Recent research suggests that many Australian organisations are struggling to fill their events and conferences, raising questions about the continuing relevance of ‘face to face’ events.

1. HOW EVENTS CAN SURVIVE THE INTERNET AGE
Recent research suggests that many Australian organisations are struggling to fill their
events and conferences, raising questions about the continuing relevance of ‘face to
face’ events.
The events/expo industry magazine Micenet commissioned Micromex Research to
conduct independent research into the meetings and events industry with a survey in
2011; the results were then compared with the findings from the same survey in 2014.
Results showed that businesses were organising more events, but budgets were lower,
attendee numbers were down by around 11%, and attention spans of delegates were
shorter.
We wanted to learn more about attitudes towards events among Australian
membership associations and professional services companies; and then what can be
done to ensure that events maintain relevance and value.
With this in mind, we surveyed over 2,800 senior executives and the solutions they
recommended to create well attended events are presented on the final pages of this
report.
We asked the following:
According to research by Micromex, businesses are organising more events,
however the average number of attendees per event has fallen by 11% in three
years.
In your opinion:
1. Is this figure about right, higher or lower?
2. Why is it getting harder to fill events?
3. What value do you see in holding events?
THE WEB IS KILLING YOUR EVENTS
An Insight Report by

2. Get your prospects talking back2
Survey Results & Key
Insights
Live event attendance has
fallen by 11%, do you agree?
Is this figure about right, higher or
lower?
An overwhelming 76.8% of respondents
agree with the research findings - that
the fall in attendance at events has been
at least 11% over the past three years.
Understandably this was of concern to
many:
“We are definitely getting fewer
participants on courses. With over 20 years
of running this business it’s not welcome
news.”
Director, Education Management, Sydney
Indeed, many feel that the fall in
numbers has been considerably steeper:
“There is no doubt attendance numbers
are harder to drive over the last few years.
More than your 11% - I’d suggest 30% or
more.”
Execution Coaching Partner, Management
Consulting, Sydney
Some respondents differentiate between
associations and other organisations,
suggesting that the figure is about right
for established associations but much
higher for businesses running marketing
and ‘business development’ events.
It was also widely recognised that
it is becoming more difficult for
organisations to rise above the “clutter”
and to stand out:
“Is it only 11%? I thought it would be a
lot more dramatic than that - so much
competition and noise, unless they are
truly established and could show true
value.”
Managing Director, Marketing and
Advertising, Sydney
It’s not just declining ticket
sales - ‘No shows’ are
increasing
Adding to the concern of declining
attendee numbers, another problem
was highlighted - the growing numbers
who register but don’t turn up:
“I see at every event I attend a smaller
number of attendees and sadly also notice
a number of tags not collected, which in
my opinion is even worse.”
CEO, Information Technology and
Services, Sydney
“I would say the reported figures of
people attending events would be higher
than those who actually attend. When
attending events there’s usually a whole
bunch of no shows, “
Principal, Accounting, Sydney
52%
25%
3%
20%
Is
this
figure
about
right,
higher
or
lower?
Yes,
that's
accurate
It's
higher
than
11%
No,
it's
lower
than
11%
No,
a>endacee
is
stable
or
growing

3. Get your prospects talking back3
Amazingly, one respondent put the
registrant to attendee level as low as
35-40%:
“It has been 50-60% in previous year for
my organisation in the free events domain,
but it could be down to around 35-40% for
our events recently from June last year.”
Student, Accounting, Melbourne
Some events maintain
attendance and continue to
grow
While they may be a minority, around
20% of respondents appear to be
managing the change well, with
attendance at their events growing.
“With respect to our major event,
attendance increased by some 24% for
each of the last two events to around 8,000
participants.”
Chief Executive Officer, Nonprofit
Organization Management, Sydney
In some cases, organisations have
found themselves seeking larger venues
to manage the increasing number of
attendees – with ‘sold out’ events and
one respondent suggesting the increase
in attendance was as high as 60%:
“With regards to our organisation this has
been quite the opposite as we’ve seen up
to a 60% increase in attendance for some
of our events. Probably contextual to the
industry and model of the event (i.e. - paid,
free or freemium).”
Head of Marketing, Professional Training
& Coaching, Sydney
So, what are these successful
organisations doing differently? We
share their insights at the end of this
paper…
Attendees are seeing a lack of
ROI from events
Why are events harder to fill?
A compelling 44.2% of respondents
put the declining numbers down to a
perceived lack of ROI for attendees.
Firstly, the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question
is simply not being answered well
enough by event organisers:
“While professional development is
important, some events are not adding
value to an individual’s career path.”
Council Member, Nonprofit Organization
Management, Melbourne
Secondly, the actual cost of attendance
in terms of material costs and time out
of the office is perceived as a barrier:
“Main reasons as provided by our
members are that it’s either too expensive
and their employer won’t allow the time
out and they can achieve CPD anywhere
for free.”
CEO, Medical Practice, Melbourne
“It is not a lack of awareness. People
are more time poor and cash strapped so
they come to special purpose things, not
general.”
CEO, Government Administration, Sydney
44%
23%
21%
7%
5%
Why
are
events
harder
to
fill?
Lack
of
ROI
Oversupply
of
Events
Other
Sources
of
InformaDon
Lack
of
InnovaDon
Quality

4. Get your prospects talking back
ROI is the main blockage for people
not attending events, so, what is the
investment they’re seeking a return on,
time commitment or the money?
The investment that lacks return
Of the 44.2% who mentioned ROI as
being the main contributor to the
decrease in attendance, over half (58%)
cited that the return on the time spent
away from the desk was becoming
harder to justify.
“People are time poor. There is a great
demand on their time and taking days
or even hours out of a busy schedule is
difficult. Therefore the event has to have
very compelling reasons for attendance.”
Owner, Public Relations, Sydney
“The perceived importance of the event
vs time invested is diminished. Hence the
decrease in attendance.”
Execution Coaching Partner, Management
Consulting, Sydney
42% of those who named ROI as the
main factor in reduced attendances said
that it was hard for organisations to see
the return on the cash invested on staff
attending events. The lack of priority in
learning and development was again
raised:
“Unfortunately, the bean counters can
see the direct link and so when there is a
need to cut costs L&D gets trimmed.”
Managing Director, Management
Consulting, Sydney
“The shareholders take a dim view of
companies attending conferences and
events. This puts Directors in a situation
that they have no choice but to restrict
conferences and events that they attend.”
Chairman, Mining & Metals, Western
Australia
With across-the-board tighter budgets
and “tough financial situation that
publicly listed companies are facing”,
fewer resources are available to
send employees out to events and
more checks and balances are being
introduced to see that it is time and
money well spent:
“I think the contributing factor to this
fall is company budgets are tighter than
ever. Delegates now get scrutinised on
how they are spending and the benefits of
attending events.”
Business Development Executive, Event
Services, Sydney
4
58%
42%
The
investment
that
lack
returns
Time
commitment
Money

5. Get your prospects talking back
Some respondents feel that the cost
of attending events has become
prohibitively high – with entrance
fees, travel and accommodation
costs built in – especially when there
is not much useful information on
offer:
“Due to lower numbers, people are
having to charge more (if it is a profit
model) and no-one likes paying money
to be sold to, or for that matter being sold
to at all.”
Managing Director, Marketing and
Advertising, Sydney
Oversupply of events has
spread attendance too thin
Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents
see the main contributing factor to be
the flood of competing events: there
are simply too many similar events and
conferences to choose from.
“… the number of events has increased
so people are forced to choose between
events that have similar content or to
prioritise the content they’re interested in
based on the frequency of these events.
The problem is so many event organisers
are after the same target audience.”
Marketing Strategies, Marketing and
Advertising, Sydney
Some respondents hinted again at the
difficulty in standing out from the crowd
when marketing events – they can all
begin to sound similar:
“The interesting thing is there are so
many events, organisations get bombarded
with invitations. The descriptor of an
event must be extremely well written to
even engage me to recommend it to the
organisation.”
Council Member, Nonprofit Organization
Management, Melbourne
Online resources have
devalued events &
conferences
21% of respondents feel that online
information has decreased the value
of attending events, thereby reducing
numbers.
The recognition of an attitude of “why
pay money for information that I can
get for free, on-demand, and with more
choice on YouTube or Google?” was
aired repeatedly by respondents. The
perception that online learning and
development is simply better value,
more diverse, and more convenient is
certainly widespread:
“I think it’s getting harder to fill events
these days because there is so much
more choice, especially with access to
information online.”
Event and Membership Manager,
Information Technology and Services,
Brisbane
“In the past, events were the prime way
to gather information, now information is
readily available via Google etc.”
HR Director, Human Resources, Perth
5

6. Get your prospects talking back
“My webcast the other day got over
130+ registrations. Whereas my face to
face classes get 10, which is the perfect
number for interaction and a great
learning experience.”
Success Coach, Professional Training &
Coaching, Sydney
While many respondents were keen to
point out that events still held intrinsic
value in their networking opportunities,
there is growing recognition that
online resources are providing “shared
experiences” too:
“As the internet has increased access
to information, networking has become
the primary driver for people to attend
industry events including things like trade
shows. Whilst networking is important to
people, the draw of both information &
networking is more powerful.”
Execution Coaching Partner, Management
Consulting, Sydney
Again, the element of time is considered
crucial too:
“People are time-poor, a lot can be done
online.”
Managing Director, PR, Sydney
Lack of new ideas &
innovation damages
attendance
7.1% of respondents note a lack of
innovation and new ideas contributing
to the decrease in attendance.
“Innovation” in this sense includes not
only the information presented at such
events but the ways in which they attract
delegates through marketing efforts:
“It’s only the events that are presenting
fresh material and a fresh approach that
are gaining traction. Those with old models
are becoming stagnant and declining.
We are in an innovation phase of the
economic cycle and it is the events that
have innovated the way they attract as well
as what they present that are winning.”
CEO, Professional Training & Coaching,
Brisbane
Some respondents noted that, despite
rapid advances in technology, not much
has changed with event organisation
and presentation; they end up becoming
“stale” because every event host is
essentially doing the same things:
“The way people put events on and how
they go about it, is still very similar to how
they were probably held two decades ago.”
Principal, Accounting, Sydney
“I think it is harder to fill events because
they have become everybody’s solution (to
marketing). They have become stale.”
Consultant, Management Consulting,
Sydney
6

7. Get your prospects talking back
Value to both organisers and
attendees
Events need to deliver both
networking and knowledge
A third of respondents recognise
networking as the key value in
organisations staging events:
“Personal networking cannot be
overrated. Relationships within an industry
are vital to a company or individuals
success.”
Owner, Public Relations, Sydney
“There is still value in holding events:
People with similar interests will be
attracted to the same events as you are;
this is a great opportunity for networking
and collaborating that I think we all need
to do more of.”
HR Director, Human Resources, Perth
However, almost a quarter also see
information and knowledge gathering
as a vital part of the attraction, seeing
events as a platform for educating
members and delegates on industry and
regulatory changes, as well as inspiring
people to show “leading edge thinking”.
When it works in combination with
networking it is especially effective:
“Whilst networking is important to
people, the draw of both information &
networking is more powerful.”
Execution Coaching Partner, Management
Consulting, Sydney
Much clearly depends on the quality and
relevance of information – and also who
delivers it. Guest speakers delivering
original and informative content is still
a powerful attraction, especially when
attendees get the chance to grow their
network too:
“We hold events to provide our
members with an interesting speaker
who can offer relevant content and an
opportunity for our members to meet
other like-minded people to grow their
business.”
CEO, Nonprofit Organisation, Melbourne
7
33%
24%
19%
12%
12%
Value
from
holding
Events
Networking
Informa>on/Knowledge
Marke>ng,
Sales
&
Promo>on
F2F
Communica>on
EngagementCommunity
Connected

8. Get your prospects talking back
Respondents voice clear warnings
against making events too focused on
selling their services:
“People go to events primarily to learn,
then to network. If an event is too ‘salesy’
it just won’t succeed and if the speakers
are not high calibre, it’s just not worth the
effort.”
Principal, Public Relations, Sydney
Online will never replace
face-to-face networking
The responses above perhaps
demonstrate that not quite everything
is more attractive online, despite online
networking and information gathering
growing massively in recent years.
Offline events that offer value in both of
these areas and deliver something that
online resources do not still have a good
chance of being successful:
“The value we get from the events is the
opportunity to increase membership and
deliver “quality” evidenced based education
as opposed to online learning.”
CEO, Medical Practice, Melbourne
“F2F is critical for important networking/
decisions. I think there must be a mix of
online and offline, it’s not one nor the
other.”
Managing Director, Public Relations,
Sydney
Respondents point out that there are
limitations to online networking – sooner
or later the relationship must go offline
in order to make the real “connections”.
The “human element” of face-to-face
interaction should not be under-
estimated:
“The value is making contact with
potential clients/employees. You can only
get so much from an online connection.”
Information Manager, Information
Technology, Brisbane
“When I go to most events, I am already
somewhat aware of the technical side of
what is presented. But, I leave feeling a
deeper knowledge and a sense that I’m
not alone. In our organisation (the IPA)
our member culture of those whom attend
events is awesome, so the interaction
during sessions, in breaks, and at social
after-hours activities is very special.”
Past President, Accounting, Launceston
Events have the potential to create a
greater depth of experience and learning
than online resources can generally
provide – another clear advantage. This
respondent sums it up well:
“Events are a great tool to create
personalised and memorable experiences.
The internet is a great tool for retrieving
information but it’s not a personal one.
However, unlike the internet, events
(whether they’re corporate or private)
provide engagement. There’s something
about the ambience, music, entertainment,
networking, speakers and meeting new
people that can’t be replaced digitally. This
is one of the main values of events.”
Principal, Public Relations, Sydney
Value is also seen in the
marketing potential of events
From an organisation’s point of view, it
was not surprising to see the marketing,
sales and promotional potential of
events mentioned as one of the main
benefits.
8

9. Get your prospects talking back
Some were quite direct about the sales
and lead generation possibilities…
“Events are critical for getting in front of
a larger audience in one hit and presenting
your wares.”
CEO, Information Technology, Sydney
“The value for holding events is getting
a database of warm leads you could sell
your products and services to …finding
brand new customers who are interested in
your products or services.”
Principal, Accounting, Sydney
Others see the value as a little more
indirect:
“The value is that you provide value
to the attendees and that builds your
reputation.”
Management Consulting, Sydney
“Apart from the obvious development
and learning opportunities for our
members and others it engages people in
our brand and the quality of what we do.”
Chief Operating Officer, Accounting,
Sydney
Ensuring attendance is high
in the Internet age
Amongst all the negative statistics about
attendee rates declining, there is a silver
lining of hope. That hope lies with the
20% of respondents who have seen
attendee numbers rising. What are they
doing differently?
Great marketing is about “Getting your
Prospects Talking Back”, and there
is no better place to start great sales
conversations than at an event or Trade
show.
So how do the successful respondees
get value from events? What is their
advice?
The advice will vary depending on
whether you are hosting the event;
exhibiting; speaking; or just attending
someone else’s event. However, there
are core requirements regardless of the
type of event, or your role at it.
What have we learnt from this research1
,
and also from our own experience of
working with many clients?
What are the ‘not-negotiable’
requirements for success?
Your event is Valuable and
interesting
It must be one that people want to
attend, with valuable and interesting
content or don’t try and sell it.
Our estimate is that 80% of events
completely fail to meet this requirement.
You can’t ‘polish a turd’, and if the event
is rubbish, your next event becomes a
big challenge to fill.2
The Right People know about it
Once you have a great event, all
you have to do is let your prospects
know about it. Without well targeted
marketing even great events will be
poorly attended (see the RSMI case
study below)
9
1
We have just finished our 4th year of R&D funding from the Australian government. Our research continues, and its focus is to develop practical ways for B2B
companies to sell more effectively using the new online networks and media: We have developed what we call the Social Media Sales Process.
2
From the ABC TV show, The Gruen Transfer who had their Golden Turd Award, derived from the old advertising saying “You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it
in glitter”.

10. Get your prospects talking back
It’s Highly Segmented
The event needs to be narrowly focused
on a segment. Now you can run
marketing campaigns that resonate with
them, campaigns that they will respond
to. It also enables you to make the
content of the event more relevant to
their interests.
It’s innovative
It must be, and appear to be, innovative.
A key part of innovation is to involve
Social Media before the event (LinkedIn
and Twitter); during the event (Twitter)
and after the event (LinkedIn and
Twitter).
It Repeats
One off events no longer work in this
market flooded with events - it takes
time and effort to build an event ‘Brand’.
Just announcing one and hoping to fill
a room no longer works without a clear
long term strategy.
You are on before you are on
The best way to receive value at your
event is to do some legwork beforehand.
This is where a tool like LinkedIn comes
into its own: this platform was built
for you to network with professionals
online, allowing you to connect with
attendees and start a conversation
with them about you and your services.
Remember, networking is still the key
value at the event, so if you can start
networking beforehand, why not? And
setting up pre-arranged meetings with
your prospects beforehand is invaluable.
You engage at the event
Ever seen one of those awkward
people that checks their phone in their
downtime because they’re too shy to
approach people? They’re prime to
be engaged with! Twitter is by far the
most popular and most powerful here.
You can also mirror status updates to
LinkedIn and Google Plus. Creating an
event hashtag, advertising on it, and
linking it to a prize draw at the end is a
great way to get value and uptake.
Your follow up is fast, segmented
and personalised
Most organisations do little or nothing
after an event. Get all the information
collected into your database, and
segment each prospect. Here is what
AoM did following a Trade Show (case
study below):
“We had just over 140 people to follow
up with, and we divided them into 5
categories based on their value to us and
urgency to respond. With Lead Creation’s
help, we are sending detailed and
personalised follow ups.”
Three case studies bringing
the theory alive
Each of these companies are very
different in the services they provide and
the markets they operate in. Also the
events were very different as was what
they were seeking from 3 very different
events.
10

11. Get your prospects talking back
We engaged Lead Creation to invite
Finance Directors and Controllers - 3 days
after starting the campaign and with
only half the invitations sent we had 55
bookings and were now over booked.
The event was a great success, and there
are now many new companies in our
network.”
Brian Gunner, Manager Marketing​
3. How to leverage a minor
conference speaking role:
“At a leading Accountants technology
conference in Melbourne last year, I had
a relatively small role as the facilitator of
one of the concurrent break out workshops.
Lead Creation directly introduced me to 65
new leads who approached me for a chat at
the conference. Because Lead Creation had
proactively facilitated communication leading
into the event, these prospects were already
engaged and committed to progressing a
relationship and became valuable connections
for my future marketing. Overall we had a total
prospect pool of 300 potential new channels to
market.”
Glyn MacLean, Manager Advisory, Attache
Software
1. Creating ‘Booth Envy’:
What’s Booth Envy? Envy from fellow
exhibitors created by the number and
quality of your visitors.
Art of Mentoring, a Sydney-based
company, were heading to the ASAE
Annual Convention in Detroit, a huge
time commitment and expense for 2
Directors traveling from Sydney. Lead
Creation’s challenge was to create booth
envy, and it worked…
“Our booth neighbours kept
commenting on how busy our stand was
and were shaking their heads in disbelief
and with some envy3
.”
And being busy is not the goal, it’s to
meet people who already know about your
business and the value you deliver. After
day one, Melissa Richardson from AoM
said “Wow! What a day. We were REALLY
busy. Saw about 50 people today and
many are really high quality leads.
Some are very sizeable Associations.”
And day two was a carbon copy of day
one...
2. Filling a valuable event:
“We had a high value event coming up
in March 2015, an all day Symposium for
Finance Professionals. There was strong
content and a great venue, and we wanted
to ensure that we reached individuals
outside our normal network of clients and
contacts.
​
11
3
Time to fess up: the powerful new marketing term ‘Booth Envy’ was only coined following this client’s feedback!

12. Get better results from your events
Conferences and events are a real artform, and getting them right provides huge value
for both your organisation and your attendees. Do you:
1. Need your Convention numbers up?
2. Want your booth to be the envy of your competitors?
3. Want your keynote to generate new clients?
4. Want an oversubscribed webinar?
Email or call us now to see how we can help. Filling events and conventions is easier and
less costly than you think.
Toby Marshall
tobym@leadcreation.com.au / +61 2 8188 8600
www.leadcreation.com.au