Events

GM and Chrysler have presented business plans to the government in return for more bailout cash.  I don’t know if a new ad/marketing strategy is in the mix, but here is a take on what they are doing wrong and how to fix it.  Click here to read part I.

1. The auto makers over use rented media channels with interruption style advertising, and the basic auto ad has not changed in 50 years. The ads show the car being used by one of their stock cliché characters – the executive, the harried mom, the twenty something on the go, the tough guy truck owner, the hapless suburban dad, etc.  The ads are slices of life showing our heroes using the product.  This is ineffective because there is much waste; and the creative is boring and unmemorable. The auto companies are big at buying sponsorships that just slaps their name on anything and everything.  Chevrolet spends big bucks to sponsor the “player of the game” during televised college footballs games.  Why do they do this?  Awareness?  How many men watching football have not heard of Chevy?  I am sure it makes the Chevy execs happy, but has it ever sold a single car or truck?  In fact, has anyone ever bought a car based on a TV ad?

2. American car companies sell with price, price and price.  The ads always stress the price cut or financing incentive.  If you train consumers to wait for the deal you will never get full price.  That is a problem when your union contracts give you a $2000/per car disadvantage against the Japanese automakers.  They need to stop the addiction to price selling and sell value.  They are two different marketing messages.

3. All the auto companies are out of balance when it comes to customer acquisition and retention marketing efforts.  The majority of the marketing budgets are aimed at convincing new customers to buy their cars while they give lip service to customer retention.  Some of the manufacturers have custom magazines for their owners but they seem half-hearted.  I used to get a magazine from Acura and it was full of underwhelming content.  This year I leased a Mercedes and bought a Honda Accord and the follow up communication from both brands and been almost non-existent.  I have received a few weak emails that are selling me accessories and their overpriced service.

It would be more efficient to create long term customers rather than trying to sell new customers over and over.  This is an area where I would suggest the biggest changes for the auto companies.  They should peel off some the budget they are shoveling at TV to create private media channels to talk directly to their current customers to create a long term relationship.  This private media channel needs to have high quality original content from subject matter experts and great writers.  They need to create a real relationship based on affinity and trust with their customers, not just send them a magazine with travel articles and offers to buy floor mats, mugs and logoed junk.  In addition, try working in some new media – interactive webcasts for owners to get more from their car, and social media to connect owners and build community.

4. I would suggest more live test drive events where people can get inside a car and try it out.  It is a better experience without a sales guy breathing down your neck asking “how much do you want to pay per month”.   I went to a Mercedes test drive event about six years ago and decided on that day I would someday own a fine German auto.  In the time since that event Mercedes has probably hit me with a few millions dollars worth of rented media ads via magazines, newspapers, television, radio and billboards.  All those ads combined didn’t have a fraction of impact of the afternoon I spent getting to touch and feel the product and have a direct educational dialog the company.  On that day they built a level of trust and affinity with me that no traditional ad could ever duplicate. 

The bottom line:  They need to stop renting media and own their own media channel.

I am stating the obvious, but 2009 will be a rough year for the Face to Face events business – from trade shows to custom events to conferences.  I have been hearing about cut backs and cancelations from colleagues for months, and then saw this cover story in the New York Times on Vegas.  Business is way down in Las Vegas, arguably the convention and conference capital of the US.  Over 30,000 hotel rooms canceled last month as many shows have postponed or decided to cancel.  At last month’s Super Bowl the famous Playboy party was canceled.  They said a lavish party seemed inappropriate given the economy but I would wager that the only thing that was inappropriate was the lack of sponsor dollars to fund it.

The costs associated with live events makes them easy to cancel during a recession and that is really too bad.  Live events are one of the best lead generation tools available and they do an equally great job with customer retention.  The powers of events are enhanced when they are paired with original and compelling content created for the target audience.  However, event’s benefits come with a high cost per lead due to the fixed costs of running a first class event.   While there is no substitute for personal contact with a prospect or customer, there is another way.

Webcasting has been around for over ten years and is an established lead gen tool being used widely in the B2B world.  The Virtual Show or Virtual Trade Show is really picking up steam this year.  They have been around for a while now, but seem to be reaching a critical mass especially in the technology and life sciences markets.  If you are not familiar with them here is a definition from Wikipedia:

The structure of a typical virtual tradeshow often includes a virtual exhibit hall which users enter with specific permissions and capabilities, to either attend and view virtual trade show displays in the exhibit hall or build virtual booths to exhibit information related to products or services on offer, just as they would at a trade fair in a convention center. The virtual tradeshow may have other components such as a virtual web conference, or a web seminar or a webinar, or other educational presentations. The virtual show thus results in live interaction between all the users on many levels (one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many) and simultaneously. Detailed tracking mechanisms allow organizers to determine the flow of traffic in the virtual tradeshow.

Because this is online you get incredible data on the visitors and the actions they take during the show.  This allows you to segment and score your leads before you feed them into your lead nurturing programs.  And, your sales people can interact with prospects online during the show.  ON24 (King Fish is an authorized reseller) is one of several companies that provide a virtual show platform and they did some interesting research on the growth of virtual shows.  They surveyed 10,000 enterprise executive who reported that 53% of their companies have begun using virtual events and 23% plan to start using them this year.  The majority of these companies are also reporting that they will be decreasing their use of trade shows and physical sales meetings and training events.

If your company is struggling with your live events strategy it is worth exploring a virtual event.  Be aware, it is a large undertaking with project management, selection of a platform, content creation and audience development all playing a big role in your plans.  However, the rewards will be worth it when you start filling your sales pipeline with warm leads at a lower cost per lead (CPL) than a live event.

I covered lead gen in my latest posting on Online Marketing for Marketers .  Specifically, I wrote about cost per lead (CPL) online lead generation for B2B marketers.  At King Fish we use it often as a tool for driving registrants to webcasts and virtual trade shows.  Here is the posting:

The need for ROI-based online marketing will be ever greater in 2009 as financials types will be scrutinizing every marketing dollar and looking for cuts.  As I’m sure you know, marketing is one of the first to get some budget shaving—but of course your sales people are still looking for fresh leads in the pipeline and they’re expecting you to help.

If you have not fully embraced online lead generation and cost-per-lead (CPL) programs now is the time.  The era of email list rental and blasting as an online lead acquisition tool is nearing an end.  The vast majority of your outbound email winds up in spam boxes or get deleted.  Media (both print and online) companies have had it good by renting email names at high rates and guaranteeing no results.  It is time to ask them to do business in a new way.  Ask them for CPL programs so both parties have skin in the game, and you will guarantee yourself qualified leads from your online efforts.  It will likely cost more at first, but it is worth it.  Almost all of the big players in IT media are doing online lead gen, and doing it well.  The CPL model is starting to make the move into non-tech B2B media.  Here are a couple of tips we have found to be successful using online lead gen/CPL to generate qualified sales leads for our clients:

1. It works best when taking advantage of the relationship potential customers have with a web site and/or media brand.  You get the affinity and halo effect, so choose leading media brands for your efforts.

2. Use content as the offer – interactive events and webcasts work very well as does downloadable white papers and interactive ebooks.  Make it worth the prospect’s while to give up their name and email address and start to build a permission relationship.

3. Use third party independent content if possible, especially research that is not generally available.

4. Use strong filters by using landing pages with specific questions to get only the selects you want.  It could add cost, but also worth it to give your sales team a more qualified leads.

5. Track the results closely and keep in close contact with the media company on the volume and quantity of the leads being generated through online efforts.

Moving your online lead generation efforts to a CPL model will generate significant higher returns in the long run and keep your sales pipeline full during a challenging year.

America’s Top Marketer’s Report Their Goals Have Changed

This might have been a street hawker’s cry five year’s ago, but earlier this week, it was proclaimed matter-of-factly by nearly all honorees at BtoB’s Best Luncheon in New York. The event was well attended by senior marketers who were there to hear each of the 11 nominees for marketer of the year.  One of the highlights was a panel of marketing executives who gave their observations and communication strategies for next year and beyond.  You can read more about the event here, and some analysis of the comments here.  For those of us in the room, the theme was profoundly consistent: the brand war is over, and efficient, customer-based communication rules. Some excerpts from the nominees, in their words.

“We are seeing high return on live seminars and panels.” – Oracle

“White Papers and product information are the key for customer engagements.” – Siemens 

“We are focusing on a shortening in our time to customer relationships” and “I see convergence media and building content as our focus.” – Kodak

“We are shifting to one-on-one marketing.” – Xerox

“We are generating more content to help business owners do business better,” and “Our small business focus is shifting to value-based marketing.” - American Express

These are direct comments from large B2B companies who have seen the future – and that future is relationship marketing and metrics to measure their success. Companies that once focused on broad reach media and enormous sponsorship marketing budgets are now working to create the own media channels. These leading companies are taking an active role in creating the content their customers receive, and are part of the process of delivering content they know is most relevant to their customer’s needs.  In effect, they are creating their own private custom media channels.

When top marketing leader’s share with each other as opposed to hiding their top strategies, the shift has already happened. Don’t ride the old school marketing approach of broad reach & branding into the sunset. It is no longer an option to throw marketing investment at media channels featuring no measurability. Re-evaluate your 2009 media strategies now, and work to gain relevance with your customers and mind-share with your best prospects. In this case, following the leaders is the boldest approach.

Dear Steve Schmidt, Chief Strategist McCain Campaign,

After watching Sarah Palin light it up against Biden and draw huge crowds this weekend, I feel compelled to give some you marketing and media advice.  Love how you energized McCain and pulled ahead after the convention, but it has been all down hill since then.  The bail out timing was a bad break, and no matter what happens now it is Bush’s fault and by association McCain’s.  That may have been a tipping point in a year that should be a Democratic layup equivalent to Carter’s post-Nixon/Watergate win.  The RCP poll average has you down six, but the numbers have been volatile and may not be that accurate.  You still have a chance, time to take the gloves off and hand the ball to your point guard – Sarah Barracuda Palin. 

Your media missteps nearly killed your hottest brand, but it is not too late to salvage it with a new custom media approach.  What you have pulled off so far is impressive. As Alaska’s Governor she had no reason to be expert on issues such as internal Iranian politics, nuclear proliferation and Wall Street regulation.  You had five weeks to prepare her to debate a guy in who has been in the Senate since 1973 in front of 70 million people and you did a decent job.  However, you messed up the press relations and almost sunk her (and your campaign) by feeding her to the mainstream media on their terms.

What were you thinking?  I admit I may have given the interview to Charlie Gibson, who knew he would be a condescending ass? However, feeding her to Katie Couric was criminal.  The entire concept of network evening news is old school and a relic.  It has not been relevant or important since the 80’s.  In today’s media landscape, the consumer is in control and news is a commodity that is available on demand, 24/7 on any platform. The idea of influential people sitting down to watch 22 minutes of news at 6:30 every night has gone the way of parachute pants and knit ties.

Let’s face it, the mainstream media (MSM) is in the tank for Obama and has shown a willingness to do his dirty work by attacking McCain and Palin.  What possessed you to give into them and send Governor Palin to be interviewed by a woman who is floundering with horrible ratings and is on the verge of being fired?   Couric’s back is up against the wall and you gave her a chance to matter again – and you gave her complete control over content, camera work and editing.  You made people talk about Saturday Night Live again for the first time since the days of Eddie Murphy playing Gumby, damn it. 

Did you cave from the pressure of the MSM?  Did you actually take them seriously when they said it was the role of the media to vet candidates?  I don’t recall reading that in the Constitution.  The coastal liberal elite think that people in flyover land are too dumb to decide for their own, so it is their responsibility to decide for them.  They decided this one back in January, ask Hillary.

Here at King Fish, we have a philosophy called Private Media.  You need to own your own private media channel, not rent the old one from the MSM.  I suggest you create the Sarah Palin channel, to talk directly only to the voters that matter – swing voters in the key swing states.  Forget the traditional media of the networks and print media; you don’t need them – not a bit. They are losing significance and influence in the lives of Americans.  It is not coincidence that the networks and newspapers are the ones whose business models are most under attack.  You can get better marketing ROI handing out flyers in front of Penn Station than advertising during NBC’s new shows (hey, let’s remake Knight Rider).  The New York Times and its junior varsity team The Boston Globe have turned themselves into daily Obama campaign bulletins.  Is it any wonder their profits and stock price are declining?  The Times is cutting costs, sections and staff while losing what was left of their objectivity.

It is time to keep Palin away from these faltering outlets and have her talk directly to voters.  You will take heat for this strategy.  A hue and cry will come from people in NY, Boston, and LA who mock and hate her.  Who cares, let the NPR crowd stew over their soy lattes; you have already lost those states.  Focus on your target market – swing voters in swing states who identify with her and feel she is “one of them”.   Let the voters decide on Nov. 4th and let the chips fall where they may.

You are sitting on a pile a of cash, so buy up half hour time slots in critical local market to run infomercials and promote the hell out of them.  Create the shows as town halls where people can see Palin speak directly to voters with no media filter.  Embrace social networking to a much greater extent than you have – go viral with web video in a big way.  Enlist word of mouth marketing with PTO groups and churches in Middle America. Try some live streaming video web casts with Sarah where she can answers question directly from voters, and not from agenda driven members of the media. 

The game is well into the 4th quarter, put the ball in her hands and have her attack and bust the zone.  You can’t wait for Obama to make a mistake; he won’t, he is too good a politician.  Have her hit him hard on Ayers, taxes, and “the white flag of surrender” in Iraq.  Sarah Palin needs to take her message directly to the right voters and forget about traditional media.  The web, live events, you tube, email and word of mouth will be your media vehicles.

It still may not be enough since it seems that a slim majority of American are ready to cast their lot with Obama because he is a blank canvas to where they can project their hopes, dreams and fears.  Look on the bright side; if you and Gov Palin (or Gov. Jindal or Gov. Pawlenty) takes him on in 2012 you will have an actual Obama record to run against instead of slogans and promises.  No matter what happens over the next four years, good or bad, you can hang it on him.  It may be fun to take the easy route, it has been for Obama.

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Folio 08 Conference in Chicago.  It is billed as the national event for magazine professionals.  Ironically, there was not a lot magazine talk.  The big buzz was about web sites, lead gen, SEO, digital editions and face to face events.  I ran a lively and interactive session on B2B event models to a packed room.  It was clear that the “magazine” professionals are looking to extend their brand, and find new sources of revenue. 

While there was plenty of talk about web sites and events, it struck me that there was not a lot of focus on custom media.  The most valuable assets these media brands have are their circ files and the relationship their readers have with the brand.  Magazines can leverage that asset by creating custom media channels for their clients to talk directly to their readers.  Most are hesitant to do that for many reasons, but chief among them is a desire to stay within the paradigm they know so well.  It has been my experience that once you ask a traditional media person to shift away from running display ads, they get concerned.  It could be worries over editorial integrity, or the fact that selling run of book ads is so darn profitable they don’t want to give it up.  The fact is, selling print ads in a B2B publication is going to continue to be a challenge due to the obvious reason you can’t show measurable results.  And, there are so many great other options to generate ROI – web casts, lead gen, web sponsorships, events etc. 

Traditional media companies need to take a hard look at their business models and think about custom media as an integral part of the mix rather than an ancillary business.  When you get right down to it, marketers want your readers as customers and prospects.  The best way to survive this crazy market is to give it to them in as many ways as possible.

Mark your calendars for a Folio Magazine Webinar on managing marketing timelines.  I will be the one of the speakers for the Folio audience of magazine marketing professionals.  The goal of the web cast is to give advice and best practices on how to create awareness and buzz for a comprehensive marketing program.  We will also cover how to create a rollout schedule to your sales reps, press and clients.  It is a topic I know well - I was the Marketing Director for several tech media brands including two of the most successful ones ever – PC Magazine and CRN.  The webinar is on August 14th at 2:00 eastern.  Click here to register.

In addition, I will be speaking at two sessions at this year’s Folio 08 (Sept. 22-24 in Chicago).  I will be covering “Upping Your Marketing Success Quotient” as part of the marketing track.  As part of the events track, I will be speaking at a session called “Models for Event Profitability”.  I will have much more about this as we get closer, so click here to learn more about attending the show.  It is a great networking and learning experience for anyone in B2C or B2B media.

A few weeks ago my Think Tank colleague Gordon blogged about the Proposition 2 ½ over ride which was soundly rejected by his city, Beverly MA.  His observations on local politics and the impact of social networking on these heated topics are characteristic of many towns who are facing tough budgetary decisions in economically diverse communities.  And my town, an upscale fishing/sailing town north of Boston, is included on that list.

I will admit it right now: I am an SUV driving, latte drinking, work-out mom with 3 kids and at least 3 jobs, only one for which I get an actual pay check.  Most of the time managing my off-springs agenda’s is a full time job.  Sometimes it’s the PTO, or church school, or the Children’s Hospital fundraisers that fill my day. Other times it’s helping my clients reach the ever-more-valuable Mom-target more effectively.  It was the years of training in media arena that prepared me best and most for my most recent 90 day job: Chief Override Mom.

Having never worked on a political campaign, nor really knowing anyone who has made it uncharted water.  But much like bringing a new product to market, there was a familiarity to our strategy. We organized ourselves by putting together a troop of talented, business savvy Mommas who brought energy and creativity to this challenge.  We had communications specialists, attorneys, web designers, teachers, real estate marketers, ad agency types, you name it.  We had representation from all kids of hard working Moms, oh yes and one dad with a great sense of humor!  Once our team was drafted we set about answering the following: How were we going to persuade a town full of real old line New Englanders (read: frugal), who are insanely proud of the “lowest” tax rate around, to approve almost $22 million to REPAIR AND UPDATE our middle school facilities?  Not even to build a new school?

This was not going to be “my mothers over ride” as we embraced new media.  What once was an old fashion effort of neighborhood signs and leaflets in your neighbor’s door evolved into a multi-platform marketing strategy.  We laid out a 90 day time plan for our communications and out reach.  We built a web site and utilized Constant Contact email newsletters to reach out to our database of supporters. We set up phone networks of parents to use word of mouth to get out the vote. We had traditional direct mail to the 45-60 year old voters who could no longer (or never could) be reached by the back pack brigade.  We created emails that were organically viral: you send it to your address book and ask those people to pass along in kind.  We added a face to face component and invited the community to events, including tours of the school itself.  Taking word of mouth marketing one step further we identified town/thought leaders and brought them literally into the boiler rooms of the school that many of them had attended in their own youth, pointing out of course that nothing had really changed in 50 years… ergo the $22 million. 

It was important to keep our eye on the opposition daily, reading of course the angry and bitter words on local town blogs and forums, which of course are attributed to no one.  As Gordon pointed out, it is much easier to be rude when you don’t have to sign your name to your rants.  We didn’t spend much time or energy trying to change the hearts and minds of the intensely opposed, it would have been futile.  We preferred to focus on educating those voters who would be impacted one way or another by this enormous decision. 

After 90 days and lots of hard work and some strategic sign holding later, we prevailed.  A real grass roots effort with some high tech twists helped us to get out enough voters to pass our over ride by a 2 to 1 margin.  What had worked was creating a private media channel to reach our target through many vehicles:  a combination of print and on-line distribution of information that helped to educate our community.  It was face to face meetings and tours that gave real urgency to our cause.  It was virtual tours online that brought the situation to life.  It was the friendly email reminders to the overwhelmed to make sure we made their daily “to do list”.  It was inviting the senior community to witness the decay of the school facilities.  It was reminding the town in local papers about the impact of a healthy school system on their property values.  All in all, it was a classic private media channel where we used compelling content to tell our story to a highly targeted audience.

I know this small town effort to fix a single school is no match for what is coming in November.  We are still low tech in our efforts compared to Obama and McCain but we sure have come along way from the bake sales and flyers of my youth.  I have witnessed organic-mom-networking 2.0.  So far I’d say it’s a powerful force of nature and one to be watched with a careful marketer’s eye.

I recently contributed another article to Chief Marketer on the topic of face to face events.  Specifically it explains how to use events as a lead generation and lead nurturing tool.  While working for several media companies I had responsibility for publication branded events and custom events.  One thing I learned is when using events as lead gen tool it is critical to scale your event (and budget) to the anticipated return.  Many people do think of live events as custom media, but they can be very powerful tools as part of a private custom media solution.  Click here to read the article. 

It was early on a Thursday morning in Nashville, and sunlight streamed into the hotel lobby, glinting off the silver serving trays filled with pastries. A well-coiffed man walked up to the SunTrust Committed to Growth event registration table. He greeted me enthusiastically, shook my hand firmly and introduced himself. He was an entrepreneur and business owner and, from the looks of him, most likely a successful one. 

Suddenly, his winsome smile darkened. He leaned in toward me, his thick southern drawl even more pronounced. “Now. Whom do I speak to about my dissatisfaction with SunTrust?”

A stout, smiling banker to my left stepped forward. “Hi sir, now what’s the problem?” The banker whisked the man off into the crowd, attentively listening to his issues.

In that moment, it struck me what a gift this was for SunTrust. To have a customer call you while angry and for you to scramble to band-aid an unsavory situation is one thing; for them to show up in person at your event and to give you the chance to repair a bad relationship face-to-face is another.

King Fish Media, in partnership with Profitable Channels, has been producing and managing SunTrust Small Business Growth seminars for the past several years. After every event, I hear this comment in various forms: “Gosh, it’s so good to be able to connect with prospects and current clients face-to-face.” It’s the personal touch that makes a relationship thrive, and in an industry that’s as dry yet as personal as banking, it’s essential for customer retention.

The value of live events extends beyond just delivering informative, relevant content to your valued customers. It opens up endless possibilities for customer service and stewardship that other media channels don’t provide. Although at times difficult to accurately measure, it’s clear that a timely, well-produced live event is often the most impactful channel through which customers can fully grasp your commitment to them.   

By the end of the morning, the smile on the business owner’s face at the SunTrust seminar couldn’t have been more genuine, and the banker sent him off with a flourish. He returned to his banking colleagues are remarked, “Now that’s good stuff.”

There is a remarkable group run out of the University of Massachusetts’ McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies named Give Us Your Poor. Leading this group is a driven and truly committed guy named John McGah (left) - and if you don’t know that name, chances are you will soon.

John has led this program for several years, and aims to not just raise awareness of the homeless, but lobbies Washington to implement legislation that will begin to eradicate it within the decade. And he’s not alone.

Through nothing more than a powerful determination, John has gathered powerful business executives, politicians and now includes musical artists contributing to a new CD to bring their voices to today’s present realities of homelessness. And these are not B-list names.

The recently released CD features work by Springsteen, Seeger, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo, Mario Frangoulis and Mighty Sam McClain. It’s even made ABC’s nightly newscast on Friday, November 9th when Natalie Merchant was named person of the week for her work with Give Us Your Poor and was profiled during a recording session.

John has harnessed the power of media to raise awareness and funds to drive the next chapter of Give Us Your Poor. Among the biggest names and voices recording today, artists have contributed their original work and energy to this cause, and it’s coming to Boston Friday November 16th at the newly renovated Strand Theatre. If you’re from the Boston area, this will be an amazing night; come learn more about the organization and hear some incredible music from Natalie Merchant, Mighty Sam McClain, Mario Frangoulis & Buffalo Tom (for ticket info, click on this link ).

Note:  King Fish provides considerable pro bono work for the Give Us Your Poor organization, as they do for other 501c(3) non profit groups as part of its corporate mission and employee contribution program.

Missing old friends? Want invites to parties? How about offers to join dozens of new online social networks (all of which are stories in themselves)? Start blogging. Can’t say that we’ve been offered a custom media gig for The Who yet, but given the volume of contacts surfacing in the last 45 days, I’m holding-out hope.

At Think Tank, our staff and some interesting opinioned-types have been offering their thoughts on media and its many current offerings and applications. We’re in the business, and we live to challenge the status quo of media you can rent versus owning your own media channel. We call that Private Media, but what’s in a name? What Private Media does for marketers says it all, and the next 125 words is for those people who’ve checked in and want to hear about what’s new at the shop in Salem.

• Our events group just wrapped the Appreciative Inquiry conference where 500 attendees spent 3 ½ days in keynotes and workshops designed to spur positive change in the workplace. Fascinating subject, and powerful speakers. Click here to read what my fellow blogger Gordon Plutsky has to say about the event.

• Webcasts have evolved beyond straight-forward audio and video platforms; the duration is shortening, content is punchier, and other platforms are deployed that include interactive PDFs, virtual tradeshows and even more engaging uses of video. Cool and smart stuff.

• We’re currently conducting a phone and interactive survey for 100 customers of a King Fish client for a comprehensive market research project. This formidable media company has outsourced this significant custom media program to us to determine who makes the cut for an important performance-based award ceremony next quarter. Brilliant use of Private Media to maximize employee retention.

Recent King Fish acknowledgements by Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines confirm that our approach is working, and that our clients are benefiting from this fresh method of assessing business challenges. There’s the update – and onto a request: for any old contacts stopping by Think Tank, please feel free to invite me to any of the following social networks from my past:

• The guys who get 69 GTO convertibles
• Small bars/clubs where the best music still lives
• My sailing friends from PLP (1976-1979)
• A place I can lose myself laughing again with Gardner, Rich, Jamie, Jon, Woozie,  Spike and JB
• An online community for all of us tortured by my 1st grade swimming teacher.
 

I re-learned a valuable marketing lesson at the AI conference about audiences and keeping an open mind. Some of the speakers wanted to present keynote sessions where people would sit together in tables of 10 and do interactive exercises together. No big deal, but we were sitting 450 people and it just didn’t make sense to me and my B2B/Technology events background. We strongly suggested doing it our way, but eventually relented and reset the room in rounds with materials for a brainstorming exercise. Well, the attendees loved it, and it fit right in with their democratic and participatory ethos. The lesson is one I should have remembered – put yourself in the mind of your customer and keep your preconceived notions to the side. One of the great dangers in marketing is to default back to what worked in your past. Every situation is new and times change rapidly. Approach every situation with a fresh eye and blank slate for the best results. Besides, “That’s the way we have always done it” is the worst phrase that can ever be uttered by a marketing professional.

Another interesting note – one of the speakers in the conference was an old friend and boss, Nancy Newman who is now a V.P. of sales training at Yahoo! It never fails to amaze me how life and careers takes twists and turns. It was great to see her and she was her usual funny self. When she made a few AV and logistics requests and I jumped right back into employee mode and made sure they got done for her, pronto. Nancy was the Publisher of PC Magazine and I was her marketing director back when it was the size of a large phone book in the pre web 90’s. Never in a million years could I predict that I would see her 10 years later at an Appreciative Inquiry conference my company was producing. She was joined in a standing-room-only presentation by her Yahoo! colleague, Kim Bennett. Over drinks at the evening reception Kim told me she was a stand up comedian on her rare breaks from working at Yahoo! That is what I love about face to face events, none these conversations would have happened online or in any virtual world. There is no substitute for human interaction. Here is something the internet is great for – sharing a video of Kim’s stand up act, on Yahoo! Video, of course. Click here to check it out, and enjoy.

King Fish Media recently produced the 2007 International Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Conference. The four day summit brought together people from over 25 countries to hear speakers such as David Cooperrider, Marcus Buckingham and Martin Seligman. I will not even attempt to explain positive psychology and AI even though I am the proud owner of a 20 year old BA in psychology. Click here to learn more about the conference and see links to AI resources.

Spending several days at this conference reinforced my belief that face to face events are a critical media channel, and a key component to any Private Media solutions. Events a media channel? Of course, they are. Events bring together a community of people with similar interests with compelling content in a high affinity environment. That is the perfect description of private media. Additionally, a live event is the best community building mechanism known to man. It is one thing to join an online social network, but it is quite another to spend three days with a colleague in keynotes, breakout sessions and social situations. You can actually see relationships being created and deals being done when you walk around reception rooms and break areas. Can you think of a better customer retention venue than spending 48-72 hours with your best customers?

Events can be a hub and jumping off point for additional permission marketing vehicles such as newsletters, magazines, Web sites and more. As we become more and more Web centric, live events are more critical than ever to build relationships and market your company. As a marketing guy who has run his share of events and conferences, I am a huge believer in face to face. I strongly believe that focused events are a “must have” in most private media solutions. When you have someone in your own environment for a period of time, you have a golden opportunity to message to them and create long term customers.