This one was a little different to standard events as there were some follow-up goals. For this reason, our pre and post work is the part of this project we are most proud of. Anyone can run a good event, well maybe not anyone, but Cuckoo certainly can, and that was the easy part. The challenge was bringing in some new business as a result of the event.
To achieve this, we decided to apply marketing principles to the promotion of the event. We were given a list of potential invitees from which we created a micro-site to manage recruitment emails (and follow-ups to those emails), a ticket booking system, seating management to make sure guests were seated with appropriate people and some essential relationship management between two groups who usually don’t get along.
We arranged hotel accommodation for guests, invoicing, venue scoping and organisation, online satisfaction survey post-event, reporting on the results of the event, an action list for customers that required follow-ups and secretariat services on the day.
As mentioned above, the key for us was to apply marketing principles to event promotion to ensure success. We spent a lot of time writing the invites, making sure they were customised to appeal to the specific guests. We provided differentiated EDMs based on the client at the stage of RSVP they were at (interest, confirmation, payment, etc.) Our post-event survey was structured in such a way that potential follow-ups could be easily identified.
Business forums are more than an event in a nice room with interesting speakers; they have a goal. To achieve this goal, it is essential to have the right people in that nice room and have the event create opportunities that can be turned into new business.
