Are we too reliant on technology...?

A confession - I'm only writing this latest blog because my email server has crashed...again...and I got to thinking (yes I appreciate that sounds like something out of Sex & the City) about how much we rely on technology.

The answer is a lot - in fact that doesn't do it our level of reliance justice.  Imagine for a second that you have no email, no internet, no mobile phone - in fact no modern technology at all - all you have is a fax machine and landline telephone...would you be able to cope and more importantly provide the level of service your clients and business require?!

The simple answer for Connect is no.  Not because we are not able to speak by phone to people but the fact is that business today is designed to be run remotely, on the move and instantly - all these require modern technology.  You take it away and it's amazing how quickly simple business tasks become rocket science.  The above does not even mention the job that is a server not working...!

You take a server out of the equation and suddenly not only can you not email contacts but you can't access databases, work files and alike.  If you can't access databases then you can't get contact numbers (as you don't have a mobile phone) so you can't call people...sounds scary doesn't it?!  Ok, it's not quite that bad - most of us have folders with contracts in, which of course have the basic contact details...however there is this idea of a 'paperless' office seems to be gathering momentum - now how would that work if systems crashed?! 

So, that question again - are we too reliant on technology?  I tend to try and defend myself against the norm but I have to admit that at Connect we are probably too reliant on technology.  Given the industry we work in - events - we spend a lot of time working remotely and on the move, which is 100% reliant on the supporting technology working.  If our systems fail then suddenly everything we do is harder.  I'm 99.9% certain that we are not the only company that this applies to. 

Is being reliant on technology a bad thing?  Obviously if the technology crashes then yes but at the same time the service we offer is so flexible (and therefore essential) for clients because of technology.  If we removed the wireless connected iPads and laptops, remote servers, 24hour contact, etc then yes we would be able to work when all technology has crashed but for the other 364 days of the year when everything is working our service would be greatly reduced.

The fact is today's world love and embraces technology and we accept the issues that may arise as a result.  If the choice was given to us all to choose between what we have now or what we had 15 years ago I am convinced the vast majority would go for the former.

Right...let's see if I can actually get some work done now...server...nope still down...damn technology!!!

New event mentality

We're currently in the process of developing a new event idea. Whilst this is exciting it also leads to the question - how do we, a small agency, get the event off the ground...?!

All new events need to be different to anything else in the market; they need to offer the target audience a reason to attend and it needs to be commercially attractive to sponsors. If it is all of these surely it will easily take off...?

Not really

The problem with any event is that you have to commit early on to a venue, marketing (both delegate and sponsor wise) and other financially draining areas. Obviously not an issue if you're a big organiser - more concerning if you are not.

Generating money early is vital to any events success but even more so for smaller agencies, where funds tend to have to stretch further than say in the large organisers such as EMap and Reed.

It may sound mad but my take on it is that confidence is key to any new event being a success, especially if you are a small agency that does not have endless pots of money. You have to believe your event will work, that your event is needed in the market place and that if you don't proceed with the event idea someone else will launch the same idea down the line. Obviously confidence does not guarantee the event will be a success but it ensures you back your judgements and decisions, meaning your event will be expertly designed, managed and organised - definitely a big help in the success stakes!

If you believe your event will work it makes it easier to sell to sponsors and delegates thus making it easier to generate finance.

Away from the finances if you have a great event idea and confidence in it accordingly creating partnerships with other organisations and associations within your target market becomes more likely. Aside from financial backing, relevant partnerships are key in getting an event to succeed - it gives the event some extra credibility to go alongside our words of "it is a great event," etc. For example if you are organising an event in the construction market, having backing by the ECIA would certainly add credibility in the eyes of potential sponsors and delegates.

Bottom line is...every event, even the massive succes stories such as BETT and Ideal Home, have to start somewhere. If you have a good idea for an event then the best advice is to launch it and see what happens...fact is you can never be certain

www.connectevents.co.uk

Jim White, Explosions and Holiday

How long does it take to feel like you need another holiday?!  For me it’s as follows:

17 days off on holiday = nice and refreshed
1 day back at work = less so
2 days back at work = need a holiday...!

Standard I guess...oh well work isn’t that bad, provides free access to the internet and more importantly transfer deadline day news!  For those non-football fanatics out there (apparently there are some) today – Wednesday 31^st August 2011 – is one of the most eagerly anticipated days in football – transfer deadline day.  It’s the day where fans spend far too many hours reading and listening to rumours about their club buying a player.  By the end of the day you are only happy if your club has purchased at least one player, even if they are crap – step forward Xisco! 

The simple fact is transfer deadline day should be a national holiday.  Those not interested in football could spend their time enjoying fresh air whilst those with an unhealthy obsession with the sport could spend their time in a darkened room watching Jim White on Sky Sports gradually get closer to the point of explosion as the cameras turn to ‘Arry Redknapp for the latest soundbite!  Tell me that does not sound like a perfect day...!

Sat at my desk today I’m starting to think I organised my holiday around the wrong weeks.  If I had taken last week and this week off I would have returned from my ‘relaxing’ hiking / camping trip yesterday just in time to have the perfect excuse (I’m tired and my legs / back / arms / shoulders / feet hurt) to sit on my arse and watch deadline day for 16+ hours.  Ok, the girlfriend may have an issue with that but then again on today of all days the other half’s opinion doesn’t really count (in the nicest possible way).  This applies equally to those rare relationships where it is the bloke who dislikes football.

Having only been back at work one day I feel a little guilty being less than 100% productive today.  The key phrase there is ‘a little,’ i.e. not enough to stop tracking the last few hours of the window until it slams (why it can’t just close normally is beyond me) shut.  My work will still get done, just perhaps tomorrow rather than today...of course the quality of my work will be greatly enhanced (and post holiday blues banished) should Newcastle sign a quality player – sadly this is very unlikely (on all fronts).

Anyway, think I have spent enough time rambling to my 9 (probably less after this) followers so I will now get back to work ;-)

PS
I love work and would never ever (ever) encourage people to follow their sporting interests during work hours.  Never...!

PPS
An actual events industry related blog will follow in due course

www.connectevents.co.uk

Low budget...should that mean no support?!

The conversation tends to go as follows:
- Me: “Hi, I work for Connect Events – we are an event agency specialising in the operational management of events”
- Company: “We don’t have much budget so we don’t use agencies to help”

Nice, blunt and to the point.  Perhaps event agencies have been overpricing themselves for years to elicit such a response when no costs (or indeed budget) has been discussed.  Obviously we don’t want to be organising events for less than our time is worth but surely it is important to give all budget levels a chance of help with events...after all that is what we all claim we are experts at.

Large agencies not being able / willing to help for cost reasons I understand.  Small agencies I do not.  As all companies do we at Connect Events have a standard day rate we would ideally charge.  However for various reasons, and not just the current economic climate, we regularly charge less.  That may sound mad but the fact that is we pride ourselves on being able to help all clients with their events.  One small caveat to this is that we don’t help for free – well not often anyway...our accountants get mad if we do it too regularly!

One sector with a number of clients unable (and now unwilling due to being over-quoted regularly) to use agency support is the charity sector.  Obviously I am not talking about your large charities such as Cancer Research (CRUK) – they both have enough money /backing to organise the events themselves or to enlist the help of agencies.  No, I am referring to smaller charities (I shan’t name names due to recent conversations...just in case they do read this blog).  They both organise and participate in a number of events throughout the year and usually have an events team of just one person meaning they are extremely busy.  It is this situation where agency support is most important and valued, however it is also a number of these small charities that can’t actually afford this support (and won’t now entertain the idea that they can).  Are they right though?

Well I can’t blame them for a) thinking they can’t afford it or b) deciding to not want the support after being previously over-quoted.  If one / two agencies have quoted figures well above their budget I suppose it is only natural for them to think all agencies fall within these sort of costs, which is obviously not true.  From an agency point of view we all have an acceptable lowest amount we can charge for our services but should that be set in stone?!  Clearly this is a decision for each individual agency rather than something that can be decided on mass.  Within Connect we accept not all can afford a standard day rate but we aim to help organise events regardless of budget.  Many agencies claim each event is dealt with on its own merits – surely if this is the case then the cost charged can be equally specific to each event?! 

In the current climate all budgets should be considered both to ensure events (even the small ones) continue to take place and to ensure agencies survive in a shrunken market.  Profit margin may have to reduce for the client base to increase.

www.connectevents.co.uk

Managing delegate etiquette

As a company we – Connect Events – don’t exhibit at many shows.  The main reason for this is that the ones best suited to us usually take place during our own busy times, one example of this is Confex running during the same week as eWorld Purchasing & Supply – a show we manage on behalf of Revolution Events.  The other reason is that as an agency we find a number of shows are more suited to those offering individual services, i.e. Audio Visual, Stand Building, etc rather than those offering the whole event management service.  We did however exhibit at the recent Event & Exhibiting Show, which took place at the Business Design Centre recently.

The whole experience was definitely worth while from my point of view, regardless of number of leads and worthwhile chats generated.  To be honest in terms of business likely to be generated through our presence at the event we are talking very little – probably a handful of potential leads over the two days.  I haven’t seen final delegate numbers yet but I feel the lack of leads is more down to the aforementioned point of delegates attending being more interested in sourcing one individual event element rather than looking for an agency to manage an entire event.  Given we were next to a busy stand builder and registration company this seems to be the case.  However another possible reason would be that a large number of the delegates that attended were more interested in selling their own product / service than listening to what we (and others) were there exhibiting.

In fairness to the organisers of the Event & Exhibiting Show stopping this happening is somewhat harder at an industry event than it is at some of the events we organise where those attending are from a different side, i.e. end users attending to see resellers (as is the case at Sage Software events).  In the case of these events we simply don’t let delegates enter if they are a potential exhibitor – if you took that approach to this event you would have no (or very few) delegates.  However I do feel the organisers could have made a greater effort to explain / manage delegate etiquette.  It is frustrating when you are constantly being sold to by delegates, especially so when you consider that the exhibitors have paid to attend whereas the delegates are there for free. 

As mentioned before it is hard to manage for an industry event where the delegate / exhibitor difference is often quite vague.  There should be, without question, a strong message conveyed to all delegates both on registration and arrival that the open selling of products and services is forbidden when talking to exhibitors.  I would continue to allow and in fact encourage it during open networking, such as the drinks reception and general coffee breaks during the day.  Clearly event industry shows work, otherwise they wouldn’t attract the numbers that they do.  However I do feel the Event & Exhibiting Show needs to work on managing delegate etiquette and behaviour if it is to become the second large industry event in the UK (after Confex).  Perhaps moving toward the hosted buyer programme utilised so well by shows such as EIBTM and IMEX – this may initially increase costs but it would definitely improve the exhibitor experience.

www.connectevents.co.uk

East vs West - the battle continues

East vs West London has long been a discussion point in events.  Historically it's always been the West that has been the preferred location for events out of the two but since the continued development of ExCeL, the Olympic Games and the expected closure of Earls Court (part of anyway) the East of London is fast becoming the favoured location for major events.

In recent weeks events such as BETT and Confex have moved from a flagship West London venue (Earls Court) to East London (ExCeL).  When announcing the moves both stated lack of space at Earls Court as (one of) the reason and whilst I am sure this is partly true I can't help but feel that the lack of development in the West of London is also a reason. 

A negative atmosphere is surrounding West London, chief reasons being that Earls Court is rumoured to be shutting post London 2012 and the Olympia Tube line is being closed from December 2011 (which negates any positive vibes from the development of Olympia).  Without suggesting a conspiracy it almost seems as though the powers that be in London are happy to let West London look after itself whilst they focus all their attention and money on East London. 

This may of course make complete sense from an economic and social point of view given how far behind the Eastern part of the City is in comparison to Western parts (compare Leyton and Chelsea for example) but from an event organiser point of view it is less than ideal, as it gives huge power to ExCeL in terms of competing for the larger events.  However despite the above and current power shift from West to East there is still only one winner in terms of a location (in my opinion).

Yes East London is having millions of pounds spent on it's transport, general infrastructure, accommodation, social regeneration (largely all down to the Olympics) but for events, especially business to business ones, it's just not an attractive location.  Let's focus on the largest venue - ExCeL.  As a venue it can cater for events of pretty much any size, offers completely flexible space and has recently added to it's strength by opening the first ICC in London. 

The problem is the venue just feels like it is a long way from central London, despite both the venue and Boris' claims it is not.  Admittedly it has parking for something like 3,700 cars but when you advertise an event as being in London you want it to be easily accessible by public transport and I do not think ExCeL is.  To access ExCeL you need to travel on both the unreliable Jubilee Line as well as the DLR - not quite as simple as just jumping on either the District or Picadilly Line to Earls Court (I accept Olympia is not easy to get to even with the station still open).  To get from Victoria (my usual London station) to Stratford (the East London hub) takes 30minutes - compared to just 10minutes to Earls Court.  To get to ExCeL takes 33minutes - 2/3rds as long.

London 2012 will be fantastic for the City and economy.  I'm convinced that by the end of 2012 transport links to East London (and ExCeL), aided by the O2 cable car, will be on par with those out to the Western parts of the City.  Added to that I am in complete agreement that those areas within the City that are more deprived receive the bulk of investment.  However I just hope that the improvement of East London does not come at the detriment to historically strong West London venues such as EC&O resulting in organisers being forced to run events in locations we'd rather avoid.

www.connectevents.co.uk

London2012 - a successful ballot?!

Despite the public anger over the lack of success in the gaining of Olympic tickets in the initial ballot it's hard not to look at the process and outcome as a success in terms of an event organiser.  Who would not want an event where elements (in this case individual events) were completely sold out despite large numbers of interested people missing out?! Answer is of course no one.

It's a tremendously positive sign for London2012 that demand is so high in comparison to supply.  It guarantees that whilst some, including all at Connect Events, will miss out the stadiums and arenas hosting each individual event will be full.  A complete contrast to a large number of events at Beijing2008.  This is great news for those involved in winning the right to host the Olympics all those years ago but also for the British public who will be able to watch on with pride (I hope) at a successful games.

On a quick side note away from the Olympics - the interest and demand from our public demonstrates that our lack of votes at the recent FIFA World Cup2018 bid award was to put it politely a joke. There are very few countries that get behind sporting events as strongly as we do. Cases in point Wimbledon vs French Open and Manchester Commonwealth Games vs Beijing Olympic Games. This coupled with existing stadia, accommodation and transportation systems adds to our sense of disbelief at our very strong bid only receiving two votes (one our own).

Anyway, I digress! Despite the overall success, in my opinion, of the ticket ballot I do believe there have not been enough tickets set aside for the general public - those who should really benefit from the Games.  Rumours of only 40,000 of the 80,000 Olympic Stadium seats been available to the general public (not corporate / sponsors / VIPs) for each event will just add fuel to the fire around the injustice of the ballot - and rightly so.  The fact that people such as Sepp Blatter will receive free tickets also does LOCOG no favours, especially in the light of the recent FIFA scandal and the FA's attempt to postpone the election.

Another negative of the ticket system has been regarding payment. This, as far as I can tell has been for 2 reasons. Firstly that you end up paying for tickets almost 14months before the start of the Games. Secondly that the money goes out of your account before you actually know officially which events you have received tickets for.  I tend to agree both could and perhaps should have been done differently, although taking the money first helps to guarantee full stadiums - if you've paid for a ticket to an event you now aren't fussed about you are still likely to attend. 

The sole acceptance of VISA cards probably angered me the most.  Again, as an events person I appreciate the need for sponsorship, especially on such a large event, but only accepting that card brand is not ideal in the current financial climate.  Even more so when a large nunber of people only have a VISA debit (not credit) card.  Why LOCOG could not have allowed other cards but charged a premium to use them, such as is the case with Easyjet, Ryanair, etc is beyond me.

As much as I love Britain the popularity of the Games and the subsequent demand for tickets was always going to mean a negative reaction to the ballot process, that's just how we react.  The problem is that a ballot is exactly that, there is no guarantee that you'll get tickets regardless of how many you bid for.  There have been suggestions that tickets should have been on direct sale which just would not have worked - the only guarantee in that system would be Internet sites crashing!

London2012 will be a fantastic occassion with full stadiums and amazing atmospheres at almost all of the events.  Yes a large number (currently over half) will not get to watch the event of our choice live in the stadium but that should not detract from the positive vibes the Olympics will create.  As a regular spectator at large sporting events the atmosphere and experience in official fan parks is almost as good as being in the stadium just without the cost!  Despite my failure (so far - there is a 2nd ballot) to get tickets I still can't wait for the Olympics to take place and for the UK to demonstrate why we are the best place to host a large event (I just hope FIFA are watching)!

http://www.connectevents.co.uk/