karen hartline - behind the curtain

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Behind the Curtain —50 Tips for Hosting Badass Events

Karen Hartline

CEO, Reinventing Events

#50tips @khartline

--13 years of event production experience

--Orchestrate events in U.S. and U.K.

--Produce variety of events including: conferences, dinners,

launch parties and road shows

--Work with budgets of all sizes

Karen Hartline | @khartline

--Questions?

--Share presentation via email

--Learn at least 1 new thing

AGREEMENT

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PRE-PLANNING

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1 Set goals from the beginning

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Plan for unexpected fees

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3 Give attendees an opportunity to meet BEFORE the event

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Speed networking may be cheesy, but it works

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5 Absorb the fees

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Customize your order form

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7 Don’t expect your community to come to you—go to them!

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Mashable Road Tour

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Twilio Roadshow

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Whuffaoke

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Whuffaoke

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8 Turn a negative into a positive

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Add personal touches9

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10 Create templates and checklists!

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Be ready for last minute ideas

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TwilioCon 2012

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12 Use a hashtag, not a new Twitter profile

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SPEAKERS

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13 Ask speakers to attend the event, not just speak

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14 Include more Q&A time

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Tech Cocktail Celebrate

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15 Prep your speakers

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Question your speakers16

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17 Don’t make your panel facilitator do all the work

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Don’t ask everyone to speak

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19 Make a clear ask

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Host VIP reception instead of dinner

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ONSITE

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Start your event outside the venue

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22 Music in between sessions helps keep energy up

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23 Have your playlist offline

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Have employees staff the event

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25 Get your sales team involved

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Include a WOW factor26

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Provide a coat check27

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28 Offer stress relief at your event

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29 WiFi is a must

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Power it up!30#50tips @khartline

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SPONSORS

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31 Don’t sell attendee list to sponsors

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Offer creative sponsor activations

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33 No pay-to-play

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Get your swag on!34

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F&B

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35 Help facilitate lunch discussions with table topics

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36 Provide a variety of options for food

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Limited catering budgets means getting creative37

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Engine Yard Distill

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38 Make your water fancy

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Offer healthy snack options39

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40 EAT!

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POST EVENT

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Say Thank You!41

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42 Prep post-event emails BEFORE the event starts

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43 Have content ready to go

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Do your own debrief44

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45 Announce your next event

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INSIDER TIPS

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Have an event emergency kit46

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47 Use a Safe Word

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Keep details straight with Boomerang

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49 Have work/life balance

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THE BIG TAKEAWAY

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Think about it from the attendees perspective

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Karen HartlineCEO, Reinventing Events

@khartline#50tips

reinventingevents.comkaren@reinventingevents.com