The Follow Through:Creating the Experience for the entire Event Life Cycle

July 6, 2011 – 4:07 pm

 

We all know that it’s important for the success of your event that your attendees have a seamless experience. But where does that experience begin? It needs to begin well before your event actually takes place. You need to take your event brand and hype up the event, build anticipation. It’s all about taking your message and creating an interesting way to carry it through the entire event life cycle.

We live in a world where technology has bridged the gaps of communication.  Tools have been created that allow event professionals to engage with attendees long before an event begins, encourage interactions, networking and sharing while on site and continuing the conversation long after the event closes.

We need to engage the attendees and find out what it is they are looking for. Get them to share their opinions and input allowing us to bring a personalized and intimate experience to them.

To have that event branding spot on, it takes strong content development and easy to use tools and solutions and a constant effort of looking for ways to improve and incorporate input.  Being able to take all of that and effectively deliver it to your attendees is always a challenge but one made easier through the vast amounts of easy to use technology at our fingertips.

So get out there and use all of the tools at your disposal to connect with your customers. Find out what gets them excited and use that to build up the anticipation and make sure you follow through and bring it home after they’ve all gone home.

 Until next time, stay plugged in!

By: Nicholas C. Priest

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Industry News, Sales, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Social Media: The world according to your mother’s, brother’s, daughter’s, best friend’s, cousin’s, classmate.

July 6, 2011 – 4:01 pm

 

Social Media, in my opinion, has taken on two distinct forms, an addiction and an address book. In our culture we have a bizarre divide that occurs somewhere in  the twenties age bracket where everyone younger is addicted to telling the world every little, tiny, miniscule piece of information as it pertains to their lives. Hopefully one day they will realize, no one cares. On the other side of the line sits everyone who uses social media as a giant, online address book. A good start, yes, but not what it’s useful for.

Tweens need to stop attempting to ‘inform’ the world of the fact that they’re going to the mall and that they wish Tommy Johnson would just call and say hi. They are not only wasting their own time but also filling the Internet with all sorts of unnecessary malarkey. I guess it’s not all their fault; they are born into this immense technology and they don’t yet know how to wield it. As Uncle Ben (Peter Parker/Spiderman’s Uncle, not the rice guy) once said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ And these kids don’t have the responsibility part down yet. But I digress.

Social Media is an outlet to reach out to our clients near and far. We can drive people to our websites and have them fill out surveys. The Internet requires no effort on anyone’s part. It’s there, in front of us, all the time. As members of the business world we should be reaching out to our clients and potential clients (they could be anyone out there in the social media sphere). Let’s get them involved in what we do because the divide of business and customer is breaking down. It’s becoming about relationships and partnerships. The days of hiding behind a faceless corporation are over and since they are out there in social media land, we should be too.

Don’t be afraid of the people because your company… is made up of people. As individuals we help make this world go round, and we know what we like, but we want companies to take the time to tell us they’re interested in what we want. Because if they’re interested in what we want, they’re interested in us and in the end, that’s what we really want.

So get out there, get your fingers deep in the social media waters and start paddling towards your customers, trust me, they’ll see you and they’ll follow you. Or like you, or poke you, or whatever it is you kids are doing these days.

 Until next time, stay plugged in!

By: Nicholas C. Priest

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Sales, Social Media | Comments (0)

Extreme Website MakeOver!

June 14, 2011 – 7:38 pm

As you may have noticed, we have recently revamped our website. Yes, All of it! We have tried to consolidate the amount of pages to reduce clicking; mouse fatigue is a growing problem these days. We have added photos, videos and a ton of new content that will allow you to learn more about not only what we do, but how we do it and see what it takes to stage your event. So surf around, check out every nook and cranny of our site. We look forward to hearing from you; comment on our Blog, check out our videos on our new You Tube site or follow us on Twitter @massAVBoston. We would love to hear from you.

Nick Priest, Creative Services Associate

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, welcome | Comments (0)

Video: This isn’t your Dad’s 8mm!

June 3, 2011 – 6:58 pm

Video Production has come a long way and while that is a cliché and overused statement, here it is- nothing but the truth. In just the past twenty years,  we have seen video technology skyrocket from SVHS and Beta Cam to digitally stored 1080i HD footage that you can just drag and drop from one hard drive to the next.

 Sure, transfer time will never be vanquished but I’m sure that at some point in the future it will be drastically reduced and the gargantuan 200GB files will take mere seconds to transfer.

 But what I want to talk about today is the growing demand for Video Production, Why that is and How impactful it can be because, in today’s day and age, communication is key.

 We live in a world where you can reach out to literally anyone, anywhere in the world without having to do much more than lift your finger. Quickly we have become dependant on visual and audio communication and we want it faster than ever before.

 So how do you grab the attention of your audience? You feed them visuals and audio in an impactful, message driving way: VIDEO.  People still tend to regard video as a fluff add-on, but because of the technical evolution of society it is what they most crave. Fast, fun, and impactful – all driving home the important messages you want them to walk away with.

 It’s said that people today will only be willing to pay attention to something for no longer than three, yes, three minutes before they will move away from it. Which means before you sit them down and ask them to participate in an hour long presentation, you had better grab their attention with something more than, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats.”

 So if you want to get your audience to become more involved and retain the information you want, video is the best way to achieve that.  Think of it this way; with a video you never actually ‘tell’ anyone anything, you show it to them. When someone isn’t spoon fed something and it’s enjoyable, they become more receptive to it.

 Give your audience what they want without making them feel like they’ve wasted time. The bonus is that video integrates into anything, it’s reusable and it can act as a constant reminder of what your attendees walk away with.

 How can you beat integrating, entertaining, quick, informative, and reusable? You can’t.

Author: Nick Priest, Creative Services Associate

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Industry News | Comments (0)

A Record Day!

May 20, 2011 – 2:08 pm

It was oddly quiet.  May 19th, one of the busiest days in massAV’s history, had been looming on the calendar.  Now it was here, and it felt too quiet.  All our technician’s offices were dark; they were all out on show sites.  The warehouse was nearly empty, with most of our equipment spread from Seattle to Salem.  With the volume and variety of work going on, 15 separate events, more than 80 individual labor positions, and a crew prepping to leave for a show in Vegas the next day, I expected a more harried atmosphere.  Instead it was quiet.  It seems all those hours spent coordinating details and logistics paid off.   

I tried to imagine what each technician was doing at that moment.  How many road cases had been loaded and unloaded onto different trucks.  How many graphics were being projected, how many voices amplified.  The number of banners that had been printed and hours of video edited.  I thought about the breadth of the events themselves, Annual Conferences, User Groups, Corporate Meetings, College Commencements, Town Halls, and what they all had in common.  They were all delivering their message.  The messages may have been different, some instructional, some motivational, but we were enabling each to be communicated.  It’s what the events industry is all about. 

Rich Ferrara, Account Executive

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Industry News | Comments (0)

Face to Face working for us

May 13, 2011 – 5:49 pm

Our most recent  posting was about the importance of Face to Face communication in this age of texting and emailing. On two recent live events, our account executives traveled to the show site and spent time with their clients before and during the show. The time and experience of being on-site( hours, a day or more ) has proven to us that face to face is important and necessary to solidifying relationships and being true partners. The clients gave us more work as a result. This might have happened anyway, but  “being there”  did make a difference! We are not unrealistic to think that this can happen all the time in our business. However, it is something to do for certain events and clients. Perhaps somethings never really change despite all the technolgy we have around us. People still need to know and trust you.

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Sales | Comments (0)

Face to Face Communication Vital to Success

May 2, 2011 – 3:23 pm

In 2009 Harvard Business Review published an article that I consider still quite relevant several years later. To be perfectly honest, I think this document will withstand the test of the technological era.

In a day and age where information and communication is readily available at your fingertips people seem to forget how to communicate without their flanges. It’s almost hard to remember when, if you wanted to talk to someone you either had to call them up on their phone and hope their line wasn’t busy, or drive over to wherever they were and sit down with each other for a good ole conversation.

The scary thing is….. That wasn’t that long ago!

But here is the scientific proof that the luddites don’t have it all wrong. That sometimes, technology can only get you so far and the way we used to do things are in fact the most effective.  And isn’t that what we all want? To be as productive as we can be on a daily basis?

Take a look at the link below which will allow you to download the report for yourself. In it you will see that out of the 2300 HBR subscribers, 79% stated that “in-person meetings are the most effective way to meet new clients to sell business” while 95% of all respondents said that “face-to-face meetings are a key factor in successfully building and maintaining long term relationships”.

The study also concluded that while the age of technology is still in full swing, business executives confirmed that face-to-face meeting benefits (both tangible and intangible) cannot be replaced by technology.

So it goes to show you that just because you’ve got the fastest thumbs in the West, or you can reply to emails faster than a speeding bullet, sometimes it’s better to get up and go say “Hi” to whomever you need to speak with and have a human interaction. We are all still human after all!

Click on the reference article for this Blog post:

 http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/documents/harvard-business-review_Oct09.pdf

Nick Priest, Creative Services Associate

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Industry News, Sales | Comments (0)

Trouble writing our Blog!

January 10, 2011 – 9:01 pm

We wanted a Blog…but it is no easy to spend time writing articles that are meaningful or to get others to contribute an article. We have alot going on all the time but what does a meaningful Blog need?

One recent exchange on the technical side involved a discussion about Grass Valley T2 IDDr units for digital playback/record vs. MAC Playback Pro and the Mac sytem won hands down. More techs/owners used/purchases the Mac system and backed it up with another Mac. Some used 27″ monitors and massAV’s sytems have 15″ monitors.

I am working on a way to post more regularly with some interesting or useful information. Wish me luck!

By Patricia Basteri | Posted in Company News, Latest Technology | Comments (0)

Coffee or AV?

June 22, 2010 – 1:40 pm

It seems like all meetings try to cut AV costs as much as possible, but are willing to blindly pay $85 – $100 per gallon for coffee.  So which is more important?  When you’re reading the Sunday paper, it’s coffee.  Before (or during) your morning commute, it’s coffee.  If you want to deliver a message to your attendees, however, it’s AV.  I’m not trying to pick on coffee, I love coffee, I’m just looking at the value of a product/service in relation to how much planners are willing to pay for it.  So how important is AV?  If the coffee is cold, or late, or – God forbid – not there, you’ll get some complaints on your Eval sheets.  If your CEO steps up to the microphone and there’s no sound, you might lose your job.  When it’s a recurring conference, attendees get approval to register based on what they’ve learned at previous meetings.  If there’s no AV, there’s no learning; pretty soon that means there’s no more attendees.  I suppose event planners negotiate AV so aggressively because it’s one of the few services where they actually have a choice.  Coffee comes from the catering department and that’s that, but you can bring in any AV vendor you want.  That choice is valuable and should be exercised, but you should take advantage of the opportunity by bringing in a vendor who will provide the best possible service for your meeting, not whoevers brew is the cheapest.

By Rich Ferrara | Posted in Industry News | Comments (0)

Top 5 Mistakes Meeting Planners Make Regarding AV

June 14, 2010 – 6:32 pm

1.  Thinking “I have to use in-house”. 

Many clients assume it’s easier to use the in-house AV department or, in some cases, that they HAVE to.  While there are certainly some instances when in-house makes sense, you should never consider it your only option – even if your requirements are basic.   It may take a few more phone calls, but the dedication you receive from your own vendor is far more valuable than the ease of having charges applied to the master.   Remember that everything is negotiable, so if you see fees listed for bringing in an outside AV vendor have the clause struck from the contract.  Even if you ultimately end up using in-house, it’s best to keep your options open. 

2.  Not booking sufficient set up time. 

Event staging takes time to set up.  If a meeting is scheduled at 8 AM but the ballroom isn’t available until 7:30, the show will not start on time.  It may cost more to rent the space for an additional few hours, but you’ll be buying a lot of security.  In the long run you may even end up saving money.  If renting the room the day before your event eliminates the need for an overnight set, the savings in overtime can offset the rental charges.  Additionally, sufficient set time gives you a fresher, more alert crew and minimizes the potential for mistakes.  On the other end, don’t forget time is also needed to strike the room.

3.  Viewing AV as an unnecessarily large expense.

Audio Visual can indeed comprise a large percentage of your overall budget, but think about the value it provides.  Other than the facility rental, it’s probably your most important expense.  The goal of every event is communication, and AV enables your messages to be delivered.  Every single attendee benefits from quality AV.  Not even the most dynamic presentation will make an impact if the sound and visuals are not clear.  Without AV, communication would be lost and your event would not achieve its goal.  Audio Visual is not a separate entity; it’s an integral and very valuable part of your event.

4.  Not budgeting for overtime and expenses. 

Your meeting may only last 6 hours, but when you add on a couple of hours to set up, an hour to strike, and an hour to load-in and out, you’re venturing into the dreaded land of overtime.  Schedule and resulting expenses must be factored into your budget.  The room rental might be lower on a holiday, but the labor rate will be higher.  An early morning start time might require additional set hands.  There also may be trucking costs, travel expenses, loading dock fees, and electrical charges.  Whether they come from the facility or an outside vendor, all expenses must be budgeted. 

5.  Trying to use as little AV as possible.

You need to have the basics in place to communicate your message anyway.  Why not take advantage of what’s there?  Upgrade a bit and put the gear to work for documentation, décor, and theme enhancement.    Event Staging provides a very effective means for creating a presence.  It lends prominence and establishes the perception of your event.  If you’ve hired an exciting guest speaker or are showcasing a new product, don’t you want the message to be delivered as dynamically as possible?   Don’t hold the AV back or always keep it to a minimum; use it to improve and enhance your event.

Rich Ferrara, Account Executive

By Rich Ferrara | Posted in Company News, Industry News | Comments (0)