Leveraging Your Annual Event to Advance Your Organizational Goals

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Leveraging Your Annual Event to Advance Your Organizational Goals


Presented by:

Catherine Mills, CMP

Dustin Sparks


Learner Outcomes

Use stakeholder survey data and other feedback in your

association’s long-term planning

Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to rethink

and rebuild your association’s annual event

Build an event brand to communicate the value and benefits of

your association and event


Agenda

Strategic planning

Brand development

Data mining

Persona development

Marketing and experience plan

ROI (results)


The Beginning

Seeing


Know Your Audience:

Seeing


Strategy & Goals


American Dental Association Annual Meeting:

Strategy and Goals

WHY HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN?

Know where you’re going

…and how you’re going to get there.


ADA Annual Meeting: Strategic Planning Process

Council on ADA sessions

Couldn’t identify one word for ADA meeting

Move around the country

Serve the entire dental community--nationwide

Identify long-term goals


ADA Mission Statement

Help all members succeed.


ADA Annual Meeting: Goal

Create a world-class dental experience that incorporates

value, innovation, and diversity of attendees and location to

the benefit of the entire dental community.


ADA Annual Meeting: Goals

1. Make the ADA annual meeting the first meeting the

professional dental community and exhibitors select for

participation.

2. Attract new and diverse attendees and create brand

loyalty among current and new attendees, as well as

exhibitors.

3. Add value to our membership by maintaining a

profitable meeting to drive future success and yearly

expansion, increasing the perceived benefits of ADA

membership.


Council engagement:

Strategic plan

Data to prove out or drive in different direction

Phases:

Strategic plan

Research and audit

Review results

Updates and approvals

ADA Annual Meeting: Strategic Plan


Make It Personal

Knowing Who Your Audience Is:


Persona Development

Platinum rule


DESIRE TO

LEAVE A

MARK

FOCUS IS

ELSEWHE

RE

PROVIDING

STRUCTURE

The

Reluctant

Attendee

Vacation

Focused

The

Phantom

Exhibitor

The

Academic The

Regular

Guy

The

Protégé

The Trend-SettingLeader

The Up

& Comer

The

Mentor

Attendee Personas

Generational Values

Source: Sustainable Leadership, Heidi J. Helm, 2008

Loyalty

God-fearing

Hard working

Patriotic

Civic minded

Institutional faith

Know the value of a dollar

The ability to do without

Top-down hierarchy

Job security

Chain of command

Optimism

Idealism

Competitiveness

Communication

Job security

Climbing the ladder of success

Professional accomplishments

Information

Live to work

Change of command

Realism

Efficiency

Career security

Diversity

Input into important

Decisions

Ambition

Multitasking

Data

Brands

Don't command, collaborate

Baby Boomers GenX GenY

Generational Values

Source: Sustainable Leadership, Heidi J. Helm, 2008

All the generations will be in the event mix by 2015.


Data Mining


ADA Data Mining

Leveraged existing data

Augmented with quantitative and qualitative surveys

Stakeholder/institutional knowledge

Show site observations

Current attendee/nonattendee

More nonattendees answered

High response rate

Strong affinity with ADA

Mass survey

Phone interviews


ADA Data Mining

Results:

Not what we expected--higher nonattendee

response rate

Listen to the audience

Led us in new directions--affinity with ADA brand


Persona Development

Know your audience

ADA--9 targeted personas (attendees and exhibitors)

Communication tactics

Experience elements

Wants/needs

Bridging the gap (expectations)


Branding


Branding

Branding Overview: McDonald’s Story


Icons, Inspiration, Identity


































































Branding OverviewWhat Is a Brand?




Every interaction with a brand is an opportunity to

either strengthen or weaken the brand.

Everything

Matters


Marketing and Experience Plan


Creating a Marketing and Experience Plan

What Does It All Mean?



Marketing and experience

Review results

Brainstorming

Ranking

Value and implementation

Council updates and approvals


Results

Priorities/recommendations

CAS approval and rollout plan

Branding transition plan

Communications on “why” new branding?



Phase 1: Rebrand the Meeting


Marketing Evolution

Value proposition evolution

Destination

Cohesive brand

Target (value and benefit) marketing


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution


Marketing Evolution

Phase/year 1--Brand transition

Tell them why by using various mediums

Give a sneak peak

Unveil onsite


Experience Plan

Evolution of Our On-Site Experience


Experience Evolution
































Measurement and ROI

Post-Meeting Results


Results

90% of attendees were satisfied or very satisfied with the

meeting

95% thought the meeting was effective in addressing reasons

for attending

40% more CE courses than previous year


Results

Increased brand engagement--Twitter and other social

networks praised “new” experience


2013 Plan Results

Mission: To create a world-class dental experience that

incorporates value, innovation, and diversity of

attendees and location, to the benefit of the entire

dental community.

GOAL TACTICS & INITIATIVES

SUCCESSMEASURE

TARGET

RANGE

ACTUAL COMMENTS

STATUS

Make the ADA Annual Session the first meeting the professional dental community and exhibitors select for participation.

Survey membership as to why they do or do not come to the ADA Annual Session. (underway--part I)

Get 50 people who have either never been or have not been to Annual Session in 5 years or more, registered for the 2013 Annual Session.

2013 Annual Session

776 lapsed dentists attended the 2013 Annual Session


Results

Ongoing process

Continue to monitor and survey attendees. Are you

meeting their needs?

Continue to look at the direction you’re going--make sure

you’re not doing something that doesn’t support your

plan.

Tweak what is kind of working.

Do be afraid to scrap what doesn’t work at all.


Results: Brand Video


Q&A


Thank You


Contact Info

Catherine H. Mills, CMP

American Dental Association

Director, Annual Meeting & Council on ADA Sessions

[email protected]

(312) 440-2581

Dustin Sparks

FreemanXP

Vice President Creative

[email protected]

(312) 810-8579