal program deliver the advanced professionals. If you believe this to be correct. Let's assume the vertical is event that delivers the customer program, the earned credit program, the collegial feeling of higher education and networking. The horizontal is more mainstream connecting the nuts and bolts of the complete buying chain. But not quite a boutique feel. The vertical program give them the feeling they are not an after thought and this is the place where they belong, and they can just focus on their part of the puzzle. But in reality the puzzle requires hundreds of parts and a variety of people to deliver the attendees product to their buying chain.

Obviously vertical events do their job but in a economy pressed for justification for travel dollars will the decision-makers get a approval to attend a vertical event that is not in their backyard. Yes and No. The question than becomes can the horizontal program become vertical enough and develop vertical touch-points to serve these niche sectors, or decision-makers that are part of their overall concepts. Yes and No. They can if the buy into the necessity that these sectors needs to be addressed and enough ROI can be generated to justify the investment in energy, resources and allocation of facilities.

Obviously both vertical an horizontal can grow organically to the sector of their choice in my opinion. The question is how many of them want to do it and how many of them know how to do it? Also how many of them are willing to not-re-invent the wheel and find partners to service this sector in conjunction with their events. Next will they stay committed to it as things continue to move forward and not lose sight of the end goal which is attendee and exhibitor satisfaction.

This is what makes it all interesting. I don't want to take a side on this question as it isn't me that would be the one that determines which way is best however your customer base will make a decision for you depending on what decisions you make in reference to the pendulum swing of niche, horizontal vertical organic growth.

Both schools of thought will bring value and both have their place in the event business. However when times are challenged by economic decisions. Sometimes the plan is altered and where you didn't see a competitor you know have one. Now this is in reality is just not for the event business if you think about it your customers meaning exhibitors and attendees could be facing the vertical horizontal question as well for their business plan.
Thanks for reading and I hope you will encourage others to do so as well.

Exhibit Sales

Exhibit sales and the process is always going to be different with every company. I alway wonder how much up selling is still going on today. Well the company has been in the show for x amount of years and they always take a 20x20. They bring x part of their portfolio of products and they get y amount of leads.

So I'm sure alot of people just go with the flow and keep plotting the company in there for a 20x20 every show run. Or a 10x10 every show run. Now part of our job is to understand the exhibitors needs. Now don't get me wrong the size space they are taking may make perfect sense.

But let's consider a new approach to this let's look at what your exhibitors have been generating over the last three shows in leads if you can extract that information from your registration company.
Let's look at how they are setting up their booth how they are manning it, how much they have in the display area and whether it's crowded. Next let's look at what they are showcasing as their hook to get people into their booth. What is the product pitch. Next let's look at what product they say the have but they are not bringing to the show and may be missing out on the opportunity to use the hook to sell the other products.

Now they don't have the products there at the show so it may make it fairly difficult to close sale on something people cannot demo.
Consultative exhibit sales let's talk to them about their offerings their display and their leads and determine maybe how show management can assist them in making the show better. Now this could in turn lead to a slight upgrade in their booth space. Maybe not. But at least your explaning some options to them instead of just taking the standard sale.

Now don't get me wrong it's nice to see that application come in every year for x amount of the same space.
However because we are not being communicative with them, we are losing out on a potential opportunity.
So how much time do we have to talk to our exhibitors, well we should have all of the time in the world. We get the application in and you know we should call them and have a discussion, or better yet have one before they send in the application so you can discuss some options. Again get a feel for their current and future needs. This I believe will lead to some upgrade sales for your company.

Now what about the person that downsized well let's give them a call also before we just run the app thru and book em into their space. There is a need for this call, to gather some intelligence on why this happened and via discussions you may find a way to keep them in original size space before the downsize because you found out during the discussion that maybe if they had a spot in an area that better compliments them, this may enable to stay in a certain size space. Also during that process you can discuss how their company and products are going to be promoted and again maybe talked to them about their boothmanship and display.

What alot of this comes down to is pure conversations, let's have them with our customers. Let's engage and gather information. This gets back to an earlier blog as well, have an understand on what size space they are taking in other shows and evaluate if they are taking bigger space in that event, why are they not taking the same space in your event.
Again gather and collect information this will give you an advantage on helping your exhibitor customer succeed within your tradeshow platform.
Also relationship sales, it's good to work on that process. You will find that will go along ways if they have a relationship with you and trust your committment to making the show better for their company.

There is much more that can be added to this blog and I look forward to comments and suggestions on this topic and more as I'm sure there are plenty of you that have some great ideas, that you would be willing to share.

Sales Data Management

How well do you know your customers? How much information do you have on their marketing expenditures? How much information do you have on their target market?

I'm sure some events are knocking it out of the ball park with all of the data they collect.
However data is only as good as the collection process.

Let's look at the dollars and where are they being spent. Now if your doing your business correctly you have a good understanding of what media vehicles your exhibitor customers are using. Now can you get to the exact dollar on how much they are spending in trade pubs, online, private events, direct mail, data collection, list managment, social media, tv, radio, other events, your event etc.

No you may never be able to get to the exact dollar but you can get close. Now I may have to much big brother in me and I may believe in over collection of data. Whenever people say well you want to collect this data, but how are you going to use it? I may not always have the exact answer at that time. However data is there to be extracted when you need it. If you never collect it you will never know.

I believe we need to know where our customers are spending their money on marketing. We are a marketing vehicle. Now we also may not know how much of that marketing money is going to exhibit costs such as drayage, travel, food, entertainment etc. I know that it will be hard to get to an exact science on these numbers. However it's important that we get as close to these numbers as possible.

Ok, so if they exhibit at your show. We need to track as much as we can what it costs for them to exhibit at our event. Next we need to track where else they exhibit and come to some conclusion on how much they are spending on these events. Media spending, we need to track their advertisments, believe me I think it will be beneficial in the long term to have an understanding ofwhere they are spending their money.

I would track every show they exhibit in. I would track every month they advertising in a magazine by magazine. I would search the media online and see where they are buying online ads, banners etc. I also would track their co-programs with other exhibitors, individual open houses, e-promotions and more.

The point is we need to understand the money flow and where it's going and why.
Also we need to look for patterns to see if marketing dollars are decreasing in certain areas.
Example exhibit space. Have they been making decreases in your event but expansion in others.
Increasing ads in one pub, but getting out of another completely.
Are they spending more or less on sponsorships? Are they doing more or less direct mail? (Get on their lists for direct mail, you or someone should be on every exhibitor or media promotion lists. Also as a sidebar understand what they are pushing in these messages.

Also know which associations they belong to and how they are supporting them, and if they are opting out of them. Follow the money trail. Believe it or not if you put this information in play it will help you gather a better understanding of what is working or not working for your customer.

Track it by year and be able to see how the money is flowing or not flowing into various marketplaces.
They would be surprised to know that you are paying attention. Like I saw your banner at x or your ad in y.

These companies that are your exhibitor will make shifts you marketing allocation. If you have an understanding of where the money is going you may be able to position them into an opportunity to succeed at your event f2f or online with your website. Again I believe this data collection is important.
If you see them downsizing or stop exhibiting at shows these metrics in place may give you and idea why. Don't get me wrong you still need to speak to them you still need to understand what budget funds what. By gathering this information which many may do, which I doubt will give you the intelligence you need to offer a superior product based upon your exhibitor customers needs.

Well your saying that is alot of work to track their space at each show they exhibit at or there is information you just cannot gather, or your sales people just don't have the time to collect such data. Well you know what your losing out in the possible understanding of your customer and where the money flows. You need to make sure someone is doing. Heck right now it's vital as every dollar is being scrutinized.

This data collection may keep you ahead of the curve and provide your group a vehicle a tool to keep them from downsizing on you or spending less in your sponsorships or marketing ops programs.

Give it some thought You might find it works and is worth the time.

Good luck remember everything comes down to numbers and there is nothing better than good data collection and good information gathered personally or thru these means.

F2F exhibit sales

F2f exhibit sales. How much of this is still done in today's environment? I don't know I'm sure it varies from group to group and how much focus they put on the importance of the f2f.

Is it less expensive to email our customers or send them a direct mail piece or just have everyone go to our website and choose the space, pay for it and never have any communication with your sales staff? Sure but how effective is it in the long-term to not have any face time with your customer base unless you count seeing them at another show when they would rather be selling their products than listening to your pitch. Yes you need to be at the show that they exhibit in that are not your's don't get me wrong but how many people will say this is the only time you get f2f with your exhibitor customer execept at your event.

Now let's be honest, an email is quicker than a phone call. You can still hold out hope that the answer is yes and less painful than a sales call where the answer could be no. Or you need to work to close the exhibitor who all of the sudden has become reluctant of your products.

The fact is we think we cannot get f2f with every customer in a show cycle. The fact is you should have enough staff to make sure you at a min. talk to every exhibitor at your show and also at any events you attend where they are. Even if its' a quick handshake and hello you need to do.

Next the phone call needs to happen. If you want to understand their business and how your business model fits in with their marketing plan you need to communicate with your exhibitor customer. You need to do this not only to go for the sale, but also to provide customer service, and gather marketing intelligence on how you can best serve their needs and other customers that are similar. Also making this contact via phone or in person will aid you as they provide you with information that could possibly make your event stronger not only for them in particular but overall as well.

Do not ignore the gathering intelligence factor it's huge to serving your exhibitor base and your attendee base. They are out in the field working the industry they have information that is esssential to your event. Now they need to practice the f2f as well or at least the phone call the email program will not deliver all of your results even if it comes from them.

Now people sometimes forget the basic mechanics of the sales are still in place. Always be closing if your not they are. Probe, Probe, rebut and keep moving the rebuttal probe pendulum in your favor . Now what has changes we all have alot more information and data the question is who has more data and who will win the data, metrics, value proposition, ROI, ROO battle.
Well the answer will come in who has the most to gain and the most pain if they lose out on the opportunity.
Remember the word I will continue to use in my blogs, facilitate in this case the proposition.

Also keep in mind we are not selling a table, a chair, a computer, a suitcase, we are conducting a intangible sales proposition. Now believe it or not, not everyone can sell a computer and alot of people cannot present a intangible sales proposition.
Why do you say? Well you need to mix ideas, vision, fact and fiction and combine that into the perfect ambience of buzz and sales reality potential. You cannot close anything for anyone you can only put them in position like a coach. Be here and work on the fundmentals to make the play.

Now there are a series of steps in the sale process and I will think of the best way to try to do a blog on the rebuttal, probe, close and extension.

We all have an approach but my guess is everyone's team could use some reinforcement training. You know what it's hard out there but pitch the possibility and you are heading in the correct direction.
Now also please understand not everyone is made out for sales and some can be trained and others it may never work. However they need to find the game that works for them.

Also look at your sales team and ask how is their knowledge of the numbers. Now I don't just mean the reading the exhibitor manual how about the marketing data and stats, how is there rap for that? I bet not as good as you like, also I bet they don't come back and ask for more data if they don't have it.

Also this is for another day as well, but depending on your size of staff consider this. Give all of your staff enough information and real-time action to play in multiple fields within your organization. You may find your soon to best salesperson is not even in sales and your best sales person may become your best ops person.

Good luck and always remember someone is closing everyday.

360 Vision

It used to be good to have normal vision, then it was about good peripheral vision. Now it seems like you have to be 360.

Now what does 360 vision mean? Well we need to to envision and understand everything around us. We need to know what other events are doing. We need to know what our customer groups are doing. We need to understand all of their businesses.

We need to interact with the media, trade associations, other event within the industry sectors we address. We need to understand our vendors, what they can do and what they cannot do.

We need to understand the destination and all of groups that we will need to work with to ensure our events are sucessful.

360 vision also means we need to understand the global impacts of economies on our business, know trends, and understand how our events can be integral to all of these happenies.

We need to understand our fellow-coworkers and what their abilities are and limitations. We need to have a vision of this new hybrid world that is online and offline and how these new mediums will integrate with our f2f programs.

Next we need to be aware outside the sectors we serve whether they are ancillary to our core or if they are just events that are having great event years because they found some of magical gold dust.

Now can anyone person be 360 probably not, but it's good if you try to have a good grasp of everything that is happening around your epicenter.

It will take a team, operations, marketing, sales, development, support staff and industry connections to allow you to be 360 in vision when you may have only eyes for a 180.

The pace of the 360 world is rapid and if you don't stay on top of it your going to feel like you got hit by a bus as the tires begin to come off your firm grip of your events.

Association, make a list of all of them you work with put into your outlook once a month to look at their websites and get a feel for what they are doing. Engage them in conversation every two months. Media/trade pubs, look at their sites more frequently and engage them as well either via email or phone call to get a good pulse. Meet with your ad reps they are in the field gathering information that can be valuable to you.

Have you and your staff pick 20 events to lock in and see what they are doing. Sign-up for the shows get on their promotional lists. It will give you some good insight to what may work for them and might work with you.

Build a networking list of your peers and have your staff do the same with a good mix of marketing, ops, sales, etc. This group will become a good resource for you to view.
Go to other events when they are in your city, it never hurts to gather more information that could be helpful to you.
Give vendors a chance to pitch you, you may not buy from them but you will see what they have to offer. Now I'm not telling you to go into full RFP status but engage them.

Also get involved with a little R&D with your vendors help them build better solutions for your events.

Read the pubs for our business, get online in the communities that effect for your business.
Call your customers exhibitors and attendees, conduct some market research all of the above will move you from peripheral to to 360.

Also consider a smart if you don't have one, it will keep you up to date and get on the google alerts for information that you think will matter to you.

Understand data minining, metrics, hybrid, horizontal, vertical, purls, social media, f2f, electronic promotion, direct mail, pr, ops, logistics, ROI, ROO, cost value, added value.

Theres alot we need to know but some of it's fun.