I’ve had the unique opportunity recently to help launch a new website as both the COO of the association as well as the account strategist here at FMG. Launching a new website for any organization is no small feat and my experience with this project has certainly schooled me in the basics of web development and provided me with a rare perspective from both sides of the table that association executives looking to take the new website plunge might find of interest!

The website project was one of the final deliverables in an overall brand revitalization strategy for the association.   Their current website represented something more like a patchwork quilt instead of a cutting edge marketing tool. As a result, being one of the primary touch points for new and prospective members and customers, it was in dire need of a makeover to say the least.

Lesson 1: Set Goals

One exercise that helped contribute to the successful launch of the new website was having staff convene early in the process to establish goals. These goals directly affected the build out and design of the new website and also would provide the staff with metrics to measure ROI. Some of the goals were developed out of challenges with the previous site, such as the new site having the capability of being measurable, and some had been “wish list” items for staff members for a while. Some of the goals for this site included it being sustainable (measurable, cutting edge uniform and manageable), indispensible (a one stop shop for the industry), a revenue generator, easy to use and interactive.

Lesson 2: Get Staff Buy In and Assign a Project Manager

The new website was not a redesign of the previous site, it was a completely new website built independently from the old site. Migrating the content from the old to the new required participation from almost everyone on the staff. In order to make sure the right content was getting to the right people in the right time, a strong project manager needed to oversee the schedule to ensure the staff was adhering to it. Executive level support was critical in communicating to the staff that the tasks associated with this project should be a priority for all involved.

Lesson 3: Editing, editing and more editing!

One of the biggest lessons learned was not to underestimate the amount of time required for editing the new website once all of the existing content was migrated to the new website. This is especially true for associations whose websites are content rich. Migrating content also served as a discovery process for identifying pages that were either out of date, had bad content or were omitting information entirely that should be present. Scheduling enough time for staff to review, create and reorganize content on the new site is a critical step in making sure the website was as complete as possible for launch time.

So, if your website was created sometime during the dot-com boom, it may be time to see if it’s time for an overhaul. Are you getting everything you need out of it and more importantly are your members and customers!?

Dear Santa,

This year, when I attend my industry conference and tradeshow I would really love for the event organizer to provide wifi! Coffee shops and laundromats seem to understand how this enhances customer satisfaction, so why haven’t event organizers? Is it a budgetary issue? If so, they just appear to be cheap. Couldn’t they build a creative sponsorship package for it? Is it a behavior control issue? If so, I think they need to understand that the ability to get online has become as critical as eating and drinking. If I can’t get to my email while at the event, I’ll have to head somewhere else to do so.

When I exhibit at my next event, can you please have the event organizer put together an educational webinar or meeting so I understand what my options are to promote my exhibit before, during and after the event? I have set up some goals for my participation, but I would really love for them to demonstrate that they are invested in my success. This would definitely impact my decision as to whether or not I exhibit at their event in the future or choose that other industry event I’ve been considering instead.

Lastly, when I sponsor, please make sure the event organizer takes time to understand what my specific event objectives are. Last year, I signed up to be a high level sponsor and the package they developed was a lot of signage in the wrong place. They claimed they provided what was contracted, however, our objectives were not met. Our goal was for our company to be perceived as large as our primary competitor. They were sponsoring at a lower level, but the placement of their sponsorship again made them look like they owned the event. If they had taken the time to understand our unique objectives, and the fact that it was perception we were after and not hundreds of signs, it would have been a much more successful event for us.

I’ve been good all year, please make my Christmas wishes come true!

Sincerely,

Frequent Conference and Tradeshow Participant

P.S. – Yes, all of these were things my attendees, exhibitors and sponsors had asked for from me.

Happy holidays and best wishes for a successful 2012!

When getting to know new industry colleagues, I am always interested to learn the career path they took that led them to their current role as either an association or tradeshow/event professional.   9 times out of 10, the answer has never been that they dreamed of doing this when they were a kid, or, majored in tradeshow or association management in college. Everyone’s story is as unique as associations themselves.

I certainly am in the majority. In college, I majored in psychology, minored in film and was planning on moving to California with the dream of becoming a Hollywood director. Fate had other plans for me, however, and my internship instilled in me a love of working with volunteers, managing and marketing events and the culture of non-profits. It was with a film festival and this subsequently led to my first job with another one. From there, I dabbled in corporate event planning and eventually spent the majority of my career managing nearly every aspect of an association from Meeting Planner to the C-suite.

During my time as an association executive, I witnessed many of our members go to what they affectionately called the “dark side”. Yikes! Was it really that bad over there? Many of these members were very active in the association as practitioners and then decided to join the supplier side of the table, which, were many of our association’s corporate partners.

So, like these members, I’ve joined the “dark side”. I was branded with an emblazoned red badge at my first industry event to warn anyone who crossed my path that my intentions may represent a commercial interest. But, for many of us former or current association executives, we know that is not true of all of our beloved suppliers.

When I was a busy association executive, I chose my “suppliers” which I preferred to refer to as partners, very carefully. My position kept my primary focus on internal operations and activities and I rarely had the time to immerse myself in the latest and greatest association innovations, ideas and thinking. I purposely kept my trade publications on my desk as a reminder to read, only to see the pile grow large enough to where I couldn’t see the person sitting in front of it any longer.

I expected my partners to sort through everything and bring to the table what was relevant for my organization. In addition to staying on top of the latest trends, they worked with a variety of clients representing a number of industries. I was always curious to ask them how others are doing things and what they are seeing as trends - which I did not have the time to research on my own. The partners I selected to work with were always an extension of my staff and were collaborators with us and experts at what they did.

After growing to love the industry that I never planned to love, it’s refreshing to join the supplier side and work with a variety of organizations, immerse myself in the field, learn and share and help clients to and the industry grow. I chose to make the switch to benefit a number of organizations and the industry that I have grown to love…and it’s not so dark over here!

For years I’ve been quietly sitting on the fence monitoring how virtual conferences and tradeshows would ultimately impact the industry out of the corner of my eye. I was a little apprehensive in terms of if or how I should dip my toe into this concept since it first burst on to the meeting technology scene.

Like many show organizers, I initially bought into the possibility that virtual tradeshows and events would be the death of face-to-face meetings. Fearful of the unknown of what virtual meetings and tradeshows would ultimately result in, the struggle to whether or not to implement a virtual component or option into my events and tradeshow then began.

Should we broadcast or offer sessions virtually or not? If we offer sessions virtually, will people opt not to attend in person? Or, will we be reaching a new audience of individuals that otherwise would not be able to attend the meeting? Gosh – will it really cost that much to add a virtual component to the event? Can this be a new sponsorship opportunity? If it is successful, did I just kill my show and will I witness attendance drop in favor for attending virtually?

For years, these questions swirled through my head. Not certain as to what the impact would be and being difficult to predict, it was challenging to develop a case either way to present to the leadership as to why or why not we should be implementing a virtual component to the event. Overwhelmingly though, the leadership opted for the risk averse road and were fearful that giving attendees a virtual option would lead to a decline in attendance.

Finally though, at IAEE’s Expo Expo Opening General Session this morning, keynote speaker, Dr. Michio Kaku, put my worst fears to rest. Why should I believe what he has to say? Well, to start, he received a B.S. (summa cum laude) from Harvard University where he came first in his physics class. He went on to the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. He continues Einstein’s search for a “Theory of Everything,” seeking to unify the four fundamental forces of the universe— He is a two time New York Times best seller and has had more than 70 articles published in physics journals. Yeah – I think I’m going to go with what this guy has to say!

He walked us through what technology will look like 10, 20, 50 years from now– things like internet contact lenses that connect you online with a simple blink and can translate a conversation with someone speaking to you in a foreign language, disposable paper computers and cars that drive themselves and a host of other technologies—that he said are already in existence.

But, how will all of this impact face-to-face meetings in the future? Dr. Kaku emphatically believes that technology will only enhance face-to-face meetings and will never destroy them. Good news for all you event organizers and suppliers out there!

Reason being is that we are genetically the same as our cavemen and cavewomen ancestors. We will always opt for “high touch” over “high tech” – meaning real experiences shared with other people. Our ancestors used to communicate around a campfire to share and exchange information. Tradeshows and meetings are campfires. Facebook is a campfire. Exhibit booths of the future may create alternate realities where 3D screens will essentially create a new world for you to step into, however, they will still be set up on a tradeshow floor. I have embraced technology as a friend.