December 16, 2014MUBS, HamraBeirut, Lebanon

Prepared by Mario KanaanProject ManagerAl-Iktissad Wal-Aamal

History, Importance & Current StatusEvents Cycle

10 ingredients to prepare and initiate an event9 marketing strategies to promote an event

Future Trends

Events industry can be traced back to Europe and North-America

The first events took place in universities where there was the needto share information in academic circles

This created the need for larger event spaces

Officially, 1896 is the year when the events industry came into

light with a group of businessmen from Detroit, Michigan who invitedlarge meetings to be held in their town.

At the beginning of the 20th century new types of events emerged

Types of Events

Annual General Meetings

Board Meetings

Breakout Session

Business Dinners and Banquets

ConferencesColloquium

Conclave

Congress

Consumer Shows

Conventions

Exhibitions

Expo or Expositions

Fairs

Functions

Fundraisers

Galas

"Green" Meetings

International Events

Meetups

Networking Events

Party

Plenary or General Sessions

Political Events

Press Conferences

Product Launch Events

Receptions

Retreats and Team Building Events

Seminars

Shareholder’s Meetings

Social Events

Symposiums

Trade Shows

Workshops

The events sector went through some very tryingtimes.

Despite the turbulent environment, events have

proven their worth and are here to stay.

The events industry makes a significant contribution tothe country and is a big economic driver.

Importance of Events

Myanmar ex:

What did this event CHANGE?

Enabled Trade InitiativeCreated efficient and sustainable healthcare in East AsiaImproved Mining and InfrastructureAchieved the New Vision for AgricultureBuilt Peace in MyanmarBuilt the Investment and Financial Services Ecosystem

On a destination level, there are several other benefitsto hosting an event, some of which include:

Economic benefits

Educational opportunities

Research and Development

Charity and philanthropy

Job opportunities

Strengthen destination brand

History & Current Status

GCC as an Events HubLebanon’s Pending Status

Dubai is the leading events destination in the UAE with a

market share of over 75% international events in the

UAE in 2011.

Dubai hosts to almost 27% of all events staged in theregion

Dubai positioned itself as a leading events destinationglobally and hosted some world famous internationalconferences and events.

UAE will host World Expo 2020

and set to welcome more than 25 million visitorsover a period of six months during the Expo.

The GCC's holds 1.3 billion dollars from the MICE Industry(Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions)industry and is set to grow

The number of meetings in the region has more thantripled over the last 10 years making the Gulf a popularevents hub.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman have emergedas the top three MICE destinations in the region:

State-of-the-art infrastructure

Facilities such as world-class venues for conferences and seminars

Well-developed hospitality industry, supported by their strategic location

Easy connectivity with the rest of the world

History & Current StatusGCC as an Events Hub

Lebanon’s Pending Status

Affected by the conflict in the

regionRise of the Arab

Spring

Internal security and unstable

political situation

Drop in occupancy and tourism rates

Fear and lack of trust in the

Lebanese market

Lack of foreign investor interest in the Lebanese

market

Events Cycle

Pre-eventInitiation & Preparation Marketing, Sales & PR

ExecutionOperations Logistics

Post-eventSurveys & RecommendationsParticipant Loyalty

Pre-event

Milestone 1: Initiation & Preparation

Marketing, Sales & PR

Pre-event

What do you think are the tools/ ingredients for planning an event??

Theme & Agenda Dates & LocationInternal Stakeholders External StakeholdersWebsiteSocial Media AccountsSuppliers Speakers Participants Deliverables

Remember:Many tasks go in parallel

Theme & Agenda

After the concept is discussed and clear:

Conference Name

Objective: Why?

A clear message describing the vision and mission of the event

Target Audience: Who?

Create an attendee sampling profile: Geography, industry, background, and education

Agenda: What?

The key topics that the event will highlight

Date: When?

Selecting the dates

Should not:

Coincide with other events

Coincide with holidays

Should be:

Held between the months of September – June

Location: Where?

Selecting the location

Must be booked at least 6 months prior to the conference

Must match the scale of the conference in terms of space (both rooms and function areas)

Must be within the conference budget

Must be within the conference image

Internal Stakeholders

Event Manager

Top Management

Marketing & Social Media

Manager

Sales Manager

Web Manager

CRM Manager

Operation & Logistics Manager

Designer

Copywriter

An Event Manager is a bit of EVERYTHING

External Stakeholders

Partners & collaborators: Organizations thatsupport you in organizing the event through barterbasis

Speakers, Suppliers: TBD later

Sponsors: Companies that are active in the industryand have a marketing budget and vision that is inline with the event

Media Partners: Agencies, news outlets, TV, radios,online and print publications that support you inspreading the word

NB: Associated with theme of the event

Website

The website should be user friendly

A space where:

All the conference’s information and updates are mentioned

Participants can easily register

Participants can download material

Participants can view list of attendees and book meetings (added value platforms)

Interested professionals can easily understand the theme of the conference and contact the organizers

Suppliers

Suppliers should be booked in advance according to budget and conference scale:

AV Equipment & Technicians

Sound Systems & Lighting

Photographers

Simultaneous Translation

Hostesses

Giveaway Providers

Signage & Branding Providers

Registration System Providers

Speakers

Invited SpeakersInvited speakers are the top notch industry experts that you need at your conference

Usually identified through research

They expect personalized invitation with expenses covered

Call for Paper SpeakersApart from the invited speakers, there are industry experts who have something to say and would like to be present on stage at the conference

Usually they reach out to organizers, they cover their own expenses

Participants

Invited Participants

These are usually VIPs and governmental officialsthat you need at the conference

Paid Participants

Paid participants are the ones you need tostrategically target to be present at the conference(marketing strategies will be discussed in laterslides)

Deliverables

Logo

Branding (Banners / eBanners)

Synopsis, Hotel Forms, Forms & Packages

Brochures or mobile apps materials

Ads

Badges

Signage (Backdrops, Rollups)

Other Collateral (Folders, Pens, Giveaways)

Logo

Branding

Forms & Packages

Ads

Brochure Badges

SignageBackdrop

Other Collateral

Roll-ups

Pre-event

Initiation & Preparation

Milestone 2: Marketing, Sales & PR

Why Marketing, Sales & PR?

Drive attendanceIncrease Sponsorship AcquisitionAcquire Partners

What are you Marketing & Selling?

OPPORTUNITIES LearningNetworkingExposureCertificatesQ&A platform Access to info

Online StrategyEmail Campaign StrategyMedia Relations Telemarketing Direct Mail Advertising Promotion at other events Pricing StrategySponsors & Partners

#SocialMedia

Mostly used channels for events (twitter & facebook & Instagram)

Mostly used channels for conferences: LinkedIn pages & discussions and Twitter

For Specialized events: Blogs, specialized social network

Post your updates on a daily basis on the accounts

Post videos & photos

Engage the stakeholders and ask them to share

A unique, short, memorable branded hashtag: ex: #SAFF2015 #DGTLU #LEF2015

Include hashtag and account names in printed material or any online collateral

Encourage live tweets from your event

Customize your TWITTER profile page

Always direct your audience to your website

#SocialMedia Twitter

Use the LinkedIn Events application to create your event

Ask people to mark that they’re “attending”

Start & Join Discussions – the best way to bring experts in the field

Share the event through your LinkedIn status

Reach out through InMail

Connect with industry leads

#SocialMediaLinked

Build your event in the Facebook Events application:

Post on event wall and send updates

Invite others to your Facebook event through email

Include the event on your organization’s Facebook page

Share your event on relevant Facebook pages and groups

#SocialMedia

Email Campaign Strategy

1- Save the Date Campaign: TO BOOK THEM

2- Intro Campaign: profile about the event: sponsors, speakers, topics

3- Incentive Campaign:(Newsletter): Early bird, group packages, good travel and hotel rates.

4- Final call for registration: 10 seats left

5- Pre-event information guide

General: Send to a large databasePersonalized: Most effective combined with incentive

Participants do not tolerate content errors

Very brief and highlighting benefits

Avoid words that will identify email as junk: free, click here, large emails

Avoid long subjects: they should be brief and direct to the point

Direct contact information of manager/coordinator

Email Campaign Tactics

Media Relations

Media Agencies are your Best Friends

Send Press Releases to Media contacts every time youhave a big announcement

Invite Media to Press Conference to write about theevent

Ask Media partners to promote the conference on theirmarketing channels

Telemarketing

Work with an up to date database / Marketing list

Make sure to write down all the points you want to discuss

Keep it brief and clear

Ask for full info to be able to send them an email

Book a meeting if in the same country

Showing your prospects how your event meets their need

Ideal Timing for Prospects in Lebanon & Europe:

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

Ideal Timing for Prospects in GCC:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Timing is Everything

Direct Mail

Although the online world is eventually taking over, stillmany countries deal with direct mail/faxes

Send a personalized direct mail to the prospect (usuallyVIPs and officials)

Make sure to include all information and your accuratecontact details

Send them all required forms

Advertising

Both online and offline advertising are still very effectivemarketing tools

Advertise in local/regional magazines and newspapers

Advertise online on partner and sponsor websites

Radio and outdoor campaign if the budget is enough

Most organizers hire a media agency to submit anoverall media plan that covers the pre, during and poststages of the event

Promotion at other events

Attend industry conferences and events

Network with industry professionals

Look out for who is who in the industry

Spread the word during networking breaks

Early Bird Discount & other discounts

Offering incentive and introducing a sense of urgency toprospects is very important

Early bird discounts with clear deadlines

Group packages for prospects from same company

Discounts for loyal participants (from previous years)

Discount for certain association and students

Pricing Strategy

Sponsors & Partners

Engage with sponsors and partners on social mediachannels

Ask sponsors and partners to talk about the conferenceon their marketing channels

Ask sponsors and partners to promote the conference viaa link/banner on their websites

Prepare an email/poster for your sponsors and partnersto send to their clients

Same message across all channelsEx: early bird – promote it on SM, telemarketing and Email camp

During event

OperationsLogistics

Checklists Checklists

Checklists

OperationsPREPARE YOUR SCENARIOWHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR SCENARIO?

Who are your main teams? Organizing team, Hotel Staff,Suppliers, Temporary Staff, Sponsors, Partners

Who is in charge of what?

Main checklist:Signage & Branding,Stage, podium, microphone, table and chairsSeating (VIP, Regular)Registration processStands of sponsors & partnersRehearsals & Technical checkups (Presentations)F&B functions

Logistics

Logistics in the event management cycle is all tasksrelated to arrival/stay/departure of your local, regionaland international guests.

Main checklist:

Airport representatives

Flight list

Transportation list

Rooming list

Room drops for guests

Post-event

Surveys & RecommendationsParticipant Loyalty

Surveys (Evaluation Forms)

Important to distribute toward the end of the conference or tosend via email after the conference

Recommendations

Each conference ends with a set of recommendations for theindustry as next steps for professionals – it is very important tohighlight these recommendations on all your channels

Post-event

Surveys & Recommendations

Participant Loyalty

Discuss dates for next edition and offer incentive

Thank external stakeholders by email & Social Media channels

Make presentations available

Media Clipping to show coverage & importance

Always stay in touch online and personal communication

Media Clipping

Mobile event apps have become mainstream and will continue to

grow in 2015

Big data will become a key component of event marketing and design

Data breaches and app hacking will likely target events in 2015

Real-time, automated language translation capabilities will be used for events

Future Trends

Event and hotel Wi-Fi is becoming expected and mandatory

The transition from “attendee” to “participant” will continue

Aerial (drone) video will provide new perspective for event photography (if regulatory hurdles are passed)

Attention spans will continue to decrease

Despite the increased use of virtual meetings technology, face-to-face meetings and tradeshows will remain viable

Future Trends

Thank you!

Mario E. KanaanMario.kanaan@iktissad.com

Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal

mariokanaan@gmail.com