Blogs
Aug 13, 2020
Did you know that event management consistently ranks within the top 10 most stressful jobs each year – alongside the likes of enlisted military personnel, firefighters, pilots and police offers?
For event managers, there’s no shortage of things to do: finding a venue, hiring staff, getting equipment, organizing travel, liaising with speakers, enlisting caterers – the list goes on.
And to make matters more complicated, each year brings with it new challenges and new trends.
Recently, we conducted a survey of more than 100 event management professionals asking them what they believe to be… more
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Aug 05, 2020
Many trade show and conference producers have found themselves in unchartered territory as they’ve made the in-person to online event pivot over the past several months. These professionals have been reading about best practices, researching new vendors, consulting with industry peers and otherwise learning as they go. Meanwhile, there’s another group of industry professionals—a subset of Freeman called Freeman Digital Ventures—that has been producing digital events since 2015. I asked three of the strategists that align with this group, Mark Fein, Stacy O’Connell and Tyler Day, to share what… more
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Jul 30, 2020
Do you know how large of a role the live events industry plays in our nation’s economy? If you’re in the events industry, you likely do — but not all Americans are aware. As Congress prepares to deliver new business relief legislation in the upcoming weeks, it’s important to note how big that impact is, as well as the critical characteristics for that legislation to be most effective — for all small businesses and especially those in the events business.
The live events industry employs roughly 2.8 million people, and when factoring in direct jobs and indirect jobs (which includes labor,… more
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Jul 22, 2020
Right now, it’s a challenge for many to simply visit the grocery store. What will it be like once things start reopening on a large scale? Will people immediately resume their pre-coronavirus behavior, or will they be wary about being in places with large groups of people? For the events industry, this is a crucial question to unpack, as it determines how they will approach business going forward. What steps will they need to take to ensure that people will continue to attend conferences, expos, panels, and the like?
Combining in-person and virtual events
With infection numbers on the rise… more
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Jul 16, 2020
In the early days of March, the world began retreating to their houses and home offices in response to the growing threat of the coronavirus, changing — and testing — business as we knew it. Corporate event planners had to make the difficult decision to postpone, cancel or transition their in-person events into digital experiences. It wasn’t possible to gather, yet the guessing game of when we might resume life as we knew it was too difficult to understand.
Even now, after four months of stay-at-home or safer-at-home orders under our belts, the return of in-person events remains elusive. Yet… more
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Jul 08, 2020
As we’ve watched events be forced to postpone, change location and/or go virtual, it got us at Fixation Marketing thinking: Do these changes affect an event’s brand?
Not if the brand story is strong.
Your brand story is a narrative you create around your event that inspires an emotional response. It goes beyond the standard value proposition of describing event features to convey how the experience helps participants be more productive, make more money and advance their careers. In telling a brand story, you draw people into a narrative they not only want to be a part of, but also feel they… more
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Jul 01, 2020
In the past four months, events have radically shifted from in-person gatherings to virtual events. Speakers play an integral role and can make or break the attendee experience. Understanding the importance presenters play into this dynamic, here are some tips for helping you to create a positive virtual experience for your attendees.
1. Test, Test, Test
To ensure everything runs smoothly, schedule a rehearsal with your speakers. Here is a short checklist of items to practice:
Test microphone and audio to confirm optimum sound.
Test lighting (i.e., not sitting with back to a window).… more
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Jun 26, 2020
The sudden onset of remote work has impacted companies and organizations across the United States and around the world.
It happened almost overnight. The COVID-19 pandemic led business offices to close their doors and employees to find a way to conduct their work from home. We all went from congregating in meeting spaces and around cubicles to interacting “face to face” via our computer screens. For the past few months, we’ve found ourselves catching glimpses of each other’s homes, hearing dogs barks, and listening to children yell and laugh during video conferences. While we’ve never been… more
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Jun 15, 2020
At a trade show, we used to say you have three seconds to capture the attention of someone walking by your booth. But in a virtual event, engagement isn’t just earned once. You have to earn it again and again.
The past few months have reshaped the events industry, but now is the time to accept changes and retool. Virtual events might look a little different, but the goal is the same: to tell your unique story.
While most live events have exclusive access to their venues, virtual spaces are shared with a barrage of distractions. Between email notifications, news and streaming services, it’s… more
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Jun 10, 2020
There's a lot of "shiny object syndrome" driving our decisions as we try to adapt to changing conditions, but our best strategy might be to focus on the fundamentals.
I read an interesting quote about Jeff Bezos. He said that everyone asks him what will change in the future, and really dismissed the question as interesting but irrelevant.
Yeah. Irrelevant.
He said what is important is what won’t change in the next decade. Bezos believes that 10 years from now, people will still want a wide selection of quality products available at the lowest possible price. Hard to argue that Amazon isn… more
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Partner Voices
Just when it seems like Las Vegas can’t get any bigger, brighter or more exciting for groups, MGM Resorts raises the bar again. The company continues to invest and innovate across its portfolio of Las Vegas resorts, with new attractions and upgraded experiences for attendees of all interests.
Remodeled Guest Rooms
MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with over 5,000 guest rooms and an 850,000-square-foot conference center. It is home to the newly remodeled MGM Grand Studio Tower—700 reimagined guest rooms with a fun mid-century vibe. Nearby, the iconic New York-New York Las more