The growth in data has been unimaginable and with that comes technological potential that’s never been seen before. With 500 million tweets, (Twitter) 249 Billion Emails (Radical Group) and 65 billion WhatsApp messages sent every single day (Facebook) the challenge of sticking out within this climate is more important now than ever.
So when Clients come to us, asking for exactly that, I simply ask them to tell their story.
From the very first kick-off call with a client, I always use words like passion, story and mission... Why? Because story telling is what takes them to the next level, and their passions and missions will be what drives this.
Modern-day storytelling is often associated with the popular TED conference series and its slogan of “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Analysis of the most popular 500 TED Talk presentations found that stories made up at least 65% of their content. Over time storytelling has proven to be a really powerful delivery for sharing insights and ideas in a way that is memorable, persuasive, and engaging. This essentially is what face-to-face events is about, making valuable connections. However, what can happen is the client’s team try to push away the so-called “fluffy stuff” and just want to talk about targets first. How many people they want to meet, and the job titles of those people. |
All of which is important, however – I always insist we start the opposite way around. This has put me on a number of awkward phone calls, but if I don’t get tothe bottom of the story behind the event, I have no idea where to start in regards to advising how we achieve their targets and goals.
Creating successful events is far more complex than a switch board activity – I am not just connecting the right people at the right time, I am providing a meaningful interaction; and clue is in just that, it has to be meaningful to both parties.
By developing our events from the story up it means each step is justified – who we invite, why we invite them, where and when it takes place. This also helps navigate the tricky climate of oversaturation, as we’re inviting our Customers to events that are actually relevant to them, rather than casting a very large generic net and hoping for the best. On site this leads to successful discussions with everyone in the room being invested in the conversation. Our clients get to use this to achieve their goals, whether it’s more of a research task for them, or developing relationships that can then move forward to being accounts. As a team we help ensure the format of the event aids whatever their goals is. Whether that’s by including more networking time to allow those bonds to be built, or adding in more structure to ensure key questions are answered. Each department from myself in Production to Rachel in Operations takes real time to learn what we can do to ensure each event is a success. |
We don't just think about our Clients - our senior executive participants also benefit from attending these bespoke events, too. By networking with fellow experts and discussing the most challenging topics of the day, not only do they get to keep their finger on the pulse with other companies and industries, they also are afforded the opportunity to continue establishing themselves as thought leaders.
We enable everyone at the table to build their network & connections in a valuable space. A large part of their roles will be to establish new partnerships and collaborations on behalf of their department and company, so by meeting potential partners in a setting they trust it helps them achieve their goals, too.
If you have a story you wish to tell, and would like to find out more about how we can help you to build a bespoke event, then please get in touch with the access team today, we’d love to see how we can help.
Catherine King, Production Manager, Corinium Access |