Meeting Promotion Ideas

MSAE's Meeting Management & Education Networking Group met to discuss meeting promotions (i.e. discounts, scholarships, BOGO, etc.).  Here are the top takeaways:

1. Host a 5K to raise money for scholarships. Sole Motion is a company that can help you coordinate the event for a fee. Make it a family event and have on a Saturday.
2. Add a line to contribute to the scholarship fund with dues renewals
3. Consider a different pricing model for a conference – one price for an organization versus individual – goal is to build relationships with others in the organization, not just the top contact – don’t offer food or either you will lose money.  Download samples here.

Event Marketing: What Works, What Doesn't and Ideas for the Future

MSAE's Communications Networking Group met to discuss event marketing ideas - what works, what doesn't and ideas for the future.

How we can get our audiences to act immediately? How do you deal with over saturation? How do you make your event branding memorable? Do you how incorporate video?  Marketing is key in getting event attendance.

The top takeaways were:

• Send a marketing email on Saturday.  Who would have thought.  But think about it...we all check our phones at home even if we say we are not going to.  If your audience checks their email and sees an email from you they will see it then and when they get to their inbox on Monday.
• Use graphics, graphics and more graphics.  People digest graphics better than text.  Think Pinterest.  More graphics, less words. Don't give all information of an event in an email, send them to your website for details.
• Ask yourself what emails you read and why.  What subject lines get you to open an email?  When creating email marketing campaigns, ask yourself if you would open it.  You'd be surprised that your subject line might change. 
• Tip: Subject lines should be 5-7 words.  Don't use thank you in the subject.
•  Lists get response.  Are you more apt to read an email that says, "5 reasons to...Top 10 ways to...5 ways to...." Most readers like at a glance information.  Clear, concise and to the point. 
• Hand written notes, a lost art.  Aren't hand written notes the best?  Your audience will appreciate the time and effort you put into a hand written note and remember it.  Use them on past participates, in-active members, prospects or people you would like to reach out to in a special way.

What do you do to get your members to act to your marketing?  What are you doing in your organization that is creating buzz around your events?  Do tell.

Program Design, Development & Implementation

Takeaways from the Meeting Management Education Council meeting on June 22:

• When planning education, the group gets input and ideas from: committees, call for proposals, evaluations, surveys, focus groups and listserv groups.
• RFP’s for speakers – suggest potential topics (and why they are important to your group), include background on the audience (challenges, etc), ask when the speaker last spoke and for how many people, have a preconference call, expect them to customize the presentation for your group. Sample Call for Presentations
  
• Consider hosting a BarCamp for your association
  • Definition of BarCamp: a) an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. b) an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants who are the main actors of the event.
  • Quick notes about BarCamps – they are free, the attendees pick the topics so it’s “just in time education,” planners need to let go of the planning.
  • For more information on BarCamps, visit barcamp.org or attend the MSAE BarCamp in September!
  

Daydreaming as a Strategy?

How many times have you had that impossible problem or unsolvable dilemma that you just couldn't figure out...only to have the solution just "come to you" as you weren't concentrating on it?

Researches who have mapped the anatomy of the brain will tell you that when you allow your mind to wander, it is actually in a more active state than it is during focused reasoning with a complex problem. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, having that "aha" moment requires more brain power than you can muster with your reasonable thinking.

So, the next time you're faced with a perplexing situation or problem, apply this theory by trying one of the following :

• Take a bath (that's where Archimedes came up with a way to calculate density and volume)
• Sit in a field (that's how Sir Isaac Newton come up with the law of gravity)
• Take a nap (that's where Rene Descartes came up with coordinate geometry)
• Take a walk (that's where Nicholas Tesla came up with alternating current)
• Sit and daydream (that's where Albert Einstein came up with the ideas behind relativity).

Don't take my word for it. Here is the link to the article where the scientists will explain it all for you:

A Wandering Mind Heads Straight Toward Insight

Association 201 in action

Association 201 is working so far. Jan Plimpton from Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota provided lots of great information about her organization and folks are sitting in groups focused on one of these four topics: Communications/Advocacy, Training, Revenue generating, and Meeting planning.

MSAE's Association 101 is a comprehensive overview of associations and how they work. Association 201 is geared more toward demonstrating competence in

• Describing how their organization does its work and why they do it that way
• Asking pertinent questions that hone in on the nature and needs of another organization
• Adapting their thinking and way of doing things to fit the needs of a different organization
• Fully participating in and contributing ideas in a small and large group setting so objectives are met on time
• Rolling with the punches when a schedule changes
• Making the case for a solution succinctly and successfully

So, the brainstorming has begun. And Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota has a organizational representative at each table. Their willingness to have their work scrutinized is inspiring. How many of us would be so open to this type of questioning?