Organizing a live event is difficult and risky. It is difficult because there are an awful lot of moving parts. You have to find a venue that is the right size, in the right location, with convenient parking and access to restaurants and hotels. You also have to get presenters, booths, and all the things necessary to put on a convention.
It is risky because you may not get enough people to show up and make it worthwhile in the first place. You might get too big a venue, or too small. You may preorder too many supplies, or too few. A major presenter may not show up. You will have to find a last-minute replacement. Let’s face it: You could lose your shirt trying to put together a conference.
Considering all the difficulty and the risk, you would have to have a pretty good reason to put on a live conference instead of just going with a webinar. There are plenty of good reasons from which to choose, Here are three:
You Get Better Engagement
CMOs Are Investing More in Live Events to Engage Distracted Audiences
One of the best reasons to put on a live conference as opposed to a web conference is to manage and track engagement. It is meaningless to put on a conference if no one engages with your product, brand, or message. A webinar is almost guaranteed to garner the least possible engagement. Unless there is a webcam involved, a participant can just put on the audio, and play their favorite game while the presenter drones on.
A custom app developer like DoubleDutch specializes in the kind of live engagement platform companies need to get the most out of their conference and event investment. With this type of app, one can easily:
- Dazzle customers and partners
- Engage employees at meetings
- Capture leads at conventions
In other words, you can do more of what it is you put the conference on for in the first place.
You Get More Press Coverage
The 45 Best Conferences to Attend This Year
Pictures, or it didn’t happen, has entered our modern vernacular. When it comes to conferences, expos, and other types of events, the cry is, Press coverage, or it didn’t happen. Here is a fact that you already know all too well: not even an insignificant press outlet is going to cover your webinar. Forget it. If you expect any kind of coverage for your event, you are going to have to make it live as opposed to virtual
Of course, it’s not enough just to have the event. There are still things you need to do to ensure maximum coverage. But this one thing is certain: if it is not a live event it will get no coverage at all. Here are two things you can do to be more visible to the press:
- Don’t send an announcement’ send a press release. The less work they have to do to write the story, the more likely they are to print it
- Don’t just send a press release; find out who needs to get the release, then make contact with that person put a face or a voice behind that press release.
- Don’t just assume they will want to cover your event. Ask for the coverage in the same way that a salesperson has to ask for the sale.
Nothing Sells Like a Demo
10 Best Gameplay Demos from E3 2015
The approaching VR/AR headset war would have never gotten past the planning stage were it not for tech conferences that offered opportunities for live demos. At first, the press was convinced that while interesting, these new headsets were nothing more than a flash in the pan. After trying them, they became instant converts.
There are experiences that you can’t just tell people about. A live event allows participants to have the visceral reaction necessary to truly understand what is being offered. Being there live and in person also affords you the opportunity to clarify any confusion about the more complex aspects of a product or service.
This is not so say that there is not a time and place for online meetings and events. But for the ones that count the most, having it live will increase engagement, get you more press coverage, and share one of a kind experiences.