DETAILS: The annual conference is two and a half days of services, seminars and workshops for creative and performance church professionals. This year, it was held at Potter’s House Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 17-19. It drew 9,000 attendees, the majority of which attended evening services open to the public. About 1,200 pastors, praise dancers, praise teams, music ministers and other artists registered in advance to attend day sessions and workshops. For those attendees, Hairston has used the same online registration system for the past five years. The system makes her job easier, but it’s still a technology new to some attendees.

BENEFITS: To register, attendees visit the Gospel Heritage site, which clearly outlines the process for them. “People can see the entire conference, pick and choose what they want to register for and get an instant confirmation,” says Hairston. “They can do it by themselves, at night, and they don’t have to wait until the office is open.” All the information is in one place, accessible to registrants whenever they want it.

CHALLENGES: “There are some people who are still reticent to use it and just want to talk to a person and be walked through every step,” Hairston says. “Five or 10 years ago they were very distrusting of doing things online; they didn’t want to use credit cards to pay for things.” And though she sees that changing, she still needs to have members of her staff available to help when calls come in from frustrated registrants. The system requires a unique email address for every registration, which sometimes causes issues.

SOLUTIONS: Hairston believes in customer service. She wants to have people on hand to answer questions. She’s also very proactive. “When we get a similar series of inquiries, we try to address them so we can head them off before other people have the same experience,” she says. She recommends posting common problems and their solutions on an FAQ page on the event site. She also makes sure online registrants are aware of the website’s security, which helps put them at ease.

ADVICE: Surround yourself with talented people you can trust. “I’m not really a meeting planner; I’m just a visionary who is anal,” Hairston says. She took on the planning for the organization to realign the conference with its original vision, but she has a different approach than most planners. “Most of the time, meeting planners take a concept and do all the nuts and bolts to make it come together,” she says. “I sit in the seat as the leader, but I put a lot of people around me who will handle different aspects of the event from top to bottom…They do it all from budget to implementation, so I’m able to multitask through them.”

“We use the major ones,” says Wagner. “I mean you can’t do anything without using Facebook since it’s the size of a small country.” Then he quickly rattles off a handful more: various Twitter sites (Twitterfall, Twitteriffic, Hootsuite), Meetup.com, Stumbleupon and LinkedIn. “And obviously we use YouTube. YouTube and Google go hand-in-hand. They are the No. 1 and 2 search engines in the world, so you have to use them.”

The tools and websites he lists might not be obvious to all planners, but Wagner, CEO of P.H.A.T.B.O.Y. Productions, maneuvers around social media sites as easily as many meeting planners find their way around their go-to convention centers.

His website is evidence enough that his nickname, “Master of Integration,” is more than fitting. Wagner also produces The Ultimate Step Show annually, as well as a monthly Lyricist’s Cafe, and speaks regularly, combining his talents of miming and stepping with a seminary education. He integrates technology into his events, social media into event promotion, and faith, instruction, comedy and skits into his speaking. All this integration leads to events that capture his audience’s attention, engaging them beyond the actual dates.

Today’s faith-based meetings and conventions—whether they are online, face-to-face or, increasingly more common, both—require similar integration. Social media and the rise of Internet-connected devices continue to blur the line between our online and physical lives, and extend the life cycle of events. The latest technology heightens attendee experience and message integration to a level every planner seeks—one of year-round engagement.

Virtual Reality

Hybrid events, which combine online and face-to-face components, are no longer an experiment. In fact, they are being embraced as a close-to-ideal combination of live and remote events, and can include a dedicated virtual space with live event streaming, speaker and attendee interviews, social media chats and video interaction, or a single session streamed on your website. “Hybrid is the new black,” says UBM Studios Executive Vice President Kate Spellman.

“The coolest thing right now is the ability to bring your online and offline, face-to-face and online world, together,” says Samuel J. Smith, managing director of Interactive Meeting Technology LLC. “It shows the true power of communication that you can have an online community and have your face-to-face audience, and they can meet online. They drive each other.”

In the past five years, descriptors for hybrid events have gone from “cannibalizing” and “future” to “necessary” and “now.” Advances in technology have propelled virtual events from a fuzzy video streaming online to an interactive world that is now an integral part of live events. New technologies add another important factor: They offer solutions for sustainable meetings by reducing travel and the need for printed event materials (see “Meeting Gadgets” below).

Wagner capitalizes on the attention span and needs of his demographic with videos and podcasts on all his websites. His audience wants value, so he shows them exactly what to expect at his events. Generation Y is familiar with multiple screens and videos on websites, says Jeff Hurt, director of education and engagement for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting. “The web has been moving so fast, by 2013 it’s going to be video-based instead of text-based.”

Planners’ opinions about hybrid meetings have shifted considerably in a short time. Less than two years ago, defenders of virtual meetings spent most of their energy convincing planners that streaming an event live would not harm their face-to-face events. Now, virtual components are accepted as powerful marketing tools that extend a meeting’s reach, interaction and longevity.

As often happens, attendees are driving the change. As people become more comfortable with technology, they expect events to keep up.

“The fact that we can Skype and video conference from mobile phones is huge,” Hurt says. “The impact of being able to video from smartphones and immediately be able to post it on the web has created a natural response. People want to see that at events.”

Associated costs have come down as well. Being able to stream a session online takes little more than a camera, Internet access and a cord. Many hosting sites are free with premium upgrades available. UBM Studios and similar providers can produce complex virtual trade shows for clients, or planners can mix-and-match the company’s offerings to include live content streaming, chats, exhibit booths or material exchange.

“Start simply,” Spellman advises rookie hybrid event planners. “You don’t have to bite off the whole world. It does take manpower, and you need to have the right content for the right audience.”

Dedicated content development is needed for virtual programming, and it’s important to recognize the remote audience has a different perspective and needs attention of its own. “When planning the face-to-face, you think: ‘How does this impact my attendees? How do I move attendees from passive to participatory?’” Hurt says. “The same is true with virtual/hybrid attendees. Planners need to think, ‘How will the remote audience view this?’”

Two-Way Street

Understanding your audience is instrumental in every aspect of meeting planning, and the social revolution has changed the way you interact. A bottom-up philosophy is not just about getting customer feedback through social media channels; it’s about engaging attendees every step of the way. Online components create an interactive, two-way dialogue with attendees year-round.

“Web 2.0 has created systems of engagement where people engage with each other,” Hurt says. Students and early adopters are leading the way, while large institutions and nonprofits are lagging behind, he says, but events can take advantage of the ground-up mentality by using crowdsourcing, inviting attendees to participate in the planning process and content development, and engaging them with technology at the event, through interactive chats and post-event interaction online.

To accomplish this, you have to know your audience and where they gather. “It’s 100 percent about meeting people where they are, not about being everywhere,” says Maddie Grant, CAE, chief social media strategist at SocialFish. “And the way to find out where they are is by asking them.”

She compares choosing where to host your community to building an expensive soccer stadium for kids who love playing soccer on their neighborhood street. Some kids are willing but not able to come to your shiny, new stadium, while others are able, but not willing. Choose a platform based on where your community is or desires to be.

Wagner knows his audience uses Facebook and texting, so he targets his campaigns to those areas. He also collects email addresses at events and uses programs such as evite.com and constantcontact.com to send invitations, many of which show immediate results of who opened the email, who responded and what is marked as spam.

“Wherever people are, we have to go,” Wagner says. “Not just in social media marketing, but just as Christians. Sometimes we stay at a church and hope they come. Why not get out of the church and go where people are? You might think Facebook is for kids, but you have to go where they are, find people, deliver quality information, capture information and stay in touch with them.”

He uses his personal accounts to join conversations on blogs, social media and on other websites. Commenting on blogs and asking questions to stir up dialog help you become identified as an expert in your field, he says. Once you are recognized on websites, people will look to you and your organization for information.

In today’s social environment, people look to their friends as experts. Word of mouth remains one of the most effective promotions; social media has just altered how it is disseminated. Take advantage by making sure everything on your website is shareable, Grant says. Every piece of content on your website—from individual sessions in your conference schedule to your registration page—should have social share buttons. “You really shoot yourself in the foot when it’s hard for people to share things they are excited about,” she says.

Game On

An easy way to encourage sharing is through gaming and geo-location applications. Wagner offers incentives to attendees who check-in with Foursquare, Facebook Places or other geo-location apps, putting promotion in the hands of attendees.

“It shows credibility—not just having the event but that people are actually going to it,” Wagner says. “Every single person is a leader. They may not be leading many, but everyone has a sphere of influence. People are going to see [event check-ins] and ask questions.”

Everyone has heard the adage, “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” But based on the large lectures and seminars that rule conference programming, many planners haven’t embraced the concept yet. Gaming changes that. It ranges from highly technological (iPads, online systems and personal devices) to a moderator with a simulation in which a group participates.

“Games put you in the action,” Smith says. “They force you to make decisions and then think about ‘Why did I make that decision?’ [Attendees] are applying what they’ve been told.” A moderator stops the action periodically to give attendees time to evaluate why they made certain decisions.

Games can direct attendees to certain aspects of a conference or website. The same geo-location social networks Wagner uses for promotion increase participation at events. Planners can incorporate badges or rewards for attending a general session or service project to increase attendance, or encourage participation on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube with a point system.

Gaming is still in its early stages. Experts predict this trend will continue to creep into meetings and events, as well as into business, education and beyond. The competition games encourage lead to the interaction and involvement planners are looking for.

Competition isn’t limited to an event. “The interesting thing about gaming is not just the geo-location and building up of badges and points, but it’s about building community year-round,” Grant says. Planners can encourage members to fill out forms on a website, register or join discussions online with points and rewards. Just like hybrid events, gaming extends the timeline of your ministry and community beyond the physical element of gathering together once a year.

What’s Next

It wasn’t long ago that experts predicted virtual technology would drive out face-to-face meetings. Instead, the move is to a new model that drives the two together. As the marriage between the two worlds grows, the line separating in-person and virtual meetings blurs.

The timeline for events is also changing. “Down the road I see it being more of an evergreen model,” says UBM’s Spellman. “We’re just starting to see more 365-day events and keeping environments open.” Events are moving from a one-time physical experience to an ongoing space in which attendees and presenters can move in and out. With the continued assimilation of technology, social media and gaming, futurists see virtual events—and technology in general—becoming so integrated into live events that they won’t have a separate title.

For Wagner, that means changing mindsets in all areas of planning. He doesn’t create promotions; he creates campaigns. “Campaigns are long-term, and promotions are short-term,” he says. “So everything we do in regards to promotion is leading them down the path to something else later.”

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MORE TOOLS
Click here for meeting gadgets and tools.
Click here for a list of social event tools.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been around school-age children much in the past few years, but I was impressed from the moment I walked in the door. Like most meetings and events, a registration table was set up just inside the door. It wasn’t teachers or school administrators at the table; a group of four or five fifth graders checked me in instead. They were friendly, smiling as soon as I entered. One quickly asked if I was there for career day, and as soon as I shared my name, another had an information packet in hand for me. One girl went over my schedule with me, letting me know where I needed to be and when, pointing to the rooms on a highlighted map they’d prepared for me.

Talk about a good registration experience. Like most conferences I attend, I walked in with questions and a little apprehension, but they made me feel at ease. I even had a student escort between my sessions, making sure I made it to the right location. This group of young kids excelled when it came to registration and logistics for this small event. They smiled, spoke clearly and confidently handled my questions and concerns. I went to this school to teach them a few things about what I do for a living, but they taught me a few things about my industry, too. If a few fifth graders can handle an event so well, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t happen at every event.

These are difficult times. Businesses, nonprofits, and professional and faith-based organizations are finding they have to stretch their dollar — like the rest of us — to make ends meet.

Some are canceling events, thinking that they simply cannot afford to have them this year. But at what price?

Today’s faith-based meeting planners are probably more dependent than ever on the relationships they’ve built over time. They’re the bread and butter of the organization. Web conferences, social networks and high-tech meeting tools have their place, but there are times when there is just no substitute for face-to-face communication. A firm handshake and a smile were, after all, what most organizations were founded on.

There are some very practical steps you can take to reduce the overall budget for your next faith-based meeting. First on the list is choosing the right venue. Do you choose a first-tier location, hoping that the destination alone will draw people to your event? Or do you look into second- or third-tier cities to offer a more affordable event that remains focused on the true purpose of your get-together: getting together.

First-tier cities, such as San Francisco, New York or Chicago, are generally more expensive, not only for the meeting space itself, but for lodging, food and beverage. Even the hundreds of small must-have items and services may carry higher costs.

Second- and third-tier cities are not only less expensive, but they also tend to be more willing to work with you to make sure that the bottom line fits within your budget. They’re competing a little harder for your business. Quite often, it shows in the quality of service they deliver as well.

Here are nine more cost-saving tips to consider when planning faith-based meetings and conferences:

1. Choose your location wisely. Call around. Get pricing and weigh the pros and the cons of each venue. Don’t lose sight of the reason you’re putting on the event: to solidify relationships, exchange ideas and build unity among the group.

2. Manage your budget through flexibility. Being flexible with the date of your event can score major savings. This same attitude, when applied to other budgeted needs, can add up to significant reductions in cost.

3. (Almost) everything is negotiable. In this economy, nearly everything is negotiable. Find a meeting venue that is willing to work with you to meet your budget needs.

4. Plan five-star events on a shoestring. Food costs can add up, particularly where waste is concerned. Poor timing in the serving of desserts, coffee and other incidentals can leave them sitting out with no one to enjoy them. Bulk orders in food and beverages also can save money.

5. Find star power on a budget. Headline speakers can end up being a significant cost for an event. Consider looking for local speakers to reduce costs for travel, seek out a corporate sponsor, or as always, try to negotiate. Often speakers are willing to reduce fees for the chance to promote a book or other personal interest.

6. Go digital with registration. Online registration can save up to 90 percent, compared with the cost of traditional paper and pen. This service is also more reliable, and it provides easy-to-use contact information that can be used to promote your next event.

7. Get audiovisual costs in focus. AV costs can add up unexpectedly. Identifying specific needs ahead of time, including all the incidentals such as cables and cords, can avoid unnecessary rental and set-up fees. Last-minute orders usually come at a premium.

8. Use more volunteers. Volunteers, while not as reliable as employees, can provide invaluable assistance at faith-based meetings, often in exchange for a free lunch or admission to your event. When working with volunteers, train them on their various tasks prior to the day of the event and be sure to have people identified as backups, just in case. Thank volunteers publicly for their help. That’s another important relationship to build.

9. Use electronic handouts. Providing electronic handouts saves a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on print and paper. It’s also better for the environment; attendees can download only the information they are interested in, rather than throwing away papers they do not want.

Face-to-face communication remains the single most important method for connecting with others. When it comes to exchanging important ideas or building a relationship, nothing beats eye contact in getting the message across. Exchanges such as these build memories, much more than a text or Tweet on your PDA. And memories endure.

The complete white paper, “9 Money-Saving Tips: The SMERF’s Guide to Frugal Meeting Planning,” is available at ontariocc.com. Amita Patel is director of sales and marketing for the Ontario Convention and Visitors Bureau and assistant general manager of the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, Calif.

More for the money
The global cash crunch caused a 6 percent decline in sponsorship spending from 2008 to 2009, the first time less money was spent on sponsorships than in the previous year, according to IEG, a global provider of sponsorship measurement and valuation. “Those unprecedented numbers reflect a marketplace that never recovered from the economy’s free fall towards the end of ’08,” says William Chipps, IEG Sponsorship Report senior editor.
The financial crisis has forced organizations to realign the way they are recruiting new sponsors and maintain existing ones. The now industry-wide cliché “out-of-the-box thinking” isn’t enough; strategy and creative thinking need to be topped off with a dose of financial frugality. One trend that has emerged is more bundling of assets to offer a more comprehensive sponsorship package.

Rather than slapping a sponsor’s logo on a tote bag or listing names on a throwaway show guide, faith-based organizations must prove value to sponsors, more so than ever before. Return on investment (ROI) must be shown immediately at the end of the event as well as an expanded analysis of how the sponsorship might bring prospective business to the organization in the future. Philip Arbuckle, MT, MBA, CMP, of MeetingTrack Inc., links a sponsor’s support with a program element that can demonstrate a result. “Whereas in the past it was sufficient to have their name/brand linked with the program,” Arbuckle says.

But an IEG survey in partnership with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) states that only 65 percent of organizations determine the results of their sponsorship and event marketing programs. At the same time, almost eight in 10 respondents said the need for validated results has increased in the past two years as a result of having to justify expenditures. Sponsors want to know the value right away.

Engagement Required
It’s also not enough to simply show ROI, you must also provide ROE, Return on Engagement. Sponsors are your event attendees, too, and they need to be engaged. They are in the market and want to know about it; they want to be a part of the discussion. Many groups analyze their sponsoring partners’ need factors by interviewing them and understanding what they really want to get out of their investment. It sounds simplistic, but organizations have had a history of creating packages based on what they need (including a certain dollar amount), not what their sponsors want. With the decline in sponsorship revenue, faith-based organizations now have to change this history and start customizing programs according to the sponsors’ needs.

Karl Kirsch, CAE, vice president of Meeting Expectations, agrees that sponsorships should be tailored to each company’s needs and like any nurturing relationship, should be given attention on a year-round basis. “The sponsorship is not about the meeting or trade show,” he says. “The planner should be calling the sponsor throughout the year and giving them alerts on how to better leverage their sponsorship both pre- and post-event.”
Another fact-finding idea is to create an advisory board for each of your conferences and events, inviting a member of the sponsoring company to sit on the board. William Drohan, CAE, president of Drohan Management Group, limits this benefit to his top-level sponsors — the platinum as opposed to the gold. He then adds the value of this access to decision makers into his sponsorship package. “There’s a value in providing exposure to these executives,” Drohan says. “And if you’re a top supplier in the industry and you don’t show up, the decision makers will think you’re no longer interested in their industry.”

Drohan also suggests inviting the top-level sponsors to the board of director’s dinner, which might precede the opening day of the conference. The admission that normally would be paid to attend the dinner is then added to the sponsorship package. “Sophisticated board members understand that this is where [sponsorship] revenue is coming from and that’s it an opportunity for the sponsor to develop a business and personal relationship,” Drohan says.

Behind the Scenes
Concerns about public perception have made organizations much more sensitive to what they are sponsoring and how the sponsorship is listed. “We see some sponsors asking that their logo not be used on conference materials and opting for a simple listing of their company name instead,” says Arbuckle. When he is recruiting funds, he now leaves out the word “sponsor” when asking for an organization’s support.

Nearly all recruiters of sponsorship revenue agree that the bundling of benefits into a yearlong value package and a multiple-year discount are two top trends. Arbuckle has moved to multi-year packages where a sponsor is offered a program for three years instead of just sponsoring one event. “This allows us to work with the sponsors in an on-going mode where we can develop an alliance throughout the three-year period,” Arbuckle says.

Drohan gives a multi-year discount for a bundled benefits package purchased in one payment. He shows the individual pricing of each benefit and then shows the discount if they are purchased together. He believes these packages are also easier to renew because the conference organizer can show the benefits the sponsor received for a longer period of time. “We can say, ‘here’s what we did for you all year,’ which is easier for the organization to sell and less complicated for the sponsor to buy,” Drohan says. “If the sponsorship has a $30,000 value and we charge them $20,000, they know they are getting a $10,000 discount and they have to make only one payment.”

Alternative markets
A third trend in sponsorship recruitment is researching industries outside your immediate membership and expanding your offerings to alternative markets. “We have looked at our membership/conference participants and analyzed their buying needs to find new sponsoring companies that may not have been part of our sponsorship mix in the past,” Arbuckle says.

Kirsch is creating flexible packages to accommodate his sponsor’s vertical markets. If his sponsor has a niche product, he might work with the organization to create a webinar targeted specifically at that niche. “Most associations are casting a wider net to try to attract a larger variety of sponsors,” Kirsch says. “This helps to mitigate the risk of being dependent on a small number of large sponsors.”

The good news is that IEG is expecting sponsorship spending by North American companies to grow by 3.4 percent in 2010 to $17 billion, up from $16 billion in 2009. “We saw a 12 percent drop in sponsorship revenue in 2009,” Arbuckle says. “Sponsorships improved some in 2010, mainly as a result of taking a different approach in working with sponsors and developing new opportunities. Next year [2011] is looking good and may come close to 2008 levels.”

The 2010 Rejuvenate Marketplace will be in Louisville, Kentucky, Oct. 18–21! Rejuvenate Marketplace is a reverse trade show for faith-based meeting planners with educational seminars, well-known keynote speakers and top-notch entertainment. It is an exciting conference where planners, suppliers and experts in many fields have the opportunity to share ideas and best practices, as well as develop valuable relationships.