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An Example of a Really Great Event Registration Email Confirmation
March 31, 2022A couple of weeks ago, I got invited by my buddy Heinan Landa, CEO of Optimal Networks, to an event by CADRE, which bills itself as “a way for elite professionals to learn from the top experts in the world, while connecting and developing meaningful relationships with like-minded peers.” The event itself was lovely, but […]
Elevate Your Next Conference with a Professional Emcee
December 3, 2021Want to elevate your next in person or virtual conference? Consider hiring a professional emcee! We recently hosted the SQF Unites conference for the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) in BeSpeake, our virtual meeting platform. SQFI wanted to elevate their virtual conference and ensure that their attendee journeys were meaningful and intuitive. To help with […]
Using Video to Promote Your Meetings and Conferences
September 27, 2021We all know that video rules. Check out these amazing video statistics from 2021. I recently attended Non Dues a Palooza (NDaP) in Nashville, TN. NDaP is devoted to helping associations and nonprofits learn new ideas for generating non-dues revenue. Yes, I attended in person and it felt great! Teri Carden, the conference organizer and […]
How the Air and Space Museum is Using Virtual Docents
September 22, 2021My younger son and I are listening to Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Andy Weir also wrote The Martian, which was a great movie and an even better book. Both The Martian and Project Hail Mary are adventure books set in space. Both are full of science and science fiction. If you love space […]
Combine Virtual and In-Person Networking Before Conferences to Increase Engagement
September 17, 2021I’m attending Non Dues-a-Palooza (NDAP) next week in Nashville, in person. NDAP is a conference devoted to helping associations and nonprofits increase their non-dues revenue by bringing together execs and solution providers, through case studies and panels. This will be my third NDAP event and I’m pretty excited. Even though the event will be in […]
Review of ASAE 2021 Annual Meeting Hybrid Pop-Up in D.C.
August 27, 2021I attended the Virtual ASAE Annual Meeting last week. Unlike other virtual meetings I’ve attended recently, this one had a hybrid pop-up strategy. 10 cities hosted half-day in person events. I got to attend the DC pop-up on Monday, August 16. How did it work and was it successful? Here’s my review. The Venue The […]
What Have We Learned About Creating Engaging Meetings from Virtual Conferences?
June 15, 2021Heinan Landa (CEO of Optimal Networks) asked me last week: As we’re slowly returning to the office and in-person meetings, what lessons from 15 months of virtual meetings should endure? It’s a great question. Over the past year, I’ve had many clients bemoan virtual, but I’ve also had many clients express joy over the benefits […]
How BeSpeake Clients are Adding Fun to their Virtual Meetings
March 25, 2021“How do we add fun to our virtual meeting? How do I get people chatting during our sessions? How do we get attendees interacting with each other? These are just some of the questions we get when we meet with BeSpeake clients each week to plan their virtual meetings. While there’s no magic formula, here […]
We Need to Bring Back the “Meet” in Meetings
March 12, 2021During a kickoff meeting with a new BeSpeake client, I asked this question: What did not work during your annual meeting last year? Answer: While the education offerings were excellent, there were few opportunities for attendees to connect and network, and the few that did exist, were simple text chats. This client isn’t alone in […]
The ASAE Annual Meeting Goes Virtual; Why This is a Good Decision
March 4, 2021I read the email from ASAE (the American Society of Association Executives) yesterday afternoon about the ASAE Annual Meeting. Citing concerns for the health and safety of all members, ASAE Annual, which was supposed to be in person in Dallas, will once again be virtual, coupled with smaller, regional hub gatherings. Ugh. After a year […]
Virtual Events Made the Conventions and the Inauguration Celebrations More Accessible
February 8, 2021On January 20, I watched the Presidential Inauguration celebration from my couch. Normally, I would have been jonesing over the inaugural balls I’ve never been invited to, but this year, I had a front row seat as Tom Hanks hosted a star-studded musical extravaganza. How amazing to see John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Yo-Yo […]
Lessons from Three Seasons of Virtual Meetings
January 4, 2021Well, the pandemic that was supposed to last a couple of weeks has dragged on through the Spring, Summer and Fall. Nearly 10 months since stay at home orders were issued, what have we learned about virtual meetings and engagement? Pre-Recorded Is Giving Way to Live Early in the pandemic, meeting planners pivoted to Zoom […]
The Road Ahead for Virtual and Hybrid Meetings in 2021
November 24, 2020Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Techsy Talk Global Conference. One of the best sessions was called “The Road Ahead: Industry Landscape for 2021” by Howard Givner of the Event Leadership Institute. Howard provided an overview of the meetings and conference landscape, covering the latest news related to vaccines, state COVID regulations, […]
Are you Team Live or Team Pre-Recorded During Virtual Meetings?
November 17, 2020I’m attending and speaking during the techsytalk GLOBAL conference this week. Liz King Caruso, the organizer, ran a poll on the first day and asked attendees if they were on Team Live or Team Pre-Recorded. Turns out 100% of the attendees voted Team Live. And yet… I attended a couple of conferences last week where […]
What Makes a Successful Virtual Meeting? Lessons Learned from the Battlefield
November 11, 2020Since July of this year, we’ve had the honor of hosting 9 virtual meetings. It’s been a season of learning because the meetings landscape keeps changing and attendee expectations have shifted dramatically since the pandemic began. Here are some of the things we’ve learned: Good communication is key! Even though it feels like we’ve been […]
Revisiting the Attendee Experience During a Virtual Meeting
September 8, 2020A couple of years ago, I posted this: An Executive Director’s Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Next Conference. I quoted my friend and client Carol Neuvelt, Executive Director of NAEM, who tells her staff and members to make sure they do this during a conference: 1) Learn something 2) Participate in the […]
What Your Virtual Sponsors and Exhibitors Want Most
August 31, 2020Many organizations are wrestling with how they can pull off a successful virtual meeting, especially with regard to their sponsors and exhibitors. How do you provide real value for them in the virtual environment? How do you convince them that it’s worth the time and investment? Heck, will they even want to consider it? Good […]
Should Virtual Conference Sessions Be Live or Pre-Recorded?
August 10, 2020I’m attending a lot of conferences these days. I’m also helping clients plan and execute a lot of conferences. All of them online, of course. One of the biggest questions being asked by meeting planners is: Should my educational sessions be live or pre-recorded? Live streamed at a certain time or available on demand? Pre-recorded […]
How Much Should I Charge for My Virtual Conference?
May 28, 2020As the world of work continues to transition from physical to virtual, the same is happening to conferences, trade shows, and meetings. There are platforms to choose, new or different program formats to consider, and on and on. But the biggest question on everyone’s mind is: how much should I charge for my virtual conference? […]
Should You Convert Your Conference to a Virtual Conference? TLDR: Yes
May 11, 2020All Spring, one client conference after another was cancelled or rescheduled. A few clients converted their conferences to a series of Zoom meetings. With some states opening up, is there a chance that conferences will come back in the Fall, if not the summer? For organizations that have conferences coming up, should you wait or […]
How To Turn Your Webinars into Interactive, Virtual Meetings
March 19, 2020Over the past couple of weeks, client after client has cancelled meetings, tradeshows and conferences. They’re scrambling to find out if they can reschedule events or create an online experience worth good money for. For most of our association clients, their meetings are either in person events or live/on demand webinars. Since most organizations already […]
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