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Archive for the ‘New Models’ Category

Digital Facility Certification Program: Pilot Program Brings Real-World Success

July 13th, 2013 No comments

MTCCFor hybrid events to take off, common business models and standards are needed. The organization that is leading the charge for common standards the Virtual Edge Institute, fronted by events industry veteran Michael Doyle. Their Digital Event Center certification program, which provides meeting facilities with a uniform readiness review of their readiness review of their infrastructure, employees and partner ecosystem. It’s a good sign for this program that the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) has achieved this certification, and has since executed a hybrid event. The event was Dx3, Canada’s largest Read more…

A Working Hybrid Model: To Add Revenue, Just Add Streams

June 4th, 2013 No comments

Hybrid Events are the future, and we’re always happy to hear about business models that work. So we were pleased to stumble on this story about ARRS, a medical imaging society, and Keri Sperry, their Senior Director of Education. They’ve been producing digital events since 2011, and have been adding hybrid revenue streams to a successful live association event. They started by livestreaming just some workshops that were held in conjunction with their annual meeting. Livestream attendance grew from 42 to over 300 in 2012 (on top of over 900 in-person attendees). The virtual registration fee to attend workshops is higher than for physical attendance, but on-site attendees also have to pay for annual meeting registration. So they added another Read more…

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In the Times: This Year’s Take on Virtual Events. Comdex in the Ether.

December 3rd, 2010 No comments

NewYorkTimeslogo379x64Once or twice a year, one of the big media wags does a think piece on Virtual Events and this week it was the New York Times. Technology articles like this should include an index of previous articles on the same subject, like this one from 2007 I found in the Washington Post. Then we could have the fun of going back to read all the predictions that don’t pan out.

The Times article avoids the kind of hyperbole that we used to see back in the day, and the author was smart to speak with Michael Doyle at the Virtual Edge Institute, who wisely explains that virtual events need to be part of an ongoing (perpetual) social experience. The IBM example in the article is interesting, but these vendor-driven attempts at creating Read more…

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Unconference: Room for Open Space

September 22nd, 2009 3 comments

Conference and trade show organizers tend to be conservative in terms of content issues. I rarely see any major events breaking from the traditional model of pre-set agenda, presentations, 5 minutes q&a, maybe with an occasional “birds of a feather” session, or hospitality event. But I’ve tried to keep tabs on the Open Space Technology movement, commonly referred to as “unconference.” A couple of great sites are available to give you an overview on this meeting structure: Open Space World includes a great collection overview information and links about the Open Space community. Unconference.net is more Read more…

Professional Standards for Virtual Events

August 29th, 2009 No comments

I was interested to see that VirtualEdge announced the creation of a new Virtual Edge Institute education program, dedicated to “advancing the development and adoption of virtual event and meeting technology and best practices for collaboration and marketing.” Michael Doyle at VirtualEdge has a lot of great experience in this area. A great certification program could be created, which would allow us to add an acronym on a business card–maybe CVMP (Certified Virtual Meeting Professional)? It would be nice to see, eventually, established standards and best practices for a wide range of virtual and hybrid events. It would be nice just to see everyone using the same vocabulary.

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The Big $ocial: Forrester Media Projections

July 16th, 2009 No comments

This great post from Brian Solis gives a good breakdown of Forrester’s five year forecast on interactive advertising spending. While the bulk of this revenue comes from search, the highest compound annual growth rate is in social media, at 34% and increasing to over $3 billion by 2014. As we’ve argued frequently in these posts, event media is (or must become) social media. Thus we take a bit of warmth in this cold winter of our recession.
In terms of scale and innovation, B2C marketers are way out on the cutting edge of creating a social media marketing experience, and this Mashable post about the same Forrester Read more…

What I’ve Been Working On

May 15th, 2009 No comments

I‘ve tried hard to make B2BPresence at least a weekly part of my work. However, I’ve recently been very busy launching a new concept for business events at my company, Cnxtd Media Corp. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows of my fascination with all forms of “hybrid events.” Hybrid events combine both live and webcast components, occur in real time, and involve direct person-to-person contact.

I’ve felt, for a long time, that there are inefficiencies in the traditional trade show/conference model that can be remedied through a judicious use of technology (nothing cutting edge) and a business Read more…

More Recession-Resistant B2B Opps: Appointment Events

April 29th, 2009 No comments

A discussion about new models for B2B event would be incomplete without a look at appointment events. I’ve seen an up-trending in two appointment formats: 1. The pure play appointment event. At these events, sponsors pay for, and are guaranteed a certain number of one-on-one meetings with potential clients. 2. The speed-networking approach, where an attendee and sponsor are brought together at a pre-existing event by the organizers.
1. The pure play appointment event: Min’s B2B recently ran an interesting article on appointment events, featuring Questex’s Mclean Events. As with the executive roundtables, this format is well-suited for tough Read more…

Important Events About the Future of Events

April 20th, 2009 No comments

Just as there are many songs about singers and many books about writers, there are many conferences about producing events. I recently came across an event that actually understands the current digital evolution in event media: VirtualEdge 2009 has assembled an impressive program of event producers and technology leaders in a program that emphasizes business imperatives over technological flash.

I spoke with the event producer. Michael Doyle is a B2B veteran with experience in both print and event media. VirtualEdge 2009 reflects the coming transformation in event media. Especially impressive is a slate of speakers that includes Nielsen, Ziff Davis, and United Business Media. These are companies that are on the front lines of B2B event media evolution. The concurrent technology showcase has a unique format, with individual meeting rooms with interactive demonstrations. They’re developing the audience for this event as a community, Read more…

Second Life Necessary Stopover for B2B Event Managers

April 7th, 2009 1 comment

I’m ready to state, without reservation, that Second Life has become a “must know” platform for business event managers. A simple description for neophytes: In Second Life you move a character around a three dimensional environment. The character represents you. You can speak to and interact with other people, who are represented by their characters. It feels like a video game. It’s free to try, but you have to download it and install it on your computer.

Second Life first caught my attention when Visa committed to a sponsorship of over $75,000 to create their own environment and event on Second Life. This was at a time when I was trying to get Visa to take out a minimal sponsorship on a live event where we had a proven audience. I was surprised that they were willing to spend so much on an Read more…