Posts Categorized: Branding

kchopson

Why Your Online Conference Registration Form Should Look Like Your Web Site

Dollar Sign Skeleton Key

It happens all too often. An organization creates a beautiful web site for their conference or trade show, only to have their brand obscured by an online registration form that looks like a cheap invitation. Apparently someone thought that the idea of a consistent marketing message ends at the time of registration. This, of course, is a big mistake. Here is why: It breaks the fundamental rule of a consistent marketing message. The site builds up the notion that you are going to have a great conference, but the registration form has the appearance of a second-rate operation. Your brand... Read more »

kchopson

You Need a Curator for your Event #Hashtag!

#Hashtag

It is quite likely that social media is a key component of your event marketing plan. To effectively use social media you must be aware that the #hashtag is a a cornerstone of your event’s brand. If you have carefully considered all the elements that go into creating a great hashtag then your social media marketing for your event is off to a great start. Social media is also a big part of your onsite experience. If you can get your attendees to tweet and post photos about your event, you can create a sense of Fear of Missing Out... Read more »

Dreamforce: The Dreamboat Experience

Event Rebels Dreamforce

“The Love Boat promises something for everyone.” The Dreamboat may not have been the Love Boat, but Dreamforce definitely tried to have something for everyone! For the first time in Dreamforce’s 13 year existence, the 170,000 person conference chartered a Celebrity Cruises ship to provide lodging to 1,100 conference attendees. This is not the first time a conference has chartered a ship as a “floating hotel”, but it is probably the most mainstream example of lodging alternatives, even being featured on Forbes.com. In a time where conference attendees are searching for alternatives to the traditional room block, such as airbnb, Dreamforce’s... Read more »

Recognizing Your Event’s Influencer Network

Event Rebels: Recognizing Event Influencer Network

Your event is a representation of your brand. Whether you’re an association, corporation, or non-profit, the way you interact with your stakeholders and members is through your live events. Influencers are everywhere, and they are talking about your brand. When your social media managers (if you have them), are talking about “influencers”, they are really talking in terms of the valuable relationships your brand has on social media. Influence can be broken down into three pillars: Relevance, Reach, and Resonance. Relevance: The creation of content that is relevant to your brand, or relevant to a topic that’s important to your brand.... Read more »

kchopson

Trade Show Swag: What’s Hot for 2015

Design Rebel: Trade Show Swag

An intriguing thought crossed my mind as I prepared this blog on the benefits of trade show giveaways. Given the nearly universal appeal of tchotchkes I wondered whether anyone has proposed a doctoral dissertation analyzing the irresistible allure of ball point pens, pocket-sized hand sanitizers, disposable water bottles and tote bags emblazoned with exhibitor’s logos. As a veteran of scores of trade shows, I’ve seen well-dressed, affluent –looking professionals saunter over to a booth and scoop up a key chain, pencil, highlighter or a tiny box of breath mints. Generally, these items retail for under three dollars. Perhaps there is... Read more »

kchopson

Design Rebel: Marquee Lights are HOT for Your Event

Design Rebel: Marquee Lights

Nothing says excitement like Broadway and nothing say Broadway like Marquee Lights. The opening shot of the film classic All That Jazz sets the stage for what follows with a dazzling marquee light up. The eye cannot help but be drawn to the raw, pulsating and vibrant lighting that are typical of these displays. Marquee lights have an interesting history. Their appearance is very closely tied to the rise of the automobile. Before these fast moving vehicles arrived, pedestrians had plenty of time to look at signs as they strolled across. However, those signs were generally unable to draw the... Read more »

Best Practices: Live Tweeting at a Conference

Have you ever sat in an education session listening contently to the speaker, but you watch out of the corner of your eye a colleague with his face in his phone? Chances are he’s either responding to a work email or he’s live tweeting. Live tweeting education sessions at a conference has steadily increased with the availability of smartphone’s and free conference wi-fi. Live tweeting can be a great way to keep notes during a session, share information with your peers and colleagues, favorite other live-tweeters for information you may have missed, and network with other live tweeters at the conference.... Read more »

kchopson

Meetings Monday: North American Meetings Industry Day 2015

Last Thursday, April 16, 2015, was a great day for the meetings industry. It marked for the first time that meeting professionals throughout the country and North America came together to rally and show support for one of the largest industries in the world – the travel and meetings industry. As was pointed out, everybody knows that travel is huge, but the average person does not understand that meetings are the greatest driver of travel. It was also made clear that the normal citizen does not understand actually what it is that meeting professionals and planners do. In an effort... Read more »

Improving Your Events with Technology and Nostalgia

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Marketers have been using nostalgia for generations, utilizing old commercials and logos to help connect multi-generational fans and buyers. As most people experience nostalgia at least once a week (and nearly half experience it at three to four times that amount), modern marketers have quickly learned to harness the power of social media to accelerate the impact of nostalgia to drive their event campaigns. One application of nostalgia in our daily lives is Throwback Thursday, a campaign which began on various social media platforms in 2006. To put this trend into perspective, as of May 2014, the hashtag #TBT had... Read more »

kchopson

Why Your Online Registration Form Should Look Like Your Web Site

Dollar Sign Skeleton Key

It happens all too often. An organization creates a beautiful web site for their conference or special event, only to have their brand obscured by an online registration form that looks like a cheap invitation. Apparently someone thought that the idea of a consistent marketing message ends at the time of registration. This, of course, is a big mistake. Here is why: It breaks the fundamental rule of a consistent marketing message. The site builds up the notion that you are going to have a great conference, but the registration form has the appearance of a second-rate operation. Your brand... Read more »