Boost Event Revenue: 10 Tips From the Pros

In July, following its Open Government & Innovations (OGI) Conference in Washington, D.C., Falls Church, Va.-based 1105 Government Information Group wanted to keep the event's momentum going. The event had been tweeted about 4,423 times, making the conference's hashtag, "#ogi," the No. 4 trending topic on Twitter during the event. So, 1105 decided to create a "TweetBook"—a compilation (in PDF format) of all the tweets—which conference attendees could download from the OGI Web site after the event.

The TweetBook seems to exemplify the bar now set for what live events can do to innovate and keep the momentum going as long as possible, preferably until the next event. Gone are the days of "build it and they will come." Now, event producers have to find out what their customers (attendees, exhibitors and sponsors) want, build the event to their specifications, and then deliver it to them. But that's not all. They have to build a brand around the event, and encourage returning attendees and vendors.

Adapting to Shifting Markets
1105 Government Information Group is an integrated information and media provider for the government information-technology market that dubs itself the "360-degree access to government IT" because it provides print, online, event, custom media and research products. Its events group is perhaps best known for its largest event, FOSE—an annual government technology trade show held in Washington, D.C.

Christina Condos, vice president of events at 1105, says that sometimes event producers have to adapt to a changing marketplace to make their conferences perform well.

Before, companies participating as exhibitors or sponsors in the events Condos oversees would have branding, brand awareness or dissemination of product information as their main goals, and they would have had to buy a booth on the main floor to accomplish those goals.

"But [now], we're finding that our customers are much more measurement focused," Condos says. "And they look to us to give them the package that will give them the amount of leads or the result that they're looking for."

Today, sponsors and exhibitors have a larger role as event participants. "Some of the things we've done, in the case of, say, a FOSE, is [to allow] our customers to present their programs as part of FOSE," she says. "So, for example, if a large company like Adobe or Microsoft would like to present one of their programs that they [have] presented in other venues …, we have them present it at our event as another way for them to be able to get leads."

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