Seven creative ideas for the perfect goodie bag

Goodie bags are an effective way to thank people for attending your event. Here are some ideas of gifts you can offer in your goodie bags, so that your attendees won’t throw them right after they exit the location. Remember, a successful goodie bag contains original items, that not only look cool, but are also useful!

1. Gadgets and accessories

One thing you should always put in your goodie bags are USB flash drives, loaded with relevant information about the event and the topics discussed, especially if you invited media representatives to your event. You can also offer headphones or mini mice for laptops, branded with your logo. Anyone needs these items, so your gift will be highly appreciated.

2. Attractive clothing

The cheapest object where you can display your logo is a T-shirt. Make sure you choose one made out of good fabric, preferably cotton, and only print a small logo, so that people can really wear it on the street, without being ashamed. Remember, if you wouldn’t wear it, no one will. You can also brand hoodies, sun glasses, hats, caps, or even raincoats.

3. Eco-friendly objects

No matter the subject of your event, people will also enjoy an eco-friendly gift – you can give them a refillable water bottle, a baby tree key chain (a small plant that grows inside a capsule which you need to water weekly and take care of) or a solar powered portable phone chargers.

4. Sweets

Another great idea for a goodie bag gift are sweets. For example, everyone enjoys a tasty and nicely decorated cupcake, a box of mints in a colored box or some chocolate candies. You can also offer some personalized cookies, with your logo made out of sugar icing, if your budget allows that.

5. Small toys

You may think that offering toys to your adult guests is a very bad idea, but here is why you are wrong. If you organized an important event for your target audience and the market, people from other cities or even countries will attend. Most of them are busy persons that will not have time to do some shopping for their children. So when they return home, they will already have a special gift for their child, right from your goodie bag. Try something unisex, like a small teddy bear, a wooden yo-yo or a deck of cards. Of course, you can brand each of them with your logo.

6. Special discount vouchers

If you have a recurrent event, a good idea to make sure that your attendees will also come to the next event is to give them a voucher with a special discount for buying tickets. Remember, the discount needs to be real and bigger than early bird or last minute discounts. An event registration software could be a great tool to identify those attendees that qualify for a discount.

7. Objects related to your event’s main topic

If you know your audience very well, you can try to offer targeted gifts. For example, if you organize a gourmet cooking event, you can offer your guests a cooking book, pocket edition. At a conference about healthy living, guests can receive vitamin supplements or eco laundry detergent. If you organize a book fair, you can offer your attendees a discount to a special library in the city. Think of what would you like to receive and try to find an interesting and also cheap alternative for you own event.

March 16, 2017 Business events, Events 1 comment

Top 7 ways to increase event registrations to your conference

Everything is planned for your event – speakers, schedule, catering, and location. All you have left to do is start registering attendees to your event and this is not an easy task. You have to make your event stand out in the crowd and convince people to spend money on registrations. Therefore, here are some proven tactics to increase your sales, especially when you’re using the right event registration software.

1. Set up your pricing strategy

Before setting a price for your event registration, take time to research what other prices are on the market. Don’t go way over the average price, even if you’re planning for an wonderful event and you have great speakers and a diverse schedule. Also, don’t go too low, because that will position your event as a low quality one. A good idea is to have a high, but affordable price, and offer some discounts, every now and then.

2. Early bird or last minute event registrations

Set a date until attendees can register at a lower cost. This way, you encourage potential attendees to register to your events sooner, so they can receive a better pricing. One other tip is selling last minute registration, at a great cost, but make sure you do this very close to the event. Don’t start the last minute campaign too early, because you will discourage people registering in advance, in the future. A good idea is to sell last minute registrations two or maximum three days prior to your event.

3. Reach out to former attendees

If your event is recurrent a good way to build a strong attendee base is to announce the event to your former attendees. If they attended once in the past and they’ve enjoyed the experience, they are more likely to register again. To increase your chances, you can offer them a discount or a special gift – for example, you can give them free access to a special conference during your event or maybe access to a welcome-drink with the speakers. It’s up to you how you choose to reward them for their loyalty.

4. Ask for help from partners

Ask your partners to promote your event. They don’t have to do anything complicated: Facebook posts are a great way to engage their audience. Imagine that: if you have 10 partners for your events and they all share it on social media, 10 different communities will find out about your event, so your chances of people buying tickets increase greatly.

5. Fuel sales with employee contests

So you plan an event and have a team of, let’s say, 15 people working on this project. Challenge them. You can make a fun contest for the team: each of them can become an event ambassador and help with sales and registrations. The one with the most registrants brought on board will win a prize of your choice: a gym membership, a day at the spa or anything that you know your employees may want – of course, at a reasonable price. Or you can even hand out prizes with low costs: a free day or an work-at-home day, a better desk for the winner, a new chair or a new set of headphones. The point is to make it fun for the team and build up event awareness with the help of the people closest to the planning.

6. Go full digital with the perfect online tool

A good idea for handling registrations is going full digital. Use an online event registration software, such as Oveit. Oveit is a cloud tool that allows event organizers to manage events, registration data, customer relationship and cash flow. Oveit runs embedded on your website and implementation is as easy as copy and paste! You get multiple marketing options and an easy way of handling sales, managing your team and finances.

7. Distribute your message on Social Media

Your social media pages need to be constantly updated. You can post news about your event, live videos showing the preparations and short interviews with the speakers. You can also offer  some small (or larger) contests, where you an offer discount for the registrations, or advertise on social media, a good way to target your potential attendees.

November 4, 2016 Business events, Event management, Event professionals, Events No comments yet

Tips for planning the perfect press conference

Source: Share Press

Source: Share Press

If you have an important message to send to your target audience and the market, a press conference is a good idea, since it can be organized on an accessible budget and the results can be pretty amazing, if you follow some easy rules that you can find below.

Choose the right topic

Plan press conferences for important subjects. A successful brain surgery is something worth announcing, while a weekly concert happening in bar is not. Good press conference topics include new product launches, store grand openings, significant achievements or note worthy events in any area. Don’t waste your guests’ time or your own by planning an event with a poor topic: not only will your reputation have to suffer, but you may get a low media coverage, since journalists that might show up won’t find a noteworthy subject.

Choose the right people to invite

Some event planners’ aim is getting lots of journalists at the press conference, but this is not necessarily the best idea. Instead, try to invite relevant journalists and bloggers to your conference. For example, if you plan a press conference about a famous band releasing a new album, don’t invite journalists that are focused on politics. It’s just not their focus. Therefore – plan your invitations taking into account the journalist’s topics of interest.

Food and drinks

If the conference takes longer than 3 hours, cater to your guests needs with snacks and drinks. Try sandwiches, finger food and other options that are not too messy and that can be eaten standing or even writing, during the conference. Try avoiding potato chips, apples or other treats that might be overheard. On the other hand, if the conference takes less than 3 hours, plan for light catering: water, coffee or tea and some biscuits and cakes selection.

Find the right venue

Besides the fact that the venue has to match the event (no fancy hall for a rather usual event), you have to make sure that the place you choose is easy to find and get to. Imagine that, on the day of your event, it rains or snows really bad. No one will want to wander on the streets, all wet and freezing, looking for the location of your conference. Try venues that are close to metro or public transportation stations and that also have enough parking options, for those who come by car.

Plan to start on time

This tip is actually very important. Journalists have very tight schedules. Make sure you stick to the planning. Start at the announced time. Failing to do that looks rather unprofessional. Maybe it won’t be a huge hit to your credibility but you may lose media coverage, since your guests might actually leave if you are way behind the schedule.

Plan to be ready before the start

Before you set the date to your event, make sure that it does not conflict with other significant or newsworthy events that might draw attention away from your press conference. On the day of the event, make sure you have everything ready at least an hour before anyone is expected to arrive. This way, you will stay in control and not forget essential details. Take your time to check everything – schedule, catering, merchandise or other promotion materials, guests’ order – in order to have a great event.

Free take-aways that carry your message

Everybody loves a fun take away bag and it’s a good idea to use them at your event. But remember, you try to send a message to your target audience, so just make sure the gifts are useful and related to the subject of the conference. You should include a copy of the press release – better an electronic copy, but the hard copy works as well, some extra information – a book, a yearly report, some statistics – and personalized gifts. For example, if your topic is the collection launch of a famous designer, you can include a sample from that collection.

Thank your guests

After the event, send some personal thank you notes to thank the journalists covering your conference. This will strengthen your media relations and it is also a way to make sure they have all the information they need in order to write a comprehensive coverage of your event. To have all the relevant information in one place, consider using an event registration software to deliver a professional conference.

November 4, 2016 Business events, Event professionals, Events No comments yet

Tips for startups attending Web Summit

This time of the year, lots of tech companies have one question to answer: Is it worth attending Web Summit or not?

Many claim that Web Summit has grown so large in the last couple of years, that it is impossible to get good results for your company. Others claim that it’s a bit too expensive and there is not much that a company can gain from attending Web Summit. Well, from the Oveit experience of Web Summit 2015, where we were an official Alpha Start-up, we can say that it’s definitely worth it and we’ll tell you why, how we managed to have such an amazing experience and why we’re looking forward to Web Summit 2016 in Lisbon.

The epicenter of IT & Tech

For a start-up that wants to succeed in the tech world, it is important to be there and get a feeling of the market and like-minded people. And what other place is better than a place where you can meet everyone and get updates regarding everyone else’s activity. At Web Summit there are lots of Alpha start-ups from different countries that develop new apps or gadgets for different industries.

You’ll find e-commerce start-ups, AI start-ups, gaming start-ups, medical (tech & apps) start-ups, etc. Besides the start-ups, the official numbers are: more than 50.000 attendees, more than 7.000 CEOs, more than 15.000 companies from more than 150 countries. So yes, it’s huge and there are lots of opportunities. You can meet companies that have the same market as yours, you can network, gain access to new markets and partner with people from all over the world and, in case you want it, you might even get to know an Angel Investor or a VC.

Badges and pitches

Every attendee that goes to Web Summit will receive a badge. As an Alpha Start-up, you might want to keep an eye on the Investor Badge, color-coded with red in 2015. If you’re raising capital, this is a great way to meet an investor and give him a short pitch. Careful: this means that there are hundreds of others like you on the lookout for those Investor badges. They usually walk around the stands and look at the companies. If they’re interested they will approach you, but it’s important to get their attention and give them a fast and precise presentation of what you’re doing. Remember, your pitch is the key.

On the other hand, there’s a trick that nobody will tell you at Web Summit. Usually, the Investor Badges are the most desired and sought after. This is why many important investors have stopped wearing them. I’m sure that you can understand that being approached by hundreds of people is not extremely pleasant, as many investors want to take their time into studying the companies that might be interesting for them. So, the badge can be deceiving. Therefore make sure that all the people coming to visit your stand are offered a pleasant experience. You never know how you’ll meet your Angel even if he doesn’t wear an Investor badge.

Use the app and mind the internet!

All Web Summit attendees gain access to the Web Summit app. With this app you can contact other people that you might want to meet and you can set up private meetings. However, there’s one trick to the app. It requires internet and internet is one tricky thing to have at Web Summit. Now we don’t know how the Internet will be in Lisbon this year, but you might expect that having tens of thousands of people accessing the event’s wi-fi is less than perfect.

Our solution? Linkedin. If you want to get in touch with people, connect with them before Web Summit and contact them via Linkedin during Web Summit. Last year, Linkedin was a great choice for many looking for networking opportunities.

Select the business cards

The key to good networking is the business card. Make sure you bring a lot of business cards with you. You will be handing them out with the speed of light. Make them stand out.

There will be so many business cards going around that if you manage to make yours stand out from the crowd, people will remember you, or at least they’ll have a memory of your product/company. Having set up an Alpha or Beta Start-up Booth, expect a lot of people visiting your stand and offering business cards.

Make sure you jot down with key details about your interaction with the people you are interacting with. It will help when you’re going to follow-up on a potential lead. And one more thing… freebies! Everyone likes freebies, so if you have the budget to make some goodies, do spend it. It’s worth it! From power banks to t-shirts, freebies will make people remember you.

Keep your eyes and ears open. Opportunities might be everywhere!

There’s a lot of things to do at Web Summit and there are lots of places to visit. You will bump into people that might be interesting for your app everywhere, from the cafeteria and up to the venues where lectures are being held. Make sure you mingle and keep your eyes open to spot any interesting name/company on the badge. Also, the major companies (such as Google, Facebook, etc) have their own big stands so you will be able to get in touch with them quite easily. Another important part of Web Summit is to party.

Yeah, you heard it right, go wild at parties. Every night there is a party held in one venue. Make sure you’re there and interact with everyone. And have fun. There’s no place better to connect with people than the place where everybody is relaxed and open to conversations. Grab your drink and mingle. Last but not least, be open to discussions about your product/company anywhere you go.

See you in Lisbon!

September 27, 2016 Business events, Events No comments yet

5 Tips for the Perfect Event Badges

Badges. We all want these small items, because they are our gateway to the event. Backstage passes, VIP badges, press badges or regular entrance badges, we’ve all come across them, regardless of the event. Small and sometimes unnoticeable, badges are one of the most important elements that can make an event good or bad. And while a nice badge will make your attendees wear it with pride and keep it as a souvenir, a bad one can also help. It won’t stand out from the crowd but it will do the trick of getting you inside the venue for your event.

youth-badges-event

So, badges are important for events, but can also be a big burden for the organizer. Ever wondered how it feels to manually create 100 badges for your event? Well, if you think it’s a pain… try to think about big events such as ICEEfest (3500+ badges) or even WebSummit (40.000+ badges), all of them personalized and separated in different categories. If you’re an event organizer, you know what we are talking about, but if you are just planning your first event, you are about to embark on a journey that could be easily called “the nightmare of badges”. Of course, there are some tips and tricks on how to overcome it.

So you have your event planned, tickets are sold or you have several attendees registered. Now comes the badge part. Once someone comes to the event venue, he will be welcomed at the access point, where he will have his ticket checked and badge given. How do you make the badge attractive, so that people will wear it and use it during the event?

1. Create one badge to rule them all

When it comes to badges, size does matter J. There are different regular badge sizes but generally, the standard sizes are: 8×10 cm and 10.5 x 14.85cm (A6). Basically you can do it any size you prefer, but it’s easier to follow the standards as usually the badge goes into a plastic pocket and unless you want to create a personalized pocket, you might want to go the traditional way.

2. Information is the key

The badge has a limited space and you might want to select what information goes there. It is essential that it contains the First Name and Last Name of the attendee, preferably in that order. Then you might want to add important information, such as the name of the company that the attendee works for or his position in the company. You can add other information as well, but make sure that the text isn’t cluttered. A badge full of text will become unreadable and that is definitely not its purpose.

3. Designing your event badge

badges-2A white badge is not a good badge – it will probably end up in the garbage bin at the end of the event. Badge design is vital for your event, as it reflects the whole image of the event. Besides the graphic elements that vary from one event to the other, you might want to take into consideration the badges for different categories at the event. The regular attendee badge should be different from the VIP badge or Press badge. Also, a complex event can have different venues and different ticket options, so badges can help your organizing staff determine the identity of any attendee. To do this differentiation you can use various colors or designs. Your call.

4. Adding sponsors to the event badge

Yes, badges are the most attractive elements for the sponsors. Why? Because everyone gets a badge at the event and if your main sponsor is well positioned on the badge, everyone’s eyes will see the company’s logo. The badge “spot” is a precious one so you might want to consider a single sponsor to be positioned on the badge. That way you might get a good sponsorship just because you are playing the badge game correctly.

badge-design-1

With Oveit, badge design is easy and fun

5. Additional badge usage

Depending on your event, the badge might also prove useful for other things as well, not only access. For example, by unfolding the badge you might get the map of the event venue, the event schedule, or both. Thus, the badge can turn into your personal event assistant with just a couple of flips.

As you’ve seen, badges can be a lot of things and can be a useful tool for your event. The most important thing, however, is that the badge can be a mirror of your event. If it’s done in a professional way, then there’s a good chance that your event will be professional. Spend time on your badge design and your event will benefit from it. Guaranteed!

We also have a little secret regarding the time spent to defeat the “badge nightmare”. Time to unravel it: Go to Oveit.com, create an account and you’ll find our Badge design tool. Activate it and you can do thousands of personalized badges with just a couple of clicks. You don’t believe us? Give it a try and you’ll never want to use another badge design tool ever again.

July 19, 2016 Business events, Event management, Events, Oveit Features 1 comment