Posts By: lbradford

Virtual Totebags Are Here

Posted October 27th, 2020 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Green Meetings, Meetings, Sponsorships, Trade Show, Uncategorized, Virtual Events, What's New.

Virtual tote bags are here! Our newest addition to the virtual trade show platform allows attendees to collect and store exhibitor resources. What are exhibitor resources? For events using our virtual trade show platform, exhibitor and sponsor profiles include a “Resources” section where they can share all of the materials they would like to offer to their booth visitors. Visitors can view those resources directly from the company profile or add them to their personal tote bag to view later. This digital content replaces the materials that exhibitors would have displayed in a physical booth location. However, in a virtual... Read more »

How to Conduct Virtual Roundtables with Zoom Breakout Rooms

Posted October 14th, 2020 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Meetings Technology, Virtual Events, What's New.

Do many of your sessions include roundtables? Often, roundtable sessions follow this format: One or more speakers lead the session At various points, speakers break the attendees into small groups to discuss a problem or question After a short time (five to ten minutes), the speakers bring the small group discussions to a close and reassemble the entire group This collaboration makes roundtable sessions a popular and powerful way of providing instruction and helping your attendees think through difficult challenges. In a face-to-face environment, you would see roundtable attendees seated at tables of 8, 10, or 12. These tables become... Read more »

Virtual Event Resources

Posted August 11th, 2020 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Virtual Events, What's New.

Our first “Virtual Events 101” bootcamp was a great success. Below are some of the resources we shared during the webinars. You can also view the recordings by signing up here. EventRebels blog articles on virtual events How to Staff a Virtual Event How to Price Your Virtual Conference Why Your Next Conference Should Be a Virtual Conference How to Prepare Speakers For Your Virtual Event How to Save Your Event (And Time!) With Automated CEUs Using Zoom and Virtual Conferences Zoom Best Practices Help Keep Your Virtual Meetings Safe Virtual Event Support Pure Chat (live chat software) Virtual Event Hardware... Read more »

How to Staff a Virtual Event

Posted July 15th, 2020 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Virtual Events, What's New.

Like their face-to-face counterparts, the foundation of a successful virtual event is its staff. While virtual environments may require far less staff than an in-person event, there is still a need for careful planning to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Identifying Staff Roles The first step in staffing your virtual event is determining which roles need to be filled. We’ll break the staff roles down into two categories—general support staff and session support staff. General Support Staff Technical Support Have technical support staff available through multiple channels, if possible. We recommend monitoring phone, email, and social media while also... Read more »

How to Prepare Speakers for Your Virtual Event

Posted May 18th, 2020 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Speakers, Virtual Events.

Retro microphone and notebook computer, live webcast on air concept

Lights, camera, action–if only it were that easy to present a virtual event! We’ve put together a list of 8 tips to help prepare your speakers for their virtual debut. 1. Create a speaker tool kit. Put together a packet of information for your speakers so that they know exactly what to expect: Include a calendar with any deadlines and practice sessions clearly noted. Provide access to any branded conference materials such as PowerPoint/Google Slide templates or virtual conference backgrounds. Send download and installation instructions for any conferencing software they will need to use. 2. Give equipment and setup suggestions.... Read more »

Mobile Monday: Using Apps to Extend the Life of Your Event

Posted January 19th, 2015 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Mobile Event Apps.

Making Mobile Count: Using Apps to Extend the Life of Your Event In recent years, there has been a push towards creating hybrid events–integrating a live, in-person event with digital content. This trend aims to foster year-round engagement, making your event last far beyond the days when you are onsite. One of the best ways to make your event last is to utilize an event app. Event apps give you one place to keep all of your conference’s content, making your app the number one resource for your event. But how do you know what to include in your app... Read more »

Room Block Piracy Affects More than the Bottom Line

Posted November 18th, 2014 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Event Scams.

An Update on Room Block Piracy and Poaching in the Meetings Industry Photo credit: Online Trading Academy via flickr.com. Earlier this year, the Convention Industry Council’s (CIC) Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) Initiative organized a workgroup to focus on the issue of room block piracy and poaching. The APEX Room Block Poaching Workgroup conducted an initial survey of meeting professionals in April to gauge the scope of this issue. Meeting professionals from a wide variety of industries responded to the survey, providing insight on how this issue has affected their events. In a presentation at the IMEX Exhibition in Frankfurt in... Read more »

Is Keyless Entry “Key” for the Hotel Industry?

Posted August 20th, 2014 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Travel.

Go directly to your hotel room. Do not stop at the front desk, do not collect your key card. This Monopoly-inspired scenario isn’t too far off for many hotel guests. Several major hotel brands have announced plans to install keyless entry systems that can be unlocked directly from a guest’s mobile phone. With keyless entry and mobile check-in, hotel guests will have no need to wait in line at the front desk upon arrival. Many in the hotel industry are hoping that this streamlined process will appeal to increasingly tech-savvy travelers. In January, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced they would... Read more »

Don’t Let Suitcasing Trolls Rob Your Sponsors and Exhibitors!

Posted June 18th, 2014 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Event Scams.

To the average person, the word “suitcasing” may conjure up images of travel or adventure. But for many people in the event industry, it simply means trouble. What is suitcasing? Suitcasing is an unethical business practice that is frowned upon at events. It occurs when someone who has not purchased a sponsorship or exhibit space distributes promotional materials or solicits business at an event. For example, a company representative may register as an attendee and then work the exhibit floor, passing out promotional items and information in the aisles. Or, a company may rent a conference room at the event... Read more »

Protect Your Room Block from Pirates

Posted May 27th, 2014 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Event Scams, What's New.

These days, pirates are not just found on the high seas, they’re also abundant in the meetings industry. However, room pirates are not in search of buried event treasure. These unauthorized housing companies are after your exhibitors and attendees instead. They profit by deceiving attendees into making their hotel reservations outside of the room block. Often, housing pirates will misrepresent their companies, faking an association with your event. They will contact attendees and urge them to book their rooms immediately, saying that the room block is either sold out or near capacity. In the best case scenario, they may book... Read more »

25 Hotels Opening in 2014

Posted January 21st, 2014 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Travel, What's New.

With a new year comes many new hotel and convention spaces. According to STR Global, there are over 1800 hotels scheduled to open in 2014[1]. While this large number of new spaces is exciting, it can also be daunting to search through. We’ve compiled a quick reference list of 25 hotels with meeting and event space set to open in the United States this year. Opening January 2014 Courtyard Philadelphia South at The Navy Yard 1001 Intrepid Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19112 Courtyard New York Manhattan/Central Park 1717 Broadway New York, NY 10019 Four Points By Sheraton Charleston 600 Kanawha Boulevard... Read more »

Top-rated Travel Apps to Use This Holiday Season

Posted December 19th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Travel, What's New.

According to AAA, a record number of 94.5 million people are expected to travel this holiday season. About 6% of those travelers (5.53 million) will be flying. Don’t let the high number of seasonal passengers keep you away from the airport in the coming weeks. Pack your phone with these top-rated travel apps—they are sure to eliminate stress and help you navigate your trip with ease. TripIt TripIt for iPhone | TripIt for Android TripIt is the ultimate organization app for frequent travelers. TripIt takes your confirmation emails and turns them into a detailed itinerary. Use TripIt one of two... Read more »

How to Plan an Email Marketing Campaign for Your Event

Posted November 21st, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Email - How to Use Effectively, Event Rebels Blog, What's New.

The average email subscriber receives 416 commercial emails per month. While open rates vary by industry and organization type, it is safe to assume that not all of these emails are read. What happens to the emails deemed not worth reading? According to research by ExactTarget, when subscribers receive emails that don’t meet their interests, 67% will unsubscribe, 17% will delete the email, 8% will mark the email as spam, 6% will ignore the email, and 2% will set up a filter for future emails. If you do not want the messages about your event to get lost in the... Read more »

Twitter Lists—An Underused Tool in the Event Planner’s Belt

Posted October 21st, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Social Media, What's New.

Twitter gets a lot of love in the event management world and it’s not hard to see why. With hashtags and live tweet streams, Twitter is the perfect platform for quick and powerful communication. But not enough attention is being paid to a Twitter tool with the potential to make a great impact at events—lists. Twitter lists allow you to organize groups of people so that you can follow all of them at once. This is especially useful because you do not need to follow each member of the list individually. Also, list activity will not take up space in... Read more »

Protecting Privacy at Events

Posted September 19th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Credit Cards, Event Rebels Blog, Internet Security, Online Registration - Keys to Success, Onsite, Social Media, What's New.

Events no longer exist solely in the physical realm. With event registration forms, websites, apps, and social media accounts, a fair amount of information is being collected and shared online. How will your attendees know that you are taking the appropriate steps towards protecting their privacy? Consider writing a clear and comprehensive privacy policy. Include information about how you plan to collect, use, and disclose your registrants’ personally identifiable information. This article will examine everything you need to consider as you develop your event’s privacy plans. What is personally identifiable information? The first step to protecting personally identifiable information is... Read more »

Crafting the Perfect Conference Badge

Posted August 21st, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Onsite, What's New.

Without a doubt, badges are one of the most important pieces of paper at a conference. When set up properly, they can convey a lot of information in a relativey small amount of space. They can be crucial for networking and gaining access to sessions and events. Take care to create badges that work; review our list of tips and tricks for crafting the perfect conference badge below. 1. Names should be printed in a large, sans-serif font, with first and last names on separate lines. Attendees should be able to glance at a badge and immediately locate the name.... Read more »

Three Reasons You Should Start Text Messaging Your Attendees

Posted July 17th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, What's New.

1.Text messages have a high open rate Text messages are simply read more often than e-mail messages. According to a Nielsen study, 97% of text messages are read within 15 minutes of being sent. Even the most successful e-mail marketing campaigns fall far short of this number. A Silverpop study reports that the top email marketing campaigns have an open rate of around 35.7%. For the average email campaign, the open rate is only 19.7%. If you have an important message to deliver to your attendees, send it through a text message. It’s much more likely to be read. 2.Text... Read more »

Which Social Media Platforms are Right for Your Event?

Posted June 26th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Social Media, What's New.

Take a look at six popular social media networks and see which are the most effective for your event’s message. Social media platforms are a powerful resource for any event planner. From marketing your event to communicating in real time with attendees, social media provides endless opportunities for interaction. However, with hundreds of social media platforms on the internet, how do you know which to choose? Each social network comes with different capabilities and a unique set of users. It’s crucial to focus your time and effort only on the social media platforms that will work best for your event.... Read more »

5 Tips for Writing Effective Event Survey Questions

Posted June 11th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, What's New.

Surveys are one of the most important tools for event planning. Without feedback, it’s impossible to gauge the success of an event. The greatest strength of surveys is their versatility. You can use surveys before, during, and after your event to measure your attendees’ interest and satisfaction. This data is incredibly valuable, but it won’t come automatically. You need good survey protocol and great survey questions to get the most out of your event attendees. In this guide, we’ll help you take the first few steps toward crafting a successful survey. Starting Off: General Survey Recommendations It is always... Read more »

Providing Real-Time Reports

Posted May 20th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, What's New.

Many times as a meeting planner, your time is divided between planning the event and reporting back to your clients on the status of the event. Generating and disseminating reports can be time consuming. Having the ability to create custom reports with filtered results is useful, but can still require that you physically run and email these reports to your clients on a regular basis. To help resolve this, EventRebels has designed each custom report with a unique link that can be used to access the report without an EventRebels login. This link is perfect for sharing with those who... Read more »

Create Your Own Web Pages

Posted April 19th, 2013 by lbradford & filed under Event Rebels Blog, What's New.

Did you know that you can create custom web pages from your meeting’s Control Center? Use custom pages to share extra information about your event with your attendees. For example, create pages for hotel and travel information, schedules and agendas, or presenter bios. No HTML or CSS coding knowledge is necessary; all you will need to do is enter the content. Custom pages automatically have the same layout and style as your form. To get started, go to the Meeting Wizard “Web Site Menu” page. Here you will see a list of all of the pages currently associated with your... Read more »

Posts By: lbradford

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