Back view of male employee speaking on video call with diverse colleagues on online briefing with laptop at home.

Making Virtual and Hybrid Events Pay: How To Price, How To Sell

by COVID 19

An SIIA & PCMA Webinar

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the primary basis of interactions move online, and while many businesses were quick to adjust their plans in the short term, looking ahead is proving increasingly more difficult. The hope that live events would return in the fall is increasingly being replaced with the realization that most events in the U.S. will continue to be virtual or hybrids of online and in-person for the remainder of 2020.

As we are confronted with months of uncertainty, many SIIA members are wondering what the future of events will look like, and how companies whose business strategy has relied upon in-person convenings can survive and thrive in a world where people are interacting virtually?

To answer these questions, SIIA teamed up with PCMA, the world’s largest platform for business events strategists, to discuss how to effectively organize, execute and monetize digital events.

On June 23, Meg Fasy, an internationally recognized expert in event strategy and audience engagement and the Principal at sponsorship marketing agency FazeFWD, and PCMA’s Education Manager and event design specialist, Leslie Bailey, joined SIIA CEO Jeff Joseph for a one-hour webinar to share best practices, discuss digital event resources and answer SIIA member questions about taking events digital in light of COVID-19.

Some key lessons from this interactive discussion include:

  • Set expectations for yourself and participants – treat moving online as creating a brand new event, it will not be the exact same experience as a physical event
  • Look critically at your planned agenda through early 2021 – evaluate the content and goals of each event to identify what aspects can be delivered online
  • Transform your team – consider the roles and skillsets of your current team to identify how those fit for a digital event delivery (i.e. social media manager à chat moderator)
  • Digital analytics (banner click rates, page dwell time, etc.) are valuable information to offer sponsors that is not possible in physical event
  • Create unique and engaging opportunities for community building by offering experiential sponsorships that bridge online and offline (such as lunch delivery, gift boxes and game rooms)
  • No standard base for pricing – consider your resource expenditure and ultimate goals (revenue or audience) to adjust accordingly
Business network concept. Group of businessperson. AI (Artificial Intelligence).

For Williford, Positive Feedback and More Traffic Lighten Heavy Workload

by COVID 19

June 09, 2020 by Ronn Levine

“Every day is hard. Often, there’s very little or nothing they can do. [In addition to patients,] they see their own colleagues pass away… It’s very stressful. Plus their hours might be getting cut. Many of them have had their budgets frozen because many hospitals and emergency departments are really suffering right now. They’re not getting business from elective surgeries and overall volume in EDs [emergency departments] is actually down.”
 
This was different.
 
“They have to deal with all of this. And then we have to assess that and figure out how to respond.” If that wasn’t enough, a couple days later Williford sent me a story from Buzzfeed News titled An ER Doctor’s Diary of Three Brutal Weeks Fighting COVID-19.
 
“This gets at the heart of what our audience is seeing and dealing with every day,” she wrote.  
 
As an information provider but also a business, how do you respond? For Williford, the humanity came first. She spoke last Tuesday as part of the excellent two-day SIPA 2020 and repeated something she told me: That EB Medicine forgot to initially ask for email addresses on the free COVID-19 resources they posted on their site. Given the 340,000 and counting views for one primary article, it probably cost them a lot of leads.
 
But I think they can be excused for forgetting that.  
 
“We were initially going to keep our [COVID-19] content behind the paywall, but we immediately got pushback on that,” Williford said Tuesday. “When we did put it in front, we got really positive response.” That 340,000-views article might typically get 10,000 views. “So traffic has gone through the roof. Every week we’re adding more content. We’re doing more regular podcasts, more social media. International organizations are asking if they can link to us, and if they can translate the content—Japanese, Spanish, Italian.
 
“We’re still mixing in our regular content. It’s not all COVID all the time, but we are pushing people towards the free content. We’ve seen pretty good results so far, with a couple hundred new email signups. Subscriptions have increased 9% we think due to the increased engagement. It’s definitely been a challenge and an increased workload—the COVID content plus everything else we do—but the customers appreciate having the information.”
 
As for the economic woes—some of their audience have had salaries cut in half—Williford said that she tries to be understanding and flexible. “We’ve kind of gone outside our wheelhouse [and become] a little more touchy feely. We’ve created a wellness resources section on our website. That’s something we’ve never had before. We’ve done blogposts about mindfulness, show them we care. Plus things llike, ‘Here’s where you can get discounted shoes, airbnb’s [it’s not always safe for them to go home] and free yoga classes.'”
 
And not every contact they make with customers is a sales pitch. Sometimes now, Williford said, they will just check in. “‘How are you doing? How can we help?’ We’ll remind them of the free resources we have available. We’ve actually had a lot of positive feedback from that. ‘Thanks for asking. I’m doing well. It’s been a struggle but I appreciate what you guys are providing.'”
 
Williford has also stopped any telemarketing. “They’re just so stressed; we thought adding a phone call is not going to help them. For our larger accounts, we’re doing virtual lunches—just casual conversation, again trying to pay attention to what their needs are.”
 
Still, the business continues. EB Medicine continues to invest in different areas right now, reallocating in-person event money to online sponsorships and exhibits. They’ve also expanded their retargeting and remarketing efforts with Google Ad Words; eliminated a step from their checkout process; added a pop-up if a visitor is on their website for longer than 30 seconds; and started doing live webinars. Williford just never thought their audience wanted that. Plus it’s a very competitive space.
 
But the world has changed.
 
“Our customers are really in the thick of it,” she said. “Fortunately, we have an editorial board for each product, and they really drive those product decisions. They’re able to tell us from the ground what [our customers] need. A hospital might not be able to develop their own protocol, for example.
 
From the humanity end, one line seems to guide Williford right now:  You can’t take care of your patients unless you take care of yourself.
 
“Our main focus is on the practical application—what can you do with us? Here’s what you need to do. Luckily we have a very connected editorial board.”
 

As for her own staff of 14, Williford has reached out to all of them during this time to see how they’re doing. But she believes more is needed. “We don’t have a regular company-wide meeting every week. But we’re getting ready to re-implement that again. I’m feeling disconnected and that we need that.”

If they’re seeing what she’s seeing, it probably makes sense.

That was from a conversation I had with Stephanie Williford, CEO of EB Medicine and a new SIPA executive board member, a few weeks ago. She was describing many of her customers who are ED personnel and ER doctors. I had interviewed people on the frontlines of COVID-19 before, but more in loans and banks and people hurting that way

merlin_172019445_21be3bc5-624b-4166-8417-f05345af021f-articleLarge

How To Create A Reentry Plan

by COVID 19

Jeff Joseph, President, SIIA

As governments across the nation begin lifting shelter-in-place orders and related restrictions implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are preparing to reopen and welcome back employees to the “new normal.”

Reentry plans will need to be tailored to address the conditions of a specific workplace and should follow the guidance of local officials to focus on the safety and well-being of employees and customers. Plans also should provide flexibility to allow for the home-life needs of individual employees and adjustable for changing circumstances.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC) released guidance to assist employers in making decisions regarding resuming business operations. The guidance includes the following recommendations:

  • Protecting employees at higher risk of infection.
  • Creating action and communications plans for a re-emergence of infection.
  • Restricting use of shared space and items.
  • Communicating with local health and relevant government officials.
  • Intensifying cleaning and disinfection throughout the work space.
  • Establishing a system of regular health checks.

In addition to the CDC guidance, several agencies have issued useful guidelines and checklists to help companies develop their own reentry plan.

Additional resources:

CDC Checklist for Assisting Workplaces in Making Reopening Decisions

CDC Guidance for Disinfecting Workplaces and Public Spaces

OSHA Guidelines for Measures for protecting workers from exposure to, and infection 

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Guidance for Securing Video Conferencing

Commercial Real Estate Services provider JLL – Webinar on Strategies for re-activating workspaces

OSHA Guidance for employers who must train workers on how to use PPE 

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keys_to_ending_great_lockdown_0

World Economic Outlook 2020-2021: The Great Lockdown

by COVID 19

By Matt Kinsman Originally posted June 10, 2020 on Connectiv

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt the U.S and world economies a series of often unprecedented shocks—the “Great Lockdown” as economists refer to it, basically closed a wide range of sectors including travel, tourism and entertainment and many more, resulting in unemployment rates in the U.S. of more than 20 percent as of June 2020 and drastic revisions of worldwide economic growth for 2020 and 2021.

In a Connectiv/SIIA webinar on June 3, Chris Walker, Deputy Division Chief of the International Monetary Fund, offered an overview of how government and financial institutions are attempting to combat the crisis as well as economic forecasts for the U.S. and other advanced and emerging economies based on IMF research that can be found here.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF had predicted the U.S. economy would grow at a rate of 2.3 percent in 2020—basically the same rate of growth for the last 10 years. Now, however, the IMF has dramatically revised its forecast, suggesting a drop of 5.9 percent for the U.S. and 7.5 percent for the Euro area this year.

“Anticipated drop per person worldwide is considered to be much sharper than during the 2009 financial crisis, which at the time was consider the gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression,” said Walker. “That highlights the scale of what we are dealing with.”

Governments and financial institutions have also taken actions not seen since 2009 (and in many cases, exceeding those measures) in an effort to preserve economies, including paycheck protection, personal loans for bad credit guaranteed approval, loans for small business and individual rebates, as well as the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to nearly zero.

“If you consider the three packages passed by Congress, that’s an increase in spending of about $3 trillion or 3% of the total GDP,” said Walker. “The Fed has provided a huge amount of credit support to the corporate sector and even extended lending to municipalities. Interest on a 10-year bond is now well below 1%, something no one anticipated the U.S. would ever reach.”

A recovery path depends on several factors, most notably a resurgence of COVID-19 in the second half of 2020 and 2021. “Our initial estimate is that we will not have a V-shape recovery for advanced economies–it’s actually shaped more like a check-mark with a sharp drop followed by a more gradual recovery over time,” said Walker. “Most risks are to the downside, with the first downside scenario being the outbreak lasts longer than originally anticipated. That means that at the toughest point, growth will be 2% or 3% worse than what we forecast. For example, the forecast for the U.S. is minus 5.9% for 2020 but that could end up being a loss of 8%.”

On the bright side, neither the U.S. government nor world economic institutions have exhausted their means of support. “We can’t borrow indefinitely even at these rates and not expect to see repercussions,” said Walker. “However, we are far from limit of support that the government can provide. If you can issue debt at less than zero percent and it can be used to support economic activity, that is an opportunity.”

DES - 600 by 600

The Rise of Digital Events

by COVID 19

By Sherrif Karamat, CEO of PCMA (SIIA Partner Post)

Recognizing a need by members for guidance about building digital events, SIIA is excited to announce a partnership with PCMA, the world’s largest platform for business events strategists and their business partners. PCMA has a wealth of intelligence and resources about planning successful events both in person and online, and we will be sharing some of this with you, like this article from PCMA CEO about the rise of digital events.  Watch for information about an SIIA exclusive Q&A webinar with a PCMA expert soon!

Our cover story for the May-June issue of Convene traces how — in record time — we’ve come to take a more strategic approach to virtual events.

My preference is to call them digital events rather than “virtual” events, because “virtual” can be defined as “almost or nearly as described, but not completely.” And as we have come to realize as an industry, a digital event is an actual event. It just takes place in a different channel. We all have had to reshape our business models in warp speed, from live in-person events to those that take place on a screen, but our value proposition is not what has changed; the way we deliver it has.

We think live events will resume in phases in a “living with” COVID-19 world — because we can’t call it a post-COVID world until we have a vaccine or at least an effective treatment for the virus. Once we are past the crisis period — meaning the rates of infection drop significantly and travel restrictions are lifted — it’s expected that the first phase will mean smaller, local and regional events. In fact, in the third of our Recovery Dashboard surveys, in which 1,388 events industry professionals participated, more than half said that small, local events best described the recovery scenario. Smaller events will have to scale by taking an omni-channel approach to reach a wider audience.

The truth is, none of us knows the timing or way in which our industry will recover. VUCA — coined by the U.S. Army in the 1990s to describe the post-Cold War world — was never more apt for the world we’re in: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

And while it’s an understatement to call our current situation disruptive, “disruptive innovation,” which also became part of the business lexicon during the ’90s, seems to apply to digital events. Over the decades, disruptive innovation has been misunderstood to mean breakthrough technologies that make good products better. However, its true essence lies in making services more widely accessible and affordable. A recent example discussed during a panel on emerging business models highlighted online sweeps casinos, which have leveraged enabling technology to create a platform where users can engage in gaming experiences without traditional financial barriers. This approach exemplifies the three critical elements of disruptive innovation outlined by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen: enabling technology, an innovative business model targeting former non-consumers, and a value network that benefits suppliers, partners, and customers alike.

We can’t minimize the suffering and loss of life caused by COVID-19. Nor do we yet know the full impact of its economic damage. But perhaps one day it will be seen as an agent for disruptive innovation, a time when the face-to-face industry fully embraced digital events and it became a value network for all our stakeholders.

Make no mistake: I can’t wait until we meet again in person. At the same time, I’m looking forward to seeing how we get more creative about meeting — and meeting our audiences’ needs in new ways.

Seeking to help provide business events strategists with access to the most reliable sources of information during this crisis, PCMA has created a website page, What Business Events Professionals Need to Know About the COVID-19. The page provides facts, figures, and the latest news about COVID-19 and how our industry is navigating the situation.

As a global network of events professionals, PCMA knows that the ability to plan and launch a digital event has never been more important to our industry. The Digital Event Strategist (DES) course can elevate your expertise on your schedule. It also lays the groundwork for the full DES certification — a designation that will help you stand out as an authority in an increasingly crowded field. 

Do you need to create a seamless digital event as soon as possible? PCMA has developed the Digital Event Fast Track, a collection of core lessons from our DES course, to help you meet your accelerated deadline. Use code SIIA when you register, and visit the PCMA Digital Experience Institute to learn more about the DES certification, the Digital Event Fast Track and solutions like coaching and consulting.