The fun and interesting part

This part involves listening to and watching the client (sometimes many of you) describe (and sometimes argue about) your business and where you’re trying to take it. It involves taking what we’ve absorbed and coming up with three relevant, non-compromise ideas. It involves working with designers to create a way to present those three concepts in a fair way. It involves presenting them to you in a conference room, and listening to and watching you discuss which one you want to go with.

I should explain why we present three ideas. From our brainstorming conversations with you, we know what your baseline  is — what you (all of you) know you want.

1. We’ll present a creative, but basically conservative, option that conforms to that baseline.
2. There will also be an idea that stood out from the brainstorming. We’ll run with that and present a middle-of-the-road option.
3. Then we’ll try to present an option that breaks the mold.

Again — we try try to present the three concepts neutrally. There’s no right answer. It’s not important what we think. We’re interested in what you think.

Then things get harder.

The hard and interesting part

The hard part comes later, when you’ve picked one of the three concepts and we have to execute on it. Which one you picked matters, obviously. But it’s only a PDF or two with Greek text and comp art. Turning the concept you chose into reality — emails, websites, brochures, sponsor kits, AdWords campaigns — sometimes involves hundreds of language, design and functionality decisions on our part.

That’s why the two ideas you rejected still matter. Knowing whether you picked the safe idea, the middle idea or the far-out idea, and how you reacted to each while you were picking, helps guide our decision-making and helps us execute. Your rejections matter to us – and help define your brand.

1.  ABC To Live-Stream Programming For iPhone and iPad Users

This week, ABC became the first major broadcaster to allow iPad and iPhone users to live-stream its news coverage.  Users around New York and Philadelphia can use their mobile devices to live-stream programming from ABC’s local stations in those areas.  But there is a catch: the new live-stream feature will only be available to paying subscribers of cable and satellite providers.  In coming months, the live-streaming will also work for Hearst Television’s 13 markets, including Boston and Pittsburgh.

2.  Media Brands Love Twitter

Twitter entered into some major partnerships with media brands this week.  ESPN and Twitter announced “a major expansion” of their collaboration to show video-highlight clips on Twitter of major sports events in the coming year, and then sell ads that will run inside the video clips.  A new partnership between Fox and Twitter will use the social network to promote Fox’s programming, and offer advertisers a way to reach TV viewers as they discuss shows over social media.  Twitter also announced a deal with National CineMedia, which will produce a weekly series highlighting the latest trending movie topics based on Twitter data.  Finally, Twitter has also partnered with Yahoo! — Twitter accounts and actual tweets will be integrated into Yahoo!’s “flowing news-content stream.”

3.  NPR Launches New Mobile Site

NPR is embracing mobile as a mainstream way for consumers to get their news.  The mobile redesign features quite a bit of scrolling (users can load stories in an infinite scroll), and readers will “now have access to story comments, advanced searching and extended NPR listening opportunities, such as NPR Music’s First Listen series.”  In addition, NPR’s article pages are now fully responsive, adjusting to desktop, tablet, or mobile use.  However, so far no ads pop up on the mobile site (according to Nieman Lab) – which means NPR still has to find a way to make money from the shift to mobile.

What stories were you talking about in media this week?

Photo by Ben Schumin, via Wikipedia

If you’re like most conference managers, you know there are a lot of things that can go wrong at a conference. Here are some of the biggest problems I’ve encountered (and reacted to) while producing events–is your biggest event disaster on this list? Share your story in the comments–and tell us how you handled the situation.

1. An Alarming Scenario

Recently, during a general session filled with several hundred people, our speaker was describing the need to generate an air of excitement among employees. We certainly encountered that air of excitement first hand, as the hotel’s fire alarm went off in the middle of his presentation.

Fortunately, no one panicked, and nobody got up and ran. The speaker remained calm and tried to reassure the audience, and the hotel public address system announced that the security staff was investigating. We were able to check with the hotel and quickly determine there was no need to evacuate.

I sent that message electronically to the stage, the speaker repeated it to the audience and we continued. Panic averted – even though the alarm went off a second time (as if anyone in the building could have missed the first one).

2. When Technology Fails (And Why Back-up Is Essential) – Part 1

Another time we were doing a live cross-country interview via Skype between a moderator on stage and a speaker unable to fly to our event. It worked perfectly for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the keynote was scheduled for 45 minutes.

We stalled for a minute trying to get the transmission back, and it did come back up – for only about 40 seconds, before crashing again. At that point, there was nothing to do but tell the moderator to end the session. I didn’t believe in giving the system a second chance.

3. When Technology Fails – Part 2

Whenever anyone wants to do a live Internet demonstration on stage, I cringe. These things fail far too often. At the least, your speaker needs a backup. That should be screenshots of the Internet sites he or she was planning to show.

But at one conference I produced recently, the speaker had a different idea of a backup: a second computer in case the first failed. You guessed it: the website froze near the start of the presentation, so the second computer was just as powerless as the first one to show the demo. Without backup slides, the speaker was forced to tell, not show — the opposite of what we advise speakers.

4. Entrance and Exits Are Key

Not too long ago I was directing the processional at an educational conference where hundreds of people march up the aisle to be recognized and take their seats in front of an audience of several thousand attendees. We’re all set to start the processional when some members ran up to me to say the aisle was too narrow at one spot for the people in wheelchairs and electric carts. Oops.

I grabbed a couple ushers and we blocked off some other aisles. While we had to make two 90-degree turns, the group marched with pride and successfully navigated along the new zigzag path.

5. Have An Extra Copy On Hand

How about a speaker who forgets their speech? Yup, that’s happened, too.

The speaker was about three-quarters through her presentation when she suddenly looked up at the camera and announced to the audience, “I don’t have any more pages, I can’t find the rest of my speech.” But I had a copy, although not in the big print she was using. I ran my copy up on stage, the speaker reached in her pocket for her glasses so she could read the smaller font and was able to reach her conclusion.

6. Running To The Rescue

And of course, there’s always the problem of microphones failing. We always have a backup, a handheld wireless microphone near the stage that we can run up to the speaker. But I wasn’t prepared when the president of an association was speaking and the power pack fell off her belt in the middle of her speech. Up on stage I ran, grabbed the power pack and as delicately as I could, re-attached it to her dress.

Do you have any stories of unexpected problems encountered during events or conferences? How did you handle them?

1.  LinkedIn Launches News ‘Channels’

LinkedIn Today users can now subscribe to or follow news categories, or ‘channels,’ as well as individual authors who are part of the LinkedIn Influencer program.  Users click on the ‘News’ heading in their toolbar, and are prompted to choose news channels they’d like to subscribe to.  Once a user’s categories are picked, the site shows a redesigned LinkedIn Today page similar to a magazine’s front page – except the content comes from hundreds of different sites and publications.  Is it just another attempt by LinkedIn to make the site more ‘sticky,’ or could it provide some serious competition for other news aggregators?

2.  Condé Nast Launches B-to-B Ecommerce Site, and Introduces Web Series for Magazines

It’s been a busy few weeks for magazine publisher Condé Nast: first, the brand introduced web series for several of its titles, including Glamour, Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Epicurious and Style.com; each brand will have its own mix of video content.  Next, the brand launched CondeNastTrade.com, entering the b-to-b marketplace with a site that offers the interior design community access to select photos and illustrations from 11 Condé Nast titles.  Nearly 7,000 images are available for custom installations; now designers can search the Condé Nast archives and research images online, rather than relying on the brand’s archivists.

3.  Syrians Hack The Onion’s Twitter Account

Syrian hackers took over The Onion’s Twitter account on Monday, and according to The Washington Post, they “aren’t very funny.”  The Syrian Electric Army posted several anti-Israel messages to The Onion’s nearly 5 million Twitter followers.  It was the latest in a series of S.E.A. attacks, which have also included Human Rights Watch, NPR, CBS, the Associated Press, E! Online and the Guardian. Naturally, The Onion wrote a parody piece about the experience, featuring a “virtually impenetrable’ new password.

What were you talking about in media this week?

1. The Timing: The timing of the event is key to its success.

• Avoid national and religious holidays
• Dodge school holidays (such as Spring break) if possible
• Research the industry: know who your competitors are and avoid any scheduling conflicts
• Be aware of seasonal rates: hotels have off peak times that can be beneficial when negotiating the contract and help your bottom line

2. The Audience: analyze the interests, preferences and concerns of your attendees

• How many attendees do you expect?
• Are your prospective attendees clustered in specific cities or regional areas?
• How difficult is it for them to get away from the audience – is convenience going to be critical? Maybe a city location near an airport would be best.
• What are their interests? Is networking important? Could a resort location be more conducive for your attendees and your program format?
• Does this event need to be placed in a 5 star venue or is a practical 3 star location going to work?
• How important are the time and expense of potential travel?
• Sleeping rooms – do you need them and, if so, how many?

3. The Program Format: What are your space requirements?

• How many meeting rooms do you require and/or need simultaneously?
• Determine seating requirements (e.g. theatre, schoolroom, hollow square)
• Space for catering functions during your program
• Will there be an exposition hall? If so, how many exhibitors are anticipated and what are their space requirements?
• Is outdoor space a consideration?
• Where will you place the registration area?
• Don’t forget about ancillary rooms such as a show office, speaker ready room, press room, lounge areas, etc.

4. Your Budget: It’s all about the bottom line! Knowing your financial parameters will immediately set the direction you take on your venue outreach.

Based on your answers to these questions, your next step is to produce a Request for Proposal….. which I will cover in a future blog post.

Do you have additional best practices to add to this list?

1. The New York Times Now No. 2 In Newspaper Circulation

The New York Times has pushed ahead of USA Today to become #2 in newspaper circulation, buoyed by the addition of over 300,000 digital subscriptions in six months.  That marked a circulation gain of nearly 18% since last year, with digital gains more than enough to offset print losses.  The Wall Street Journal remains in first place, but Crain’s notes that “both papers relied on digital circulation for growth.”

2. Reuters.com Redesign: “A Modern River of News”

Reuters has revealed a preview site for its future redesign, with a “river-of-news type of approach that mirrors the flow of data on one of Reuters terminals.” Readers click on an article page and find themselves in the middle of a larger stream of content.  The goal of the redesign? “…To merge the worlds of traditional newsgathering and social media.”  Could this become the standard for how other news organizations present content on digital?

3. Native Ads Debut in Yahoo’s Stream, Get Realtime On HuffPo

Yahoo is finally embracing native ads, placing the new Yahoo Stream Ads within the content stream on its desktop, tablet and mobile home pages – and soon on the mobile app as well. “This is, I’d say, the first meaningful native advertising product we’re going to be introducing at scale,” said Yahoo vp of products Mike Kerns. Meanwhile, Digitas and Huffington Post are taking native advertising to the next level — and making it realtime (almost). Brands will be able to submit branded content and have it published within just two hours, “jumping on a new subject while it’s hot.” Content will be created by the brands themselves or by BrandLive, Digitas’ “brand newsroom” — stories may range from short (Twitter-length) text to longer videos.

What were you talking about in media this week?

Image courtesy of zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

If you’re in the conference business, you know that your alumni list and other internal databases are going to be your number one source of potential attendees for your next event. But what if you’re launching a new event? Or would simply like to supplement your existing database with fresh names?

Across the board, we have found that a well-researched, freshly-developed, highly targeted list of new prospective attendees can become the most important source of attendee revenue for a new or  existing conference. Creating such a list is labor-intensive, but they work — especially when it comes to high-level executive business conferences.

Your goal is to find people who are real “players” in your target market. These are folks who (1) you would love to have in the audience and (2) are highly likely to want to be there. Starting with the region where the conference will take place also helps load the list with folks who (3) can get there, easily.

Here are some sources and strategies for building a VIP list for your next business conference:

1. Start by identifying the largest corporations headquartered in the region, using lists such as the Forbes Global 2000, Forbes Largest Private Companies and FORTUNE 500. For each, pick up titles of interest. The C-Suite is covered on corporate websites; additional titles can be researched using LinkedIn, filtered by location and using keyword searches. The blogs of the largest companies can be good sources as well; a list of contributors often contains people of very high interest.
2. Research the largest corporations/employers for a city or region, available for most cities on Wikipedia or on state and local government websites.
3. Look at competitive conferences, picking up speakers as well as attendees, if attendee company lists are available.
4. Look up associations in your target industry. Add association executives, board members, advisory boards and the leaders and members of Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Member companies often contain those not picked up elsewhere. You can find even more contacts through business schools, research centers and think tanks.
5. Federal, state and local government leadership should not be overlooked: states and cities now have folks with sexy titles like CIO, CTO and Chief Innovation Officer.
6. Google and LinkedIn searches using key words always result in individuals of interest.

How do you market to your VIP list?

Send an invitation. A letter, stripped of marketing hyperbole, signed by a real person, and giving a phone number to call with questions. Then, follow up with a phone call. This is a new list of fresh contacts—you need a personalized, professional approach to build a new relationship with them.

Make sure you keep your list clean. For contact information, you’ll have to quickly verify the individual’s location with a search (name + company + LinkedIn usually does it). Manage any returns you get, correct and re-send those invitations. And make sure any telemarketer you hire will diligently flag those who are no longer employed by the company or not at the number you picked up—as well as give you more general feedback on responses.

We’ve spent countless hours building and managing these lists—but it pays off every time. What sources do you use in researching new names for your conference marketing database?

1. The New York Times Lifts Paywall For Video

The New York Times will no longer count video views as part of the 10-article limit it imposes on non-subscribers who visit its website. The aim? “To increase its overall video investment and to develop video franchises around its writers and columns,” according to PaidContent. For now, the free videos – which can be viewed via desktop or mobile – are sponsored by Acura and Microsoft. The Times is “ramping up” its video strategy, and also recognizes that the brand’s video content is already available (for free) on other channels, like YouTube, so keeping it behind a paywall on the Times’ site would be inconsistent.

2.  Gannett’s Digital Revenue Jumps 75%

Gannett – the largest newspaper chain in the United States – saw digital revenue rise 75% in its publishing segment, the result of more consumers paying to access news online and through apps.  The brand’s current pay model for its digital newspaper products was adopted just last year, and it’s clearly working.  However, the gain in digital revenue wasn’t enough to offset an overall decline in advertising revenue, which slipped 0.3%.

3. For The Win Finds ‘Shareable’ Sports Media

Can “BuzzFeed-style viral media” work for sports media? New social sports site ‘For The Win’ is focused on finding ‘shareable’ content that will attract non-sports-fans too. Executive Jamie Mottram claims it is “the first sports site designed specifically to reach readers on viral networks like Facebook or Twitter,” reports PaidContent.  By modeling itself after viral news sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy – and relying on analytics and A/B headline testing – can USA Today’s For The Win compete with more established sports news sites, including ESPN, Deadspin and Bleacher Report?

What were you talking about in media this week?

Are you an API monkey? You should be! (Image courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim via GNU Free Documentation License v 1.2)

I’m an API geek. I like my airport status reports in JSON format.

An API, or Application Programming Interface, allows different bits of software to communicate with each other, without necessarily knowing the nuts and bolts of how the other bits work.  In order to display tweets onscreen at an event, I don’t have to know what flavor database Twitter uses or what language it was programmed in. I only need to know a simple set of rules and methods that Twitter has defined in its API.

Ok. Right. But why should non-programmers care about APIs? First off, they’re what makes the modern Internet work.  More importantly: your business will probably not survive the next ten years without providing a way for outsiders to interact with your data in a way that they  – not you — define.

This does not mean a better website. Your business will need its own API, or at least use other APIs to expose its data. Think about it: at the end of the day, doesn’t your business–especially if you’re in the media business–fundamentally use data to create value? How many ways could you create more value, more quickly, by providing an easy way for partners and customers to interface with that data?

You don’t need to be a techie to figure this out.  It’s a business challenge, not a technical one.  ProgrammableWeb lists 8,841 separate APIs, with everything from social media to content to e-commerce to chat. No matter what business you’re in, you will find APIs relevant to your business and customers. (If you don’t, let me know — you’ve probably discovered a business opportunity.)

Also check out my growing bucket list below.  These are some of the cooler API’s I’m planning on checking out. If there are any I’m missing, you can add them to this list.

1. Glamour Monetizes Google+ Hangouts

Google is now “helping publishers monetize their efforts” on Google+ Hangouts.  On Monday, Glamour launched a series of Hangouts featuring staffers, online personalities and products. Eight of the nine Hangouts are sponsored by a company, with each of those Hangouts being centrally focused around that company’s product; sponsors are also featured in Glamour’s May issue. Gretchen Howard, global head of sales and strategy for Google+, told Mashable that “this is the first time she has seen a business publisher include product placement or any other form of advertising in a Hangout.”  Advertisers get to place products in front of Glamour’s 1.5 million Google+ fans, and viewers can participate by conversing within the Hangout, or commenting on other social networks via hashtag.

2. Newsana: Quality News Curation

Tuesday marked the official launch of Newsana, a platform that “looks to combine the best of community-based, social news sites (a la Reddit) with expert-driven curation.” The aim is to “keep the quality high:” anyone can read top stories on Newsana, but those who want to help curate the news must show expertise in a particular area and apply to become members of the platform. Newsana screens those applications, and then accepted “experts” can choose which content to share and discuss within their subject area.  For now, the platform is sticking with an “invite-only” system; members can invite 10 new people per week.

3. The Week’s Digital Strategy

Despite being a latecomer to the digital space, The Week’s website is now profitable — it even surpassed The Economist in two of the last three months, according to comScore numbers. Instead of reproducing the print magazine’s content, The Week’s website “offers a stream of smart, snackable news bites along with “Guilty Clicks” from around the web.” The website content is even produced by a separate group of writers. Much of the site’s revenue comes from advertising, but it also draws $1 million in magazine subscriptions each year. Advertising and subscriptions via iPad bring in another $1 million in sales per year. Like Gawker Media and Thrillist, the publication is also starting an “ecommerce experiment,” hoping that fans will buy each other t-shirts, books and more.

What media stories caught your eye this week?