A business development conference produced by InnovativEvents in Dallas, Texas
This past week, I jumped in my car and headed down to the “Lone Star State” to produce a business development conference. Welcomed by warm weather and a beautiful event venue, I was ready to get down to the Event Producer grind.
The event was held at Omni Park West hotel. This hotel can accommodate several different meetings at one time with the largest space able to hold 700 in theater seating. They also have an amazing theater space called the Texas Learning Center. On top of that, they are equipped with several smaller meeting spaces for your executive teams to meet or smaller breakouts …and the pool is a plus.
Omni Park West Hotel Pool
Day one and we were ready to roll for the first annual Interise Summit in Dallas, Texas.
The stage setup was simple and concise so that attendees could really focus on the message. Having two large screens on each side of the presenter allowed them to easily show any presentation materials they had to supplement their speech.
During breaks, guests with a sweet tooth could enjoy a treat served in a martini glass or a soda (grabbing a “coke” if we’re using our Texas twang)
Throughout the week a healthy trail mix bar was also available to hold attendees over between meals. Events are leaning toward healthier snack options to keep attendees alert rather than the sluggish feeling that can follow excessive sugar consumption. Five alternatives for healthy snack options for meetings and events.
We were all about business at this event, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great time. When you put together a room of entrepreneurs, anything can happen.
This was the first meeting of its kind for this client and it was a very intimate. We have some bells and whistles and some wiggle room left for raising the bar on production for the next event, but I am not sure we could have improved on what happened during the live events!
From incredible speakers telling of their experiences and networking to fun dinners to really get to know each other and lasting relationships that were all created right here on site.
There has been talk over the last few years of whether live events will be replaced with video streamed events or online trade shows etc., but you CANNOT replace the synergy that happens when people from all over the US and World converge in a space and share their experiences.
Our breakout sessions have turned into MasterMind discussions helping one individual while helping everyone in the room at the same time; whether we are behind the control booth or at the front of house.
Psst… I am going to let you in on a little secret about this event. We really planned for about 200 or 250 attendees. As seemingly bad luck would have it, we had about 60 show. Now we did discuss cancelling or changing the event to be a one day event, but ultimately decided to present as if we were a conference with 250 attendees present. What to do if your event shrinks
I have to say, this was a great idea and having this small group to network, learn, and laugh with has been a phenomenal success. I am sure the next event will be very well attended. Word of mouth will go a long way to advance this event for next year.
Another amazing activity we have on this event is a man on the street type video. These videos will be used to help increase attendance for the next event. People can be leery of spending their hard earned cash on a first-time event. Often because there isn’t any proof that information will be useful or that the event will be worth their time or money. We have chosen to document the value our attendees are receiving so that we have proof of the value of this event.
