Content Changes a Challenge for Planners
04/22/2019
Meeting planners report that last-minute content changes are the biggest challenge when it comes to managing and distributing conference content according to a new survey by Omnipress. Other challenges cited include: managing collection and review, leveraging content after the event and offering a mix of formats that meet the needs of all attendees.
“Last-minute changes to content and schedules is nothing new,” the report notes, but managing changes across multiple formats, including printed materials, web-based materials and mobile-friendly materials that may involve multiple vendors ‘becomes an increasingly time-consuming endeavor.’ “
However, the study also concluded that once content is finalized, only a slight majority of meeting professionals — 55 percent — reuse conference content for other purposes. That figure is the same as last year’s report. “With the focus on increasing attendance, most conference planners are using their content to promote next year’s event (42%), creating a fear of missing out” or FOMO, according to the report. While the report acknowledges that FOMO is a particularly effective strategy in prompting younger members to participate, it shouldn’t be the only engagement strategy. Younger members also look for professional-development opportunities throughout the year, the report points out.
Only around one-quarter (26%) of meeting planners said that they reuse conference content for reinforcing learning after the conference, while 25 percent reuse the content for ongoing content marketing for the association.
“As organizations look to shift the demographic profile of their conferences, there is opportunity to use this content to extend the conference experience beyond the venue.”
