ViewPoint - April / May 2008

Event Planning
New Event Launches: Managing The Risk
John Failla

While associations typically have successful annual events, there are often opportunities to launch additional events that can meet the unique needs of your membership.

John Failla is CEO of Tesoro Events, an events consulting company based in Scarsdale, NY. An authority on business media brand development and launching events, Failla has been a featured speaker at domestic and international conferences during the last 10 years. He can be reached at 914-819-0693 or by e-mail at john@tesoroevents.com.

There are three key ways in which you can identify opportunities to launch new events to complement your existing national convention.

1. Target an important buyer group. Depending on the dynamics of your membership, a well-executed audience segmentation analysis will identify member segments distinguished by a number of factors. These criteria can be utilized to create new events that both deliver meaningful value to a segment of your audience and create value for your association.

2. Develop a regional extension to your national convention. Regional extensions of existing events often can be developed to serve a higher percentage of your membership base and to serve different stages of their buying cycles.

3. Carve out an emerging market segment. In virtually every association, both supplier product categories and membership segments travel along life cycles. Insight into your members and their suppliers can be leveraged to identify new event opportunities tied to emerging product categories or member segments that are about to enter a rapid growth phase.

Once you’ve developed a solid idea for a new event, decide what are the components of a solid launch plan that can help you manage the risks of launching a new event for your association and maximize your probability of success.

AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PLAN
A well-developed business plan for your launch will work on a number of levels:

It provides a clear picture of the target audience and the event idea. A well-conceived launch plan starts with a clear definition of the target audience/prospective attendee. This market overview should also detail growth dynamics in the market, significant trends and a clear segmentation of key titles targeted for the event.

Once a clear picture of the audience exists, the plan should articulate the event concept and present an overview of competitive events currently serving the audience.

It explains how your event will deliver new value to your members. A solid value proposition for your launch starts with a detailed definition of the major needs of each key audience segment. An assessment of how current competitive events are meeting these needs should illuminate any “gaps” that your new event will fill.

“Establishing a process within your association to support event launches with business plans like these will raise your probability of success and expand your comfort zone for launching events.”

Once these gaps are defined, a detailed description of your event model will define your unique position in clear and specific terms. The ability to articulate a unique position in compelling and succinct terms is essential for success. The role this new event will play in your overall portfolio of events and a summary of all relevant validation efforts to support your premise should also be included here.

It defines roles, responsibilities and detailed action plans addressing all related functional areas. With an overview of the market and your event strategy in place, it’s time to articulate the specific plans, tactics and duties that will be executed to take advantage of the opportunity. In addition to the specific definition of roles and responsibilities for all duties related to the launch, a set of detailed action plans and schedules for exhibit/sponsor sales, audience marketing, content programming and operations are created and contained here.

Because the use of key industry relationships to help ensure the success of any launch is a risk management best practice, this section should feature the arrangements with any appropriate organizations, magazines or individuals that will be secured.

It provides the financial metrics and milestones to manage exposure and risk. In addition to a detailed budget for the launch year and a three-year forecast, risk management best practices call for creation of a cash flow schedule tied to launch execution “go/no go” measures. Beyond the numbers, this section of your plan should detail your proactive tactics to counter major anticipated risk factors. Disciplined development of this section of the plan requires a great deal of work and forethought. This investment of time pays tremendous dividends.

While there are no guarantees of success in launching a new event, the attention to detail and discipline required to create the type of plan described here provides the greatest possible risk management.

The cornerstones of this disciplined and comprehensive approach provide an intense external focus in developing the event and are precise in defining the action plans and duties associated with an event launch. Using these methods demonstrates a commitment to managing the major risk factors associated with launching events.

Establishing a process within your association to support event launches with business plans like these will raise your probability of success and expand your comfort zone for launching events.    ACF