Turning an attendee into a fan starts with creating a culture that puts them first.

Impeccable service goes beyond responding to a customer’s need in a timely fashion—it also means addressing the need in the way the attendee desires. Chick-fil-A and Morton’s, two companies on either end of the restaurant spectrum, both have embraced a culture of service that extends from the in-person experience to social media. Both restaurant chains have wowed customers by showing up unexpectedly with food orders a fan made on Twitter. Chicken sandwich and steak lovers can go anywhere, but they beg for Chick-fil-A and Morton’s.

Augusta National Golf Club chooses a more traditional approach. Last month, I had the pleasure of experiencing The Masters, held every year at the club in Augusta, Ga. The legendary golf tournament creates a lingering experience for every attendee. Even during the practice session I attended, every minute detail is covered on the course. The event has a culture of Southern hospitality where guests stay in homes rather than hotels, pimento cheese sandwiches are a mere $1.50, and volunteers greet every attendee with a smile, saying “Enjoy the tournament!” And they come back every year. The Masters has managed to turn fans of a sport into fans of its tournament.

Organizations that are successful at creating a culture of customer service have something in common: Interactions with guests are based on relationship rather than transaction. As we throw out the word “community” over and over again to describe our social networks and in-person events, I wonder how much of a culture we’re creating around our events.

Do your attendees come to you for your content or because of the experience you create for them? How can you turn attendees into fans?

Here are some key things I learned from the world of holistic health care that have come in handy for event planning and production:

1) Maintaining boundaries – It’s important to remember the scope of your responsibility. In a healing situation, everyone has their prescribed role to play in the process of supporting good health. The patient must care for him/herself, while the practitioner provides treatment and guidance. As event planners, you must be clear on the scope of your responsibilities and what you in turn require of your clients.

2) Being realistic – You can’t expect to be cured overnight of a chronic condition you’ve been enduring for twenty years. A good healer understands the limits of what is possible and how long it will take to achieve realistic goals. Likewise, your client may want you to recreate the pyramids out of Swarovski crystals as centerpieces for caviar platters, but only have the budget for balloon animals and bean dip. You must have an accurate understanding about what is possible given the time and budget within which you are working. Never make promises you can’t keep.

2) Your time and energy are worth something and should be compensated – The best practitioners know that it is important to engage in a value exchange with their patients. Free treatment is not necessarily conducive to genuine healing. Even a sliding fee scale, though allowing for people of different means to gain access to services, entails a fee for those services. Placing a dollar value on your services encourages clients to honor your work and take their own participation seriously. Moreover, the rates you establish set a tone for the industry you represent. Don’t sell yourself or your colleagues short.

3) A good spirit has a positive impact – There are certain basic mechanics of good medicine, or good production. Knowing the skills of your trade is essential to performing well! However, the attitude and energy that you bring into your work has a tremendous impact on the overall outcome. Impatience, condescension, and insensitivity breed distrust and a lack of cooperation. An overall sense of optimism and a willingness to go with the flow give everyone a chance to rise to their highest potential.

5) Yin and yang, baby – Seriously, you must pay attention to the duality inherent in every situation. After all, there IS a natural order of things! Light and dark, on and off, fast and slow, pushing and pulling… Especially when you are pushing to get everything ready for the start of an event, tensions can rise, tempers may flare and anxiety can interfere with your ability to complete everything on your to-do list. Make sure you schedule in some breathing and reflecting time, so that you can rest, refocus and keep your perspective. Try to mix up some humor with the seriousness. It will help you let off steam and keep your client happy.

6) Keeping your perspective – There is cancer, and there is acne. Do not confuse them. One is a potentially life threatening condition, the other is a nuisance. In the end, your event is just that – an event. Seriously, people. A fashion show, a cocktail party, a high end corporate meeting – none of these are do or die situations. Get a grip. Nothing is worth giving yourself an ulcer or a heart attack or making everyone around you miserable. Believe it or not, you will survive, even if you may feel like you want to die. Even mistakes or missteps can be forgiven, if you take them as learning opportunities. Relationships will be made and broken. It’s the nature of the business. Try not to let it make you crazy.

And if things get really out of hand, and you need some help relieving the stress or regaining your balance, I know a few good acupuncturists I’d be happy to recommend…

Photo by Noahg.

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Today, we’re talking about a2z, Inc.

Your name: Lisa McGrath
Company/Tool Name: a2z, Inc.
Website: www.a2zinc.net
Twitter: www.twitter.com/a2zusergroup
Facebook: www.facebook.com/a2zinc.net

What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?
a2z offers multiple smart tools for hassle-free floor plan/expo management, conference management, networking and attendee acquisition, as well as web-based and native mobile applications. All a2z  solutions are geared to help clients increase efficiencies, boost revenues, speed up cash flow and enhance the end-user experience all while attaining ROI in a single show cycle. a2z integrates with your other mission-critical systems (CRM, AMS, etc.) to improve processes and work flow. Clients tie exhibit sales directly into financials, and remain PCI compliant. a2z facilitates attendee engagement and pre-show lead acquisition with embedded widgets and enhanced online exhibitor eBooth content including social media links, videos, products, press releases and special offers.

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
Mid-sized to large B2B tradeshow events tend to get the most from a2z solutions.

What does your tool help event planners do better?
a2z Exposition Management tools help event planners sell exhibit spaces faster, and the Conference tools help with managing schedules, proposals and presenters in real-time. a2z Networking and Lead Management help organizers match the right buyers to the right sellers. a2z Mobile and Social Media solutions help you expand your marketing footprint and boost event engagement, before, during and after your show.

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
World-class reporting, a dedicated professional services representative to provide support, and expertise integrating with other systems set a2z apart. We are PCI compliant and powered 40% of the top 25 shows listed in Expo magazine’s fastest growing shows in 2011. With a client-focused vision and commitment to continued innovation, a2z is a market leader with modular event management software solutions. Established in 1998, a2z has deep industry knowledge and experience with a variety of shows, industries and event needs.  We offer modular pricing so you only buy exactly what you need.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?
Our floor plan solution is slick, non-flash based and is accessible on any PC or mobile device. Since it is real-time and web based, clients can access their back end, securely, online from anywhere.

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• 5 Tips on How to Pitch Your Event Technology Tool to Planners (lizkingevents.com)

Target

Ask yourself these important questions:

• Why social?
• What are we trying to achieve?
• What goals are we currently not reaching?
• What would social allow us to do?

Take some serious time and consider the WHY. It’s not enough to integrate social media because everyone else is doing it.. or even because you think it’s interesting. Consider some very serious TARGETS that you would like to reach by integrating social.

Audience

Once you know your targets, you need to get really familiar with your AUDIENCE. The best laid plans are only effective if they meet the needs of your target audience. You need to know:

• What social networks they use.
• What they use each network for.
• How often they use them.
• Who they interact with on them.
• Their access to these networks while on-the-go

To figure out this information, poll your past attendees, talk to your community leaders, form great relationships with your audience so that you can learn all about them.

Gadgets

Yes – the actual tools you use comes last. Twitter streams and mobile applications are all cool ideas – but only if they help you meet your goals. If you aren’t sure why you’re using a particular tool, you aren’t able to measure the success of it. In this day and age, events without a justifiable ROI are simply unacceptable. Budgets are tight, competition is stiff and you need to know whether your work is truly effective.

Test out these three steps and let me know what you think!

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• 3 Best Social Media Practices (lizkingevents.com)

The common theme was one of camaraderie among early adopters who are all trying to navigate this still new landscape to improve their businesses. One of the most applicable and interesting sessions I attended was led by Gabe Zichermann, CEO of Gamification.co. Not only was the subject relevant to meetings, but the psychology and science behind gamification’s ability to stimulate creativity and innovation was fascinating.

Gamification: n. the process of using game thinking and mechanics to engage users.

When those in the meetings and tourism industry hear the term gaming, they might think first of casinos. Others might think of a middle-aged man playing World of Warcraft in his basement. Those looking to transform meetings think of engaging participants in a system that stimulates learning.

“There really are few self-starters in the world,” Zichermann says. While there are entrepreneurs with ideas they can’t wait to get out, most people need specific challenges to encourage stimulation.

“Games present the most compelling and flexible way to do that,” said Zichermann. Trying to engage an audience with a contest that asks them to submit a video might get a few responses. However the quantity, quality and creative expression of the entries will rise if the contest introduces simple constraints such as send a video of yourself with our magazine in front of a landmark talking about why you love our conference.

Zichermann explained more about why gaming works this way, specifically for events, in this video interview.

Creating a game at your event does require more than adding a competition or check-ins. Games work when they incorporate feedback, friends and fun. Feedback stimulates the challenge/achievement loop in participants’ brains and taps into their desire to do it over and over again. Successful games create an experience participants want to do and share. For instance, a loyalty program that introduces a game adds a viral nature to something that is otherwise private. Fun is different for everyone, so it’s important to know your audience and what constitutes fun for them. Forced participation is usually not the answer. “Even if [the game] is more fun than whatever tragic data entry they would be doing otherwise, if the appeal is ‘You will have fun and play this game,’ they generally will not,” advised Zichermann.

Have you incorporated gaming into your event using an app, check-ins or teambuilding? We’d like to know how it worked.

Read more about Zichermann’s Gamification Summit or how his company, Dopamine, can create a game for your event.

Photo by Cea

Today, we’re talking about Qrious

Your name: John Federico
Company/Tool Name: Qrious
Website: http://qriousapp.com
Twitter: @qriousapp

What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?
More often than not, the top reason that people attend professional events and conferences is to meet others. Yet the time and money spent at these events is often gambled on serendipity instead of thoughtfully-targeted, pre-confirmed meetings.

While the act of organizing an event provides certain efficiencies in making new connections, once the number of attendees exceeds 50 people these efficiencies start to deteriorate.

Using Qrious and the Qrious smartphone app, attendees, exhibitors and sponosrs arrive at a professional event and Qrious tells them who to meet – and why – using their role, goals for the event, existing social networks and specific business interests.

We like to say that Qrious is “Foursquare meets LinkedIn and eHarmony.”

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
Anyone looking to connect with a specific type of person at a professional event can benefit from the free Qrious service, but participants looking to initiate customer or partner relationships are the most active and frequent users. For them, Qrious is a sales automatation and lead generation tool – our premium service makes this capability even more powerful for these participants.

What does your tool help event planners do better?
Qrious helps increase attendee and exhibitor satisfaction. (Really. People get very excited about Qrious: http://jfed.me/n)

We ensure that your attendees and exhibitors leave your event having met more of the people that are important to THEM.

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
Right now, there are generally two kinds of apps in the market: On one side of the market there are free, downloadable apps to help you “meet people anywhere.”

These apps suffer from the “cold start” problem of new or ad hoc social nets (“Hey! Nobody’s here!”) and the context problem (“I’m not in the mood to network right now, thankyouverymuch”).

On the other side of the market, there are software vendors that will create a custom social network just for your event, usually for many thousands of dollars. These ad hoc social nets typically require attendees to populate them with lots of data and when your event ends, this stand-alone social network disappears – along with all that valuable data.

Qrious integrates with your registration system and your participant’s existing social networks to automagically help facilitate connections between them ahead of (and during) the event so they can efficiently plan their time – without the burden of feeding data into Yet Another Social Network, nor divulging personal contact information.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?
The Qrious Radar.

When you find someone that you want to meet, you put them on your Qrious Radar. When they register or check-in to a Qrious-powered event or conference session, that activity appears on your Qrious Home Screen. You can use that information to (appropriately and tactfully) find an opportunity to connect with that very important person.

Anything else we need to know?
I like gadgets.

At this point most know the formula for starting your social presence, personal brand or business:

You really don’t even need a website anymore which is the best part of it. Wasn’t that the big obstacle for a lot of non-tech people back in the day? How do I buy my domain? HTML? CSS? “I need a designer!” Screw it all, because you can do it all yourself now with hosted blogs on WordPress or Tumblr. Link up your photos from Flickr, link your videos from YT, include widgets for fans to LIKE you on FB, tweet you on TW, share to and connect with you on LinkedIn, Stumble, Digg, Reddit etc.

To those that don’t feel like they need to embrace and leverage social, you’re missing a huge business asset, and business in general. Check out this surprising Social Media success story; the Equine Dentist,

‘In businesses driven by relationships, Geoff says that Facebook allows him to build new ones. “People do business with people who they’re friends with. Period,” he says. “And Facebook is a great way to get to know people. It allows people to see that I’m a person,“‘ read more… he’s not the only one that’s had great success!

So now that you’re all going to make sure you have a social presence(!,) I need to make sure I brief you on the latest amendment to the social success formula, Pinterest. Have you been ignoring that one too? Hoping you’ll assimilate sometime in the future when it all makes more sense for you? NO! Be the trendsetter, start pinning and don’t stop.

WHY? Well because Fast Company, among many other reviews, can’t be wrong about the kind of traction Pinterest is garnering very quickly, and here’s why:

“1. Pinterest rides (and defines) a new trend: social relevance.
2. Pinterest is visual storytelling.
3. Did anyone say “traffic?”

(yes that’s a jump from 2M to 6M unique visitors in 3 months)

Pinterest is truly embracing the spirit of the open web and finally bringing curation to life. It now empowers us to achieve two things that couldn’t easily be achieved simultaneously:

story telling and traffic building. But most of all, Pinterest is solving the challenge of social content relevance quite elegantly.” – @perezable

All I want you to do is close your eyes and think of your bulletin board in HS. What did you pin up there? Things you loved, aspiring and inspiring photos, reminders etc. Now pretend you could go back in time, organize yourself a bit more… and separate the things you were pinning into categories with multiple boards; that’s all Pinterest really is.

Create your boards and start showing your followers your style, your words to live by, humanize your social presence by sharing must-try recipes, or (event planners,) must-try easy center pieces!

And because it’s a social site after my own heart, you are also able to “repin” much like Tumblr (and now WordPress’) “reblog” and Twitters “retweet”.

My advice? Ease into it…check out these 21 pinners doing it right via @Mashable… go on, run along!

WHY GET INVOLVED?
- Reach 150+ innovative, early adopter event planners in the NY area.
- Gain exposure to our online audience via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and more.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
- Apply by March 23, 2012. Tell us all about you and why you are blowing your competition out of the water. http://www.plannertech.com/presenterapp.html
- All selected companies will be notified by April 6, 2012.
- Pay your fee, book your travel and practice your 4 min pitch.

It’s simple!

SPONSOR PLANNERTECH NYC: Whether you present or not, you can always gain exposure to our leading event professionals via sponsorship. Check out this year’s packages here: http://plannertech.com/partnerapp.html

MORE CITIES! In 2012, we are pleased to announce that we will be hosting PlannerTech in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles! PlannerTech New York will be held during Internet Week and DC/LA dates will be released as soon as we secure venues.

EXPERIENCE THE EVENT! Check out photos, videos, tweets and articles written about PlannerTech DC and LA. http://plannertech.com/about.html

I was recently at the Perfect Business Summit in Las Vegas, NV – a conference designed to provide resources and inspiration to entrepreneurs and I heard a talk by Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com. Many of you probably know that he is extremely talented and has revolutionized customer service, but do you know just how revolutionary he really is? In his talk, he suggested that corporations do just what I mentioned – shift some or all of your advertising dollars into an investment in your clients. Once you make your existing clients happy, there’s very little need to market your business after all.

Here are some other ways that you can “market” without spending a dime or drafting an ad!

Care About Your Clients
Sounds simple, but a note to say hello or a thank you letter for a purchase goes a long way. I know you’re busy, but oversimplifying the Thank You process can be detrimental to your business. Don’t send cards printed by your assistant with a stamp of your signature on the bottom. Take the time to care about your clients.

Read More at InPlymouth.Com

Since 2003, Liz has produced fundraisers, conferences, networking events, meetings, and special occasions designed specifically according to the tastes, concerns, and desires of her clients. Liz King deals in details: she learns all about her client and the nature of the event they’d like to have, and then tightly manages every logistical detail to make the event run smoothly. As an industry professional, Liz has always had an eye for the exciting trend changes in the event planning business. She maintains a constant presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media networks to promote events and collaborate with other event professionals.
Liz King Events Website
Email: liz@lizkingevents.com
Liz King Events on Facebook
Liz King Events on Twitter

Joshua Gaynor – Social Media Startup

Spend a few minutes with Josh and you will learn about websites and new technology developments you never heard of. Then, go home and look it all up and you will be AMAZED! Josh knows the top news in tech and social media because of his genuine interests – he reads more articles and tries more technologies than most of us could dream of! Who better then to help you set up your social media accounts and direct you to resources to help you master them for your business!?

Josh Gaynor on Twitter
Josh Gaynor on LinkedIn

Patrick Smith – Social Media Startup

Idea man. Relationship builder. Meeting people & making things happen. Promoting social good via social media. Love NYC nightlife, good liquor and Chinese food. Patrick will be available in the lounge to help those of you who are interested in social media, but don’t know how to get started! He’ll walk you through setup of a Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook account and give you some tips for makingrelationships happen using social networking!

Patrick Smith on Twitter
Patrick Smith on LinkedIn

Malla Haridat – Branding Your Business Using Social Media

Malla Haridat, the Founder and Chief Executive, is a nationally recognized expert in the specialized field of entrepreneurship education and has trained over 1,000 students. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States working in partnership with companies developing creative solutions for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. A dynamic thinker, strategist, and speaker, Malla, now works with awide variety of organizations applying her creative talents to the challenges of business transformation. Malla has made significant advances in marketing her business through the use of social media and will be at BizBash to help you apply similar principles to yours!

Malla Haridat Website
Malla Haridat on Twitter

Lindsey Rosenthal – Branding Your Business Using Social Media

Lindsey is an experienced fundraising event specialist with proven success for nonprofit organizations and associations in strategy and special event development.She is the founder and principal of Events For Good, which incorporates events into long-term fundraising strategy, aligns corporate social responsibility with a company’s goals, and creates unique and customized event experiences. Lindsey is also one of the founders and organizers of EventCamp East Coast, a peer conference for people who are directly involved in the planning of corporate and association meetings and conferences focusing on experimentation and innovation in the event industry. Got questions about using social media to promote your brand? Find Lindsey in the lounge and ask away! She’s full of great tips and lots of ideas to get you started!

Lindsey Rosenthal Website
Lindsey Rosenthal on Twitter
Lindsey Rosenthal on LinkedIn
Lindsey Rosenthal on Facebook

Cameron Toth – Integrating Social Media into Your Events

Cameron is an event professional and works with youth in Harlem as part of the College and Career Preparatory Institute. Cameron has used social media to promote CCPI and his personal brand and will be on hand at the social media lounge to talk about how to do the same for your events! Spend some time with Cameron to get tips that you can implement at your next event. 

Cameron Toth Website
Cameron Toth on Twitter

Alex Yepes – Integrating Social Media into Your Events

Event professional and Managing Director of the Small Business Development Center run through Columbia University and New York State, Alex has made huge strides in event management and the integration of social media in events. Check him out in the lounge and write down all his tips and ideas. It will make all the difference in your next social media integrated event!

Alex Yepes on Twitter

Christina Coster – Roaming Tweeter

Christina Coster is an award winning special event and conference planner born, raised, and based in New York City. She is the founder of EventCamp(@Eventcamp) and blogs on EventCoup.com. Christina is a social media enthusiast, loves all things tech (although the feeling is not always mutual), and is an avid Mets fan. You can connect with her on Twitter at @Mizcity, on LinkedIn, or find her on the nearest Volleyball court. You’ll find Christina in all the sessions and all over the expo floor tweeting about all the activities of the day!

Christina Coster on Twitter

Leslie Richin – Roaming Tweeter

Founder, Low Maintenance PR. freelance journalist, publicist, social media strategistand event planner. Leslie specializes in organizing and publicizing special events related to fashion, art, film, music, social media, new business/product launch, charity & fundraising. Leslie will be working with Christina to capture the event via Twitter and Facebook.

Leslie Richin Website
Leslie Richin on Twitter

Andres & Kim Valenzuela – Event Photographers

Andres Valenzuela Photography specializes in wedding and children’s documentary photography. We’re a husband and wife team based out of the NY metro area. We love relationship building with our couples and families as we believe it is the best way to capture who they are in the most natural and candid way possible. Catch Andres and Kim roaming the event and capturing photos of all the fun!
Andres Valenzuela Photography Website
Email: andres@andresvalenzuela.com
Andres Valenzuela on Facebook
Andres Valenzuela on Twitter

Mat Swajkos and Erin Leigh – TwitPicBooth

Mat Szwajkos specializes in celebrity portrait and fashion photography. He received his BFA from Pratt Institute in 2001. In 2005 Mat began his freelance career and started building lasting relationships with actors, musicians and fashion designers.
His clients include: InStyle, The Discovery Network, Ford Motors, Red Bull, Mr. Youth, Steven Alan, Muscle and Fitness, The Daily, MTV, TV Land, AOL, Lilly Pharmaceuticals, Victoria’s Secret, Tribeca Film Festival, Robert Verdi, Atlantic Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Yamaha and The Food Network.

Raised in Seattle, Erin studied fine art photography at RIT. Her first internship with the Associated Press in Jerusalem cemented her love for photojournalism and storytelling. As a NY-based freelance photographer, she spends her free time between assignments traveling, studying trapeze and spending time with her awesome photographer husband.
Erin Wigger Photography Website

Ed Wagaba – TwitVids

If you’re looking for someone engaging and fun, Ed is the man! Ed has worked with several organizations on the administrative, operational and social networking components of their company and is trying out his new interest – video – at the BizBash Expo! Ed will be roaming around the event to capture all the fun times and all your takeaways on video! We’ll post videos to our YouTube channel so you can relive the event until next year!
Ed Wagaba on Twitter

Visit the TwitPic Booth!

The TwitPic Photobooth is so much more than a regular ol’ photobooth. It’s a get-the-party-started factory as well as a brand marketing machine! Guests are photographed and the pictures are transmitted directly to Twitter and other social media sites using the event hashtag and the guests’ Twitter handles. The pictures go viral as the event is happening. This allows the event to be tracked across Twitter, Facebook and other social sites. Instead of just the one impression from a normal photobooth, these images continue to have a shelf life well beyond the event as profile pics or posted on Facebook walls.
For more info, watch a quick video.

Win Prizes!

$500 Grosh Backdrops Rental!

For over 75 years, Grosh Backdrops has been supplying event planners with top quality backdrops and drapery from an unmatched selection. With the largest scenic rental inventory in the special events industry, Grosh Backdrops and Drapery is sure to have the perfect backdrop to compliment your next event!

Grosh Backdrops Website
Grosh Backdrops Twitter
Lindsay Fultz Twitter
Grosh Backdrops on YouTube
Grosh Backdrops on Facebook

One Ticket to EventCamp!

One of the most innovative forums for event planners to learn and test new concepts, EventCamp is the place to be! Win one ticket (excluding airfare and accommodations) to EventCamp Chicago and visit their booth (314) at the Expo for more details!
EventCamp Website

Gift Cards for Charity!

Win one of several gift cards through Charity Choice – a perfect way to add an element of good into any event! Test it out and give to the charity of your choice! Stay tuned to Twitter to see how you can win at the event.
Charity Choice Website 

Starbucks Gift Cards!

Who doesn’t love Starbucks? You’ll have the chance to win a gift card to one of their stores throughout the day so stay tuned!!

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh!  

Good customer service and company culture are two of the main components of a successful business and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, is one of the leading authorities on these subjects. Win a copy of his book at the event and take the time to implement his concepts for business success!