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.

Strategic Alliances Help Event Planners Put On Better Events

Strategic Alliances Help Event Planners Put On Better Events

Reply

Search

Categories

Recent Posts