CGM blog: Hosting an event that matters

15 Jun CGM blog: Hosting an event that matters

One of the big difficulties when hosting an event is making it matter.

Many businesses opt for tried and trusted networking events – a golf day or a meet and greet.

Fine, but these aren’t likely to stand out, say much about the way you do business or attract publicity – that may not be the point so who cares?

But say you do want to make a splash and create a memorable event that is congruent with your vision and values, then what?

First, you need to define your purpose – which means thinking through what you really want to achieve.

If the aim is to win new business you’ll need to be subtle. Few folks want to attend an event in their own time to be sold or preached to.

If you want to raise awareness and your profile, you need to make sure it is newsworthy – worth being in the news – or at least appealing to an audience of some description (ideally your target market).

I’m always amazed why professional firms invite contacts they know mainly from the same sector (often competitors) and wonder why their events make little impact.

People don’t just buy from people – they buy into values – which can be anything from your industry knowledge to ethics, character and even competence. If you can’t host a decent event how good will you be to do business with?

You’re sticking your head above the parapet so it needs to be well structured, include ingredients that make sense to your business and have a defined purpose for why people should attend.

If you have speakers or visual elements, these need to be prepared and trained, if needed.

There’s nothing worse than a bumbling, mumbling speaker. I recently went to a business event where the MD boasted about how much profit they’d made (no thanks for the hard-working staff, mind), told the audience which way they should vote and then ordered them to join in a singalong. The room emptied within minutes.

If you provide giveaways, promotional information and have signage or banners make sure these are professionally designed and printed.

Content, of course, is always king.

Earlier this year we hosted an event called Inspire 2015. The aim was to inspire business people for the new year and our varying speakers were involved in differing business, charity and community sectors.

We attracted a packed (paying) audience and several sponsors – but didn’t bother to speak at the event ourselves.

Instead, we managed Inspire 2015 and explained our relationship with each speaker throughout the event and how their values matched ours.

People met, shared conversations and we know they have done business since. We had our own leads to follow up, of course – but didn’t seek to sell at all. No one had to inch towards the door – it was four fabulous hours – and we’ll definitely do it again.

This week, CGM-ers Teresa Green, Tom Watt and I will host a Sport & Spice event for the Worcestershire Literary Festival – a blend of a sports quiz, spice challenge (provided by Indian cook and author Anita Sharma-James) and a couple of sports author talks.

The aim is to do something different – to contribute to a local festival, a bit of profile-raising but mainly lots of fun.

Above all else, an event should be something you’d want to attend yourself. Now that’s not a bad starting point to build your own innovative event….

Hosting your own business seminar or event is the theme at the CGM Birmingham Business Media Club meeting on Friday, June 19 (9.30am-12.30pm) at Longbridge Innovation Centre.

Chris Green is managing director of Chris Green Media.