Interview with Interviewer Diana Brandl

Karen, thank you for joining me for this interview. What’s your story?

First of all, thank you very much, Diana, for inviting me to have this interview with you.

I started my professional life as an admin but I always wanted to get involved in marketing projects. I first started doing marketing as an incidental addition in my first job. As an assistant to the Sales Manager of an international software company my time was partly used for marketing. This included translating brochures, supporting the user conference, managing a small telemarketing team and providing other general marketing support. That’s how I knew that I wanted to go into event marketing.

Later, I worked for a large hardware company as an assistant to the joint heads of the EMEA Corporate Marketing Group. There, too, I was supported by my managers and „eased” into an events marketing role.

I was blessed in that three conditions needed to come together for this to happen: Firstly, my managers had to be open-minded enough to provide the path. Secondly, I had to show my competency and be diligent in my work. And thirdly, the company had to have a need for additional event support.

So my last employee role was event management. I was responsible for, amongst other things, the large CeBIT stand each year

I started 772 Marketing as a result of a redundancy package that was offered. With the years of CeBIT and other trade show and events experience, this package and a good network of (ex)colleagues I had the impetus, capital and opportunity to do what I love: organize all sorts of business events for various clients.

You are an entrepreneur having your own event agency which you manage together with your husband. Tell us more about 772 Marketing and your service offers.

772 Marketing provides event support or complete management for events. Be they trade shows, conferences, exclusive executive dinners or even corporate Christmas parties. We have done them all. We have brainstormed, developed, implemented and managed events in many European countries and understand many of the language, administrative and cultural issues that need consideration.

772 Marketing is unique in several aspects: We are a native English/German team and together with our experience, this brings clients a greater effectiveness in a globalized market. We have experience from the very small to the very big.

This diverse event experience of cultures, locations, scales and types is something normally only available from larger, more expensive agencies. We can support a client as they grow and we are ready for their needs.

One aspect that I find very important in my work is the personal relationship with my clients. I work with them as if I were an integrated part of their company, thinking and acting in their best interest. This results in long-standing relationships and makes working together very effective and enjoyable.

How would you say has the event industry changed over the years and what are the challenges of the future?

Since I started organizing events the biggest change that the industry has witnessed is the drive for digital media being the marketing platform of choice. As a consequence, the marketing budget has been “directed” to the digital media “basket of eggs”. So there is less budget for events.

Also, other marketing tools, especially digital ones, offer a much more directly attributable and measurable result. With events, measuring the ROI is much more difficult. However, the biggest advantage with events lies in its intangible success: the personal relationship, the hands-on experience, the gain in trust and credibility that a good event or trade show presence can bring. It is always worth remembering that the prime purpose of any event is for people to meet people.

Looking at the planning of events, I have experience that lead times are getting shorter and shorter. Companies used to start their planning early and agencies would work out a well-researched concept for a project before the actual implementation phase started. Nowadays, there is no time for this anymore. You need to dive right into the actual organization in order to make an event happen on time. Instead of months, you only have a few weeks for the whole process from venue selection, invitation and registration process to the actual event.

Another challenge is that people who register for an event are a lot less committed. The no-show rates are high which makes a lot of guesstimates based on experience necessary.

And last but not least, we are working with a lot more technology, event apps and so on. Clients do not only want to know how many people were at their event and in each session, but which session was visited by whom, what people were interested in, etc. So there is a lot more „espionage“ going on.

There will undoubtedly be a return to the more fundamental style of events. Whilst new technologies can of course provide some enhancement to the experience, or save cost, they will never replace the value of the personal experience.

Events 4.0: How could a meeting/event in 2025 look like in your view?

2025 is only 7 years away and we are still at a turning point with events. There was even a time when people said events are dead. Everything will be done online. But events are still a very successful marketing vehicle, and they will always be a great way to actually relate to people.

I even think that especially trade shows are likely to live a revival. With the extreme levels of Internet tracking, loyalty systems and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, we now face a legal backlash. Rules and regulations are being put in place in order to protect customers – consumers and business clients alike. Thus, customer acquisition is made a lot more difficult. As a result, trade shows may become crucial in order to get to prospects in the first place.

So while technology is making a lot of advances and can enhance events, we find ourselves unable to exploit this fully. For example, now some technologies would simply be illegal. I therefore think that events will rely on the more traditional approach in the next years. Good content, the sharing of experiences and networking are, and will remain, the most important and most profitable aspects.

How can assistants deliver smart meetings for the future?

Good solid organization skills are still key for smart meetings in the future, irrespective of how much or little „smart“ technology is used. I would advise assistants to consider two very simple tricks which carry very well to many situations we find ourselves in.

Firstly, if you are organizing something for a group of people, put yourself in the position of these people. Consider their personal needs. Think about what might make them uncomfortable. Ask yourself what they need to have an effective meeting, from the learning of the event to the actual onsite experience.

Secondly, run through the agenda in the role of each of the stakeholders. Consider the timing, locations and amenities. If you have speakers, play the scenario of them arriving, finding their place, setting up their environment, getting refreshments, preparing to speak, and so on. The same goes for exhibitors.

Most of the problems with any event organization arise because people are proposing and implementing ideas without checking that they could work in the given circumstances. Layout and timing are just two examples that can create difficulties.

Additionally, I think the readers would benefit from our published experiences and tips: 772inspire.com is a collecting place for articles we write, covering planning, execution, and creativity with events. Much of this will undoubtably be valuable for anyone thrown into the “deep end”, without the budget for support or training.

What do we need to know in terms of event management and GDPR?

On 25th May the transition period to implement stricter EU data protection rules ended. Awareness of this topic is enormous but so is the insecurity. What kind of data am I allowed to collect and under which circumstances? What permissions are required? Can I still use my old contact data? How can I address prospects?