Recently I was interviewed by Meeting Pros Radio on how technology is reinventing event management. And I mentioned that technology-assisted processes can jump-start-and shorten-the sales cycle.

Actually, the term "sales cycle" is rapidly becoming a relic of the past. "Buying cycle" and "Buyer's journey" more accurately depict how sales really happen in modern times.

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Marketing-oriented blogs, I've found, often are gold mines of inspiration and general business advice transcending multiple job functions.

This week I discovered Jeffery Slater's blog, "momentslater. " Marketing teams, he writes in his post "Skipping to Tactics," tend to immerse themselves in working on tactical executions before they've fully agreed on what problem they’re trying to solve. (more…)

In a recent post ("Mobile Devices: Friend or Foe at Your Events?"), I noted the meeting industry's debate on how to deal with attendees distracted by their smartphones. The best way to address this situation, I opined, is to use mobile as a channel that's reinforcing the speakers instead of competing with them.

In May, David McMillin of the Professional Convention Management Association posted an excellent story focusing on a recent survey about meeting planners’ usage of mobile apps at events.  Of the meeting planners responding to the survey, 42% had never included an app in their budgets. (more…)

Readers of this blog know that Omnience regularly "beats the drum" for our manifesto: make events earn their keep.Top management should require every event in an organization's event portfolio to have measurable goals.

For example, management might require achievable ROI goals before marketing events can be approved. Likewise, approval of a training event might require the event sponsor to define how it will improve quality levels.  If a proposed event doesn’t have measurable goals and it still happens, someone isn’t doing their job. (more…)

A few years ago, an executive of a very large company arrived at a big-city hotel to speak at a sales event sponsored by his company. Perusing the "Today's Events" sign in the hotel lobby, he was chagrined to discover that his company was hosting two events at the hotel that day—both addressing the same issues and targeting the same audience! In effect, the company was competing with itself.

I love this quote from Alan Lakein, well-known author and time management expert:  “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” (more…)