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I used to stay away from making predictions. But hear me out. It is a way to catalyze what is happening and think together, as a group, where things may go. And this platform allows me to get your input. The agreement, the disagreement, the heated discussion. It’s part of the game, and I love it. Some of these may be impossible. Some others may actually happen. The most important question is, what’s your prediction?

Breaking: Eventtech company raises $35 million. Sources confirmed it. A Canadian company closed a series B funding of $35M. If confirmed, this brings up the total raised to $65 million. While we are distant from the rounds raised by virtual event platforms during the pandemic, this is a remarkable story for the new event industry. / A story that reinforces how we moved from virtual to physical. / A story that confirms the health and strength of our industry. The company, sources confirm, is Planned. ———————————————————— What does Planned do? It is a sourcing platform that looks after tricky aspects of the event planning process. Travel Venues F&B Room Block ———————————————————— / Why does it matter? These are significant issues for corporate planners, HR managers, and PAs who plan dozens, if not hundreds, of small—to medium-sized meetings. This lower-mid market is left to itself as it is not big enough to be serviced by large-scale suppliers and not small enough to skip items like travel and room blocks. ———————————————————— / It failed before Many approached this audience with marketplace solutions. In several cases, they failed because of low supplier adoption or perceived platform fatigue by already busy planners. Planned (and similar platforms) offers the ability to be supported by sourcing specialists, effectively templatizing use cases. This approach reduces the perceived complexity of events. ———————————————————— / Why this is news It is a noteworthy raise at a critical time for technology companies when raising capital is significantly more problematic. I am very excited about the future of the industry. Are you?

Convince your boss letters hardly convince anyone. But they can. Here are the areas I focus on for the perfect convince your boss letters. Opening State three key benefits Cost breakdown Benefit for the office Call to Action I organized them in this template. Some words of warning: / Be careful about what you put on your website. ChatGPT could do much better than many of the CYB letters I see. Please spend some time on it. / Be real. We are witnessing a seismic shift in marketing; fancy words and GTM gibberish don’t work. Events are real. Share the real fees, no games. / Call to action. If you are being authentic, you shouldn’t be ashamed to close that sale. Make an effort to think like a boss. There is a lot to add, but it can’t fit. What would you add? P.S. on Wednesday I will share 5 frameworks I use with my clients, free for you to download in my newsletter. https://lnkd.in/gTWNNqHm

Hey friends I’ve been working on something special. Happy to announce it to the world. It is becoming something big and meaningful. Hope you enjoy it!

If you are in events, you get it. Too painful. We have our moment as an industry. CMOs are receptive to events. But If we don’t deliver to brands sponsoring or exhibiting at our event, budgets will move elsewhere. Once you churn exhibitors, you forego revenue, and your acquisition costs will go through the roof. Acquiring new sponsors and exhibitors is incredibly difficult in this climate. ———————————————————— How do you do it? Sending Traffic to Booths Build it and they will come does not work for exhibitor areas. Be intentional about sending traffic to booths. Smart Lead Capture Business cards or manual data collection is over. Lead retrieval tools are must-haves. The High Street Floorplan Every event should have one big room where all the action happens. Content Networking Exhibits Activations Breaks Happy Hours ———————————————————— Make it tangible Use: 1:1 meetings Hosted buyer programs Out-of-venue activities Destination leverage Parties ———————————————————— What do you offer to your exhibitors to make business happen?

Moment planning will be hottest trend in events in 2025. Planning moments > planning events. I mapped many of the touchpoints that build up an event experience for you. This is the framework I use to quickly identify where my clients need help. Before During After the event. ———————————————————— Events that will thrive in 2025 will switch to moment planning. What is moment planning? The idea is to add an element of surprise, delight, and value at every step of the attendee journey. Breaking down the event in moments and then thinking about how to make that moment special is the best way to be remembered. ———————————————————— What is pushing moment planning? - Short attention spans. - Social media pervasiveness. - Event industry growth. ———————————————————— How do you leverage moment planning for your event? Use this map to identify all the moments in your event. Prioritize the touchpoints. Add surprise, delight, and clear value at every step. After working with many clients, I can easily say that some moments are more important than others. ———————————————————— What are the most important touchpoints for your event? P.S. This morning I shared a deep dive on how to use this map in my newsletter. For FREE. Don't miss the next issue. https://lnkd.in/gtGXp27i

We are living in a post-Sphere era. Event profs want more from venues. Whether they are attendees, sponsors or planners. If I have to look at my crystal ball, I can tell you something: The hype of the past three years will slow down. AND it will raise expectations. ———————————————————— What happens next? We will look for unique venues that help with event design and marketing. ———————————————————— This is my Then vs Now Sales vs partnerships Huge vs Niche Awful WiFi vs tech enabled A la carte vs all inclusive RFP ghosted vs RFP response in hours Polluting vs sustainable Flashy vs elegant Partial view vs pillarless Hard to reach vs well connected Badly designed vs accessible Empty shell vs feature rich Desert island vs community connected Single-purpose vs multi-functional Fixed layout vs Unleash Your Creativity Reactive service vs proactive hospitality Manual booking vs fully automated In house vs BYO (or whatever you want) ———————————————————— What did I miss? P.S. Tomorrow I am sharing with 16k event professionals the biggest trend that impacts your event experience. See you there? https://lnkd.in/gtGXp27i

Does planning by committee ever work? Hardly. If I have to pick the top task clients ask me to perform, it is to give them an external opinion on what to do. How did we get there? The team grew exponentially. The CEO thinks events are easy. External departments got involved. Deciding what to do next is challenging. Planning with the team is not planning by committee. ———————————————————— Event leaders I met always try to: / Look at the data.  They read every feedback form submission and track the event engagement and marketing performance. / Listen to their team.  They debrief every event with an in-depth post-mortem. Every team member in charge has their say. / Understand the C-level brief. They are very receptive to what the boss says and expects from the event program. But ———————————————————— When it is time to make decisions, they don't shy away They are fully accountable and in charge at all times. Some call them control freaks; I call them high-stakes takers. ———————————————————— Does planning by committee ever work? P.S. I am sharing a detailed breakdown of the latest event marketing trend in my newsletter on Wednesday. It's 16K event professionals and it's free. See you there. https://lnkd.in/gSyUBrJQ

The New Wave of Eventtech. Here is an update on the event technology landscape. This update refers to Q2 - 2024. —————————————————— Also a new design to combat the blatant plagiarism we are getting from other event media. Thank you for validating my work! —————————————————— If you want a PDF with clickable links, find it here. https://lnkd.in/gnuU2zjd —————————————————— This map is the result of my analysis, and experience in eventtech. It is subjective and purely editorial. I added a new category: measurement. Some of the criteria for inclusion in the wider map: * New product features * Revenue milestones * Organic media coverage (no paid placements) * High-profile client sign-up * Recent funding rounds * Country-specific penetration * Recurring presence in online planner conversations * Positive online reviews * Meaningful product launches If I missed you, send me a message by September 15, 2024 with an answer to the above criteria (it doesn’t have to be all of them). —————————————————— Disclosure. Inclusion on this map is NOT pay-for-play. I switched to alphabetical order. It was previously random. I have worked and do work with many of the companies listed. However, I also have never talked to many of the companies listed. The map is not up for sale for sponsorship for eventtech providers. This map does not endorse any of the listed companies and is not buyer advice. —————————————————— Who did I miss? P.S. If you or your favorite eventtech has been featured, repost this. Let everybody know.

Lead times to plan events are getting out of control. Can you plan an event in 1/3 of the time needed? I’ve been keeping an eye on lead times. I received a message from someone who prefers to stay anonymous: “I’ve had multiple groups send me their RFPs for massive meetings with less than 2 months' notice. Typically, this kind of event would have 6 months to a year lead time.” I am concerned. / With costs being out of control in many markets. / With demand through the roof and many venues booked 3/4 years out. / With teams being downsized and overworked. —————————————————— How can we not lose the business while maintaining sanity? Develop a template. Templatizing events is the next big skill for the industry. Collect a set of venues, suppliers, and technology that you can roll out easily. Create a last-minute offer. When a client comes with a very late demand, there can be the opportunity to pay a premium. What is the MVP (minimum viable product) you can ship for a client? Learn to say no. Great planners and agencies know that some events will not happen. Managing expectations is an art. —————————————————— How can we sustain pulling incredible experiences with 1/3 of the time necessary? P.S. if you liked this post, tomorrow I’ll share in my free newsletter 3 top marketing trends. It’s free. https://lnkd.in/gtGXp27i