Leverage Your Greatest Asset - Attendee Knowledge

Have you ever read an article and kept carrying it around, reread it several times and then just can't stop applying the ideas to your current business challenge?

Beyond ROI Leverage your Greatest Asset - Attendee Knowledge by Joseph DiVanna

is just such as article for me. The article appeared in Event Solutions magazine which I am not sure how I received it....

DiVanne points out in the article that the old approach to conventions is Give and Get. Give registration money and sit in a big room and get education. His insights into the new approach is Give, Get, Exchange, Use.


On the exchange aspect, the most obvious trend I see is education room format changes . Round tables, discussion forums, panels, idea exchanges are all more open formats that are contributing to more attendee knowledge exchanges. At the event I work on, we created a Think and Drink at the end of day for folks to discuss topics with a beer on one hand and a moderated conversation on comfy coaches.

When a company allows an attendee to invest in attending an event, they expect the employee to interact, network, gain knowledge and immediately return and use these elements to address their pressing business challenges.


DiVanna's Figure 1 and 2 in the article are brilliant. The value proposition today of meetings takes on a new dimension. The environment, the exchange, content and context in addition to the attendee interactions with others add up be the value.

DiVanna could not be more spot on. As marketing professionals, we have to think of the whole process because during the event, you are working on the value and the attendee's next return to your next event.