Purposeful Planning – Find Your Blue Ocean in the Hyper-Competitive World of Business Events

One of the greatest challenges I see in the event space these days is the proliferation of events and the resulting hyper-competitive landscape.

 

Just in the area of female entrepreneurship, my “new space,” there are at least 3 networking events on any given day in Ottawa. And more and more “women in business” conferences at every turn.

The same holds for most associations. Just a few weeks ago one of my industry colleagues was complaining that a smaller, “special-interest” association in their industry had just announced that they would put on a new conference just weeks before the annual event my friend is organizing.

It’s not just competition from other associations; the private sector is increasingly producing events that are encroaching in the traditional association space.

What we see are organizations that are declining because their events are losing revenue. And association leaders are panicking.

So they try to put on events that have wider appeal. Often this leads to agendas that are too diffuse and aren’t “meaty” enough to make potential participants want to face the hardships of travel, be away from their families and have to play the “catch-up” game when they return to the office.

The answer to hyper-competition: specialization

It may be counter-intuitive, but the answer to hyper-competition is most often greater specialization. To borrow a concept from a famous book that’s already over a dozen years old, successful event producers are the ones who get out of the blood-red waters of competition, and find their own blue ocean: a place where the “competitive sharks” are not swimming around for your audience.

Not an easy thing to do when the boss is panicking, I realize. But the alternative is bleak.

Keep in mind that with algorithms customizing our online experience at every turn, consumers are getting selective and are no longer settling for a “one-size fits all” solution.

What does this mean for your events? It may mean regional customization: bringing your events geographically closer to certain segments of your membership and allowing stakeholder groups greater flexibility to address issues of regional interest.

Or it may mean breaking up your annual conference around “streams” that appeal to the specific interests of your membership. So instead of one annual conference trying to address the needs of all interior designers, for instance, you may put on three small conferences – one for residential designers, one for large corporate/institutional designers and a third for healthcare designers.

All conferences would be shorter in length and thus easier for prospects to commit to attend. Most importantly, they would be more valuable because the entire experience would be more customized to the interests of the attendee.

I hear your objections: “it takes more to organize three smaller events than one larger event,” you say. “We’re already booked for our annual until 2020,” you add. I get it.

But hyper-competition and the need for customization isn’t going away. Think of it this way: if you had a rare tumor to be removed, would you rather deal with a general surgeon or a specialist? We all lack the time to do the things we need and want to do. So pick a lane, focus on one target, one topic. Don’t try to cover it all or please everyone. Because you never can.

As always, dear readers, what are your thoughts?

 Article Written By Doreen Ashton Wagner, Host & Community Leader at ForLoveAndBusiness, com.

Article edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales & Marketing