Meeting News - December 21, 2009 - (Page 18)

Event Profile Virtual Options Help Stem Company’s User Conference Attendance Decline Product portfolio management supplier Planview, facing a potentially sharp attendance decline for its annual user conference, this year preserved the event by turning it largely virtual. Kimberly Stone, manager of Web and creative services for the Austin, Texas-based company, said the annual conference is a major event for Planview and its clients. However, a survey of potential attendees showed many did not have the travel budget to attend this year’s October conference, she said. “A lot of the event is about networking, so should we allow a handful of customers to come and have a subpar experience?” Stone said. “A Webcast series didn’t feel like the right thing to replace this physical event, so we looked at other virtual options.” The Planview team attended the Virtual Edge events and marketing summit in California earlier this year to learn about virtual event options and ultimately chose virtual event supplier Unisfair to help with its event. Through Unisfair, Planview was able to set up via Internet and telephone an event that included a keynote address, educational sessions, breakout sessions, one-on-one “meet the expert” sessions and networking opportunities. Employees from Planview’s California office By Michael B. Baker mbaker@meetingnews.com room, which many attendees happily took because of the cost savings from not traveling, said Unisfair senior director of marketing Joerg Rathenberg. Unisfair has seen a significant bump in business this year because of stories similar to Planview’s, Rathenberg said. While many large hightech companies, such as Cisco or IBM, already do hundreds of similar events each year, the economy is now inspiring smaller companies like Planview to take their first foray into virtual conferencing, he said. Besides tech companies, life sciences clients looking for new channels to gain marketshare are a big area of growth for Unisfair, he said. “People are coming to us as the salvation for these problems,” Rathenberg said. “It puts the cost per attendee down dramatically, but it still requires a lot of work and the same planning process.” Even though virtual conference attendees miss out on experiences like chance meetings on elevators or sharing a beer with a potential client, there are a few advantages over the live conference, Rathenberg said. Attendees and vendors are better able to target their one-onone meetings, and the event’s content is easily electronically archived. Stone said about 80 percent of those who signed up actually attended Planview’s conference, but the remaining 20 percent were able to later access all of the program’s content. Attendance for this year’s conference ended up higher than last year’s levels, Stone said. Ultimately, it required the same amount of resources and planning as the live event, however, she said. Planview has no plans to permanently turn the event virtual-only but is exploring ways to keep it a continuing option for those attendees who prefer it. “We had great feedback and achieved everything we wanted, but next year, we’ll probably have a physical event again,” according to Stone. “The only negative feedback we got was that they missed seeing us face to face. Some of our customers are asking us to see if having both is feasible.” r www.meetingnews.com Planview’s Kimberly Stone ed to make sure attendees were not shortchanged. “We put an incredible amount of effort in filling the event with more content than we had ever gotten with a physical event,” Stone said. “We threw a lot of resources at it, and it ran beautifully.” To add the feeling of a live event, attendees received welcome kits via the mail, which feedback and achieved “We had great wanted, but next year, everything we we’ll probably have a physical event again. —Planview manager of Web and creative services Kimberly Stone ” flew in to assist with the event, and it required nearly all hands on deck to pull it off, according to Stone. With the new environment, Planview want18 MeetingNews December 21, 2009 included agendas, brochures and typical conference goodies like pens and T-shirts. Attendees also were offered a package that included a catered breakfast or lunch in their conference http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - December 21, 2009

Meeting News - December 21, 2009
Contents
Newsmaker
Viewpoint
Meetings Spotlight
Association Watch
Construction Cites
Event Profile
Meeting People
Dateline: Mississippi
Dateline: Las Vegas
West Regional
Planner’s Choice Awards
Travel Dashboard

Meeting News - December 21, 2009