Welcome to Episode 2 of The Craft of Conferencing Podcast. We are very excited to welcome as our guest Phil Mershon, the man who wrote the book on producing great events.
Phil is the Director of Experience at Social Media Examiner. He’s the driving force behind Social Media Marketing World, an annual confab in San Diego that is the largest annual gathering of social media marketing pros each year. The event has taken place every year since 2013. As Phil explains it, the event has evolved into a gathering of marketers who do social media vs a purely social media marketing crowd.
In addition to his work with Social Media Examiner, Phil is the author of Unforgettable: The Art and Science of Creating Memorable Experiences.
Here, Phil explains the book’s core message, he calls it a formula, that events need to be “meaningful, memorable, and momentous.”
How to create events that check these three boxes is the hard part of course. But we dig into how this happens.
As Phil explains, there are many ways to apply the formula.
It can be done through big, highly-produced moments. He shares the story of a keynote five years ago that concluded with a simulated fireworks crescendo and confetti shower.
It also comes in smaller moments that Phil calls “micro-experiences”. These can often have a clearer ROI than the big, produced moments that go viral. Phil advocates for both, not one over the other.
Here he shares an example of a micro-experience that paid off.
Phil is a big believer in listening to your audience. And basing decisions on data wherever possible.
For example, Social Media Marketing World covers different social platforms each year based on what customers tell them is important, not what the organizers think they need.
Here Phil talks about one of the cardinal sins of event production. Thinking you know what is best for the customer.
We hope you enjoy this episode.
If you want to learn more about The Craft of Conferencing, visit our website, or write to us at Charles@craftofconferencing.com.
If you are enjoying this newsletter and podcast, please share it with your friends. We want to build a community of event pros to share experiences and best practices. We can’t do this without your help.
Time Stamps — The Craft of Conferencing Podcast Episode 2
About Social Media Marketing World [02:01]
What Makes an Event Great? [12:07]
Creating Micro-Experiences [15:23]
The Event Customer Journey [23:45]
What Brings an Event Down? [28:29]
KPIs to Live By [38:49]
Thoughts on Location [41:08]
AI in Events [43:26]
Learn more about The Craft of Conferencing by visiting our website. And please follow The Craft of Conferencing on LinkedIn.
In Case You Missed It
Check out the inaugural episode of our podcast, featuring an event-tech founder’s journey with Daphne Earp Hoppenot. We talked about why she started The Vendry in 2019 and why she sold it to Groupize this year. And we get into the state of the events industry as well.
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