You built anticipation leading up to your meeting, but then let the buzz die once it was over. You’re not alone.A lot of event organizers fall down on the job on the back end—and that’s when a marketing agency can be invaluable.
The fat lady might havesung,but your meeting still isn’t over.There’s “a certain post-event buzz” that lasts days ormonths, according to Integrated Show Management&Marketing President Sam Lippman, andif youdon’t capitalizeonthatimme- diately—by updating your website “prettymuch the day after” your event ends—“you’re already missing anopportunity tocreatewordofmouth.” Lippman, who produces the Exhibition &
Convention Executives Forum(ECEF) annually in Washington, D.C., in June, said he has “a one-
parts” of his marketing campaign. He recom- mends “making the leap to an outside agency” to other event producers, he said, “because of how difficult and complex it has becometo do market- ing and communications.”
Moving Parts “Marketing campaigns for trade shows and events have changeddramatically,” saidFixationMarket- ing President andCEOJean Whiddon. “They’ve gotten many more moving parts and become
“The marketing campaign budgets don’t always change that much, so we have to squeeze a lot more out of them.”
month window”once the event concludes.Bythen, he wants 90 percent of his “stuff”—post-show press release, event photos on Flickr, and LinkedIn andTwitter feeds pushing people to thephotos and testimonials on his updated website—to be avail- able for people to forwardto each other.
Making the Leap What“amazes” Lippmanishowfew event produc- ers—even large organizations—followthrough on this important piece of their integratedmarket- ing-communications plan.The problem, he said, is that it needs to be done very quickly, and event organizers simply lose steam.Hewas one of them, until he asked himself: If even largeshowsdon’t try to be their own general service contractor, why shouldI try to bemyownmarketing agency? For ECEF this year, Lippman hired Fixation Marketing—not just to manage the back endof the event, but to help him with “all the moving
much more high-tech. The budgets don’t always change thatmuch, sowehave to squeeze a lotmore out of them. Direct mail and advertising was pretty much what we used to keep our eye on. Nowit’s still direct mail and advertising, but it’s also websites andPURLs [personalizedURLs] ande- mail and targetedmarketing. The list of all the balls that we have to keep in the air goes on andon.” For Lippman, it was all those parts—plus the
consistent attention todetail and the speed needed to keepthem going—thatmadehiring Fixationa smartmove, even afterECEFcrossedthe finish line. “If you have a lean operation, you’re putting
every ounce of your energy into producing an event for thoseXnumber of days,” he said. “It’s like a relay. If you don’t hand the baton over to some- body elsewhohas the energy and the expertise to then do the post-show marketing and communi- cations, things will get done—in time. And that just doesn’t cut it anymore.”
ON_THE_WEB: To learn more about ECEF, visit www.eceforum.com. For more information about Fixation Marketing, visit www.fixation.com.
32 pcma convene October 2010 ILLUSTRATION BY MICK WIGGINS
Why Go Outside to Play? “I’m not sure full- service marketing firms are for every show,” said Fixation’s Jean Whiddon, “but I do know that [agen- cies] have the resources that can ebb and flow in the course of the show cycle. You don’t always need six peo- ple working on your team, but sooner or later, you’re going to. Plus, we have these other dozen or so events that we might be working on over the course of the year —so we’ve got ideas that are turning all the time, and we’re cross-pollinating those ideas. Our clients know much more— always—about their industry than we could know in our ramp-up time. But we bring this expertise, this marketing mind, and this trade-show experience to the table. And together, we make a powerful combination.”
Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.
Innovative Meetings is sponsored by the Irving, Texas, Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.irvingtexas.com.