Cost-cutting – the opportunity lies within……

If there is an upside to a recession, we think we’ve found one that can potentially benefit event commissioners and producers alike.  I was asked to talk to Marketing last week on the subject of the effect that cost-cutting has had on the choice of destinations and venues in our industry.  It made me reflect on some of the deals that we have been offered recently, particularly by venues in London.

One case in point is an event that we produced for Indesit Company earlier this year which had a hefty last minute budget cut.  We were amazed by the willingness of both hotels and venues to cut a deal and managed to negotiate savings for our client that would be unthinkable outside of a recession.  The event ultimately gave our client an ROI of £12 for every £1 spent which serves as a good indicator that budget cuts didn’t mean cuts in quality or effective and persuasive content.

So what can we learn from this?  Firstly, that pulling an event completely in a recession is not necessarily the best course of action.  You may well be throwing away opportunities that won’t be available to you in the near future.  Secondly, talk to venues now about forthcoming events.  Everybody’s still very keen to guarantee bums on seats for next year and, it would appear that the opportunity really does lie within – the venue, that is.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…..

The event industry currently seems to be preoccupied with the threat posed to live events by the virtual event.  In fact, recession-obsessed headlines are leading articles citing cost benefits as the over-riding factor in what they would have us believe could be the decline of the live events industry.

Are these pundits descendents of the opinion leaders who predicted that TV would kill radio and that email would eradicate any need for paper-based communication?  Perhaps not – but it feels like there’s a similar theme and, surely, we will arrive at the same outcome.  That is that new channels do change the landscape, they open things up and they create previously unexplored possibilities but they don’t generally cause the downfall of their forebearers.

The truth is that whilst the advent of the virtual event has created all sorts of possibilities in corporate and consumer communication, it will never be able to generate the anticipation of a gathering, the excitement of the moment and the passion that togetherness can inspire.  In short, it can do the minds bit but the heart bit needs a little more stimulation.

In either a business-to-business or business-to-consumer context one fundamental truth remains the same: moving an audience from A to B both rationally and emotionally is more effective face-to-face.

That’s not to say that the virtual world doesn’t have a role to play, it does, but, as ever, the content of the message should dictate the mode of delivery, not forgetting that virtual and live can be used to great effect simultaneously – virtual enabling any experience to live way beyond the live moment. The web and social networking sites arm us with the ability to create an entire campaign around a moment that will continue to engage and touch both customers and consumers.

So, perhaps these harbingers of gloom for the live event industry should resist predictions that ‘virtual’ will eventually replace ‘live’.  The two are inextricably intertwined and complimentary.  There is a time and a place for both and, like radio and television, they will continue to live comfortably side by side.

As they say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

A is for Africa

Many of you will have heard of Alan Doyle after he shot to fame as one of C&IT’s A-listers earlier in the year.  It seems the attention has all been too much for him as he’s now planning a sabbatical that will take him as far away from the UK event industry as he could probably get.

Alan is a self-confessed volunteering junky and can’t wait to get back to his favourite continent, Africa.  The idea for this trip was inspired by 3 weeks that he spent in Tanzania last year.  This year’s trip is slightly more ambitious, as Al’s own words explain:

“Flying into Dakar on 1 October, I’m intending to make my way through Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and possibly a couple of other countries before flying to Ethiopia by the year’s end. From there, I’m embarking on an overland route south; I’m intending to pass through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and more before finishing up in South Africa in spring.”

In fact, Al’s own blog sums up his ambitions for his trip far better than I can do here.  In fact, like me, you’ll probably find it quite humbling to read.  He’s actually doing what most of us think we’d like to do one day but will probably never quite get round to.

If you read it, you’ll also see that he’s not really running away from the industry’s paparazzi, he’s following his heart and hoping to make a difference.  He’s also promised to keep blogging for us whilst he’s away so keep logging on to find out more about his travels and experiences.

New London venues for 2010

In order to be sure that we are continually offering our clients best-in-business knowledge of venues and hotels, some of our staff have to go to extremes.  To this end, Julie, Emma and Laura recently donned extremely flattering and glamorous high-vis jackets and hard hats to check out the view from the top of what will be the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza Hotel.

Located in the heart of London’s South Bank, the hotel will offer state-of-the-art conference facilities for over 1,200 delegates and 1,000 bedrooms, including stunning studios and penthouses with amazing views of Big Ben and the London Eye.  Our sources tell us that interest is already very high from the moment the hotel is due to open its doors in January 2010.

Further up the river, The Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour will also unveil major refurbishments in January 2010.  London’s only 5 star all-suite hotel is currently extending its ballroom to accommodate up to 600 delegates and adding floor to ceiling glass walls offering views over Chelsea Harbour.

If you’d like learn more about either of these hotels or would like to check availability, Julie would love to help you out: Julie.Page@lineup.uk.com.