A Better Way

In the last few weeks I have been to a number of industry shows, meetings and events, and for the most part, all the things we keep talking and writing about, all we have learned about how people learn and connect, is largely ignored.  I offer up below examples of the hum drum to the oh so much better.

First, the average. I won't name names.  
Venue: large hotel in a convention city. Mobile app - average - it opens with an ad for the mobile ad company, it offers up basic functionality for finding my agenda, and one speaker has used the polling function that is available. The social activity is minimal, so my thirst for knowledge as to what is happening around us, coming up or is inspiring others is not sated. As I walk up to the registration desk, I am greeted warmly but told that my badge isn't ready since they haven't printed speaker badges yet, and plan to do that later in the day.  I can go to the first session though if I like, and coffee is available. Coffee, scones and cookies. Yes, it is 8:30am and the brain-foodie in me shrivels a little. Enter the first session, set for 200+ in classroom seating facing directly to the front, stage is way on the left. So I sit on the left, and approximately 40 people join me, leaving the speakers to ask any questions across a relatively vast, dark space from their dimly lit stage.  The session of course is on the future of meetings. The morning sessions have good speakers, followed by a boxed lunch available in the trade show area, with seating for a few at rounds at the end of the rows. Again, a sandwich or wrap, cookie and fruit, and a salad with some unfortunate small nut additions in an unlabeled container which cause my lips to go numb (first sign there is a nut in here for the allergic me), and enough packaging to make the sustainable me a little sad, but even more than this, the amount to be opened and consumed means people have to sit for a while, which means they are not visiting the exhibitors who await them.  Here again, rows of pipe and drape, some exhibitors have very nice spaces, and as is typical in this type of show many leave up their black and white hanging sign the exhibit company used to id the space.  The flow through the show is light, and the exhibitors offer up their cheery exuberance and overall the experience leaves me wanting more.  It isn't that it is bad, it is just "same" and the declining numbers are to me an indication of a need to spice this baby up!

The better. Venue: large convention centre, in a space filled with natural light to begin. I walk up and give my name, am checked in by one of the plentiful staff on an iPad and my speaker badge generates on wireless printer in seconds. There is a small printed agenda available, and innovation is featured, and served up in a gorgeous room set with great lighting and interesting chairs and a nice stage draws people in. The app is likely full of good information, but no matter how socially able I dislike having to use facebook or linkedin to access any app - I know it is my own issue, but since it is a compact agenda I don't download it.  Outside the trade show is a lounge open to all set with a variety of interesting furniture, and offering complimentary mimosas.  Inside the trade show floor is abuzz with action, caterers serving up bite size samples, photo booths drawing people in, music overhead at a reasonable but energizing volume, mainstage presentations which allow more innovative ideas and suppliers to be showcased, and an engaged audience taking the time to speak with exhibitors, you feel as though participants will leave refreshed and with new ideas to take back to their clients.

My (personal) favorite so far of the last six weeks. BizBash Planathon, Toronto. Venue: Palais Royale, which really puts its best foot forward. QuickMobile is a sponsor, and I am

there to represent this, but even more so to be part of the mentor group, which leads tables full of eager planners through a fun, interactive and deep brainstorming to transform an existing event... into anything they can imagine in 30 minutes.  These sessions are fun, fun, fun, and the reception which follows on the patio overlooking the lake could be dampened by the downpour, but the combination of the music enhanced with a figure skater moving across a teflon rink to the songs, fantastic food presented in a range from small plates and spoons, to a paella pan and chef to homemade popsicles in an ice and dry ice display and a selection of mojitos full of fresh ingredients - they really took the opportunity to showcase their abilities. This combined making the best of a venue, having a setup conducive to the objectives (at the last minute at the client's request all the tables were flipped from 6' rounds to 5' rounds for easier conversation to be had), allowing ample time for conversation and by the format, making those conversations easy to have. The learning comes from every group coming up with ideas that inspire other ideas and allow you to build on these, and sparks fly!  BTW - the app is gorgeous, sparkling champagne bubbles invite you in to explore - you can connect to all the other attendees - and after the event is over, the videos of the awesome ideas will all be shared and easy to find for all who participated.

BizBash Live - Alyse Pask Interview

Since 2001 BizBash has been my home page, and I feel fortunate to now be one of the bloggers able to share information about the great people in our industry as they appear at various fabulous BizBash events around the country. Today we have an interview with Alyse Pask of PASK productions who will be at BizBash Live on April 23rd in Fort Lauderdale, talking about "7 Values Every Planner Should Live By".  In an industry where we can struggle with the how / ethics of doing business I think attending this will be an excellent way to spend some time - being inspired by a thoughtful presentation which ties success to values.  Following you will see why I think this, as Alyse shares her thoughts.

Q1. Your transition from Army National Guard to president of PASK Productions must have an interesting story, would you like to share a little of your journey between the two?  

A1. When I started the company, I remember thinking that there was nothing that had prepared me better for the challenge then my military training. I am sure many people would think the transition would be difficult however the military and the business world have many similarities which are parallel... In both worlds you must set a goal and determine the best path to get you there. The military helped to strengthen my personal confidence to take on any challenge and the stamina to push myself at all costs to attain my goals. I think everyone can relate to this...There are moments in everyone's life that you must believe in yourself and know you have the ability to succeed... My personal journey in the military mentally prepared me to fight to achieve my dreams. 

Q2. Through your career you have focused on a variety of luxury brands – what drove you to found your own company to focus on this?  

A2. It was the passion to elevate creative energy that drove me to focus on luxury brands. Many luxury brands are dedicated to embracing unique experiential design in their events. PASK is driven to create one of a kind experiences that inspire people. I believe this passion can help deliver authentic experiences for the luxury category.

Q3. Did you just find it was time to bring your own values to each and every project?

A3. In the fast paced industry we are in, I wanted to stand for something I believed in. I am passionate about the work we do. We want to inspire the world one person at a time ;)   (Editor's note - isn't this what keeps all of us producing events to some extent?) I decided at the inception of the company that I would put a piece of myself into everything we touched. I have done this by encouraging my team to embody these values. I believe it is what sets us apart.

Q4. You obviously understand brand management. Tell us a little more about how your core values at PASK have defined your brand.

A4. I strive to instill my personal values in all we do. By living these values, it allows the team around you, the work you produce and the clients who bring you opportunities to have the same positive thread that hold it all together. We are all drawn to like minded people that respect our work, this is what the values help to maintain. 

Q4. I believe events can be done in a sustainable manner (and teach a Sustainable Event Operations class at BCIT) and I love that you also are responsible for an eco-music festival, EMU – can you tell us a bit more about this festival and how it came to be?

A4. EMU, Eco MUsic, Festival was my brainchild and passion project for 5 years that I turned into a reality. It was an epic experience that challenged my value of personal courage. I have always dreamed of doing my part to make the world a better place and this festival helped me to feel that deeper connection to the world around me. We wanted to shift people's consciousness through education and music to create a party for positive impact. 

Please see the link below which explains all our efforts to inspire change for the eco conscious movement:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/4/prweb8277650.htm

Author's note - this looks AWESOME and accessible and interesting and FUN 

Q5. PASK has a great roster clients including a host of premium liquor brands – after creating their special events, what do you do for fun and relaxation?

A5. I LOVE to travel and see the world... I am drawn to adventure travel. It allows me to push myself out of my own boundaries to be more. Whether I am traveling to India for Kumbh Mela, hiking to the top of Mount Fuji in Japan, or meditating on a sailboat with my Dad I find myself deep in moments of adventure. It inspires me and in turn allows me to build that inspiration into the work we do.

Do you want to hear more?

Alyse will be speaking in Fort Lauderdale on April 23rd during BizBash Live: The Expo, South Florida in the Event Innovation Forum track. More details on Alyse's session "7 Values Every Planner Should Live By" can be found here: 

http://www.bizbash.com/bizbash-events/idea-fest/2014/florida/details/?n1=349

IdeaFest Chicago Interview with Truffleberry

Asparagus as it is meant to be with Truffleberry.

The Future of Food in Catering and Events is a very big topic and after talking with Brittany Ferrin today I long to be in her session in Chicago and share ideas!  Her energy, passion and sheer enthusiasm for elevating food was infectious, and while I am writing this before 7am, I wish I could fly to Chicago for lunch. I mean seriously - above they are picking the asparagus they turned into dinner - hello this is what food is all about!

Five and a half years ago, Brittany and her husband and business partner Vaidotas Karsokas met while working together and three months into dating started Truffleberry Market.  As she said, “It was never a question if it was the right thing to do, we knew it was!”

They are Chefs and artists who are continually exploring options, and below are the tough questions I was interested in asking, and Brittany’s thoughtful responses.

1. Your food influences are from far and wide – how do you think the ability for many to travel, the influence of TV and the internet on our ability to see what the “world” is doing is impacting how our guests expectations have changed?  Ie. Do your clients want globally influenced food or do they want familiar food?

The influence is HUGE! Before people when they thought of global wanted French or Italian but now there are so many accessible and interesting influences coming into our living rooms every day, and they make the food look really good, whether they are in Central Europe or deepest Asia, chefs like Anthony Bourdain are going deep into food culture around the world and presenting them in a way that you cannot help but be absorbed by the possibilities of these different cultures – suddenly even frog or cricket seems interesting. It is really fun because we get to bring people’s remembered cuisine alive, for example they may have traveled to Croatia or South Africa and want us to create some influences in the menus we are preparing.

2. I am a huge fan of FLOSS thinking in food for meetings in particular – do you see fresh, local, organic, seasonal, sustainable being part of the future?  (knowing you can have 2 or 3 out of the 5 at any one time)

Again, HUGE. Ideally everyone could operate their food business on these principles and as people become more aware of the source of our food, and how that impacts the flavour profiles, they begin to see the inherent value in this sourcing.  It can be more expensive but do you want your food to be “on sale” or do you really want nourishing and flavourful meals?  For example, if you have a fresh seasonal tomato entirely on its own, vs an out of season mass produced tomato, you immediately know the difference in one slice of each.  Imagine then when you begin to combine flavour profiles if you have started with the freshest ingredients…

We don’t want to see this as a trend, in then out, but rather we see this as a shift – a higher population of people are moving this way. For a while there was a priority to make food faster, cheaper, increase margins and we are definitely moving to how do we make it more fabulous, interesting, tasty and in season.  People are more willing to look for alternatives in their food choices and catering that reflect this shift.

3. What do you want people to feel when they eat your food at an event?

The question that will keep me up as I think about this.  In one word. “Layers”, we want people to feel these.

At Truffleberry, we really emphasize the processes and complexity of what we create.  Something as seemingly simple as a vinaigrette, at its heart for example a balsamic vinaigrette… oil, vinegar, salt, sugar.  We consider this a good start and then we begin perhaps with slowly making a confit of shallots and then add this and that to make it a layered and complex taste – it is not a single ingredient or component we want people to recognize and say “ah ha this ____ makes it delicious” – it is about an overall sensation of complex deliciousness that slaps your senses awake.  Going above and beyond – no cutting corners, slowly and deliberately.  It really gives you the right end result.  Foundation building, which applies to houses, events and each dish on a menu is critical. We believe that we must begin with the highest quality components and methods and then we create with sincerity. 

4. If you had one wish for how people would want food / catering to evolve based on your knowledge, experience and passion – what would you wish for?

I believe it is evolving in the way I wish – what we want to do ideally as a catering company is to continue to bring people’s food memories alive and help them create options for their guests. We all have special, succulent memories of shared meals that have remained unforgettable and which we would love to share with friends. For example, taking Thanksgiving dinner – a guest calls and they don’t want ‘same old same old’ – but we know we want to keep in line with flavours and sentiment and then update it.  The process begins with the fun part – brainstorming, researching flavour ideas and concepts and coming up with alternatives. An example would be taking sweet potatoes with marshmallow fluff – you can’t ignore this dish but you can alter it to sweet potatoes roasted with maple glaze, topped with toasted pine nuts and fried sage, reminiscent of the original but elevated. 

5. Why should someone attend your session – which to me would be fascinating? 

 It is really fun to be in a creative and innovative space, and while we create that in our store, we will also bring it to our session. We love getting many brains in one place and creating an experience where we embrace creative ideas with creative people and feed off of each other.  Those who share this philosophy will want to come.

How to get there

Brittany Ferrin will be speaking on "The Future of Food & Catering in Events" in the Event Innovation Forum conference at BizBash IdeaFest Chicago on November 13 at the Merchandise Mart. For more information, and to register, please visit www.bizbash.com/ideafestchi

  

IdeaFest Interview with Eventbrite

With BizBash IdeaFest just around the corner, I had the pleasure of connecting with Tamara Mendelsohn the VP of Marketing for Eventbrite to find out a little more about her perspective on our industry, specifically around the possibilities to supercharge your ticketing opportunities for events and insight into her session at Ideafest next week.

 

Tamara Mendelsohn

1. Eventbrite not only does a great job of marketing themselves, you take these lessons and apply these to your client’s events. Do you believe this sets you apart in the crowded marketplace?

Thank you.  One of they keys to our approach in event ticketing is building relationships with customers through a genuine interest in sharing ideas, and by continually improving our platform based on their feedback.  We feel it is important to keep an open relationship where we share our commitment to the process, and seek their input regularly on how to make both our product and their experience better. In addition to our 24/7 phone and email support team, we also have marketers located in 6 major markets to build relationships with our customers and engage them in these idea sharing discussions.

2. Without giving away the whole session, what is one lesson you feel the approach Amazon takes has been key for you to apply to Eventbrite?

We’ve learned the importance of being data driven by studying the major players in online retail. When you are selling online you have the unique opportunity to learn from your data. Amazon is a prime example of listening to what the customers tell them with each transaction, and finding ways to maximize that information in the product.  This process is often not second nature to event professionals but if you want to learn from the best (Amazon) Eventbrite has a platform that allows them to capture a lot of data in a way it can be easily analyzed and implemented in their marketing efforts.

3. You have a very “active” site full of knowledge for planners – do you find that planners are eager for the information, or overwhelmed, with registration, obviously key, being yet another task to master in a never-ending list?

Of course there is an adoption curve – from novice to power user – and we do have a natural distribution over this curve.  What we are seeing is the event professionals that use the wider range of tools available are finding more success with the ticket sales.  They are taking action on learning about their event and attendees – and using the insights and opportunities the data provides to make decisions about their ticket sales and marketing.  We’ve worked hard to provide robust analytics and information for the more sophisticated event planners, but not too overwhelming for novice users. Nothing excites us more than when people who consider themselves scared of analytics actually get sucked into our tools because are so easy to digest. 

4. You see all kinds of events – are you finding planners are more often looking to fill seats or are you seeing a trend towards curating specific audiences?  (How can you help with these)

Sophisticated event professionals often know intuitively how many tickets they will sell and how they can sell them. But they can now tie the data trends and patterns to actual sales, which gives them more power to control their attendance. This includes watching the data related to your partnerships – are the sales coming from where you expected them to?. Of course more often they want to fill to their desired capacity but the experience is ultimately the most important part.  The quality of experience should go up with the quality of people in the room relevant to your event.  You do want to focus on the quality of the people who attend, and Eventbrite can help do you target in a few ways. The way we have integrated social media into the ticket buying and promo process allows the community to magnify itself. As attendees register, news travels through the channels of the people who will care most about the event – your participant’s communities  Social media allows event professionals to build focus with the right information, and with Eventbrite you can collect information through the process – and you can see how it is skewing by job function or geography –allowing you to gut check if you reaching the right people.

     5.    How is mobile impacting the process?

Mobile is one of our fastest growing channels – nearly 25% of our overall traffic comes from mobile, up from practically zero a couple of years ago.  You know the scenario, you are out with friends and start talking about the event you will attend on the weekend and you look for it on your phone.  With the pages mobile-optimized, we are seeing a really nice bump in conversion rates because we have made it incredibly easy to buy on a mobile device. It also helps you discover events that are ticketing on Eventbrite – for example, if one of your friends is attending an event on Eventbrite, you will see a picture of them next to the event listing on your mobile phone.  Eventbrite found that people are 3 times more likely to get a ticket or register for an event on mobile when they see these pictures of their friend attending. (WOW! This is truly what event professionals want to see!)

Key is to watch your data – this can’t be said enough.

6. If I was going to New York, this looks like a great session to me – but in your words, why should someone choose your session to attend?

There are some easy ways to supercharge your ticket sales and easy ways to treat it as a science. We’ll talk about how to easily make data analytics a habit - a little bit like eating more vegetables.  I want event professionals to walk away inspired to put these ideas into action and see the results for growing their events.

If I was able to be in New York this week, based on our call today, I wish I was going to be there on Tuesday to hear even more from Tamara Mendelsohn who will be speaking about "What Event Professionals Can Learn from Amazon" in the Event Innovation Forum conference at BizBash IdeaFest New York on October 30 at the Jacob K. Javits Center. For more information, and to register, please visit www.bizbash.com/ideafestny

Interview with David Merrell on BizBash IdeaFest

With BizBash IdeaFest coming up soon in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to talk with David Merrell, president and creative director at AOO Events about the workshop he will be facilitating which will mentor planners through "Brainstorming Your Way to Better Events."  After talking with David, I felt we had just scratched the surface of this topic, and I encourage anyone who is designing events and experiences who is at IdeaFest to make sure you stop by and join this conversation.  Below you will find some of the questions I asked and David’s responses.

TE: Thank you for taking the time to talk to day. Can you tell me first how you approach brainstorming in your own team?

DM: It is important to have multiple perspectives and we include producers, designers, our VP of Operations and those who want to have their voice heard – ideas and seeds of ideas can come from people you least expect.  I will start with a description of the client, the event and what they want to accomplish.  We make it clear that we are here to share ideas and “no idea is stupid – throw it all at us” and then let it flow, capturing the ideas where we can all see them.

TE: Do you have any tips for drawing ideas out of quieter people? 

DM: We are in an industry and company full of strong “A-Type personalities” and we are brainstorming to share ideas, and if you don’t want your voice to be heard, it won’t be.  We have had people that we stopped inviting to these sessions because they were not contributing, and when we talked about why they were not attending, they returned, and returned to have their ideas heard, and their contributions have been great.

TE: Do you brainstorm with key vendor partners – and when would you choose this approach?  I ask this as we live in our world of events filled with “competitive colleagues” and often challenging RFP processes.

DM: In an RFP I don’t want to completely design out the event so less engagement at this stage is normal.  You don’t want to give ALL your clever ideas and total design away!  It should be taken on a case by case basis.  The exception to this would be if we need really clever ideas around entertainment or technology in particular, as these change so quickly, and sometimes it will be that one clever idea the focuses the client and wins the business. Once we know that we have the business then we want to bring in the best and brightest of our partners and together collaborate to make each event the best it can be using all our resources and ideas.

TE: When is it appropriate to do a brainstorm with clients – vs guiding them from your own experience and brainstorming around their event / How do you guide your clients through the process to collaborative success?

Note: this next part of our interview became a rather passionate discussion as Dave and I completely agree that our industry has set itself up for a backwards approach to successful design.

DM: The biggest challenge with the RFP process is that corporations completely skip this step of including their creative teams. Clients should be hiring for ideas and expertise but in the RFP they ask for one set of ideas with firm budgets attached, but without any collaboration or discussion. For example, when you are hiring an interior designer you select based on their portfolio, experience and fit with your needs and then you decide on a retainer and begin designing. Event designers should also be engaged in this way, rather than in an RFP that is about buying stuff rather than focused on creativity or contribution to the process.  

TE: Let’s talk about the timing of brainstorming.

DM: Clients would be best served to bring us in early and share objectives, and then you can build  a team that offers a variety of perspectives, different lenses to view the ideas through, particularly when we are working alongside agency partners in PR and Marketing.  Here the producers, event designers and vendor partners have the depth and experience to take the great experiential ideas and concepts that clients may be dreaming of, and determine ways to execute these in a meaningful and memorable way.  You will be able to brainstorm ways to accomplish their objectives in ways that would never have been addressed if you are not engaged early enough. 

TE: How did you learn how to brainstorm and do you have a favorite approach?

DM: I got really good at understanding brainstorming when I first became involved with my local chapter of ISES, in various leadership roles up to President of ISES-Los Angeles.  You have to move a strong group of talented individuals through a collective process as a Board, understanding there are egos involved, perspectives to consider, and that you must exercise patience and inclusion.  If you let your own ego get in the way, you will have one dimensional ideas. There is always more power in collaboration and inviting a third set of eyes will allow you to see things you don’t see on your own.

TE: Any final thoughts?

DM: Enroll everyone in the content of an idea and then stand back, the ideas WILL start flowing!

David Merrell will be mentoring planners in the Workshop Series at BizBash IdeaFest Los Angeles on June 19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For more information, and to register, please visit www.bizbash.com/ideafestla