- Thursday, March 02, 2017
- 0 Comments
The event management industry is an ocean. If you are planning to enter the industry you should be aware of the different events. After gaining awareness through research and exposure, it is time for you to decide where you would like to place yourself or your company in this challenging but exciting industry.
Why choose a niche?
You need to focus. Having a focus will give you an unfair advantage. In addition, as a brand you will establish a specialization that you and you alone can own. If you do well or aspire to be the best in that specialization, you can establish a brand that will always be on top of the minds of your target market.
Specialization
There are some basic events where you can choose to focus your energy.
Social events that includes:
- Weddings
- Bridal and baby showers
- Theme parties
- Children’s birthday parties
- Milestone anniversaries and birthdays
Corporate events that includes:
- Corporate Launches
- Awarding Ceremonies
- Christmas Party
- Below-the-line promotions
In Corporate events there is also the MICE component:
- Meetings like shareholder meetings, etc.
- Incentive Travel
- Conferences and Conventions
- Exhibitions
Time to take action
Everything starts when you decided to take that one step. Exlinkevents is now on its 17 years in the MICE event management industry. Recently, we have been recognized as the Best Events Management Industry in the country.
We can’t have this recognition if we have not decided to start and be the best that we can be in our chosen specialization.
So choose your niche, work hard, stay focused and earn the fruits of your labor.
- Thursday, March 02, 2017
- 0 Comments
The world is just a vast place. Sometimes, you uncover your strategies; and sometimes you need help uncovering them.
Sales, as with any other industry, is vastly developing over time. Customer preferences change, business settings change, and Sales is always adapting to the environment. Move slow and your business is down dead, so the only way to catch up with your competition is to constantly move up. The thing is, how will you move up when you haven't uncovered your sales strategy?
That is where Sales Leadership Masterclass comes in. Led by International Sales Expert and Author Tom Abbott, this master class helps you uncover the secrets and develop your sales team further so you can one-up your competition.
This is open to everyone interested in Sales and Sales Leadership. Again, this is just once in a lifetime, so make sure you mark the date and bring your notebook and pen for a day of learning.
The Sales Leadership Master Class will be held at the Tower Club Makati this March 31, Friday from 9am to 5pm. Reserve a seat right now by calling Ex-Link at (02) 633-0153 or 643-3887, SMS 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com. Seats run fast, so get that phone and call now!
As a BONUS, we're giving a chance to one lucky person to learn Tom Abbott's insights in developing your sales team - All you need to do is to follow the instructions on our Rafflecopter below, or on the Master Class Philippines page on Facebook.
- Wednesday, March 01, 2017
- 0 Comments
In Judy Allen’s Event Planning book she
mentioned a great acronym that I use in crafting and implementing my event
management projects.
The acronym is not only easy to understand by a
great guide for beginners and veteran event management professionals as well.
Here is the acronym she devised and you might
also use as well to aid you in delivering a successful event.
She called it D.R.I.V.E. An apt word if you ask
me, for event managers are drivers of the events they are producing or
organizing. Event managers hold the steering wheel. In their hands, depend if
the event can reach its target destination.
Often times, there will be bumps along the way,
but if the driver knows how to navigate his way, no doubt that the trip will be
enjoyable and the destination reachable.
I know you are excited to know it, so here it
goes.
D is for Define Company and event objectives.
Everything must start in answering the question
why? Why does your company exist? Why are you doing the event?
Answering the why points to the company and
event objectives.
For me, it is finding your true north. It will
act like a compass that will always guide you whenever you feel that you are
getting lost in the middle of your event implementation.
R is for Research and develop your event vision.
If you are creating your event for the first
time you might as well create a remarkable event. Create purple cow if you ask
Seth Godin.
If you will not create a remarkable event, it
will be invisible.
This is the reason you need to research deeply.
As you become confident that you have gathered a sufficient data, you can now
develop events that will stand out in the crowd.
I call it a differentiated event.
Differentiation is a strategy that will allow you to be memorable to your
client and outlast your competition.
I is
According to Jerry Gregoire, former CIO of Dell, “ Customer experience is the
next competitive battlefield.”
I agree with this with wholeheartedly.
Customer experience has become an obsession not only among companies, but also
in the event management industry.
In fact, event management companies are now
called experience agencies. This goes to show you how important and precious a
commodity providing a great customer experience is.
Therefore, the rule of thumb is to innovate your
customer experience or die.
V is for Visualize your event step by step to capture all essential
logistical event requirements and expenses.
God is in the detail. I always try to emphasize
this in my staff and students. This is how we play the event management game.
Checking and cross checking every detail. Trying to act like Andrew Grove of
Intel’s bold statement in his famous book, which is “Only the Paranoid
Survives.”
Secondly, profit is our lifeblood. We will
continue to grow and survive this competitive world if we will watch carefully
our cash leaks. We can make this possible by creating a cost sheet and watching
carefully our expenses.
Lastly, I believe that if you can visualize it,
you can execute it. The late Stephen Covey is correct when he said that there
are two types of creation. First creation is the creation that takes place in
the mind. Second creation is the physical creation. Just look at the building
that started not when the construction began, but when the blueprint was
created.
E is for Execute with detailed precision and timing.
“Art is an
accurate statement of the time in which it was made”, said Robert
Mapplethorpe.
Timeliness is everything. It is the exact
moment where we deliver the drama, breaks the suspense and present the surprise
that completely affects and influences the audience.
Timeliness is also the reason that precision is
achieved. It is the walk-in music when the name of the speaker was called. It
is the event card or event photo plate posted in
In summary, D.R.I.V.E. is because
- Wednesday, March 01, 2017
- 0 Comments
One of the problems sales people have is that they are not facing actual buyers. This is a less worse situation than having no buyers talking to you at all, but it still does not contribute to the sales quota. So what should we do? Here's a few tips:
- Explain yourself. Maybe the customer is supposed to be directed at the right person but ended up to you - and in this case, it's your duty to help them be referred directly (this is called a warm referral, where you will introduce them to the right contact).
- Dig deeper. Sometimes, your non-qualified buyer is actually a qualified buyer after all and they just don't know where to go to. This is perfect for salespeople of companies that offer more than one service.
- Refer them to someone else. Not actually the best idea around, but you can mention them to the kinds of companies that will actually cater to them (it's OK not to state which for ethical reasons).
Attend the Sales Leadership Masterclass with International Sales Expert and Author Tom Abbot this Friday, March 31, 2017 at the Tower Club Makati and learn from the expert to help you and your sales team succeed in their targets.
There are a few seats left, so call Ex-Link at (02) 633-0153 or 643-3887, SMS 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com to get yours. Groups discounts are available, so get that phone and call us now!
- Monday, February 27, 2017
- 0 Comments
“No experience has been too unimportant, and the smallest
event unfolds like a fate, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric in
which every thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and laid alongside
another thread and is held and supported by a hundred others.” – Rainier Maria Rilke
Event Design is the second step in Dr. Joe
Goldblatt’s event management process. It is the stage where we discuss the
experience we needed to impart to our audience.
Our imagination’s capacity is the only limit in
our event design capacity. Of course, the budget also plays an important role
in the event design.
But regardless of the budgetary constraints or
the high expectations on the event design we are crafting. The event design has
five E’s that must be considered in creating the powerful experience that the
target audience is excitedly awaiting to be immersed in.
I like Judy Allen’s 5 E’s in Event Designing
Objectives in creating an experience. Here they are:
1.
Educational
We attend events to learn something. In fact,
some events clearly specify the takeaways that the audience gets after
attending the event.
I am a lover of learning and I am always on a
lookout for events that will enhance my knowledge.
Therefore, the event must be educational educational
2.
Enlightening
“Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for
greater collective enlightenment.”
-Elon Musk
Sometimes, we attend events to shed light to
People need a spark. The best events are enlightening. When the audience
is enlightened then we have provided the best experience they can have in being
part of our event.
3.
Engaging
Our age is the Age of Engagement. People are
looking for events that will increase their participation. People are looking
for events that will allow them to feel ownership.
The only way to achieve increased participation
and feeling of ownership is through a carefully crafted event design that puts
premium on engagement.
The more our audience is engaged, the more
they become our event evangelists spreading the good word about what people can
gain from attending our events.
As Benjamin Franklin puts it, “ Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I may
remember. Involve me, I will learn.”
4.
Energizing
Positive energy is contagious. We must always
strive to design an event that will spark the positive energy from the audience.
We all go to live events to experience the
energy of the crowd. This is the reason that events can never be replaced by
online platforms.
The energy of live events is so powerful that
it is like an addiction that most people wanted to have, sometimes the only
reason why they attend events.
Therefore, creating a program or content that
is energizing is a must.
In fact, people are paying high participation fees just to listen to speakers that can uplift their energy. It is also the same reason we attend
sporting events or championships because the energy is so high, we wanted to
bask in it.
5.
Entertaining
“I don't think people are fools, and I think they deserve a
good attitude and smart entertainment.” -
Tatyana Tolstaya
The challenge of events is to be entertaining.
Conferences and Expos are not spared on this objective.
Humans will be humans, they wanted to be
entertained.
Life is already hard. Events are created not
only to educate or create a business. Most of the times, events are created to
entertain. We love entertainment and as an event manager, you must always keep
this in mind.
There is a reason why there is edutainment - a word that comprises education and
entertainment. The reason is rooted in our humanity.
In summary, event designing to provide a superb
experience is a challenging task that needs hard thinking and deep
understanding of the needs of the target audience.
You already have the 5 E’s. It is up to you how
to strategically mix this great event design experience objectives.
- Monday, February 27, 2017
- 0 Comments
