SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (May 15, 2013) EventInterface.com, a Scottsdale-based event management software and attendee engagement software company launched Event TALK! a bi-weekly podcast show by planners for planners broadcast on the Entrepreneur Podcast Network.

“Working with planners we are asked many questions that have nothing to do with our software.” said Al Wynant, company CEO. “Many times our staff becomes a consultant to the planner.  We believe that providing a content-rich podcast in which the best professionals around the country share their advice would be a fabulous additional resource to planners.” Wynant said.

EventInterface.com is partnering with the Entrepreneur Podcast Network in the production of the show. Eric Dye is the host. The inaugural show features Wynant who talks about why the show has been created and the types of topics that will be covered.

Upcoming guests are Valerie Bihet, Founder of The V!BE Agency in Miami, FL. who talks about best practices; Darren W. Johnson, Event Producer, Best Selling Author and Corporate Event Trainer will talk about the importance of site visits; Andy Perez, PR Guy Extraordinaire will talk about the do’s and don’ts of event public relations.

Catch the show at http://www.eventinterface.com/resource-blog.

ABOUT EVENTINTERFACE.COM
EventInterface provides innovative and cost-effective Web-based and mobile App software for meeting and event planners. We are a robust registration tool that lets planners manage registrations, speakers, private event social networks, virtual events and collaborations. We're one solution to manage all aspects of an event or meeting, and the software has been designed by planners for planners. Our clients include the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Expedia, Soroptomists, Up with People International Alumni Association, AHS, NAISA, Research Corporation Technologies among many others.  The company is based in Scottsdale, AZ. More information at www.EventInterface.com.

ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR PODCAST NETWORK
The Entrepreneur Podcast Network is here to help entrepreneurs succeed & prosper in business. All the advice, inspiration & information is in one location with the option to take it where ever you go when ever you want it? Whether you are a seasoned business professional or new to entrepreneurship, you will find EPN as a convenient asset & source in assisting you with building your business. The on-demand streaming channel currently reaches 104 countries each month with interviews by some of the most renowned success stories in business today.
 More information here.

At EventInterface we’ve seen a wide-ranging variety of strategies and pricing models. We don’t think we can say that one is better than the other, but we’ve gaged insight into what makes some groups more successful than others. One thing that stands out is the necessity to offer a great program tied to a sound registration strategy.  

CREATING VALUE

People attend conferences for a variety of reasons. They come to learn and network, exhibit or buy. One of the most important strategies before setting your registration prices is insuring that you have a conference worth registering for.  Aside of a fantastic program, you can build online communities, offer continuing-education credit, and engage cutting-edge technologies pre- and post-conference to involve attendees, speakers and exhibitors.  Creating added value will ensure stronger registration numbers.

BUDGETS FIRST

Before setting registration fees, think about your mission, and then develop your anticipated expenses. Ask yourself if you want to break even or raise money? Once you have a handle on your cost, start building your revenue strategy, registration prices and sponsorship opportunities. Know your audience and the market. If you don’t know where to start, do an internet search for similar projects in comparable markets and discover what prices are like.  If you learn that similar conferences average a fee of $350, it is highly unlikely you will be able to charge a $650 fee. If you need to charge a $650 fee but think your prospect attendees can’t manage that fee, then either create additional value, have a more aggressive sponsorship strategy or reduce the production cost of your conference.

EARLY vs. LATE

It seems that every conference offers an Early-Bird registration fee, and it’s guaranteed that every conference will extend the date of this period. So what is the incentive? We’ve never been a fan of this strategy. It creates a precedent for future years. The longer it goes on, the less successful this strategy becomes. 

If you really must have it, there are a few things you can do to make this early vs. late concept work for your group.

First develop a registration fee with a significant difference between the early and late fee. A $50 difference isn’t going to entice people to register early. Secondly, do not extend the cut-off date. Heavily promote this date date and stick to your guns by not extending it.

Another technique to boost early-bird registrations, and a favorite of ours, is to make available a limited number of registrations not based on a cut-off date. When they sell out they’re gone! This definitely creates a sense of urgency, and helps in the budgeting process as you know exactly the revenue associated with this type of registration option.   

Other incentives could include a more discounted hotel room rate for people who register early vs. late, inclusion of materials meaningful to your attendees or other onsite benefits such as admission to a special session or reception.

It comes down to creating urgency and offering value.

ALL-INCLUSIVE OR A-LA-CARTE PRICING?

Do you offer an all-inclusive registration fee for your conference, an a-la-carte approach, or a combination? Would mixing all-inclusive registration options with an a-la-carte option generate more revenue? Would it generate more attendees interested in just one or a handful of sessions who may otherwise not attend?  

Looking at your expenses to produce a session, you may conclude that it costs $25 per attendee to produce it. You could probably sell a registration option for that session at $35 to $50, or more.  Onsite management becomes a bit more challenging but offering al-la-carte options alongside traditional registration options could generate significant additional revenue.

GENERATING MORE REVENUE

Today’s technologies offer opportunities to generate additional revenue for conferences. EventInterface for example offers opportunities to engage at-home attendees by live broadcasting sessions and workshops, allowing attendees to interact with the speakers and each other. This is an ideal opportunity to engage participants who may otherwise not be able to attend a conference, but would be willing to register to participate virtually.  Use technology to offer presentations and videos post-conference, give it free to registered attendees, and allow non-attendees to register for access post-conference, again generating more revenue.

Exploring all revenue angles or additional revenue opportunities may allow you to offer an overall lower registration cost by spreading anticipated registration revenue over more options.

TOP TIPS

1)            Define expenses before setting registration fees.
2)            Add value to your registration options.
3)            Consider alternatives to traditional early-bird registration options.
4)            Do not extend the early-bird cut-off date.
5)            Engage technology to build value.
6)            Although not covered in this post, market your conference.

-Al Wynant
 

Alternative Sustainable Energy – ASE has developed bicycle generators for events or personal energy preparedness that you can rent or purchase. Earlier this fall, NBC used 80 bike generators to power the Manhattan, NY screening of the television show “Revolution”.

“It's an unspoken world record- 80 bike generators directly powering anything is huge. 80 Rental Pedal Generators, four 1000kw batteries (600 lbs of AMPS) and an inverter that filters the dirty DC power generated into clean-usable energy. It took about three months to plan & build. Not only did the 80 bikes produce up to 4kw DC each hour but the power was cleaned up to 240v- the added ability to clean the bike power to 220v/240v means that we can power anything, small or large- world wide- from pure human power.” said Brooks Maschmeier- CEO of ASE.

Brooks Maschmeier - CEO of ASE powering up the REVOLUTION screening

Event planners have rented or purchased ASE’s bicycle generators and hand crank generators to engage interested participants in events. These participants power their own phone, energize displays or can even power the entire booth without producing any fumes. The result is that participants who accessed the booths with bike generator augmentations spent a longer time at the booths because it engages the user to sit and actively participate. 

NOT YOUR FATHER’S BICYCLE GENERATOR

Pedal powered bicycle generators have come a long way to produce more power. Older bicycle generators were unwieldy, hard to set up, loud and produced little power. They were typically used in a single-application like running a small light bulb and the friction that engaged the electric motor heavily slowed the rider down.

ASE has overcome many of these obstacles through redesigning the bicycle generator in their Phoenix, AZ facility. ASE bicycle generators are manufactured with local metals to safely enclose and dampen noise. This new generation of bike generators can produce up to 300watts DC per hour, per person. Although the amount of energy produced from the bike is dependent on the rider, the maximum any human can steadily make is up to 300watts.

ELECTRIFY YOUR EVENTS

The new designs of bicycle generators are great for events because you can create clean energy anywhere. You can produce usable energy indoors or out or in rugged terrain to power displays, booth lighting, to recharge cell phones, laptops or to be combined to run larger items like speakers and DJ booths.

You can even power ASE’s entertaining educational equipment displays, which are specially designed to work with bicycle generators. Examples of ASE entertaining educational equipment is their light-boxes that compare bulbs, human powered slot-car sets or multi-person bicycle generator driven PC packages- including group racing games. The ASE staff has noticed that participants of their entertaining educational equipment displays produce more power because the riders are entertained and pedal consistently for longer durations.

ASE’s power systems are all plug-and-play that work with both ASE bicycle generators and ASE solar panels, simply plug the twist lock wires into the devices being used. With ASE power equipment you can mix-and-match bicycle generators, hand crank generators and solar panel generators together to produce more power. 

To learn more about ASE visit their website here. 

- Al Wynant

See more photographs on our Facebook or Pinterest page.

Photographs courtesy of ASE

Are you planning an event or meeting and you find it tough to negotiate with vendors? Are you not sure what questions to ask, how to prepare an RFP, how to read a proposal or contract? Are you confused by the terminology used? Do you want to learn how to negotiate fairly with vendors? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you should join us for this complimentary workshop.

In this workshop a panel of industry experts will teach you how to:

·         Prepare a request for proposals

·         Review and understand proposals

·         Conduct a site visit (you will get real life practice)

·         Negotiate with vendors fairly

·         Understand contracts

You will leave this workshop with the capability to prepare an RFP, ask the right questions, negotiate as a pro, conduct a site visit and better understand contracts and liabilities.

Attendees receive a digital copy of our event-planning guide and we're giving away some fantastic prizes also.

REGISTRATION IS FREE BUT SEATS ARE LIMITED

SIGN UP TODAY!

Workshop is hosted on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at the Zona Hotel & Suites Scottsdale at 7677 East Princess Boulevard in Scottsdale, AZ.

Check-in and networking at 3:00 p.m.

Workshop starts at 3:30 p.m. sharp

Site visit practice tours at 4:30 p.m.

Refreshments provided

The front facades of New York-New York and Monte Carlo will be transformed into an outdoor plaza experience featuring a series of casual bars, eateries and retail destinations. Between the two properties and leading back to the new arena will be a park environment featuring dining pavilions and performance spaces complemented by areas for quiet relaxation. MGM Resorts  AEG Worldwide 

Boston is open for business.  All our hotels, restaurants and attractions are open and operating, with the exception of the Boston Marathon finish area.  Mandarin Oriental, Boston will re-open today with limited operational services.

Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) with 2200 delegates will open today at the Hynes as scheduled, thanks to the remarkable efforts of the Hynes Convention Center staff and city and state officials.

The National Park Service has all its sites except for the USS Constitution open and operating and the Freedom Trail sites and walking tours are all operating as well.  Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick have established the One Fund Boston to raise funds to assist those injured on Monday. Many of you have asked us how you can help and this Fund is one way to help out.

Please continue to assist the GBCVB in providing visitors with one source of official visitor information as we assist them in the aftermath of this tragedy.

Please send any news of closings, re-openings, special offers/information for visitors, any important news toupdates@bostonusa.com.

A statement on www.bostonusa.com will lead visitors to our facebook and twitter feeds for the latest information.

https://www.facebook.com/BostonUSA

https://twitter.com/bostoninsider

In addition to the latest news, we will also be sharing via social media positive images of the city showing how the community has come together to help one another in the aftermath of this tragedy.

Thank you again for your support and assistance during these difficult days.

Pat

Patrick Moscaritolo
President & CEO
Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau
Two Copley Place, Suite 105
Boston, MA  02116
617-867-8235

See what Boston has to offer in ou blog "Marvelous Contradictions."

Event tents come in all shapes and sizes, an the sky is the limit. Size, décor, lighting and type of tent are mostly restrained by budgets. Regardless of your budget I wanted to take a moment to share a few favorite tents and tent decor I have found online. A fantastic set-up I came across was for the Recording Academy’s official 55th Grammy Award Ceremony After Party at the Los Angeles Convention Center last February by Along Came Mary using the luxurious tents by Raj Tents.   

I don’t claim ownership of these pictures and have credited them where possible.

Enjoy the magic.

   
Dressing up tents with lighting, fabrics and rugs turns a run-of-the-mill structure into a first-class event venue.

A stunning small canopy for an intimate dinner event

BOLLYWOOD STYLE

Photograph by Raj Tents

A spectacular example of the use of tents sure was the Recording Academy’s official 55th Grammy Award Ceremony After Party at the Los Angeles Convention Center last February by Along Came Mary using tents by Raj Tents.  The Bollywood theme brought color and style into the cavernous space.  The main stage with Mughal Arches stacked 20 foot high with colorful drapes providing a backdrop to performances by the B-52s, Estelle, and DJ Michelle Pesce. Grand Ottoman Pavilion lounges on either side framed the stage and floating Pavilions over dining tables and raised performance stages, dripping with Indian glazed lamps, continued the theme. Raj Tents’ Pergolas housed the bars and low furniture vignettes filled the MasterCard VIP lounge. The center performance platform had strong horizontal lines accentuated by a large, ornate, scalloped valance. Angel City Designs was involved as well.

Photograph by Raj Tents

Photograph by Raj Tents

For more images and features showcasing the fabulous luxury tents from Raj Events take a peek at their blog.

- Al Wynant

Some interesting findings include:

- Personal discussions are very likely to influence a prospect to attend. Ranking highest in importance for considering whether to attend an exhibition for personal discussion was email from colleagues followed by word of mouth.

- Most attendees, 94 percent, engage in pre-planning activities, presenting exhibition organizers with opportunities to engage pre-registrants to motivate them to attend. The most popular activities include choosing or registering to attend an education session/workshop (63 percent), searching the exhibitor directory (56 percent) or registering to attend special events (56 percent).

- When it comes to information sources relied upon when an attendee is at an event, surprisingly the printed exhibition catalogue is still the most used resource, with 70 percent noting using the printed exhibition program. Only 24 percent use a smartphone/mobile version of the program. This low-usage level may be as much a function of limited availability as it is to preference and merits watching as smartphone and mobile device usage continues to climb and more events offer this alternative to attendees.

- Over one-half, 53 percent, rely on information provided by exhibitors, thus suggesting an opportunity for exhibition organizers to consider: offering exhibitor marketing programs to help boost attendance.

This study was conducted by Jeff Tanner, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing at Baylor University, and Nancy Drapeau, PRC, Research Director of CEIR. using a panel of exhibition attendees provided by ResearchNow. www.ceir.org

Taking a stroll down memory lane of this spring’s social season, we were extremely impressed by the amount of events and money raised in support of worthwhile causes. Azredbook.com highlighted 36 fundraising and social events from January through March. Nearly $20 million was raised at these events. With many more nonprofits operating in our city, one can only imagine the overall amount raised.

This season featured everything from a car auction, an international style maker sharing her thoughts, Andrea Bocelli performing with Jennifer Lopez to a celebration of local heroes. Events were hosted in tents, stadiums and ballrooms, with décor and food by the best designers and caterers.

As we’re getting ready for a well-deserved break we wanted to share some photographic highlight of this social season’s events. 

Russo & Steele Charity Auction Gala hosted on Wed., January 16.

The ever-elegant Barrow Grand Ball raised $2.1 million. It was held on Jan. 17.

Dinner on Main Street on January 15 celebrated the opening of the new The Nature Conservancy's
Gallery on Main Street in Scottsdale.

The inaugural gala to benefit Arizona Opera, Ballet Arzona and The Phoenix Symphony TRIO was
held on February 8 at Symphony Hall.

Judd and Billie Jo Herberger at TRIO

Don and Tina Swanson at First Press Wine Auction, held on February 16th.

Independent Woman Luncheon featuring Carolyne Roehm held at Phoenix Art Museum, March 19.
See pictures of the beautiful tables at this event at "Designers Collaborate"

Cole Campbell with Peanut at Compassion With Fashion held on March 23.

Celebrity Fight Night hosted on March 23 raised $7.2 million. Clockwise Andrea Bocelli performs
with Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Lopez performs, and Billy Crystal.

For more parties and photograps, head over to azredbook.com

- Al Wynant

Photos courtesy of azredbook.com and copyrighted by their respective photographers.

The first session addresses event types and committee creation. Read it here.

The second session addresses budget creation. Find it here.

In the third session we address event logistics. Find it here. 

The fourth session tackles part one of underwriting. Find it here.

The fifth and final session wraps up underwriting. Find it here.