Column
GET
WITH
THE
PRO-
GRAM-
ME
Written by Damian Hutt
Does your association need a dedicated conference
producer? The Association of Association Executives’
Damian Hutt makes the case for quality
WE HAVE HEARD it said by many advisors researching the challenges faced by the
that for a successful business, you need to target delegate audience, and deducing
ask your customers what they want. how the conference programme could solve
What has surprised me over the years
these problems. They also consider what
is that there are still many association format is most appropriate and who would
conference organisers that aren’t doing be best to speak. This work is achieved by
this with their members. While medical interviews, whether on the phone, face to
and scientific membership organisations face or at other events.
necessarily derive their programmes from
The interviewees for research calls are
the latest research, most other sectors would carefully selected to reflect the segments
find greater success and delegate growth of an association’s membership. This could
from asking their customers what they need be sorted by specialisation within the field,
in a structured way. or by the stage they are at in their career. A
Event managers are often tasked with
not only the operational management - and
research grid of how many interviewees to
call is often used.
possibly even marketing and sales – but also It is essential to determine that the
the programme production, with insufficient solutions provided in the conference
time and limited experience in this field. programme are worth members spending
Supporting a committee or event manager time out of the office for. If the solutions are
with member surveys is a good idea, but to problems that do not affect much of their
this still needs careful consideration and work, however persistent, then attending
balance, with responses investigated more a conference to learn how to solve them
deeply. isn’t going to provide a high enough ROI to
I am surprised during our own association
congresses, when we address the
warrant registering, paying and attending.
When considering the cost of the
development of conference programmes, programme producer, focus on the ROI for
at the number of association executives your conference. The increased delegate
in the audience that look rather blank at attendance from the improved programme,
the concept of a ‘programme producer’. and the gross profit from these delegates,
What is this person? Why are they needed?
What do they do? The next question is
inevitably: how much do they cost? How
can we possibly afford that?
Programme
producers
specialise
in
www.aenetwork.co.uk
should outweigh the cost and add
enhanced value for all delegates.
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