Originally Posted by xanadu
(Post 17617696)
Hi everybody!
We have been working hard to present a new format for the Internext Vegas 2011 and we are finally finished :)
I believe the events in the business need a radical change, the decline has been obvious the last years all over the board, making the events less and less attractive for people to attend. I think the main reasons for this were:
1.Prices.
With the current economy less and less people could afford the higher and higher costs of attending an event. Especially for webmasters and small companies this has been a serious issue.
2.Not so many fresh people to network with.
If you go and there are the same people every time, that you have on icq/skype etc already, what is really the point of keep going?
3.Less and less networking acitivities.
Shows had the bad habit of trying to make $ from parties,dinners and other networking activities instead of seeing that those are porbably the most important elements of a successfull event. Bringing people together and helping them network, its the key. With sponsor money becoming less the last years, events/opportunities for networking started to disappear, affecting the experience of the shows more and more....
So the format of the event will be totally different that last year, in order to adress the above issues.
- Internext goes back to the Venecian/Palazzo hotel. I think Palms was not an ideal place for doing business and the Venecian is just in front of the AEE expo and right next to the Wynn(Aff.Summit), so its much easier for people to move around. Time is money, especially during an event.
-Entrance will be FREE for all business people that will register online. There will be a fee for the ones that choose to register onsite to cover the logistics(under 100$ though), so I suggest you register online fast! We will screen the participants and make sure that only business people will be accepted.
I think this is a huge step. We have been visiting many mainstream shows lately, where this is more and more the standard of the big successfull events and given the situation of our industry,where small webmasters and companies have it much more difficult now, is something that shows have to consider and adapt. Its the minimum we can do to support the industry.
-We made a deal with Aff.summit and the ones registered in Internext will get a 10% discount on the price of their Aff.Summit badge. I know many people of our business attend this event, so I think its a nice plus. Having the 2 events next to each other makes it also easier for mainstream people to come and network with us as well. New people means new business.
-Attendees of the B2B section of AEE, will have free entrance into Internext. Has been a complaint for years that people had to register 2 times, pay double etc. I agree that was something that didnt make sense. Now will be much easier.
-Main focus will be on networking. We plan a lot of speed networking and ice breaker sessions during the event, not just a 2 hours event but more as a constant happening. I think this is the most important element during any show and the primary reason for someone to attend. I will personally force people to network :)
-New business opportunities will be also on the forefront. Seminars and workshops will be targeted on this and having the Aff. Summit next door helps us bring some really good mainstream speakers as well. There is more and more crossover and many ways to make more $ online. Monetizing european traffic and the mobile market will also be well presented.
-Regarding sponsorships, there will be much less available, in order to give back real value to the sponsors. I used to run an aff.program in the past and sponsor heavily most of the events of the industry and I think that its a fair statement that many sponsorship packages in the events were a rip off... Its much better to keep them limited than offering stupid things nobody remembers afterwards. This way sponsors will be much happier and will get much more value for their $.
-We also want to make it affordable to all companies to have a presense during the event without spending a fortune. Thats why in the Meet Market the tables will be just 500$ making it easy for most companies to participate and brand themselves.
Many people of the aff.summit will attend the meet market and this year will be much bigger in size and duration, will free lunch and a lot fo freebies. As said above, networking is the main focus.
From our side we will do our best, but it always takes 2 to tango. Wish all participants had business cards on them and come wearing a branded t-shirt, making networking even easier for everybody.
We cannot change the past, but for sure we can change the present and try to affect the future. I will be happy to hear suggestions and ideas on how make the event even better. I think we are on a good way to make it a much more productive and a more fair activity for all the participants from now on.
Sorry for the huge post, I can talk hours for it lol. I am sure I have forgotten many things so feel free to to ask or contact me.
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