The art of N BALA CE

“The conferencing and events world is more exciting than ever now because so many boundaries have been broken.”

When planning events, corporate and association clients require certain measurable outcomes. As event planners, we need to be mindful of these outcomes from the inception of events. Our clients require the following:

- maximum delegate attendance

- interactive sessions with real-time feedback from delegates

- delegate experience and event memorability

- alignment of budget spend per event to success of the above points.

Within the hybrid space that has now become the norm for events, we have much more flexibility in terms of delegate attendance. There is little to no excuse for delegates not being able to attend events. Also, with a more ‘flattened’ approach of executive management, real-time feedback and delegate suggestions make it easier to gauge employees’ or clients’ levels of satisfaction/dissatisfaction. They can also feel part of the process of new goals, products and projects. How do we accomplish this? There are a number of tips and tricks that we can employ. They are:

• Ensure solid invitation and registration processes with strong follow-up.

• Offer a hybrid solution for delegates with valid constraints or travel restrictions.

• Create a more relaxed event environment for delegates with value-added benefits, such as:

- interactive snack and beverage solutions

- different seating styles to the norm – quirkier venues, different furniture styles

- consider using Catchbox microphones for Q&As and suggestions (catchbox.com), to make it easier for every voice to be heard.

• Always ensure that the client, events company and suppliers are all working towards the same goal. The conferencing and events world is more exciting than ever now because so many boundaries have been broken.

Herkie Du Preez Director at STRONG PR Marketing & Events

“As an event manager, you need to have excellent strategies in place and adopt a few precautions, to push your event to success.”

Every event project is set up with certain goals and objectives in mind. We need to consider several factors –internal and external elements – to achieve these objectives. As an event manager, you need to have excellent strategies in place and adopt a few precautions, to push your event to success.

Here’s how STRONG does it:

• Establish clear project details and objectives.

• Once a strong plan is in place, we gather a competent project team and align the scope of work, the concepts, and the milestones.

• We maintain open and honest communication and address challenges as they occur with positive solutions.

• We manage and evaluate project risk.

• We maintain an open mind and remain flexible.

• We test, check, double-check, test and check until everything is seamless.

• We enjoy what we do and this allows us to execute successful events.

Being able to make decisions thoughtfully, quickly and confidently are all essential traits of a STRONG event manager – and that is exactly what you can expect from our team at STRONG PR, Marketing and Events.

Didi Okoro

Head of Sales for the Rand Show

“Very high on my list is the feeling that both your exhibitors and your visitors take away from your event.”

The outcome of an event is more than just profit. Yes, profit is important as the bottom line of the business. This is, however, not always the case with the event itself. Events need to have several outcomes that are met to be considered successful. Very high on my list is the feeling that both your exhibitors and your visitors take away from your event. Great service is what will keep visitors and exhibitors coming back. Invest in the service you offer clients and visitors.

This service is experienced in several ways, such as:

- experienced and trained staff

- knowledgeable staff

- safe environment

- price sensitivity

- cleanliness

- over-delivering and meeting the expectations you have created.

Yolanda Woeke

Vice President: Sales & Marketing at Dragonfly Africa

“The exclusiveness and uniqueness of travelling to Africa do have the effect of automatically creating massive business results for the end client.”

There are four key outcomes that we always need to deliver in our incentive tours. These are:

• Motivation: We are lucky enough to have an ‘easy sell’ with our fantastic destinations and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Especially with the fact that we can offer safaris, once-in-a-lifetime trips to the gorillas and gorilla trekking, and seeing wildlife so up close and personal –hugely unique to our destinations, and a massive motivation for any incentive reward travel candidate.

• Retention and performance: We work very closely with our clients, whether third party or direct corporates, with ensuring the destination is announced at least a year in advance so that the qualifiers and the sales team have a target to achieve. Therefore, retention is achieved with people staying on as they want to qualify for that trip and travel. We assist with various teasers, media campaigns, etc. to keep the qualifier or incentive trip winner engaged and excited about the destination and incentive.

• Organisational culture: It allows the opportunity for the incentive clients/winners to meet with their peers and be seen and recognised within the company culture. There are a lot of opportunities where we create events that are very immersive, team-oriented, and where people work together for a specific cause. In our instance, CSR activities really help with getting the company and the sales team to feel that they are doing something together as a company, sharing ideas, and yet also contributing to a sustainable and good cause. Dragonfly Africa and our destinations lend themselves perfectly to this goal.

• Business results: The destinations that we operate in (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Mauritius, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda) push the business results through the roof. We have often had our incentive clients say that it’s tough for them to motivate their teams to get as excited and achieve the same sales results for other destinations. The exclusiveness and uniqueness of travelling to Africa do have the effect of automatically creating massive business results for the end client.