Last weekend I attended the Gay Life Expo at the Javits Center. While I was impressed with the overall glass geometric design of the building, the meeting hall in which the expo was located was a huge concrete dungeon! The facility does not compare well with many of the newer convention centers that I have visited. The expo itself was relatively crowded, and there was a good buzz on the floor. People were happily interacting with each other and vendors, and a positive mood permeated. The food and entertainment vendors did a good job interacting with atendees through sampling and raffles for prize giveaways. There was a lot of lead generation that occured with these vendors. Other service and product vendors (tourism CVBs, concierge services, local advocacy groups, some retail stores) did not do a good job in getting information from customers. They merely handed out information and frequently did not interact with attendees. There was little brand recognition gained, no lead generation, and no thought leadership from these. They did not seem to have a strong marketing vision to maximize sales for this event. In general, I think the organizers of the expo did a good job of greating a positive mood and experience for attendees, but certain vendors could do a better job using the event to reach potential customers.
It was interesting to see Pier 94 as it was being built for the BizBash show. It made it seem more like a giant alumunim box than it normally does! The union labor that it takes to transform the space is both massive and expensive. And the conversation with the head of security helped show the other aspects of infastructure planning that was needed. The supervision of load in and loud out itself must be hectic and require rigid organization and scheduling.
I attended the show itself only for an hour or so in the early afternoon on Thursday. It was awkward to walk around the show as someone who is not a meeting planner or supplier. Most vendors seemed promptly uninterested in me when they either did not recognize the name of my company, or found out that I was only a student. I didn't realize that the badge would have my name and company on it (a great idea!), so those who did know my company (New York Guest - a guest and vistors service firm) assumed that I was the delegated representative for event planning! This created several awkward conversations for me! But overall, I thought the check in process was great and the names tags were incredibly useful (especially with the scanable bar code!) Several tables were agressive in getting those scans, while others did not show much interest.
The show as pretty crowded when I was there, and there was certainly a lot to see and do. Many vendors had very attractive setups or entertainment that attracted me. Then again, I suppose its easier for a company featuring the human disco ball as a product to gather attention than it is for a more serious company. Nevertheless, I think think there are more creative ways to show off plates, venues, etc. to really create branding (though I'm sure the literature at these tables was well put together, showing off their brand, etc. If I were a meeting planner interested in finding venues, i would probably approach them. Nevertheless, they should make the effort to approach new customers themselves!) I did see a number of great ideas there, from some of the lighting designs to some great photo-shop like activities putting peoples heads onto different things. I was mostly impressed by the entertainment items (being that I'm not a meeting planner) like the drummers and the golf simulation. I was a little disappointed by the catering offerings. Many places did not even offer free tastings, but only had food on display. (then again, I was also looking for free bites to eat, soo......)
Oh, and where were the lighs in the honeycomb behind the check in desk? It just looked like some green lights displayed! Problems?!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Cook. Eat. Drink. Live.
First of all, what a difficult title to remember. I told people all weekend that I went to a food and wine festival over the weekend, but could never get those 4 words in the correct order when trying to tell them the name! I'm not sure where the name came from, but in terms of branding, it's not a great idea if it's nearly impossible to remember!
Pier 94 as an event space was different than I expected. I didn't really expect it to still look like a pier freight house, with some pretty fabric and carpets thrown around! It certainly was big and customizable, but everytime I looked up it was an eyesore! I'd be curious to see what it looks like after renovations.
The festival itself was good. I made some strong connections with some products, and even raved about a pasta sauce to everyone I talked to for the next few days! As a poor grad student, the free part and the samples made it a great experience for me. I couldn't see myself paying $325 a ticket though. While I'm not the demographic they're looking to target for many of their goods, I am the demographic for some of them (the pasta sauce, the flavored waters, a lot of the alcohol and beer, etc.) Even as I looked around, the people there did not seem to be people who had paid $325 a ticket either (most seemed to be comp'd in through someone too). I saw more real interaction occuring between different vendors than actually between vendors and interested patrons (with the exception of a lot of smaller food offerings, such as the woman who made her own pesto and the family pasta sauce company, who really could engage their clientel with their new products and demonstrated a clearer zeal in speaking about the product). A few people I spoke with manning the booths said they were volunteers and had minimal product knowledge! I know that if I were paying to show my product at this fair, I would certainly make sure the people at my table were extremely knowledgeable and sales driven.
In general, all of the infastructure elemens seemed well managed (bathrooms, places to sit when we got tired, etc.). The ambience upon entering was nice, but the people at check in were not helpful, and more interested in their own conversations than assisting me (again, they all appeared to be volunteers).
Pier 94 as an event space was different than I expected. I didn't really expect it to still look like a pier freight house, with some pretty fabric and carpets thrown around! It certainly was big and customizable, but everytime I looked up it was an eyesore! I'd be curious to see what it looks like after renovations.
The festival itself was good. I made some strong connections with some products, and even raved about a pasta sauce to everyone I talked to for the next few days! As a poor grad student, the free part and the samples made it a great experience for me. I couldn't see myself paying $325 a ticket though. While I'm not the demographic they're looking to target for many of their goods, I am the demographic for some of them (the pasta sauce, the flavored waters, a lot of the alcohol and beer, etc.) Even as I looked around, the people there did not seem to be people who had paid $325 a ticket either (most seemed to be comp'd in through someone too). I saw more real interaction occuring between different vendors than actually between vendors and interested patrons (with the exception of a lot of smaller food offerings, such as the woman who made her own pesto and the family pasta sauce company, who really could engage their clientel with their new products and demonstrated a clearer zeal in speaking about the product). A few people I spoke with manning the booths said they were volunteers and had minimal product knowledge! I know that if I were paying to show my product at this fair, I would certainly make sure the people at my table were extremely knowledgeable and sales driven.
In general, all of the infastructure elemens seemed well managed (bathrooms, places to sit when we got tired, etc.). The ambience upon entering was nice, but the people at check in were not helpful, and more interested in their own conversations than assisting me (again, they all appeared to be volunteers).
Sunday, October 21, 2007
I found Andrea Van Der Kamp's lecture fantastic! She really gave a clear picture of not only fundraising, but also how to take a project and really run with it. I think the topic of urban architecture as a tourism grab was a great topic for this course. It was interesting to study the "bilbao effect" both as a positive and negative thing. While it may initially attract millions to see a new structure, that structure must have unique or interesting programing that goes on within it (or else be iconic, such as the statue of liberty or memorials on the national lawn in DC). Ms. Van Der Kamp stressed how important the programming at Disney Hall is to ensuring that is doesn't fizzle out, but rather continues to revitalize the downtown area.
The presentations have also been interesting to watch. Despite the guide provided, there is still a variety of approaches that were taken (ie. some groups chose to analyze competition more than stress the tourism effects, etc.) I thought that each group really indentified with and were excited by the festival that they chose. I learned the most from the Tribeca Film Festival group, as they chose an event that has changed so much in such a short time. This kind of dynamisim is exciting, but also needs to be controlled. But I think it's important to recognize how festivals can grow, expand, and change; in some cases, becoming completely different festivals! I think this occurs as festivals attempt to stay up with changes and new trends in the marketing competing for attendance. I don't, however, believe that festivals should be untrue to their origins by completely changing. For example, I think it's ok for the Tribeca Film Festival to "sell out" and become less of an independent film festival and more of a hollywood-style film festival. But, I don't think that the San Genaro Festival should include food vendors from other nationalities, as this is completely contray to their identify! People will attend that festival to experience Italian-American culture, not just to eat some food. Therefore, incorporating Asian or other ethnic food would really injure the festival's identity.
The presentations have also been interesting to watch. Despite the guide provided, there is still a variety of approaches that were taken (ie. some groups chose to analyze competition more than stress the tourism effects, etc.) I thought that each group really indentified with and were excited by the festival that they chose. I learned the most from the Tribeca Film Festival group, as they chose an event that has changed so much in such a short time. This kind of dynamisim is exciting, but also needs to be controlled. But I think it's important to recognize how festivals can grow, expand, and change; in some cases, becoming completely different festivals! I think this occurs as festivals attempt to stay up with changes and new trends in the marketing competing for attendance. I don't, however, believe that festivals should be untrue to their origins by completely changing. For example, I think it's ok for the Tribeca Film Festival to "sell out" and become less of an independent film festival and more of a hollywood-style film festival. But, I don't think that the San Genaro Festival should include food vendors from other nationalities, as this is completely contray to their identify! People will attend that festival to experience Italian-American culture, not just to eat some food. Therefore, incorporating Asian or other ethnic food would really injure the festival's identity.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
It's been a while...
So it's been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about events and tourism!
First off, a friend of mine was in town a few weekends back with her boyfriend, who had never visited New York. Saturday was my turn to play tour guide, and he requested to grab pizza in Little Italy for lunch. I had completely forgotten that the Feast of San Genaro was still going on. Unfortuantely, it was raining this Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, the bad weather showed me how poorly laided out the traffic plan for this festival was! We had 1 large umbrella for 3 people, and were surrounded by people with other umbrellas. With the streets already narrowed by booths of vendors on both sides, there was barely 1 standard sized traffic lane in the middle for human traffic. Add hundreds of people and hundreds of umbrellas, and it was a complete jamming mess. The traffic way turned into a giant clogged and drippy mess. We eventually jumped out at the first opportunity we could and walked into the next available pizza place, not caring about the name or price. I'm shocked that they are allowed to have that many people in such a small space without a better traffic plan! All it takes is a rain storm to create chaos!
The presentation in class by Type Social gave me the insight of creating a real specialization and strategic strength for an events planning company. With their heavy background in night life promotions and guest lists, Type Social is a different kind of event company that not only plans events, but also invites people to them. In most cases, as the client wants sales as a result of the event, this means acting indirectly as a sales agent. I wonder how much pressure the guests in Type Social's database feel when attending an event. Do they realize that they're invited as a targeted buyer? I also thought about extending this guest list specialization to tourism. Could an event planning company successfully plan an event at a destination, then use it's guest list to get numerous visitors to travel just for that event. Meeting and conference planners do it all the time. But what if the organizers of India at 60 obtained a guest list while here in New York, and now were throwing events in India for tourism or corporate clients. Could they pursuade guests from New York at attend?
Last weekend, I also attended the New York Leather Festival with my boyfriend. Not much of a festival, and therein lies the room for all the critique on this blog! It was located on a small 1 block street in the West Village that had been closed down. It was $5 to gain access (procedes to charity), though with the way the wooden horses were blocking the street and the lack of staff to man the enterance, one could easily get in without paying. There were a number of lackluster vendors with leather gear and some organizations set up with information. It was dead and boring. There was no experience, no wow. For a leather festival, almost everyone was dressed in regular street clothes. We left and went to the park, returning about 2 hours later. By then, there were more people, which made it more interesting. It was then that I realized the pure value and entertainment of this street fair was in the people attending it, not in the festival, its infastructure, vendors, or any organizated entertainment. Suddenly it became fun as we were talking about other attendees: what they were wearing and what they were doing (all clearly more exciting than us, so we must have bored them). The festival then tried to bring it up a notch with a man demonstrating how to crack a whip. However, this wasn't interesting or entertaining at all for me. Maybe my reasons for attending the festival (just for the unique experience, more focused on people and the "out of the ordinary") were completely different than those of other attendees (to see the whip demonstration, or buy new leather gear, or join organizations). This got me thinking about the diversity of reasons that people attend festivals, and the needs to both target specific niches and cater to an overall crowd at the same time.
We've finished our group project by now. I think my study of the Foxwoods Food and Wine Festival showed me how a tourism attraction can use an event to attract new crowds to it. For the Foxwoods festival, they accomplish this by highlighting other aspects of their destination that visitors might not normally think of when visiting Foxwoods. This makes the destination look more attractive overall, and improves business/visits overall. It's been a valuable lesson to learn!
First off, a friend of mine was in town a few weekends back with her boyfriend, who had never visited New York. Saturday was my turn to play tour guide, and he requested to grab pizza in Little Italy for lunch. I had completely forgotten that the Feast of San Genaro was still going on. Unfortuantely, it was raining this Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, the bad weather showed me how poorly laided out the traffic plan for this festival was! We had 1 large umbrella for 3 people, and were surrounded by people with other umbrellas. With the streets already narrowed by booths of vendors on both sides, there was barely 1 standard sized traffic lane in the middle for human traffic. Add hundreds of people and hundreds of umbrellas, and it was a complete jamming mess. The traffic way turned into a giant clogged and drippy mess. We eventually jumped out at the first opportunity we could and walked into the next available pizza place, not caring about the name or price. I'm shocked that they are allowed to have that many people in such a small space without a better traffic plan! All it takes is a rain storm to create chaos!
The presentation in class by Type Social gave me the insight of creating a real specialization and strategic strength for an events planning company. With their heavy background in night life promotions and guest lists, Type Social is a different kind of event company that not only plans events, but also invites people to them. In most cases, as the client wants sales as a result of the event, this means acting indirectly as a sales agent. I wonder how much pressure the guests in Type Social's database feel when attending an event. Do they realize that they're invited as a targeted buyer? I also thought about extending this guest list specialization to tourism. Could an event planning company successfully plan an event at a destination, then use it's guest list to get numerous visitors to travel just for that event. Meeting and conference planners do it all the time. But what if the organizers of India at 60 obtained a guest list while here in New York, and now were throwing events in India for tourism or corporate clients. Could they pursuade guests from New York at attend?
Last weekend, I also attended the New York Leather Festival with my boyfriend. Not much of a festival, and therein lies the room for all the critique on this blog! It was located on a small 1 block street in the West Village that had been closed down. It was $5 to gain access (procedes to charity), though with the way the wooden horses were blocking the street and the lack of staff to man the enterance, one could easily get in without paying. There were a number of lackluster vendors with leather gear and some organizations set up with information. It was dead and boring. There was no experience, no wow. For a leather festival, almost everyone was dressed in regular street clothes. We left and went to the park, returning about 2 hours later. By then, there were more people, which made it more interesting. It was then that I realized the pure value and entertainment of this street fair was in the people attending it, not in the festival, its infastructure, vendors, or any organizated entertainment. Suddenly it became fun as we were talking about other attendees: what they were wearing and what they were doing (all clearly more exciting than us, so we must have bored them). The festival then tried to bring it up a notch with a man demonstrating how to crack a whip. However, this wasn't interesting or entertaining at all for me. Maybe my reasons for attending the festival (just for the unique experience, more focused on people and the "out of the ordinary") were completely different than those of other attendees (to see the whip demonstration, or buy new leather gear, or join organizations). This got me thinking about the diversity of reasons that people attend festivals, and the needs to both target specific niches and cater to an overall crowd at the same time.
We've finished our group project by now. I think my study of the Foxwoods Food and Wine Festival showed me how a tourism attraction can use an event to attract new crowds to it. For the Foxwoods festival, they accomplish this by highlighting other aspects of their destination that visitors might not normally think of when visiting Foxwoods. This makes the destination look more attractive overall, and improves business/visits overall. It's been a valuable lesson to learn!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market
This weekend I volunteered at the Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market on Sunday. It was the second year that I had helped out a business associate/friend of mine at the table that he and his company run. Now that I'm taking this course, I completely viewed the event differently this year!
First, I couldn't help but think about all the planning and staffing that went into the event. 44th St was shut down between Times Sq and 8th Avenue, which of course takes some big planning by itself! I noticed how tables were set up and broken down by staff members, who also aided each table with water, cash drop services, credit card services, etc. At the end of the day, I even noticed the Times Sq alliance people cleaning up the streets (something I never would have noticed about an event before this class!) Despite how well this ran, I still feel like some people stumbling across this event in a very popular place would not have known exactly what they were coming across, or it's charitable nature. There wasn't enough signage in generally to really make sure that message got across (which is important for a charitable event such as this one!)
The event was a HUGE tourism boost for the city. I had a customer at our table who told me how he comes to the city every year from Michigan for this event. Others told us how they were only in town for a few days but had stumbled happily across the event by chance. One British woman said she'd wished she'd heard about it earlier in the day because she would have arrived earlier and spent a lot more money! While all procedes went to charity, it still promoted theater in New York and got those customers who came specifically for the event to use various services in the surrounding economy.
Most importantly, I really enjoyed the happy sense of community that they event had. Everyone there, including myself, was interested not only in the buying and selling, but also in talking about theatre, in meeting theatre celebrities who were present, and in meeting each other. In this way, the event operated as more than just an economic, charitable, or tourism tool. It really provided communal and social value.
And even after just working at one table for 5 hours, I was exhausted. I can only imagine how the event organizers must feel!
First, I couldn't help but think about all the planning and staffing that went into the event. 44th St was shut down between Times Sq and 8th Avenue, which of course takes some big planning by itself! I noticed how tables were set up and broken down by staff members, who also aided each table with water, cash drop services, credit card services, etc. At the end of the day, I even noticed the Times Sq alliance people cleaning up the streets (something I never would have noticed about an event before this class!) Despite how well this ran, I still feel like some people stumbling across this event in a very popular place would not have known exactly what they were coming across, or it's charitable nature. There wasn't enough signage in generally to really make sure that message got across (which is important for a charitable event such as this one!)
The event was a HUGE tourism boost for the city. I had a customer at our table who told me how he comes to the city every year from Michigan for this event. Others told us how they were only in town for a few days but had stumbled happily across the event by chance. One British woman said she'd wished she'd heard about it earlier in the day because she would have arrived earlier and spent a lot more money! While all procedes went to charity, it still promoted theater in New York and got those customers who came specifically for the event to use various services in the surrounding economy.
Most importantly, I really enjoyed the happy sense of community that they event had. Everyone there, including myself, was interested not only in the buying and selling, but also in talking about theatre, in meeting theatre celebrities who were present, and in meeting each other. In this way, the event operated as more than just an economic, charitable, or tourism tool. It really provided communal and social value.
And even after just working at one table for 5 hours, I was exhausted. I can only imagine how the event organizers must feel!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
First Posting
So my initial reaction to this course is "wow, there are way too many things to keep track of when planning and executing an event". It seems really overwhelming. Just listing the things in class, combined with even more things that have come up in reading the text, has been scary. It seems to me that planning events takes an amazing amount of organization (lists) and forethought.
I'm not entirely new to the event planning field, as I've run front of house for theatre premieres before, planning and organizing an opening night reception and working with the director to create the overall experience of arrival/admissions. I've also planned activities and events at work for my international students, ranging from luncheons and halloween parties. Reading all of this material makes me reflect back on my motivations and goals in planning and executing those events, and the numerous things that I never even thought of!
As I wrote about on blackboard in a posting, I'm most intrigued this week by the idea of experiential events and the use of touchpoints with clients. I'm reminded of the free Charmin public restroom in Times Sq that the company used as a marketing event last holiday season. My friend dragged me there because it was such a cool experience, and there was plenty to see/do while waiting in line for the restroom. Charmin was presented through video, dancing staff members, photo ops, and a person in cuddly bear costume, as a fun and comfortable brand. The entire event left me with such a great impression of the company that made me want to buy their product just to thank them for the use of the restroom, and the experience!
But I also wonder if experiential events may be a big turn off for some people who are more shy or who view it as "too much". I can think of certain experiential events I have visited with my mother that she has really enjoyed, but I also know that some experiences would intimidate her or turn her off from a product. I think knowing the client, specifically their demographic should be kept in mind. I also think that in creating the experience, a difference between "wowing" the customer and intimidating or confusion the customer needs to be remembered. Touchpoints are great, but if they become too touchy, you may alienate some people.
I'm not entirely new to the event planning field, as I've run front of house for theatre premieres before, planning and organizing an opening night reception and working with the director to create the overall experience of arrival/admissions. I've also planned activities and events at work for my international students, ranging from luncheons and halloween parties. Reading all of this material makes me reflect back on my motivations and goals in planning and executing those events, and the numerous things that I never even thought of!
As I wrote about on blackboard in a posting, I'm most intrigued this week by the idea of experiential events and the use of touchpoints with clients. I'm reminded of the free Charmin public restroom in Times Sq that the company used as a marketing event last holiday season. My friend dragged me there because it was such a cool experience, and there was plenty to see/do while waiting in line for the restroom. Charmin was presented through video, dancing staff members, photo ops, and a person in cuddly bear costume, as a fun and comfortable brand. The entire event left me with such a great impression of the company that made me want to buy their product just to thank them for the use of the restroom, and the experience!
But I also wonder if experiential events may be a big turn off for some people who are more shy or who view it as "too much". I can think of certain experiential events I have visited with my mother that she has really enjoyed, but I also know that some experiences would intimidate her or turn her off from a product. I think knowing the client, specifically their demographic should be kept in mind. I also think that in creating the experience, a difference between "wowing" the customer and intimidating or confusion the customer needs to be remembered. Touchpoints are great, but if they become too touchy, you may alienate some people.
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