If there was a way to reduce the cost and the amount of work required to put on
an event while at the same time making the event better for you and the event
participants, would you want to try it?

One way to accomplish this is to form a strategic alliance with a non-competing
organization focusing on a similar target market to yours.

A strategic alliance can be defined as two or more organizations working
together towards a common goal without money changing hands.

A simple example of this is when an event planning association puts on a monthly
meeting and they need a venue, food, registration, etc. This is an ideal
opportunity for a supplier such as a catering company to offer to bring the
appetizers and demonstrate their products in exchange for a list of the event
planners in attendance that they can follow up with after the event. No money
changes hands, but both parties benefit.

If you can think of a strategic alliance that works for the types of events you
put on, here are just a few of the potential benefits:

Shared costs

Share the cost of the venue, marketing, registration, planning, etc. If
you combine your event with another organization and share time or space at a
venue or add another option to your registration form, etc. it will cost much
less than using the services for two separate events.

Shared workload

Nobody has enough time, so sharing the workload will free you up for other
important tasks. For example, if one organization can handle registration the
other may offer to arrange for the presenters.

More expertise

If your partner organization has expertise in areas that you don’t, take
advantage of this. You offer to do the tasks where you are the expert and your
partner can focus on the work they are best at. Keep this point in mind with
thinking of organizations to approach. It is easy to think of things that you
need, but remember for this to work both organizations must benefit.

Share invitation lists

If you have one hundred contacts to invite to the event and you partner with an
organization with one hundred contacts you instantly double the number of
potential event attendees. Not only do you have the potential to generate more
revenue, but you have the opportunity to get new attendees for future events.

Better networking opportunities for participants

For some events one of the main reasons to participate is to meet other people.
If you can introduce your contacts to a new group of people they will get more
value from the event and likely spread the good work and attend the next one.

Economies of scale

Everyone knows if you buy more you can get a better price. With more attendees
you will need more food, hotel rooms, name badges, etc. and have the opportunity
to save on each.

Increase your “draw”

Larger events tend to draw and/or have the ability to pay for higher calibre
speakers and presenters. This tends to attract more participants making the
event even more successful.

Of course partnering with other organizations won’t work for all events and it’s
not easy to come up with a good strategic alliance or find the right
organization to work with, but if you do there are many advantages.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions or comments about this article.

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