“Managing an event is easy – anyone can do it!” If you can organise your cousin’s bar mitzvah, surely you can organise a half day conference for 300 of your most valued clients, right? Not necessarily. If you want to produce an engaging conference or event that will have your clients eating out of the palm of your hands you should consider engaging a Professional Conference Organiser (PCO).
We’re in a world where everything is digital and there is a relentless stream of messages coming at us from multiple channels. Face to face interactions cut through this noise and are more important than ever!
Image Credit: ASMI
In a report on Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends, Bizzabo reported that 91% of over performing organisations credited live events to their marketing success. If you want to effectively attract, nurture and retain your clients you need to create a buzz. That’s where a PCO comes in….
“Our events are OK,” I hear you say in your defence! However an event that is “just OK” could do more harm than good…If you are happy for “just OK”, go ahead but will you achieve measurable results? If you want to produce an event that will create a real change – in your clients and/or prospects knowledge, perspectives and behaviours, engage a PCO.
Image Credit: ASMI
A PCO will have proven processes which reduce costs and increase efficiencies, everything from budget management to production schedules to ensure deliverables and responsibilities are clear from day one.
A PCO will have the experience and skills to manage the logistics: catering, transport, how long to run a panel session for, etc. The infinite list of all the things you need to consider yet don’t have time or resources to get it done. As a PCO we get it, there may be other parts of your job or stakeholders that need your attention.
A PCO will have established relationships with a variety of suppliers which will result in favourable quotations and contract terms. Depending on the relationship, a PCO may be able to reduce the minimum spend, negotiate additional inclusions and push back on particular terms.
A PCO will have experience developing and managing an assortment of event management applications, some of which produce their own. For instance if you require a registration portal and event website, they can manage that!
And last but certainly not least, risk management. You will need to consider a range of potential risks that could threaten your attendees, suppliers, crew and the general public. Have you got a game plan? A PCO will make sure there is a plan in place to manage the response and ways to avoid risks in the first place.
There isn’t a one size fits all solution, what works for one company may not work for the next. For us it is all about the delegate experience and how we as a team (PCO and the client) can work together to create those share-worthy experiences. Don’t settle for mediocrity at your next event, engage an expert and work together produce the best event ever for your audience, and get the results you’ve dreamt of!
* This blog was originally posted in May 2018. It has been reposted with updates in July 2022.
