Module 2 : Increasing audience engagement
MEET THE INSTRUCTOR :
NAME : STEPHANIE SELESNICK COMPANY : INTERNATIONAL TRADE INFORMATION , INC JOB TITLE : PRESIDENT
Selesnick advises and trains clients to successfully engage international clients , online ( digitally ) and in-person . This involves , in part , identifying and forging relationships with similar foreign expos , industry associations , media and government entities .
The company is also the US sales agent for the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center ( SNIEC ), the largest privately held venue in China and ExposAsia , an M & A and show management firm .
“ WE ARE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF HYBRID EVENTS AS PEOPLE WILL WANT TO TRAVEL LESS DUE TO FAMILY , HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS ALONG WITH QUARANTINING AND CORPORATE BANS ON TRAVEL .”
Stephanie Selesnick is a second generation trade show professional . She ’ s president of International Trade Information , Inc - a boutique consulting company that internationalises US exhibitions by recruiting and retaining global participants , or taking shows abroad .
Are virtual events going to feature heavily as part of the event mix going forward ? What evidence have you seen ?
Yes . We are going to see a lot of hybrid events as people will want to travel less due to family , health and environmental reasons along with quarantining and corporate bans on travel .
It ’ s a real chance to expand the audience base for events and you have a lot of venues around the world putting in studios for that purpose . Is it being driven by client demand or the venues predicting the future ? I think it ’ s a bit of both .
HYBRID PRESENTATIONS
Provide a top line overview of the module and what it covers .
I ’ m teaching two modules - How to Increase Audience Engagement and Developing Strategic Content Design .
The audience engagement module looks at how to deliver content in more meaningful and less boring ways . How many online events have we all been to this year where we ’ ve had it on in the background but we ’ re basically ignoring it . I want to help people to have fun with their content so that it brings enjoyment and greater engagement to the activity .
We also look at virtual event networking . One of the worse things you can do is to have no chat function and not be allowed to speak to other participants or see who else is online . Meeting new people is one of the key reasons for attending a trade show so we need to find better ways of facilitating networking online via features such as gamification .