Succeeding at the Subtle Art of Venue Negotiation

 

Choosing the right venue for your event is the first step towards achieving the objective of your occasion. And since most planners are working with a budget, it is important to find the right balance of price, quality and accessibility.

The good news is that most cities offer a wide-range of event spaces to choose from. Each site offers their own unique set of advantages and drawbacks, which makes it critical for planners to master the ability to negotiate through the extremes. The guidelines below will help you gain maximum leverage on all of your site visits.

Know Your Options
There are several pieces of information you need in order to negotiate effectively. The date, time and projected attendance of your event are the obvious ones. From there I recommend having two alternative dates to work with. Get these dates approved with your speakers and committee members in advance so that you can move quickly if needed. Reservation opportunities can disappear fast and you don’t want to be stuck waiting for calls from your key decision makers.

Change Your Perspective
The sales staff at the hotel or banquet center has one main objective: To fill their property with paying customers each and every day. Planners are often so focused on their own needs that they lose sight of this fact. While meeting the expectations of your group is important, negotiating with “tunnel vision” can cause you to overlook second and third options that could provide a significant discount. Your best position is to keep your event date open for discussion. Remember, the dates your sales person needs to fill will be considerably easier to negotiate prices on.

Big Picture Bidding Strategies
No one wants to be surprised with unforeseen costs, which is why you really can’t dig deep enough into your price comparisons. Expense categories like room rental, food and speaker fees are expected and planners usually have them accounted for. But what about incremental items like audio/visual, parking, transportation and security? Not only can these expenses cut into your budget, but many of them are eligible for negotiation during the contract process.

Production Costs and Profit Margins
Your sales contact is going to lead off with their list prices for everything. It is basically up to you to identify what items have the best potential for savings. Things like food and staffing are tricky to negotiate because they have fixed costs attached that the venue has to pay. However, rental fees on items like hotel rooms, audio/visual equipment and facility usage are much less formula-driven. In other words, their prices are not directly tied to expenses. These are the items that offer you the largest amount of wiggle room for price discussions.

Price vs. Quality
There is a running joke in the restaurant industry that says a customer can choose two of the following three features: Price, Quality or Speed. The point is, you can’t have it all unless you are willing to pay for it. I would say this joke also applies well to the event business. It is quite possible to negotiate your way out of a successful event if you cut the margins too thin. Tread carefully when it comes to things like food quality and staffing levels. Ignoring your site coordinator’s recommendations because of cost could have you living on the edge of your seat during the event.

Work With the Venue
I’ve worked with several customers who opted to take a “me against them” approach to planning their function. In my opinion you’ll get a lot more out of your experience by maintaining an open dialogue about everything. Don’t be afraid to share your budget numbers or cost concerns with your venue coordinator. Remember, they want your business now and in the future! Tell them how you love the way their lighting package brightens the room, but you simply can’t afford it on your budget. If they enjoy working with you then you just might find those lights “accidentally left on” for your event.

Source – By Geoff Beers, About.com

 

10 Common Mistakes Event Planners Make

By Julius Solaris
www.juliusolaris.com

Technology and social media are changing the way we produce, plan and promote events. Here is a quick sum up of common errors made by you and I when planning an event.

I promise I will avoid any melodramatic view. I won’t say you will be out of business if you don’t follow my advice.

However I’ve tried all the tips below and they worked for me. I have also reverse engineered some of the advice after analyzing the events I respect, no award-winning/we-are-so-great crap.

1. Too Much Social Media

Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, Join our Group on Linkedin, Read our Blog, Watch our Videos on Youtube.

Hey, calm down!

You do not need to be everywhere. Events with a small, cared for presence (possibly in channels where potential attendees hang out) earned my respect over time.

To continue reading click here.

An Event Proposal Template You Can Use

 

Every event needs an event proposal. Here’s how to build a great event proposal template that you can utilize time and time again, it’s great because it’s simple and because you can modify it to fit any of your event needs.

Whether you’re planning a small department party or a grand charity gala the most appropriate way to present your event to clients or management is by creating an event proposal. This is the most serious and professional way to go about planning your event and actually the most appropriate way to keep your own organizational sanity.

What is an Event Proposal?
An event proposal is basically the business plan of your event. It starts with an “executive summary” and goes on to cover every detail of the event.

Why do I need to have an event proposal?
You need an event proposal so that everyone on your team and everyone you’re working for are clear on what the event is about, know all the details of the event and can refer to it if any questions arise during your absence.
Imagine a situation when a venue calls to confirm the dates for an event you’re organizing and you’re out of the office and can’t be reached. The event proposal is something that your team can refer to for this vital information. Yes this seems unlikely however it has happened in the past especially for events that are happening far in advance or when multiple events are running at the same time.

Keep in mind that the event proposal will be viewed by many different stakeholders; marketers, finance, potential sponsors etc. Each with their own goals and targets, therefore the proposal should be general enough to paint the overall picture yet specific for each party to be able to make decisions based on the details provided in the proposal. Click here for an example of how your stakeholders will be reading and analyzing the event proposal.

Event Proposal Template in Detail:

I find it most useful to use my own custom made event template based on a number of templates I’ve used in the past and a number of non event planning templates. When you’re presenting your event idea listen and note the questions you are being asked, then incorporate them into the event proposal.

You’ll find a great event proposal sample here.

Introduction: In this section you are introducing your event, this is where you “write to impress.”  Use this space to sell your event by introducing the event concept, the event title and outline the event program.

Venue/Entertainment/Food & Beverage: This section will expand on your introduction and cover the main questions about the event; this is where you answer the 4W’s [Who, What, Where and When.]

Event Logistics: This is one of the more complex parts of the event proposal template and I suggest using an event planning template to complete this section. In this section you will explain how exactly you are going to attain what you’re promising in the first two sections. For example: how much are tickets going to cost, how are the invitations/registrations going to be managed, will this be an evening or daytime event? Will you be purchasing event liability insurance or just event cancellation insurance? Provide a detailed description of all products, giveaways, brochures, flyers, etc. intended for distribution at the event.

Finance: Your budget proposal, your anticipated expenses and anticipated revenue from the event. This is the place to state how you are going to report on the finances and how often.

Marketing: Present a general marketing strategy for your event or how you are going to work with the marketing department to market the event. Talk about your target audience and what need you are fulfilling with your event and why you think it is going to be successful. In addition: list PR companies, media coverage, celebrities and sponsors that you are going to be working with. Note: depending on the size of the event you might need to create and use a sponsorship proposal template when working with event sponsors.

Additional Points to Mention:

Key people: Who is on your team? What departments will you be working with and who is accountable for what. List all the key people who are going to be involved in producing this event and get approval for these names. You don’t want to be planning an event mid way and discovering that your marketing manager is tied up in two other events. Click here for more great tips on event proposals.

Important to Remember: The physical appearance of the proposal is important. Make it presentable, something that you wouldn’t be ashamed to show to a company CEO. It should be professional, appealing, exciting and to the point.

Source – Event Management Tales

 

How to Be a Good Public Relations Client

What Good PR Clients Do

Since public relations isn’t done “to” a company—it’s done “with” the management team or owners—there’s an essentially different nature to how this kind of professional service is successfully delivered. It’s much more akin to legal or medical services with the “defendants” or “patients” (read: management team members) having to be deeply and consistently involved in an ongoing process.

As the now-famous slogan coined by tech PR guru Regis McKenna goes, “PR is a process, not an event.”

Without recognition of that, PR generally goes nowhere—and the agency will not work with that client for long.

Two Business Cards, One Team

PR is most productive when the agency and client people work as a team. The ideal is a blurred distinction between the two organizations. The goals are nearly the same, only the paychecks and business cards are different. Efficient teamwork and friendships develop, with the clients relying on agencies for a full range of strategic as well as tactical communications values. The agency is free to ask all questions, including the hard or perhaps embarrassing ones, and offer help wherever and whenever needed while remembering its charter to client service.

Exactly when things can go really right or very wrong is typically at the outset. The client/agency relationship should be based on a high degree of trust and openness. You see this plea or expectation on agencies’ Web sites all the time: “We have strong relationships with our clients.” PR services need to be delivered like any other professional service, as typically required by lawyers or accountants. Public relations can truly add value to a business or organization only if the agency people have an intimate understanding of what’s going on, warts and all.

An arms-length relationship, when the agency is seen as a “vendor” (like office supplies or a delivery service!), isn’t going to yield effective long-term results because the agency won’t have been let into what strategically bears on the business. Without such insider knowledge, PR plans will likely be off the mark, short-term and not deliver desired results that matter.

Getting What You Pay for

To gain a better understanding of this perspective, consider that hiring an agency to just execute some tactics like a string of press releases would be like going to the doctor to have a band-aid applied. You can do it, and pay for it, but it certainly isn’t the best use of your money or the doctor’s talents.

You’ve got to tell the experts where it hurts and let them diagnose whether or how applying public relations practices may relieve the pain. So, if you want real agency value, share your business or marketing plans and explain your objectives. Mention what may or may not have worked in the PR area previously. Then let the pros prescribe ideas and strategies that address your business problems.

Valuable agency people want to understand the core challenges and bring their experience, imagination, and creativity to finding a solution. Remember, you’re investing in expertise to help with business problems that you can’t or don’t want to solve by yourself. So find an agency that will lead you toward desired goals and an effective market position. Let them become a strategic asset.

Just hiring some extra hands to perform work that you decide is valuable and which you yourself direct isn’t cost-effective. If that’s going to be the case, hire a junior employee.

Conversely, for the agency people reading this, if your client isn’t taking your advice or, worse, is dictating strategies and tactics, plan on replacing the account as soon as possible. You’re just an order-taker. You’ll be replaced very soon.

Invest the Time

If a client hands a completed document to its agency and expects the agency to use it as is, little is gained in client-derived value from the agency. Agencies offer far more value than mere errand runner for company messages. The often staggering aggregate communications expertise offered by PR agencies is totally wasted. Worse still, the mutual learning created by working together cooperatively in the creation of new information is also lost.

Agencies need and want to learn ever more about their clients’ business. You didn’t learn everything you know about your market and your company instantly. Dealing with the learning curve is worth the time. That’s why agencies ask for strong relationships.

Client and agency people get to know and work together most effectively in collaborative creation of communications strategies and tactics. The two-way explanation, give-and-take of such work helps people in both environments understand each other’s value and creates the best ways to expand client company or product awareness. It’s a simple case of two (different kinds of) heads are better than one. More importantly, for the client, it’s a case of getting all that you’re paying for.

Case in Point

Even with something as basic as press-release development, for example, being placed in the position of merely reacting to client-generated copy leaves the agency without access to other information that might lead it to make suggestions that increase newsworthiness and marketing effectiveness. But if they don’t get to ask the basic marketing or business communications questions up front, that value can’t be provided.

The Q&A around “so what?”—or news significance—is among the key things that agency pros are trained for. Without it, a big limitation is created. When agency personnel are removed from the origination of copywriting projects, clients lose. The agency team doesn’t learn about what’s not in the press release. And, often, what isn’t stated in the final press release copy, and why, is as important for the agency to know as what is.

The dialog preceding writing assignments may be more valuable to marketing than the finished written product—particularly so in business-news publicity.

Client-developed releases are often dismally off the mark and fail to answer the most basic questions that business reporters need answered. That’s often because of the inherent inside-out perspective common to those working within an organization. It takes an exceptional writer working inside a company to maintain the opposite “outside-in” perspective while pedaling the company’s key messages in a news or feature story.

Moreover, if you’ve hired a good PR agency, in the process you will have hired excellent writers. That’s a core public relations competency. So give them the opportunity to practice their art and let them write! The results will be better.

Clients should continuously get more from their agency as time passes. As the relationship and the agency team’s client knowledge grows, so should the service quality level.

Source – Ford Kanzler, Marketing Profs

Public Relations vs. Marketing

 

The agendas of public relations and marketing are different. Marketing is interested in the market — consumers and demand. Public relations is interested in relationships — reducing conflict and improving cooperation.

Good public relations will create a healthy environment for marketing. But simply providing technical support for marketing is not the same as good public relations.

An important study on excellence in communication management identified four major public relations models:

• Promotion and publicity (one-way communication/hype)
• Applied journalism (one-way communication/credible)
• Research, persuasion (two-way communication, win/neutral)
• Dialogue, mutual solutions (two-way communication, win/win)

(More than one model may be apparent in any public relations practice. Philosophy and vision will determine which one is dominant.)

The same study found that excellent organizations were associated with three factors:

• Effective organizations treat PR as a management function.
• The most effective model of PR involves dialogue and mutual solutions.
• The commitment of key leaders and asking the right questions are critical.

The two critical questions were:

• How do we manage our interdependence with the community?
• How do we develop excellence within our organization?

The bottom line is a balance of receivables and payables. Marketing adds value by increasing income. Public relations adds value by decreasing the expenses that are necessary when issues are ignored.

Consider the alternatives to these situations:

• Activist groups being satisfied with your performance
• Customers comfortable that they can count on you
• (or) Donors being loyal to you when money is tight
• Employees respecting you as a good and fair employer
• Fewer people feeling like suing you
• Journalists knowing you to be responsive and credible
• Legislators seeing you as ethical and having public support
• Neighbors not minding your presence on their street
• Shareholders regarding you as competent and competitive
• Your industry considering you a leader

Faking it doesn’t work. Not caring and then apologizing doesn’t work. An old adage is that the “P” and the “R” in public relations stand for performance and recognition. Good relationships are genuine.

Marketing and public relations both work best when they’re treated as distinct management functions. These two functions can pull together as equals on a team, and this works to integrate the business process.

Source – Top Story

 

6 Ways to Track the Impact of Social Media on Public Relations

Have you used social media strategies to support your public relations efforts? Are you struggling to show whether social made a difference?

This post will focus on six metrics you can use to measure the impact of social media on public relations (PR).

Why social media and PR?

As news outlets continue to boost their online presence, public relations professionals have a tremendous opportunity toleverage social media outlets to enhance their outreach efforts.

Social media networks like Twitter provide a new level of access to reporters that open dialogue in new and exciting ways. As social media sites become the “source” for news and breaking stories, marketers are seeing media coverage spread more rapidly than ever before.

But the big question is, how can you quantify the impact that social media has on your public relations efforts?

Social media and public relations go hand in hand.

The best way to show the impact is to look at how social media has affected the costs of marketing efforts.

This can be accomplished by utilizing a few standard public relations, online advertising, search engine optimization and website metrics that can be combined to show a holistic view of the true value social media is bringing to the table.

The following list of metrics can be used toevaluate public relations or they can be used across several marketing channels toshow a cross-channel view of where social media is delivering.

#1: Cost per Impression

Social media helps to expand the reach of your message and has a tremendous impact on the number of impressions that are generated for PR stories. Therefore, when you show the change in the cost per impression with and withoutsocial media, you can make a compelling case for why social media efforts are crucial to your strategies.

Facebook Insights readily provides impression data, but it can be more difficult to measure on Twitter. TweetReach andSimply Measured both provide information on how far messages are traveling on Twitter.

TweetReach is a social analytics tool that provides detailed metrics on the impact of your Twitter conversations.

Simply Measured takes a different approach to analytics. Rather than a rigid dashboard, they empower non-technical marketers and PR professionals to become data rockstars.

You want to collect the total number of “eyeballs” that could have seen your post and divide it by the amount spentfor the outreach to determine the cost per impression.

#2: Cost per Engagement

Engagement is the one thing at which social media continues to beat every other marketing platform, time and time again. It’s almost unfair to compare social media engagement against other channels, because other marketing channels simply do not have as many opportunities to generate engagement.

Aggregate how people engaged with the content and divide it by the cost to determine the cost per engagement.

Types of engagement include shares, clicks, comments, likes and mentions. The key to understanding if an action should be measured as engagement is to ask, “Did the user physically do something in order for the action to be complete?”Action is what separates an impression from engagement.

#3: Cost per Click

Public relations can drive users to click on links that are shared through social media channels. It can be difficult to figure out the number of clicks generated from links shared by third parties, but you can calculate the number of clicks that were generated through your own messaging by using the stats from your URL shortener.

Many times, articles will contain a link that goes to your corporate website that will add another layer of clicks to the mix. You can also request the number of page views of the article from the publication that had a social media site’s referring URL.

Take the total number of clicks and divide them by the cost of the outreach to determine the cost per click. Typically, if you compare the results to other advertising channels that use a cost-per-click metric, such as online advertising, you will see that social media delivers inexpensive clicks on public relations messages.

Social media decreases the cost of public relations impact.

#4: Cost per Site Visitor

Due to the nature of online sharing, it is common to see a spike in website traffic that surrounds PR outreach. Considering that companies pay a lot for online advertising to get visitors to their site, not measuring the cost per site visitor across channels is a missed opportunity to show a positive social media impact.

To calculate the cost per site visitor, take the total number of website visits generated and divide it by the total costof the outreach. Then, compare the results to online advertising and search engine optimization costs.

#5: Cost per Inbound Link

While more companies strive to improve their search engine rankings, more public relations professionals are being asked to request “backlinks” in media articles. These backlinks drive traffic to the corporate website.

Therefore, another good metric to compare is the cost per inbound link. To calculate this metric take the total number of inbound links the article generated and divide it by the total cost of the outreach. Then, compare the results to search engine optimization costs.

#6: Cost per Subscriber

When visitors make it to your website, it’s important to measure the actions they take. More and more companies are looking for ways to convert web traffic into “subscribers” who have provided their email address, allowing an additional opportunity for follow-up marketing efforts.

Therefore, consider comparing the cost per subscriber across all of your marketing channels to understand how public relations is performing in relation to your overall marketing spend.

To calculate the cost per subscriber, take the total number of new subscribers generated and divide it by the cost of the outreach.

Final Thoughts

You’ll notice that many of these metrics are not traditional “public relations” metrics, but rather they can be utilized to create a cross-channel dashboard which will show how social media and public relations efforts complement each other and deliver “inexpensive” results.

The results tend to be inexpensive because the incremental spend to capitalize on social media is usually very small. Remember, the goal is not to show that social media is “better” than other marketing channels, but rather that your other marketing channels are performing better and more cost-effectively when social media is in the mix.

Source – Nichole Kelly, Social Media Examiner