Building an Event Strategy for your Media Company

A workshop I ran at CUNY's entrepreneurial journalism program.

Transcript

1. Created with Haiku Deck MAKING EVENTS WORK Josh Stearns / @jcstearns Photo by Ryan Wiedmaier, used via CC
2. Photo by Great Beyond - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/26104563@N00 Created with Haiku Deck •MinnPost made $160,000 off their annual “MinnRoast” in 2013. •The Chattanooga Times Free Press brings in a “seven figure” income with twelve events each year. •The Texas Tribune brought in roughly $1.5 million through events in 2015 •The Atlantic’s 100+ events make up almost 20 percent of the organization’s revenue. Photo by Alyson Hurt, used via CC
3. Photo by Great Beyond - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/26104563@N00 Created with Haiku Deck For Newsrooms: • Diversify revenue streams • Direct connection to your community • A benefit for members • Another form of content Why Are People Investing in Events? For Communities: • A desire for connection and to meet others with shared interests • A resurgence of the analog • A desire to meet journalists they care about • A desire for news that connects to their daily lives • Fun, learning For Advertisers: • Guarantee to be seen • Association with cool • Super targeted to specific audiences • Opportunity to interact Photo by Bahman Farzad used via cc
4. Photo by Documentally - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/52921130@N00 Created with Haiku Deck Types of Events • Corporate/Industry Events – Skift, Re/Code, Technical.ly Philly • Idea Festivals – The Atlantic, The Texas Tribune • Political Panels – NJ Spotlight, Texas Tribune • Social Events – WNYC, GeekWire, Brooklyn Based
5. Created with Haiku Deck Types of Events • Lifestyle Expos – Chattanooga’s Times Free Press, The Savannah Morning News • Cultural Events – Morristown Green, WBEZ, Sheepshead Bites • Galas and Awards – MinnPost, Smithsonian Magazine, DeMoins Register • Education and Training Workshops – Brooklyn Based, Brick City Live • Civic Events and Listening Sessions - Carolina Public Press, WDET Photo by Victoria Watkin-Jones, sed via cc
6. STEP ONE: What do you need to know? 1.What do you know about your community? 2.What are the business interests? 3.Who and what will you compete with? 4.What kind of event? 5.What else do you need to know? 6. Brainstorm a list of possible event ideas. WORKSHOP - PART 1 Go to http://bit.ly/planyourevent, and copy the worksheet into a new document for you to use. Be sure to review API’s report on events: http://bit.ly/apievents
7. Photo by Jon Chevier™ - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License https://www.flickr.com/photos/34472621@N03 Created with Haiku Deck
8. Photo by srgpicker - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/91485322@N00 Created with Haiku Deck
9. START WITH AUDIENCE Photo by Seth Dodson, used via CC
10. PAY FOR WHAT MATTERS Photo by Tax Credits, used via CC
11. Photo by sonounribellemamma - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/34768790@N05 Created with Haiku Deck
12. Photo by lloyd89 - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/10300581@N07 Created with Haiku Deck
13. Photo by marsmet527 - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/125171811@N04 Created with Haiku Deck
14. Photo by thebarrowboy - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/48778414@N04 Created with Haiku Deck
15. Created with Haiku Deck Advice from the API report: • Use assets you already have • Leverage existing audiences and grow new ones • Identify and hold off competition • Take creative approaches: • Weigh the value of different pricing strategies • Go all-in with promotion Photo by Stacy Myers, used via CC
16. STEP TWO: What do you need to do? 1. Choose an idea from your list 2. POP (bit.ly/popeverything) 3. Logistics 4. Budget 5. Promotion WORKSHOP - PART 2 Go to http://bit.ly/planyourevent, and copy the worksheet into a new document for you to use. Be sure to review API’s report on events: http://bit.ly/apievents
17. Photo by c_pichler - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/30839999@N06 Created with Haiku Deck