Sponsor Series Part 3: Take Advantage of All Your Sponsor Items

By Maria Feola-Magro

Part 3: Take Advantage of All Your Sponsor Items

 

If you are a sponsor of an event, you should take advantage of every aspect of your sponsorship.  At BDI, some of the items that come along with a sponsorship include a number of complimentary conference passes, the opportunity to including materials in the gift bag, and the opportunity to have a table top at the event to display promotional materials.  You should be using ALL of these items. They only help to increase your company’s exposure.

 

For the gift bags and the table tops or booths, you should really think about what to include and distribute to the event attendees.  How many people really pay attention to a gift bag full of pamphlets? (From my end, it’s also boring to stuff hundreds of gift bags that just have paper in them.)  Attendees actually DO use the pens, pads, USB drives, and mints that are inexpensive items that can be included with your logo on them. If you don’t have a  budget for such materials, include information, but spice it up a bit: include

Attendee Series Part 2: The Art of Interaction

By Jennifer Brous

Part Two: The Art of Interaction

Everyone loves a good conference. Stop for a second and think about what draws you to come to a conference – what makes you want to attend an event? Maybe the speakers are extremely credible. Maybe the presentation topics are noteworthy. Maybe your boss made you go. Or it could be that you want to meet and mingle with new conference friends (aka: network and make new contacts).

In a recent post-event survey, we found that 50% of BDI attendees registered for an event due to

Speaker Series Part 2: How to Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Presentation

After you have prepared (see Speaker Series Part 1: Preparing & Engaging), it’s time to create your presentation.  The most common mistake I see speakers make is focusing too much on themselves and their company.  However, the goal should not be to sell your company, product or service. It’s not about you, it’s about the audience!  Regardless of the conference topic, the goal should be to educate and inspire the audience.

How do you educate and inspire? The simple answer is to

Sponsor Series Part 2: Devote Your Company

By Maria Feola-Magro

Part 2: Devote Your Company

You are a sponsor! That makes you special – just as special as the other 5-100 other sponsors that are also participating in the same event.

As a sponsor, you should be devoted to the event in terms of your deliverables.  You should be responsive, attentive, and timely. There should be at least one person on your staff dedicated to the event and ready to handle materials and deadlines. 

Your event organizer probably sends you a document or email with deadline dates of when materials are due. You should

Social Media Series Part 1: Professionally Tweeting

By Melanie Witkower

Who is a guru? How is it possible to get that many followers? And where are these birds that are tweeting? Some people are just getting their feet wet in the online social world while others are self-proclaimed masters of social media. Regardless of your knowledge base, I’m sure there is plenty of room for growth! As BDI’s social media coordinator I will be writing the Social Media Series with advice to help you expand your online presence!

Part 1: Professionally Tweeting

In today’s world, a great social media presence goes a long way. However, the obstacle many face is determining how to correctly utilize these huge networks to benefit professionally. Don’t be ashamed, we are all learning!

The lines are blurred between what we all can officially “title” ourselves in the social media world; but,

Attendee Series Part 1: Coming Prepared

By Jennifer Brous

Maybe you have attended a BDI event, maybe not (but should). If you have, I am sure you have seen me before – I am one of the event organizers guarding the registration table with a large coffee in hand. Needless to say, I get to interact with A LOT of attendees who come to our events.

It is important for the team at BDI to execute events that provide educational and innovative content for our attendees to walk away with. Therefore, I am starting The Attendee Series to help our attendees make the most out of our events.

Part 1: Coming Prepared

I do not know about you, but I used to get extremely anxious (in a good way) before my first day of school. Not only would I plan my “haven’t seen you all summer” best first day outfit, but I would also organize my school bag with binders, folders, paper, pens, pencils, erasers, etc. I did all of this because I wanted to get the most out of my first day (aka: syllabus day) – I wanted to come prepared.

Now fast forward past your riveting school years to your present employed life. Coming to an event as an attendee

Sponsor Series Part 1: Participation

By Maria Feola-Magro

As an event organizer, I am driven insane when sponsors don’t take advantage of all the options available to them as part of their sponsorship – that they pay money for. You wouldn’t go to a bakery and just get a box without the cookies, so why would you get the sponsorship to only have logo placement?

In this sponsor series, I will share some insights and advice for sponsors that are not only sponsoring conferences but also all types of events and opportunities.

Part 1: Participation

As a sponsor, you are a big part of our events and contribute by delivering insightful case studies and bringing in high-profile attendees. However, just because you are paying money and are treated as a VIP doesn’t mean you should sit back, relax, and let the event just happen.

Speaker Series Part 1: Preparation & Engaging

By Steve Etzler

Welcome to BDI Lunch Break, our new blog dedicated to providing useful information for marketing and communications professionals that attend, speak or sponsor conferences.

I and the rest of the BDI Team will share our experiences and insights from working in the event industry with hundreds of speakers, sponsors, and attendees.

My first blog series will attempt to share thoughts from working with a multitude of speakers at BDI’s conference over the past 10 years. In my role as a conference organizer for hundreds of events both large and small I have seen it all! Speaking at a conference can be a significant opportunity.  My advice is to be fully committed to your presentation or don’t do it.  Like most things in life, you get what you put into it.  Too often, I see speakers who claim to be so busy that they don’t properly prepare for the opportunity.  First of all, I’m skeptical of anyone who uses the “I’m so busy” excuse.  No one wants to hear it and it sounds amateurish to even say. But to all you “I’m so busy” people:  Join the club! We are all busy!

Part 1:  Preparation & Engagement Before The Conference

Now that I got that off my chest, let’s focus on how to best prepare for your speaking opportunity.  Step one is to identify what your goals are.  You should strive to provide interesting and valuable content to the attendees through your presentation.  Of course you want to increase awareness of your company’s products and services; however, you must be careful not to sell your company.  Overtly promoting your company will turn off the attendees and will backfire on you.   (That especially goes for speakers where your company has paid to sponsor.)