3 14 11 great ideas presentation

2011 Great Ideas Conference 1 > 3 10:45 am – 12:00 pm Monday, March 14 Hub Id: #ideas11 LD5 Steve Drake, MA Den Gardner, BS Diane Johnson, CMP

1 Better Than 3

Objectives
What do you do when your meeting is competing against others in the same market space?
Learn how three separate organizations in the same industry merged their conventions into a single, successful joint conference that added a record-breaking international component this past year.
Find out tips, techniques, and secrets to successful partnering, lessons learned, and join in discussions with other meetings professionals to see where similar opportunities might be awaiting your organization.

Coming Together
Publishers surfaced the concept
Multiple planning meetings
Common mission
Moved from “3-year experiment” to LLC
Now in 13 th year
Record-breaking event in 2010

#1 Differing Cultures:
Each organization had its own conference.
Face-to-face planning meetings were essential to create trust and understanding
Adopted standards and policies that both organizations could accept
Issue: Discussion: Solution:

#2 The Ca$h Box:
Deciding how to split revenue, expenses and profits.
May be the biggest issue facing a collaborative partnership
Created a single budget and track actual revenue and expenses for the joint conference

#3 Multiple Staffs
Who does what?
How to avoid duplicating efforts.
Identified the key functions and “assigned” each to one staff.

#4 Scheduling
How to “merge” two conference programs into one?
Donut? Consolidated? Other formats?
We settled on a single, consolidated program open to all and integrating professional development, trade show, entertainment and association sessions.

#5 Content and Speakers
What topics? What speakers?
The 3 represented various, somewhat overlapping work functions.
Focused on professional development. Joint program committee.

#6 Decision Making
Who makes decisions?
Needed continuity + a system that fairly represented all the partners.
Created a 7 person Steering Committee.

#7 Legal
How provide legal protection?
Each had own. New entity didn’t have any initially.
Became an LLC the three entities own.

A New Conference “ My dream of a joint meeting came true last week. Four organizations came together last week in Phoenix and it was a huge success. We had almost 800 people attend and it looks like we will do it again next year. “ It was great to celebrate manufacturing again!”

Contact Information Steve Drake, president Drake & Company 636/449-5050 • [email_address] • www.drakeco.com • Den Gardner, executive director American Agricultural Editors’ Association 952/758-6502 • aaea@gardnerandgardnercommunications.com www.ageditors.com • Diane Johnson, CMP, executive director Livestock Publications Council 817/336-1130 • [email_address] • www.livestockpublications.com

3 14 11 great ideas presentation

by Steve Drake on Mar 24, 2011

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3 14 11 great ideas presentation — Presentation Transcript