Each year companies spend valuable resources on meetings and events – not because they are a nice add on, but because they are a proven, successful business tool.  A well planned, well executed event can invigorate a corporation and dazzle attendees.  But just because something didn’t go wrong, it doesn’t mean everything went right.  As event planners we need to stop accepting "no catastrophic failures" as a measure of success.

These seven points of focus can help ensure you produce a successful event each and every time.

Over the last few years, technology has become an integral part of the events industry. Anyone working in this dynamic area knows how painful it would be to juggle all the aspects of event management without the help of technology tools.

The demands placed in front of today’s organizers? To execute the logistics of the event perfectly, while at the same time providing engaging experiences that are tailor-made for attendees, satisfying different needs they may have before, during, and after the event.

Whether it’s making a list and checking it twice or end-of-year recaps and wrap-ups, winter is the season of lists. At Derse, much like when it comes to events, we’re all about preparation. So, we’ve scoured the internet for opinions and predictions on event marketing trends for the coming year.

These predictions from Chief Marketer, Entrepreneur, Forbes and more, combined with our knowledge from the past year and our expertise in aiding companies with events, exhibits and experiences led to our own list.

Quite often event organizers struggle with tight budgets and see getting an event app as a luxury they cannot afford. “This year we can’t make it, our budget has been approved and closed” or “We don’t have the budget for it this year” or “Maybe next year.”

Any of those sound familiar? If you’re an event organizer, you probably have said those things more than once in your life and indeed those are perfectly understandable statements. However, in this post, we’ll try to present this issue from a bit of a different perspective.

All event strategists know that content is king, so when we bring in outside speakers we need to do our homework and recommend wisely. As is the case with all things event strategists do, their actions yield the highest quality results that align with the event’s goal. In this instance, that means reaching out to an accredited speakers bureau and leveraging their expertise.

Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s hard to miss the hype around the biggest football championship of the year. And this year’s coverage has been particularly interesting with a spotlight on first-time host, Minneapolis. Unlike previous metropolises like Houston and San Francisco, Minneapolis/St. Paul had some hurdles, including fewer traditional event space options and frosty conditions. But the Twin Cities capitalized on its “Bold North” strengths to become the ultimate Super Bowl hub with a wide lineup of memorable experiences in and outside the big game.

Event organizers know that balancing tech trends with the realities of business and budgets is a challenge.

Roll something out too early, or to an audience that doesn’t fit, and it can easily fail. Hold back on new tech and your event can feel dated.

So how do you make sense of “bots” and voice-activated technology like Amazon Alexa? Well, the first place to start is understanding the difference between a new trend and a new technology.

My first post covered the steps event marketers should take towards GDPR compliance leading up to the event – now it’s time to talk about what happens onsite and beyond.

The Big Day

Acronyms, folks, am I right?

(IDK, but I’m SMDH about GDPR. AFAIK, u r 2.)

Between these (and other) daft initialisms, scaremongering click-bait, and alarmist legalese the GDPR hype is becoming an ever-louder buzzing noise in the back of marketers’ minds.

The reason GDPR has been set up – to protect us and everyone else – isn’t the first thing that we’ve learned to think of when it comes to the subject. We’re too distracted by the prospect of being fined €10 million.

People’s palates continue to become increasingly sophisticated and discerning. There are more of us snapping photos of food, enjoying pop-up restaurants and cooking gourmet meals at home (with or without the benefit of the ingredients delivered direct to their door) than ever before. The term ‘foodie,’ which was once reserved for food snobs and the elite, is now a self-proclaimed adjective many of us wear proudly. If you’re new to the world of event food, read on for some helpful strategic tips for planning your next tasting.