CityEvents goes Social

 

In case you missed the exciting news, we at CityEvents, Toronto’s premier event planning boutique, have expanded operations to include CitySocial, our social media management & training division! The new services being offering consist of designing and executing online marketing campaigns for products and events, focusing on social media planning and tactics. Additionally, we will have training and guidance available for those who wish to manage their own online marketing, but are not familiar with social media, or the right strategy for them.

We cater our event planning and marketing services to small and medium size businesses in international trade, arts and culture, and the hospitality sectors, as well as non-profit organizations. We are also offering our new social media services in French and Spanish!

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to launch CitySocial, as the official social media sponsor of UnExpected ’13, the Opening Night VIP Party for the Canadian Special Events Expo. Our team managed online interactions prior to and after the event, and were responsible for on-site promotion of contests, and social media engagement. This recent expansion will now offer our client’s the opportunity for one stop shopping at CityEvents, from product and event development, marketing strategies, metrics, and more.

Check out the photos from UnExpected ’13 and our CitySocial launch: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeventstoronto/sets/72157633048285693

UnExpected ’13 VIP Opening Night Party

This year’s opening night party for the Canadian Special Events Expo was both ‘UnExpected’, and unforgettable; with a scrumptious variety of food, memorable entertainment, and ample networking opportunities, this event was a huge success. Approximately 700 event industry professionals from across Canada came out to UpCountry in the heart of Toronto, to mix and mingle at UnExpected ’13 on March 20^th.

From delicacies provided by Presidential Gourmet, Cheeseworks, Parts and Labour & Neptuno, beverages from Griffin Gastropub & Wandering Bean Coffee, and desserts by Bucket and Whisk, to performances from Sarah Violin, Jordan Clark, EH440, and Becky Hoops & David Fiset; UnExpected ’13 had something for everybody’s tastes. The event also featured ‘unexpected’ elements such as a sidewalk chalk drawing by Toronto’s own Chalkmaster Dave, an Easter bunny distributing Cadbury eggs & goodies out front, a puzzle by Master Pieces, and captivating projections from Apex Sound.

The CityEvents team sponsored the social media management for this event, and were on-site to execute several contests, interact with guests, and encourage online engagement. We hosted online contests leading up to the event in which we gave away passes to both the UnExpected party, and the Canadian Special Events Expo: Tradeshow. Our on-site contests were based on guests’ involvement with social media including activity on Crowd Activation’s Social Mosa, a combination Twitter & Instagram wall, and the event’s mobile app from The App Labb. Winners went away with a Bucket & Whisk gift basket, a fondue set or gift card from CHEESEWERKS, a Parts & Labour gift card, or tickets to Sensation: Ocean of White from Nasco Staffing and the Rogers Centre.

We at CityEvents had an amazing time at this year’s UnExpected opening night party, and we are already looking forward to the next one!

Check out our photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeventstoronto/sets/72157633048285693

UnExpected 2013

Bored of predictable and traditional events? Looking for an event worth talking about for years to come? Then I hope you got your pass for UnExpected 2013, the sold-out Opening Night Party for the Canadian Special Events Expo. This is a “can’t miss” night for event planners, and it’s sure to be unforgettable.

At this year’s UnExpected event, you will have the chance to mix and mingle with event professionals from all sectors of the industry, while enjoying food and drink from various suppliers like Bucket & Whisk, and Wandering Bean Coffee. Prepare to be endlessly entertained by performers such as the hula-hooping duo, Becky Hoops and David Fiset. With so much variety in food, entertainment, and experiences, you’re bound to find something you love, and many things that are “unexpected”.

We at CityEvents, are sponsoring the social media services for UnExpected 2013; our team have been managing the online marketing and promoting, and will be on-site maintaining the event’s online presence. We are sponsoring this event, in an endeavour to launch and showcase, “CitySocial”, the expansion of our operations to include product & event marketing services. Our focus will be on social media planning and tactics as we design and execute marketing campaigns for businesses in the professional services, hospitality, and non-profit sectors.

Please feel free to contact us for more information on our new services, and we ask that you share the news of our exciting expansion. Also, watch out for contests and prizes coming up before (on Facebook), and at, the UnExpected 2013 event!

CityEvents Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CityEvents/143334525693578?ref=hl

CSE UnExpected Page: http://canadianspecialevents.com/cseme_toronto/for-attendees/opening-night-party/

Meeting At The Hoxton – An Event Planners Dream

The Hoxton is the latest venture by business partners Jesse Girard and Richard Lambert, – and comedian Kenny Hotz – the guys behind Parts & Labour and The Social.  The venue is named after London’s Hoxton neighbourhood and is located in Toronto’s hip King West area steps from the Thompson Hotel.

The Hoxton highlights include a great stage area, state of the art sound system making the acoustics phenomenal, and a 8,000 sq. ft. space that can hold up to 600 people.  The main idea was to keep the space versatile, with lack of excessive décor and the large number of installed flat screens it is an event planners dream. The Hoxton allows customized decor and can accommodate the bells and whistles for whatever event the venue is hosting, whether it is corporate or private bookings.

In just over a month the Hoxton has played host for events celebrating TIFF, Fashion Week, store launches, and this week is their first large scale fundraiser “Fireball” (www.sheenasplace.com/fireball)

Expect The Hoxton to be a crowd and corporate pleaser. http://www.thehoxton.ca and @the_Hoxton

Guest Post by Jay Reyes and Deb Lewis, (www.deblewis.ca) CMP, Chief Experience Officer of CityEvents, (www.torontocityevents.ca) You can connect with Deb at CityEvents (info@torontocityevents.ca) or on Twitter. @cityevents

 

Event Fundraising Strategy & Planning

When it comes to your fundraising events, if you were starting over, how different would they look?

1. Become more data driven.
It is impossible to run a successful event fundraising program without understanding the characteristics of your participants and the linkages between those characteristics and giving.

2. Understand the difference between metrics and analytics.
Event fundraisers are talking about not just measuring more and better, but also predicting donor and participant behaviours. You can use your analysis as a blueprint to think strategically about how to improve your event’s future fundraising results.

3. Think in segments.
It’s essential to target your segments differently. Within each event there are definitely groups of participants that we should focus on more than most. It is essential that you identify up front how many segments you can actually administer.

4. Predict future activities.
This is basic segmentation developed from descriptive analysis. But while this helps to focus efforts, it is essentially reactive 3and does little to develop new gifts.

5. Think relationships.
All aspects of the event marketing relationship are changing. Social media is perhaps the most obvious change, but there are other choices you can use. Rather than treating social media as a standalone channel or replacement for traditional tactics, event marketers should be looking for ways to use social media to support and enhance the successful programs they already have in place.

6. Drive fundraising productivity.
In some organizations fundraisers spend too much of their time doing tasks that the marketing should be doing for you. We’re seeing some organizations use their CRM and personal fundraising systems to take advantage of automation, email and social media to make personal fundraisers more credible with their donors and shorten the cultivation cycle.

7. Use social media to connect and facilitate dialogue.
You’re are accountable for your events’ participation in social media—even if your aren’t engaging in those conversations yourself. You must train, educate and support your event participants who fundraises on behalf of the organization.

8. Remember the 80/20 rule.
Do you treat all event participants equally? You shouldn’t! The most effective events focus the majority of their efforts on the participants with the highest potential return, which typically constitutes only about 15% of the participant base.

9. Give your donor database the respect it deserves.
We recommend that you not overlook an analysis of the structure of your data gathering itself. This is an area all-too-often ignored. This includes administration of hundreds of thousands of participants and donor records and millions of transactions.

10. Be different.
The audit and evaluation of your events should include comprehensive participant, donor, market and competitive analysis. Understanding how you will compete and differentiate your events is critical to success.

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