How do you make a Seminar Memorable?

This is a guide on how to pull a company or client workshop/seminar together that doesn’t cost the earth, has clear tangible reasons for being run, will be memorable for all the right reasons and delivers a measurable success to the sponsors involved.
There are currently hundreds of marketing/selling/ infomercial seminars taking place across every city in every country around the world, so why would you consider running one in the first place? In short, if you can fill a room with potential buyers and introducers who might love what your company offers you’ve got a great chance of winning some business rather than traipsing all over the country knocking on doors. When run well, these can be some of the most powerful and successful business development forums available to all businesses.
The key difference here is knowing who the target attendee is and understanding why they would bother to turn up and give up their precious time to be there. Anything else is just wishful thinking, costly and potentially very damaging to the company’s brand when it turns out looking like an amateur hour event.
Who? This is the first thing to ask yourself and I mean here exactly who – names, job titles, rank within the company, ability to make decisions, likelihood of becoming either a long term supporter and promoter of your company or a key quality client. Having just ten clearly targeted people in the room rather than 50 random strangers attending is a far better investment for all involved.
What? What are you going to give them that is so compelling that they would want to attend. A combination of crucial industry knowledge and updates, entertaining speakers that will add value to their business or a private audience with either a celebrity or someone that has overachieved within their industry. This is far more likely fill a room with the right people. Telling the MD that they are not the best speaker in the world can sometimes be the hardest part of planning here, so seriously consider who will front the day! Can they entertain and enthuse an audience, if not they will damage your brand and potentially the whole event can backfire – it must be memorable for all the right reasons.
When? i.e. time of day. Everyone has their own preference here: some people are morning people, others midnight owls. Lunchtimes give you more time, however some will not want to attend and cut their day in half. This will again be driven by the calibre and rank and file of those being invited – another breakfast networking event may not be a big enough draw for some but is perfect for others. You also need to consider the day of the week and week of the month – these events will take 6-8 weeks to market – that is aside of the preparation time before you go to the market place, having agreed the running order, venue and sponsors. Don’t forget to avoid the football world cup final or equivalent global events that may well have a bearing. There really are other things going on in the world outside of your business that need to be considered in the planning stages.
Budget for the event. This will range from the tangible upfront costs such as room hire, coffee, teas, water, speaker fees, car parking, printing, database through to the hidden costs: your own time, your staff hours and man-days given over to making the event work, onsite photocopying, hire of a beamer or a professional event architect who pulls everything together for you so your team do not have to. This list could go on, you get the picture; that is why events in partnership may seem very attractive at first as you can split all the costs. However, as with all partnerships, they are potentially harmful if one side doesn’t do what was agreed.
How Long? Short sharp and punchy but long enough for you to have quality time meeting and greeting all in attendance. Quite obviously if it is too short you will not have enough time to have a conversation let alone start the foundations of a trusted business relationship. How long can you give vs. how long will your attendees be willing to sacrifice?
Sponsors or not? A sponsor is always a great thing to have onboard, be they one or several, as they share the burden of work, costs and energy to pull the event together. Most importantly they will (with the rights sponsors onboard) more than double your marketing catchment area, thereby increasing the probability of your event being a roaring success.
To charge or not to charge? The answer here is, it depends. 150 people saying yes to a free event will in many cases become a 50% “no show”. Free can quite often give the perception of no value. I personally am a fan of the small print which states that it is free to all who attend, however all those that say they will attend but then fail to show up will be charged – and you do charge them. Sometimes the charge may turn into a private meeting, lunch where they take you out or they pay for the golf match – however you dress it up they pay in some way. Quality always costs and it has to be expensive enough to provide the perception of value for money. Is the event going to be a five-star event or just a simple motel-type bed and breakfast experience – you choose. Of course remember that a five-star hotel with a grumpy moody receptionist will shatter the illusion of quality before you have even started your event. Large price tag means all tangible and intangible parts of the experience must be of real quality. From workbooks to wine glasses, you can’t cut corners here.
venue – having just touched on the quality experience when viewed through the eye of the client purchasing a place at your seminar, attendees will always have a perception of what the event will be like from the venue it is being held in. Quality does matter, uniqueness as in all areas of business will stand out in a crowd and something special always makes events that bit more appealing or memorable.
The more details that are hammered out before the event gets given the go ahead, the more likely it is to be a success for all involved and deliver all of the objectives set out at the beginning of this adventure. This list is by no means conclusive, there are many other questions that need to be asked and answered – it is however, a very sound starting point.