Smart managers are making meetings more meaningful.

Rubber chicken. Endless speeches. Budget-breaking centerpieces. Sound like an event you’ve attended? Too many corporate events don’t yield the ROI that Cassie Brown, CSEP, knows they should. As Chief Experience Officer of TCG Events (TCGEvents.com), Brown specializes in planning and executing corporate events that stand out in their ability to produce solid returns.

The North Carolina-based event planning firm’s “Event Differently” approach is needed now more than ever, says Brown. According to a February 2013 survey of 300 corporate executives at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue, 75 percent of executives agree that their company is looking for greater ROI from corporate events this year than in previous years. The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of TCG Events. It shows that even in the virtual age, live corporate events remain essential. Eighty-four percent of executives indicate that their companies hold corporate events, and four out of five (79 percent) say that their companies understand the value of ROI (e.g., increased corporate morale, new business identification, client relationship building) in doing so.

At the same time, 84 percent of respondents report that their company has made cuts in corporate events in the past few years. “Corporate events are a prime example of the ‘do more with less’ trend found across American businesses today,” Brown says. “While appearances will always count, what’s most important now for our clients is that every event serves as a true business driver. Often, that means shaking up expectations based on past events.” Brown says it’s encouraging that more companies are building clear objectives and measurements for ROIs into their offsite strategies. “One of the first questions we ask our clients is, ‘When you’re all back in the office, how will you know that this event was successful?’ Sometimes those answers end up being very different than why they think they were having an event,” she says. “It’s also about what do you want those attendees to do after the event. It can’t be about just having a great time. That’s not a business model.”

Brown offers these tips for creating an offsite event that provides substantial ROI: Talking heads are only a good thing if we’re talking dance music. Giving speakers-even the CEO-the floor for what seems like forever is the primary way an event loses audience engagement. A two-minute, professionally designed, powerful video (that features the CEO and any guest speakers) has a far bigger impact. Everyone wins: key constituents, your organization and most importantly, the audience. Center stage, not centerpieces – make the most of your event spending.

The traditional stage at the front of the room arrangement can leave some tables feeling like they’re in Siberia. Consider placing the stage/podium in the center of the room, with surrounding screens overhead so that everyone has a great view. Shift and invest your budget where it makes the biggest impact. Change it up – present the unexpected. Holding an annual event? Even if the speakers are different from year to year, if the format’s the same, your target audience may regard attendance as a duty rather than a pleasure.

Consider introducing new elements each year. Invite your customers. Companies are increasingly bringing employees and vendors or employees and clients together during offsites. “I think people are looking for collaboration and new ideas-the crowdsourcing of events,” says Brown. “Bringing everyone together and seeing what happens helps build those relationships.” ‘Offsite’ is not a four-letter word. Smart managers are making meetings more meaningful. Every event should serve as a true business driver, says TCG Events’ Cassie Brown.

Original article in Sales & Marketing Management.

By Cassie Brown

No marketer should be complacent about branding. Even the most stable, long-lived brands can become irrelevant—and quickly. To remain vital, a brand must have a consistent flow of audience insight, gained through multiple touchpoints. One of the most effective: the live event.

Virtual events have grown popular as a means of connecting with target audiences as the technology behind them improves and as marketers look for ways to trim already-stretched event budgets. However, recent data disputes their effectiveness—or, at the very least, supports the importance of face-to-face networking.

Face-to-face meetings and events should be an anchor in any brand’s marketing mix. When done right, live events are a successful technique for marketing, employee engagement, and networking. The problem is perception: So many organizations settle for outdated, unimaginative, and, quite frankly, boring events… that the reputation of live events has suffered.

Live events are still vital to the branding mix, but at many companies, they need to be reinvented. What’s needed is an innovation mindset when approaching event design.

Advice abounds about the need for organizations to innovate (Amazon has 54,403 books on the subject). Executives are seeking ways to innovate employee benefits, products, and office layouts. Meetings and events must be added to that list.

The following five tips will help you and your organization think differently about events and break out of corporate brand paralysis.

1. Blow up your annual event

An event lifecycle is no different from that of a business or product. After the Maturity phase comes the Decline phase. No matter how traditionally popular, all events need an occasional refresh before they are in decline.

Before your next event, spend some quality time deconstructing the event. What is the objective? What does success look like? How can you best show off the brand?

Consider all of the elements of the event, and whether they support an experience that resonates and conveys the essence of the brand. For example: should there be a series of speeches from the CEO and other executives, or would a two-minute, exciting video be more effective? Does there have to be a seated dinner with full service, or would a family-style dinner at each table better encourage individual connections?

There should be no sacred cows when planning events.

2. Personalize, personalize, personalize

Companies spend enormous amounts of money and resources on print ads, marketing pieces, and websites. Yet, for their event invitations, everything changes. Many marketers forget that the invitation is not only a marketing piece for the event but also an important representation of the brand. Receiving an invitation is personal.

The person who opens that envelope can be excited, annoyed, or apathetic. The invitation must be vetted for misspelled names, and the personal touch is demonstrated by invitations that are hand-stamped and are interesting enough to get through a gatekeeper. Part of that is the conveyance of the brand’s present and future, not its past. Keep it fresh!

3. Heighten the senses

Unlike most forms of marketing, events offer the opportunity to engage all the senses. Senses trigger a heightened emotional response. By successfully engaging all five senses during an event, companies have the opportunity to create a stronger memory of its brand, and memory influences loyalty (“The Sensory Potential”).

Sense of smell is the trickiest: Too many conflicting smells confuse the nose. Scent should be used sparingly to be effective. A whiff of coconut as guests enter a tropical theme party will attach a positive memory to the event, compared with a roomful of sharply scented lilies.

4. Don’t be predictable

Many events have become formulaic. A fundraising event has an “ask” at the end. The CEO makes a “thank you for coming” speech at an open house. Why? Because at some point it was successful, and at this point it is expected. But should it be?

Having the CEO speak during such an informal setting is similar to the cake-cutting at a wedding: It is a signal for people to leave. It is instead far more effective for a leader to work the room during an open house. He or she has the opportunity to really connect with guests. It creates a different memory for attendees. They feel special and leave with a positive brand impression.

5. Be a spectacular host

Few would treat guests in their homes the way they treat guests at an event. People forget the importance of the entire guest experience.

The most basic processes should to be reviewed during the planning of an event. Checking people in sounds simple enough, but few ever get it right. A guest arrives and stands in long line only to find her name missing from the list. She is asked to handwrite her name on a tag, now setting her apart from 98% of the other guests with typed nametags. Not exactly the best first impression. Next she goes to the bar, where she also stands in a long line. The last impression of the event is retrieving her car from the valet. It is late, it has been a long day, and now she gets to stand outside awkwardly awaiting her car for 10 minutes.

Every moment of a live event should be carefully examined from the guest experience point of view. Start at the moment of arrival and envision yourself as a guest. Your brand is “on stage” every step of the way. There are no “small” details.

By designing a unique, resonant experience and by taking care of any pitfalls in advance, your brand will leave the impression you want, long after the event is over.

Read the original article in MarketingProfs.