7 PR tips and tricks to increase event awareness

You have almost set up all the details for your event: location, schedule, guests and speakers. But for everything to go smooth, you still need a few tricks and PR awareness, so everyone will be happy and attendees will talk about the event for a long time after it ends. This also means you will be able to spread your message to your target audience and attract potential customers and get positive press and publicity.

1. Write a blog

If you have enough time before the event – at least 6 months – you can create a blog for your event. It seems a bit outdated but hey – you are reading this on a blog, right? Here you can write posts about the topic of the event, announce new speakers or conferences, some promotions for tickets, maybe even a contest for a full-access pass. The purpose is making your audience come back to your blog for relevant content, even if they cannot attend this edition of the event, and keep the attendees posted with the latest news in the market.

2. Use Social Media to the max

With over 1.6 billion users, Facebook is now the biggest global media outlet. You need an official page for the event on Facebook or other social media. Here you can share posts from your blog, but do not limit yourself to that, you do not want to be boring or redundant. You can even post a live video on Facebook – a quick interview with one of the guests/speakers of your event, some footage of the location, as it is being prepared for the event or some rehearsals, depending on your event.

3. Engage your audience with contests

Two or three months before the event, create fun contests on your blog or social media pages and let people win tickets to your event. It’s best to make an original contest, with a fun task. For example, if your event is a concert, those who want to win need to post a video of themselves singing a song of the main band in the schedule. Be creative.

4. Get journalists on board

To make sure you get positive and enough media coverage, you can invite key journalists or bloggers prior to the event, and offer them a preview of what’s going to happen. Furthermore, you can facilitate some interviews with guests/speakers for top newspapers or televisions in your city that should be broadcasted before the event, so that people could be still able to buy tickets.

5. Goodie bags

People love receiving free stuff, so make sure you prepare a special gift for your attendees. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it has to be branded and thoughtful. You can offer anything from selfie sticks, headphones, stickers for the laptop, to discount vouchers for your next event, badges or plastic bracelets.

6. Free food or drinks

Maybe you won’t be able to offer a gourmet experience, but you can offer the illusion of it. Greet your attendees with a glass of champagne, prepare a simple candy bar for them or offer each one of them a bottle of water, if it’s a hot summer day. Kindness and taking care of your attendees goes a long way.

7. Partner with Charities

Donate some of your profit to a charity and everybody will win. People like helping other people and you probably do to, but in a simple way, without having to do too much. So if they find out that part of the money for the ticket will go to a charity, they will be more motivated to attend. 

When the event is over, get some rest and enjoy your success. But remember to share your results with your attendees, guests and everyone involved. You can make a graphic of the event – number of hours, number of people who attended, number of songs played, number of cakes eaten during the event or other funny figures. You can also make a video, presenting the whole event and giving some hints about the next one.

October 10, 2016 Event professionals, Events, fundraising events No comments yet

How to maximize event registrations and sales

One of the most important aspects to event business is the ticket sales. After all – that’s what makes it a business. Planners try different tactics in order to get the right people to register and attend their events. Of course, this is no easy job, considering that the industry is so competitive. There are many reasons to attend an event: to have a good time, to learn and network, to spend time with peers.

Oveit can help organizers optimize their sales with some interesting features that are available as soon as the account is created.

Real Time sales reports

First thing is first. When it comes to ticket sales, the best tool you need to have is a real time sales report. This is a vital tool, because you need to know at any time how many tickets were purchased up to that point and by whom. Oveit offers its customers various reports that give information regarding the number of tickets sold in a day, as well as the sums that were generated by the sales, split by events or ticket types.

issued-tickets

With these reports, the event planner can see at a glance whether the promotional campaigns are working and what their direct impact is on actual sales. If you plan a concert and decide to have a Facebook ad campaign for one week, you can see how that campaign affected the sales. If you observe that sales did not record a boost or an increase in numbers, then it is obvious that you need a shift in your promotional campaign. On the other hand, if you observe that the graphs are going sky high, it’s time to put some more money in that specific type of media, as it is clear that it’s working. This is viable for all other forms of marketing campaigns dedicated to promote your event and increase the number of tickets that are being sold.

Relevant customer data

It would be nice to get to know your attendees, wouldn’t it? With Oveit you can find out anything you want from your customers.

The form setup. You can choose from text, dropdown lists, email, dates and file uploads

The form setup. You can choose from text, dropdown lists, email, dates and file uploads

By enabling Oveit’s forms function, you can request any sort of information that is relevant for you. You can find out the attendees’ names, e-mails, positions in their companies, or even ask for their CVs. Why is this relevant for sales? Sales, in today’s world, is data. The more you know about your potential market, the better.

check-in

The check-in section. Search for attendees, edit their details and see order details.

Of course, it is important to ask the right questions to attendees. A large list of questions can go unanswered and the purchase flow is interrupted.

We recommend that you ask the customer her e-mail and basic data (name, company, position in the company), as these are the essentials. If you do this right, you will build up large data base collected and organized by Oveit, searchable and editable, which will always be available to you. You can also connect other applications you might have (for example a CRM) to our API and streamline data management. You will be able to see the customers’ activity and even reward your loyal customers at future events (for example with discount vouchers for loyal customers).

Active Media Partners

All events have media partners. Bigger events attract important media partners, but don’t worry if you plan a smaller event. You will definitely find media channels that are interested in your event. All you need to do is define your target audience and see where they get their news from. Once you have signed the media partnerships, you can use Oveit for something awesome: actively involve the media partners into ticket sales.

Copy, paste, embed and sell anywhere.

Copy, paste, embed and sell anywhere.

How? By using the embed function that Oveit has for every event, customers can purchase tickets directly from your media partner websites. The embed code functions just like any you would expect from an embed code and is compatible with any kind of website or screen resolution.

Customize the embed widget and make it fit your brand identity.

Customize the embed widget and make it fit your brand identity.

Your media partner just copies and pastes that code in the advertorial dedicated to your event. There you have it. Partners become sales channels. With this feature you can now have a full sales force directly from newspapers, online magazines or even blogs. You have full control over the data, at any time, so you know exactly who was the most prolific partner/seller.

The perfect check-out

The customer experience starts when the payment ends. This is the beginning of your customer relationship. She having a nice experience at the concert is entirely your job as an organizer.

Oveit can only help you with access management and all the other tools required for ticket sales. But even more, Oveit can help you stay in touch with your attendee. By keeping her attention and interest alive, she can become your loyal customer and will definitely attend to your future events.

A start to this new relationship between the planner and the attendee is the Oveit Check-out settings section that will enable you to send personalized e-mails to your attendees. By doing so, the customer will enjoy the attention you are offering her and be more receptive to anything you are doing or saying.

Also, you can create a small ‘Thank you’ page on your website so the customer will be redirected to it after ticket purchase. If you follow the previous advice and sell tickets directly from the media partners, this URL link is mandatory, as the customer can be redirected on your official website where she might find out more details about the event and about upcoming events.

October 10, 2016 Access management, Event management, Event professionals, Events No comments yet

A Short History of Magic Shows and Events

The world of magicians has been fascinating for both children and adults all around the world. Illusionism is known to be one of the oldest performing arts in the world and has dazzled the audience from generation to generation. Whether we are talking about the grand illusions of the 19th century, or about the spectacular shows of modern magicians, the magic shows have been around since 1845 when Jean Eugene Robert Houdin opened a magic theater in Paris. Considered by many to be the founding father of modern magic, Robert Houdin distinguished himself by the elegance and creativity of his shows and illusions.

The Houdini phenomenon

HarryHoudini1899Later on, at the beginning of the 20th century, the modern art of magic recorded a new important page in its history, as renowned show-man Harry Houdini created a world-wide phenomenon. His spectacular escapes fascinated millions around the world. Soon, Houdini became an international star. He developed a new style of magic, close-up magic. This style used different small objects such as coins, playing cards, scarves and ropes. With these items, the magician performed different tricks right in front of the audience, hence taking the illusion’s effect to a next level.

Throughout the 20th century, magic became more and more popular and many amateur illusionists started buying magic kits from the local department stores. Also, magic courses became available on a larger scale and the most famous was the ‘Tarbell Course in Magic’ which was an encyclopedia of magic written in eight volumes by Dr. Harlan Tarbell. As technology evolved and television became popular, the art of magic had to adapt. This led to another important moment in the history of Magic, the growth in popularity of David Copperfield.

How to make the Statue of Liberty vanish?

Considered by many aspiring magicians the “God” of Modern Magic, David Copperfield has amazed spectators from around the world with his impressive and original performances. You probably remember one of his best known performances: Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty vanish on live TV.

The Business of Magic Shows and Events

Nowadays, magic has become a profitable part of show business, as there are hundreds of TV shows, events and festivals dedicated to the art of magic.

Professional magicians are now part of associations and federations and here are two worth mentioning. The first is the International Brotherhood of Magicians which is the world’s largest magical organization with more than 13.000 members from 88 different countries. The other is FISM, the Federation Internationale des Societes Magiques, which is the international federation that brings together more than 95 magic societies from all over the world, representing over 50.000 magicians.

Every three years, FISM organizes the most important magic event in the world, The World Championships of Magic. The most recent Championship was held in 2015 in Rimini, Italy and the next one will be held in 2018 in Busan, South Korea.

Magic near the Carpathians

teatrul-magie

Source: The Theater of Magic

Though Europe has its fair share of magic shows and events, Eastern Europe has just started adopting this new type of events. In Romania, for example, the art of magic was barely known until a few decades ago. With just a couple of magicians that were known throughout the 20th century, magic was often associated with the world of circus. However, change started in 2008 when actor and magician Andrei Teasca returned from South Korea with a new concept: The Theater of Magic. Combining the art of illusionism with theater, the new concept became widely popular in Romania. With more than 70.000 spectators and over 50 different shows in the repertoire, the Theatre of Magic became the first Romanian organization to promote Magic as an art form. Through hard work and dedication, Andrei Teasca managed to establish the Federation of Magic which eventually was accepted as full member of FISM.

Founding the Harry Houdini Magic Festival, the Academy of Magic and now The Magician’s House (a place where everything is magic: bar, club, shop, shows), Andrei Teasca and his Theater of Magic continue working to develop the business side. As a result, Teasca’s disciple, Emil Dragan, became the first Romanian magician to participate at the World Championships of Magic in 2015 and his performance was appreciated at an international level.

Oveit is a proud partner of the Theatre of Magic and a great event registration software that helps the staff organize and coordinate events and shows, sell tickets and check in attendees at the entrance.

August 11, 2016 Event management, Event professionals, Events, Theater No comments yet

The TEDx Phenomenon

Even though we live in an era where technology offers us any kind of information we want with the cost of just one single mouse click, people seem to lack knowledge more than they did a couple of decades ago. Why is this happening?

We can blame it on the fact that younger generations keep away from libraries and books. We can also blame it on the media, always on the run for the sensational, and, of course, there is the internet… the place where freedom shakes hands with snooping eyes. But really, why are there signals in the media about the fact that some youngsters grow up in the darkness of ignorance? As the Daily Telegraph claims it in a trending article, children grow up with a lack of role models.

According to Helen Wright, the president of the Girls’ Schools Association, children “during this journey through their lives, from being a baby to being an adult, need to develop more of a perspective on life and they gain that from trusted adults; be they school teachers, be they family members, be they people you work with in the community. That’s our socialization, that’s how we move through from childhood to adulthood and start to understand the world.”

The lack of role models in our society is something that people have looked upon from the last decades of the previous century and this is why in 1984, Richard Saul Wurman set the cornerstone for what would become a leading conference phenomenon that influences and inspires millions of people worldwide: the TED talks.

TEDx

Originally, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) was an event that merged three different fields. In the first TED event, people witnessed a demo version of the compact disk, the e-book and also a couple of interesting 3D graphical revolutions presented by Lucasfilm. During this first event, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot showed the attendees how to map coastlines by using fractal geometry. Though the themes presented at the first TED were very interesting, the event was not a financial success. It took 6 years for Wurman and his partner Harry Marks to do the event again. Now, however, times have changed.

In 1990, the TED conference held in California was a major success and it became an annual event. The number of attendees grew and although it was an invitation-only event, more and more people became interested in the themes that were being discussed at the TED talks.

A new era for the TED talks began in 2000, when Wurman decided it was time to find a successor for his project and approached new-media entrepreneur Chris Anderson. Anderson’s NGO Sapling Foundation acquired TED for £4m and soon TED became a world-wide phenomenon. Its purpose now goes beyond Technology, Entertainment and Design. It soon became a platform for “ideas worth spreading” meant to make the world a “smarter and better place”.

There have been numerous speakers at the conferences, some of them being world-famous personalities such as Bill Gates, Bono, Jamie Oliver, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Stephen Hawking, Julian Assange and many more. All the speakers are chosen by Anderson personally, as he also hosts the conferences and decides what talks go online.

David Binder on the Arts Festival Revolution

During the years of him being the TED curator, Anderson expanded the conference so that it covered all topics possible, including science, business and personal development. He built a Fellows program that now has over than 300 alumni and established the TED Prize which is being awarded to outstanding people that have “one wish to change the world”. In just a decade, TED went on a journey to become more than a conference. It is now a worldwide stage for thinkers and doers from many areas who share their ideas and make people dare for more.

In 2009 Anderson made TED a global brand. Now quite the star on the internet and throughout the world, Anderson took the motto “ideas worth spreading” to a whole new level. He introduced the TEDx initiative which offered TED licenses to organizers from all over the world so they can create their own TED events. Until now, there have been more than 8,000 events all over the world, generating an archive of over than 60,000 TEDx talks available on the internet.

In 2016, Oveit became a partner of TEDx Bucharest. A locally organized event, licensed by TED, TEDx Bucharest began its activities in 2009, aiming to make a positive impact on the development of the local and national community of thinkers and doers. The latest event, Women of Now, held on the 16th of June 2016, was a well received as it presented the local community a conference focused on the women of today: women who are mothers and daughters, best friends and role models but also business partners, top leaders, innovators and achievers.

The TED phenomenon is growing and necessary. In a world where the darkness of ignorance seems to be growing, every TED speaker is a beacon of light, a living proof that the future generations will not only have plenty of role models but eventually will grow up into becoming role models themselves.

June 28, 2016 Event professionals, Events No comments yet

Top Largest Gaming Conventions and Events in the World

Gaming has taken the world by storm and it seems it won’t be stopping soon. eSports, mobile gaming, huge investments in developing increasingly impressive games have all been factors in creating a global gaming phenomenon.

Gamers and gaming industry representatives gather and interact each year in some fantastic events. We decided to take a loom at the top largest gaming conventions and events. So here they are:

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in US and Australia – 70 000 ++ attendees

pax-prime-logo

PAX, the event formerly known as Penny Arcade Expo, is a series of gaming events held in Seattle, Boston, Melbourne, and San Antonio. Though the exact number of attendees has not been published since 2012, we know that it has been on the rise and you should consider a figure way above 70 000.

The event was created by Jerry Hulkins and Mike Krahulik in 2004 as a gaming – only event. Jerry and Mike are also the authors of Penny Arcade, an webcomic focused on gaming culture. Following the success of Penny Arcade, they’ve decided they need a place where gamers can get together and experience their favorite hobbies together. So PAX was born.

The first edition was attended by 3 300 people in Bellevue, Washington, at the Meydenbauer Center. As the word spread out PAX moved to other cities and then other countries. In 2013, PAX arrived in Australia. That same year, passes for PAX Prime, the original Washington Festival, were sold out within 6 hours.

To make room for the incoming stream of game developers interacting with the gaming community, a new event was born within the PAX ecosystem: PAX Dev. As the event’s website states “PAX Dev is about elevating the art and creating a place to share, debate and learn.”

Igro Mir in Russia – 157 000 attendees

igromir-logo

Igro Mir (meaning “Gaming World” in Russian) is the largest games event in Russia. It is organized by the committee of Russian Game Developers Conference in Moscow every year since 2006.

While many things can be said about the conference, like the fact that it grew steadily since its launch, that the event took Moscow by storm and more, a certain pattern comes up when it’s being reviewed. Can you notice this beautiful pattern?

igromir-photos

Results for “IgroMir 2015 Russia”

ChinaJoy in China – 270 000 attendees

chinaJoy-2016-Logo-1

The largest gaming and digital entertainment event in Asia is ChinaJoy or China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference .

The event features more than 120 000 sq. m. in exhibition space, over 3500 games showcased and visitors from more than 30 countries.

ChinaJoy is growing rapidly and expects over 270 000 attendees this year.

Tokio Game Show in Japan – 270 000 attendees

tgs

The TGS 2016 theme illustration. Source.

The Tokio Game Show or TGS started in 1996. It is held once every year, in September, in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. The show is focused on Japanese games but often international game producers attend the event to showcase upcoming titles.

The event grew steadily since start and has reached a record of 270 197 attendees in 2013.

This year the number of expected attendees is 230 000 and the theme is “Press start to play the future”, a take on how the gaming industry is redefining the future of entertainment.

This year’s theme has been illustrated by Ippei Gyobu who mentioned his view on the impact of games:

“The game world is moving from monitors to headsets, and at some point gamers will probably even remove the headset. Is that world real or unreal? Games are creating the whole different concept of the world! The Tokyo Game Show has continually delivered to us the history of those revolutions, and is turning 20 this year. I can’t wait to go see a new revolution. “

Brasil Game Show in Brasil – 300 000 attendees

In 2015 Brasil Game Show attracted more than 300 000 attendees which makes it the largest event of its type in Latin America.

BGS is a mix between gaming, cosplay, entertainment and business opportunities for gaming industry professionals. Its main expo area is focused on B2C but there is also a special B2B space where entrepreneurs and professionals can meet and interact.

The show was created in 2009 by Marcel Tavares, an entrepreneur and journalist. One thing about Tavares is that he really likes video games. He likes them so much that throughout the years he has acquired 350 consoles, 3500 games and hundreds of accessories.

BGS grew at a rapid pace and the reason for that is the high potential of the LatAm gaming market.

A report by Superdata puts the gaming market in the region at $4.5 billion, with Brasil accounting for 35% of this figure:

LatAm-Report

Gamescom in Germany – 345 000 attendees

originalPreviewJW

Gamescom gathered 345 000 attendees and 806 exhibitors in 2015. The European gaming convention brought in people from 96 countries to attend 4 days of gaming extravaganza.

The convention, held in Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is organized by the Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software. For four days is home to game developers showcasing their creations and avid gamers interacting with them.

The fair includes cosplay village, music and on-stage entertainment, interactive panels and a very, very large exhibition area.

Gamers can test games before their market release, purchase merchandise, have fun and even buy games before they are available publicly.

May 25, 2016 Event management, Event professionals, Events, Festivals 1 comment