The Original Social: Facilitating the Right Connections
Leonora Valvo, CEO
Event Camp Down Under 2012
What Makes an Event “Worth It”?
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Making It Worth It
• Walking into the event already knowing people
• Finding the right people
• Having a meaningful conversation
• Solving a problem/gaining insight on an issue
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Why Isn’t Everyone Designing for “Worth”?
• Logistics are time consuming!
• Fear of giving suppliers/vendors contact information
• Organisational fear of becoming irrelevant if provide the contact information
• Command and control mindset
• Change is hard!
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Why Are People Designing for “Worth”?
• A positive experience creates an “afterglow” effect increasing the probability of remembering the event
• Positive experience increases likelihood of attendee taking further (positive) action
• Recommending, Repeat Registration, Taking on a Sponsorship, Visiting a Community, etc
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Event Experience Mindset
• Allow attendee to create their own event experience
• Facilitate, not dictate
• Provide contact information & tools to allow attendees to easily interact before, during and after the F2F event
• Get the small talk/introductions done BEFORE the F2F event
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Logistics-Centric Mindset
• What’s your budget?
• Do you have a venue?
• What’s the date?
• How many people?
• Are there dietary restrictions?
Experience Mindset
• What are the hot topics that everyone is worried/excited about?
• How can we group people together (by topic/interest area, by industry, by age, by favorite team, etc)?
• What physical environment is most conducive to having a meaningful converation (Couches? Desk? Table and chairs? At the bar? Break-out rooms? Special pod areas designated on the event floor?)
• What information do attendees want to have about each other to make decisions about who to meet?
Logistics v. Experience Mindset
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Facilitate the Right Experience
• Think through what data to collect
• Collect data at various touchpoints throughout the pre-event period, during the event and post-event
• Go beyond collecting “typical” data (name, address) and collect data on taste & preference
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Make Use of Technology
Use tools to deliver:
• real-time attendee registration lists
• list of appointments of people that show similar interests
• ability for attendees to set appointments & message one another
• reports that provide hard data on who is actively networking
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Use Event Marketing to:
• Identify trends in topics under discussion
• Identify natural social networks (who is meeting together, who’s connected)
• Better segment and target attendees
• Create the right networking packages (i.e. programs) with the right price that targets the right people to create demand for your overall event
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Goal: Create a Positive Feedback Loop
• More info/insight on attendees
• Attendees have better experience
• Increased satisfaction by attendees
• Attendees more open to give feedback
• Greater demand for higher prices
• More targeted programs
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Summary
• Become a facilitator
• Use information elicited from attendees to better network and match into like-minded groups
• Provide time & physical space within event program for participants to network
• Work towards developing positive feedback loop of increasingly personalized programs
Event Camp Down Under 2012
Learn More
• Corporate website: www.etouches.com
• Blog: eiseverywhere.tumblr.com
• Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter: etouches
• YouTube and SlideShare: etouchesevents