Business events are public events in business: conferences, presentations, roundtables, forums, seminars, meetings, which by their composition, duration, geographic scope exceed the classical office meetings.
Such a simple and comprehensive definition of business events was given by Maarten Vanneste, author of the international bestseller “Business Event Architecture”. As president of the Business Events Design Institute (MDI), he has studied many real conferences, forums, compared their organization and outcomes from the inside.
Based on his vast practical experience, Vanneste has come to the firm belief that the preparation of business events and their organization is up to 60% of the success in achieving the business objectives for which the event is held:
- in creating, strengthening and maintaining a positive business image of the company;
- attracting partners, clients, investors;
- the successful launch of a new product on the market;
- increasing brand awareness.
What experienced business events companies consider in their work
To organize a business event successfully, it is necessary:
- Match the goals of the initiator/customer of the event with the existing formats and choose the most suitable or a combination of them;
- Ensure a balance between the cultural and entertainment and business parts of the event.
Formats of business events in the context of solving business tasks
Conference
Business conferences are initiated by commercial and non-profit organizations. They hold business events of this type for their partners (real and potential) and colleagues in order to discuss various problems, private and general issues related to the industry, regional business and business in general, in order to attract partners and clients, etc.
The objectives of the conference are divided into dealer, marketing, presentation, industry, etc., by the way of organization – on local (in one place) and distributed (in different places), audio and video conferences.
To organize a business event-conference, you need:
- Develop a business and creative concept;
- Select and rent a venue and equipment;
- Create a base of participants and invite them, as well as famous speakers;
- To think about the individual style of the event;
- To attract media partners;
- To develop the program of the event with a successful alternation of shows and business meetings;
- Provide accommodation and meals for participants, etc.
Only a carefully developed plan of the event, clear organization and prompt resolution of all issues that arise will ensure the success of the initiator. That is why today the preparation of business events is delegated to companies that do it professionally.
Dealer event
Business events for dealers can take place in different formats that all have the same goals – information exchange, market analysis, establishing contacts, increasing the customer base, presentation of products and brands.
Usually it is a large-scale road of conferences, forums, exhibitions, seminars, congresses, which combine business meetings and entertainment events. Therefore, the preparation of business events for dealers takes from 1 to several months. During this time you need to effectively solve those problems, which implies a particular format of the event.
Business seminar
This is a narrowly focused business event, the purpose of which is primarily to educate. Seminar participants discuss reports on current business issues, projects, good practices, obtain new information on a given topic, hold discussions, and share their own experiences.
There are seminars in their form and objectives:
- Corporate (closed) – they are held for company employees to improve their competence and qualifications;
- Open – for all comers; often open business seminars are held by companies for the purpose of their own advertising.
The complexity of organizing seminars depends on the scope of the event and the tasks set. It is easier to organize a corporate seminar, but it can also be quite large-scale. For example an incentive seminar, when the administration, the owners of the company take their employees to recreation zones inside or outside the country.
To organize a seminar it is necessary to choose a venue, to work out a design and advertising support, a seminar program, to provide technical equipment, to organize invitations, meals, accommodation, travel (if necessary).
Trainings
Trainings are short-term events of a predominantly training and educational nature. In the course of training, specific narrow skills and abilities are developed, new knowledge is gained, and behavioral patterns are changed.
Sales and business communication training and business role-playing games are in great demand. For them, they invite business trainers, choose the site, design, make the program of the event, if it is planned to unfold, etc.
Despite the short-term nature of training, business event companies should make every effort to ensure that the training meets expectations. Its success depends on both the choice of the trainer and the mood of the team, which is formed by a complex of factors – from the date of the event to the place of residence.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions are held to demonstrate the product (products or services), to sell it, to create and maintain the company’s reputation and image.
The peculiarity of organizing an exhibition is that it requires suitable premises and equipment. During an exhibition, you can also organize seminars, training sessions, conferences, master classes, stand-up meals, shows, etc. But more often the exhibition itself is an event associated with another business event, for example, a forum or conference.
Exhibitions can be permanent or one-time, held in mono- or poly-format. Mono-exhibitions are initiated by one company, poly-format implies participation of several companies and are more scale.
The success of the exhibition organization depends on where the companies exhibit, the exhibitors (the more competitive they are, the more interest is attracted to the exhibition), and the saturation of the business and entertainment program.
Business event companies, while planning the exhibition, should develop a creative idea-concept (international examples: “Wisdom of Nature” – Japan, 2005; “Water and Sustainable Development” – Spain, 2008; “Better City – Better Life” – China, 2010), on which potential participants will be guided. If an exhibition is initiated by one company, it proposes a concept, which the organizer develops.
It is the concept that will determine the venue, invitees, decorations, cultural program and other aspects of the event.
Presentations
The purpose of this event is to present the product (products, services), to tell about the achievements of the company, and the goal is to promote products, find partners and customers.
Presentation is usually held as part of a larger event, and therefore the difficulty in its implementation is to make the event noticeable and memorable. The organizer of the presentation should carefully develop advertising of the event – promo materials, gifts, media coverage; find a room with excellent technical conditions or provide them where the presentation will take place.
According to the form of organization and tasks, presentations are divided into presentations of goods, companies, standard and conceptual, classic and creative, stand-alone and as part of business meetings.
Business receptions
Business receptions are similar to social events in their organization and are necessary for establishing contacts, making connections, and solving any issues.
Like presentations, they are more often held in the framework of other events and are a synthesis of a business event and entertainment. The informal atmosphere of the receptions promotes relaxed communication and easy contact between the participants.
Roundtables
The round table is an image event. Its topics are broad issues of business, politics, economics, science, etc. Therefore, the promotion of their own interests in the framework of the round table is bright, interesting speeches, sponsorship – something that will certainly be reflected in the media.
Business forums
A forum is one of the particularly large-scale business events. This format is becoming especially popular because it covers a large audience, allows semi formal communication, is free enough for official events, and includes all types (or most of them) of business events listed above. At forums you can make yourself known even to those who are just starting out and make important contacts.
But the scale of the event and its structure are extremely difficult to organize, because it requires a lot of time for preparation, as well as high professionalism of the organizers.
Preparation of business events-forums requires search of grounds, participants, development of an advertising campaign and information support, booking of dwelling for guests and transfer organization from airports and railway stations, catering of guests, designing of premises, compiling of a cultural and entertaining program and solving of many other issues.
These tasks are typical for the organization of business events, but their solution is complicated by the large number of participants and the huge number of events within the forum.
The main stages in the preparation of business events
Above we pointed out what specific and common tasks a business events organizer has to solve. And now we’ll tell you what the steps are in the solution:
- setting the goal of the event – it determines the scale of the event, the range of participants, and costs;
- calculation and approval of the budget;
- defining the concept of the event and developing an action plan;
- drawing up a schedule of preparations, distribution of tasks;
- information support of the event, advertising campaign;
- preparation proper – renting premises, selection and invitation of participants/speakers/trainers, drawing up the entertainment program and inviting artists, catering, security of guests
- technical preparation of the venue;
- meeting and accommodation of guests.
Behind these general words there is a lot of creative and organizational work, the result of which will be a memorable and effective business event.
Seven reasons why business conferences are useful
How to get real benefits for yourself and your company from participation in business events
Gain new knowledge and insights
Of course, most participants come to business conferences and seminars primarily to gain new knowledge that will help them develop their businesses more effectively. I am no exception: learning about useful business innovations is one of the reasons I go to conferences.
But besides this, at a good conference you can learn many other useful things for yourself and your business: learn about new trends, get new data on the market, get a more or less complete picture of the topics in which you were previously “swimming”, organize knowledge on familiar topics, watch and overhear some tips that will be useful for me during presentations (yes, I also occasionally speak at conferences as a speaker or expert).
Meet with colleagues
Industry conferences are a great opportunity to meet with colleagues you haven’t seen for a long time: to chat, discuss the latest industry news, high-profile deals or mutual acquaintances, ask advice on a difficult situation, etc.
It takes at least a couple of hours to meet with at least one person on a normal working day, while here you can have several quick meetings with at least five or six colleagues. A great time saver.
Get to know the right person
A conference can be a great place to meet the right person – a potential partner, client, or contractor. To classically organize such a meeting, you have to go through the whole chain – from the first call to the meeting in the office, this can take several days and sometimes weeks. Here you can simply approach the person, get acquainted, explain what you want from him and how you can be of service to him.
How do you know that the person you want is going to be at this event? First, you can look at his social networks – many people from business announce their participation in status events, even if they do not go there as speakers, but as participants. Second, if the upcoming event is a significant industry event in your industry, it means that a more or less significant entrepreneur is likely to go there.
A look at the market leaders
It is always useful to objectively assess your place in the market relative to the leaders and nearest competitors – and conferences can be a great help in this task. Here you should keep in mind that it is useful not only to listen to your industry leaders, but it also makes sense to ask them questions that are very relevant to you at that moment.
Organizers usually set aside time for questions at the end of the presentation – and you should definitely take advantage of this. Ask for details of your competitor’s business processes that interest you, ask for secrets of attracting clients, ask for advice on your own situation: good substantial questions are a balm for the speaker’s soul, and he will either try to answer you in detail or offer to meet you in the communication area, and there you can continue the conversation.
Get an expert opinion
Various IT tools are important in my business. It is difficult and time-consuming to keep track of innovations in this area on my own – many innovations appear, and to find a quality expert opinion on the Internet about all the features and disadvantages of a new IT solution, I have to wade through megatons of trolls and hoarders’ comments.
At a good conference I can always walk up to vendors’ booths and get a quality consultation from a developer. Of course, he is focused primarily on selling the product – and will first load you up with advertising information. But by demonstrating interest and asking clarifying questions, you can get a lot of useful information about the program: information about non-obvious useful features, how to solve possible problems, etc. Often, you can get a personal discount, demo access, or some kind of useful business bonus.
To look up ideas for promotional activities
The conference is a great opportunity to get acquainted with interesting solutions in the sphere of advertising activities. Partners and sponsors of the event prepare for it thoroughly – they work out stand designs, prepare non-standard souvenirs and promo-materials, tune up the booth operators, etc.
So if you wander on the sidelines for just half an hour, you can see a lot of interesting ideas, which you can then creatively revise and use in your promotional activities.
Solve marketing problems
You can use the “other people’s” conference to solve your marketing problems. For example, if you meet a person at the coffee point who may potentially be interested in your services, you can not just exchange business cards, but tell him about your offer in an express format and give him promotional materials or a souvenir – this will facilitate follow-up communication.
It is also useful to participate in some activities – for example, give an express interview or be photographed at the press box of a high-profile event. Then, as usual, take a picture to social networks, so customers can see that you go to important events and keep your nose in the wind. By the way, it would be better if you publish not just a photo, but also your impressions of the conference and a selection of interesting theses – so you can demonstrate your expertise.
