Last week I made a trip up to meet with a few friends at the #ASAE Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. My first meeting was with Stephen Nold of Tarsus Advon and Meeting Tech Online.  I was a bit confused about what exactly was going on with Stephen.  What was the new name of his company?  Who did he work for now?  Who was working for him?

With all of the new emails coming from TSNN.com with familiar faces including Stephen, Rachel Wimberly (formerly of Tradeshow Week), Dave Lutz, Chris Brogan, I was hoping Stephen could shed some light on what was going on in Austin and how did he end up with a Boss!

Here Stephen talks about the new TSNN.com and their plans to become the leading source of news, research and information for our ever changing industry.

ExpoCall is proud to be apart of the upcoming MTO Summit being held at the Hilton Alexandria, VA on November 9th and 10th.  We’re most excited about the hosted buyer element of the event and the opportunity to share our expertise with Show Managers from some of the most influential shows in the US.

Learn more at www.mtosummit.com.

Starting September 7th, I’ll be taking to the skies for a crazy month of travel visiting clients, attending events and meeting with prospects.  My mode of travel will be jetBlue as I maximize their #AYCJ – All You Can Jet promotion.

I first heard about the promotion last week and began thinking of all of the places I really needed to go.  I couldn’t turn down the deal of the year – $499 for all that you can fly (excluding Fridays and Sundays).

Sooooo…Mark your calendar because mine is filling up.  My current plans include Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Boston, New York City, Denver and Chicago.  I’ll be documenting my travels here so follow us @expocall for updates!

Happy Trails!

Event Planners and Marketers know that our success relies on the face-to-face interaction of the live events that we produce and market. Every study or white paper that we read tells how companies understand the value of the handshake, the name with the face and even the beer at the bar after a long day of conference sessions and show floor walking. However from necessity comes ingenuity and there are more and more companies complementing their live events with online webinars and virtual tradeshows.

From this ingenuity, we as marketers and suppliers to these event planners must develop complementary products and services for this new “wave” hitting our industry.

At ExpoCall, we’ve noticed that many of our traditional clients are following this trend of Virtual Tradeshows and Events. We have responded to the demand of our clients by creating new ways to capitalize on these growth markets.

There are two ways that we suggest utilizing Voice Broadcast Marketing for your virtual and online events.

The first is to reach out to attendees of your brick and mortar events such as Tradeshows and Conferences with special offers to attend your innovative, travel free virtual events. This application is customizable towards subsets of your attendee database focusing on the benefits of individual elements of your events. For example, if you run a conference focused on B2B Media, you can create multiple targeted messages focused on unique groups within your overall attendee universe such as Publishers, Digital Service Providers, Custom Media Specialists, etc. Having an expert focused on each of these niche groups record a targeted message that speaks to each audience with the benefits of attending your virtual event will draw more attention because the information is crucial to their staying relevant within your industry. This is not only an easy process, but also an affordable one.

The second best practice for Voice Broadcast for Virtual Events is to send a reminder call from your Keynote an hour prior to the event going live. This is a simple and cost effective way to boost your retention of pre-registrants. All too often I hear from clients that retention is a major issue. Repeatedly I hear the range of 40-50% of registered attendees actually log in and visit exhibits within the Virtual Tradeshows. By sending a reminder that is brief and to the point, retention rates have shown to consistently improve by an average of 10-15%. Plus you are showing your exhibitors that you are doing everything in your power to bring the most qualified attendees to their virtual booth at your event.

While most doubt that Virtual Events will never take the place of their more costly and less “green” big brothers – Trade Shows and Conferences, they are a valuable complement to your brand and maximizing their reach has never been easier.

ExpoCall is proud to announce that we’ll be apart of a righteous gang of tweeps holding a tweetup at Expo! Expo! in Atlanta on December 9th.

The event will be held at Gibney’s Pub just around the corner from the Marriott Marquis from 6PM to 8PM.

To register, visit http://twtvite.com/cajpsy. Free to attend for all interested in learning about Tweetups and why show managers should encourage them within their own communities.

In June, the well known Vermont band Phish announced Festival 8 to be held over Halloween Weekend October 30th through November 1st. If you aren’t familiar with Phish, many compare their loyal fan following to the Grateful Dead and their music to (it is dangerous to compare Phish’ music to any other band without fear of retribution from their loyal fans…but here goes) a mix Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Zappa and a Barbershop Quartet (due to their many a capella songs performed). Their Festivals can be described as weekend long “Grown up Playgrounds” with multiple sets of music and a Carnival like atmosphere everywhere.

What I found intriguing about this concert announcement was the brilliant use of social media tools, viral marketing and suspense, suspense, suspense. When the band announced the show, they didn’t tell where the concert would be held. They utilized a flash driven map of the United States with each State in play until it was removed by either forces of nature, alien spacecraft, even a bulldozer, just to name a few.

These “removals” occurred at random times over a three week period. Speculations from fans were posted on message boards, followers posted their thoughts on twitter, facebook, etc. The band had their entire fan base on edge speculating about the location of Festival 8! In a strange twist, and much to the chagrin of many fans, Phish removed favored frontrunner California only to bring it back at the last minute announcing the event would be held at the Indio Polo Fields in Indio. Several fans complained that they had purchased flights based on speculation only to have to cancel then rebook once the actual site was confirmed. It was quite the roller coaster ride!

If the location announcement wasn’t enough to keep fans hooked, the band created a second “Campaign” announcing a special Halloween “Costume” album at Festival 8. On past Halloween performances, Phish has chosen to cover another outfit’s album to showcase their talent and love of other music. Past “Costume” albums include Quadrphenia by The Who, The White Album by The Beatles, Loaded by The Velvet Underground and Remain in Light by The Talking Heads. To announce this years Halloween album, Phish started with a list of 99 album covers on their website. Each day a few more were removed from the list by being “killed off”. This created more speculation and chatter than the location and even today, fans are checking back frequently to see which of the final 19 albums (as of 10/26/09) will be chosen for this special occasion. With thousands of visits and posts, Todd Levy’s Blog on Jamtopia has been information and speculation central for fans to voice their opinion as to which album should be played.

What does this have to do with Marketers? This rock and roll band is an example of a great show organizer just like many of our clients. They have a purpose – their music, an event – their concerts and an audience – their fans. They must find creative ways to engage this fan base to keep them tuned in and wanting more.

How can event organizers learn from Phish? Take a look at your own event and identify ways to keep your audience engaged and always checking back for more info.

A few examples:

1. Have a countdown to announce your celebrity keynote. Create clues and encourage your audience to participate by making their own speculations. Promote this countdown on social media platforms so the message is delivered via multiple mediums.

2. Ask your audience to submit ideas that will make your event better. Give away a “Rock Star” package as incentive with First Class flights, Hotel Suite and star treatment.

3. Send out Voice Mail reminders with clues about a major giveaway on the show floor. Those who gather clues from these reminders and submit them onsite and are entered to win a valuable prize.

Finally, I’ll be tweeting this weekend from Festival 8 (@expocall) so stay tuned and I’ll keep everyone updated. Direct Message me your selection for the Halloween Cover Album and I’ll post the results here!

On Site today at Blogworld & New Media Expo, the booming show launched by tradeshow veteran Rick Calvert and his team. Excited to check out the show floor for ideas and hear from experts at the sessions. Thanks to Rick for letting us be apart of the event and best of luck for the rest of the week!

A week from Friday, we’ll be heading out to Las Vegas for two days of New Media and Blogging Madness at Blogworld New Media and Expo 2009.

The event features an incredible line up of speakers and presentations including the usual suspects Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble, etc, etc.

Also – there a number of interesting Conference Tracks focused on Celebrity Blogs, Sports Blogging, Moms Blogging…Quite a diverse offering.

Hope to see you there. We’ll be tweeting @expocall from the show floor and conference sessions. Stay tuned….

ExpoCall is proud to announce that we’ll be apart of Tradeshow Week’s 7th Annual Fastest 50 in Houston November 13-15. The weekend program celebrates the 50 Fastest Growing Tradeshows and includes two days of networking, educational sessions and closes with Saturday night’s Black Tie Gala hosted by Emmy-Award winning TV personality Catherine Crier.

This will be our 5th year being apart of this great weekend of networking, education and fun. Every year seems to trump the previous so we’re expecting great things from Houston!

Look forward to seeing you all there…and remember to register by this Friday the 9th at TSWFastest50.com.

Here is a Press Release from IAEE regarding the recent Future Leaders Institute that ExpoCall President John Tisdale was apart of. It was a great program and a successful gathering of those who will blaze the trail in the coming years for our industry.

I recently applied to be apart of the IAEE Rober L. Krakoff Future Leaders Institute being held August 10th through 12th in Austin, Texas. An intimate learning experience, the FLI, Sponsored by ICAT Logistics, Inc. brings together 30 individuals interested in learning more about themselves so they can be effective strategists, team contributors, group facilitators, innovators, learners, coaches and much more. A highly interactive curriculum integrates theory and practice to ensure Institute participants leave capable of both thinking better and doing better.

It was an honor to be chosen to this group of 30 and I look forward to the opportunity for professional development as well as interaction with my peers. I’ll be sure to post while I am on-site to share the developments of the program.

See Ya’ll in Texas!