Module 4 : Monetise your virtual event
MEET THE INSTRUCTOR :
NAME : ANDREW CARNEY COMPANY : SMARTXPO JOB TITLE :
PRODUCT DIRECTOR
am a co-founder and the product director for Smartxpo . I started my career
I as a strategy consultant advising some of the world ’ s largest event and media companies on corporate strategy , M & A and pricing . I then became a member of the founding team at Smartxpo , which has developed into one of the most innovative data and analytics providers to the events industry . I led the team that pioneered Smartxpo ’ s revolutionary software module aligning event pricing to customer value , which is now in use by many of the largest event organisers worldwide . My passion is helping event organisers use data and analytics to take smarter decisions .
I have run two virtual events in 2020 . The first looked at what the data tells us about the future of the events industry . The second was co-organised with VEI and aimed to start a courageous conversation about how we can improve racial diversity in the events industry .
Are virtual events going to feature heavily as part of the event mix going forward ? What evidence have you seen ?
The world is moving online , and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated that shift . I watched an interview with Bill Gates a few weeks ago where he forecast that 50 % of business travel will disappear . Now that companies realise business can continue when travel is not possible , there will be a higher bar for justifying the value of business travel . For the events industry , that means that it will be more important than ever to understand what drives value for customers and make sure they are delivering solutions that justify travel to physical events .
The challenge for virtual has been that a lot of events in the past year have been rushed out to replace physical rather than focusing on designing an experience that meets exhibitors , sponsors and attendee needs . This leads to both poor results for customers and financially for the organisers . The impact of the pandemic has also varied significantly by country and sector . Moving forward , the key for event organisers will be to take data-driven approaches to understand their various customer ’ s needs and use analytics to design products that meet those needs .
“ A LOT OF EVENTS IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE BEEN RUSHED OUT TO REPLACE PHYSICAL RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON DESIGNING AN EXPERIENCE THAT MEETS EXHIBITORS , SPONSORS AND ATTENDEE NEEDS .”
Provide a top line overview of the module and what it covers .
I have developed two modules for VEI . They take students through step-by-step how to understand customer ’ s needs , design products that meet those needs and then make sure they get their pricing right for their virtual events .
The first module focuses on valuebased pricing , explaining what this is , how to use data-driven methods to define customer groups , understand the needs of each customer group and build products that meet those needs . Students will also learn how to define customer value drivers and bundle different products together to meet those value drivers .
HYBRID PRESENTATIONS