Introduction

Conferences and events are often the most significant revenue stream for associations and upskilling your teams’ knowledge and expertise in this complex area is a crucial step in securing the financial future of your association. 

Our trainer, Sasha Frieze, has developed a One Day Masterclass, built on her decades in the commercial conference industry and advising associations and non-profits, which uses eight building blocks to walk you and your team through the steps required to create strategic event plans and deliver your events at surplus:

  • Enhancing your sector knowledge
  • Developing your value proposition: The Event Narrative Framework 
  • Show me the money: budgets, business models and surplus
  • Creating content: developing your programme
  • Managing your stakeholders: working effectively with committees and advisors
  • Creating your audience: marketing investment for growth 
  • Sponsorship and partnerships: underwriting your surplus
  • Let’s talk team: resourcing your event growth and the effective events team

Whether you have one flagship event, a suite of smaller events, or a combination, this One Day Masterclass will help you re-invigorate your events, break out of the "same old" approach and enhance your revenue potential. 

Attracting a higher proportion of members to events is a challenge that every association must meet; members expect and deserve "best-in-class" information, education, and networking from their association, and secure funding approaches are vital to avoid drastic revenue losses. 

This Masterclass, designed specifically for associations, is delivered by one of the UK's leading experts in conference growth with over 25 years of experience spanning associations and think tanks, commercial conference organisers and publishers. Her hands-on experience in renewing events for both associations and media owners is formidable, adding huge value and preventing substantial losses.

Your events business can be secure, growing and recognised as the very best value by adopting what you will learn in this Masterclass.

Who should attend?

The Masterclass is for event strategists at Senior Manager, Director, Head of Department and Executive Head of organisation level within societies, associations and federations.

Programme

The session is a full day, starting with coffee and registration at 9am. The day will be split by lunch and finish at 5.30pm. There will be two breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

09:00 Registration & Refreshments
09:30 Welcome, Introductions & Goals for the day
09:40 Enhancing your sector knowledge
  • ​​​​​​Strategies for sector mapping and segmentation
  • The all-important buy side / sell side analysis
  • Competitor mapping activities
  • What can you learn from your competitors
  • Understanding market size and granular mapping

Developing your value proposition

  • Association events – understanding your events purpose to deliver impact 
  • Creating meaningful events that deliver your purpose
  • Strategies to differentiate your events in the market
  • Understanding the power of narrative to create a story for your event
  • Linking your association objectives with your event purpose
  • Strategy: planning: delivery – the building blocks of events
  • Introducing The Event Narrative Framework: your one page value proposition 

Show me the money: budgets, business models and surplus

  • Harnessing the ROI model for surplus
  • developing budgets and understanding business models
  • effective strategies for improving profitability
  • Creating pricing strategies that reflect the complexity of your sector and your event
  • How to scale-up existing events 

Creating content:  developing your programme

  • Understanding what makes great content 
  • Leveraging market maturity for content development
  • Understanding the impact of participant motivation and audience diversity
  • Leveraging your members for content creation
  • Member research strategies and processes 
  • Building engagement into your content 
13:00 Networking Lunch
14:00

Managing your stakeholders: working effectively with committees and advisors

  • Recruiting and managing advisory board members
  • Strategies for productively working with advisors
  • Leveraging advisory board motivation for the success of your event
  • Handing the Power Conundrum

Creating your audience: marketing investment for growth

  • Curating your audience 
  • Understanding marketing priorities
  • Neat tricks and a library of examples
  • The marketing timeline
  • Collaboration: creating effective marketing partnerships
  • Social media, video, content marketing 
  • It’s all about the copy
  • Creating your marketing execution plan

Sponsorship and partnerships: underwriting your surplus

  • Understanding the sponsorship sales process
  • The power and interest analysis: where is your decision maker?
  • Evaluating bespoke and commodity approaches
  • Creating your sponsor target list and mapping your market
  • Creating sponsorship packages that add real value and growth

Let’s talk team: resourcing your event growth and the effective events team

  • Four Gears Approach to conference management
  • Tools and techniques for effective teams
17:00 Close

 

The Masterclass includes:

  • Course workbook
  • Practical examples
  • Case studies
  • Group work
  • Limited attendance to enable engagement with the tutor.

Delegate Fees

Early-booker (up to 30 September): € 455.00
Late-booker: € 555.00
Prices are subject to VAT at 20%