As publisher events originally scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2020 migrate to a fall season already packed with existing conferences and trade shows, preserving original attendee and sponsorship budgets is no sure thing.   

At our Business Information & Media Summit (BIMS) in Hollywood, Fla., in November—or as some now refer to it, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood— Amanda Yarnell and Jessica Morrison from American Chemical Society's Chemical & Engineering News, told their story and then had attendees collaborating and thinking.

Editor’s Note: See Questex CEO Paul Miller and Group President John Siefert talking about creating a new chapter for events and digital at the 2019 Business Information & Media Summit, Nov. 12 in Hollywood, FL.

One interesting note about the new event called Dished that Aging Media Network sold out in 2018 and again in 2019 is that they capped attendance at 150. Now that probably had the most to do with their venue—The Boelter Center in Chicago's River West neighborhood. Owned by Boelter Foodservice Design & Equipment, it was selected based on its unique setting and elements including a demonstration kitchen and catering program.

Here are some new trends in the events world that may be adaptable to publishers.

"Audiences have an innate want to be a part of something. They don't want be on the sidelines anymore, they want to be a part of something bigger."

"Having worked with media companies for many years, I know that everyone has many of the same issues when it comes to events," Robyn Duda of Robyn Duda Creative told me just before the holidays. They scramble to get everything done, tend to reach out to the same audiences and don't take enough risks.

Members are descending here in Washington, D.C., for the 42nd SIPA Annual 2018 Conference. It seems that events for SIPA publishers these days can come in many shapes and sizes—from Jefferson Communications' summer camp fairs to Magna Publications' teaching professor workshops to Lessiter Media's Hoof-Care Summit to Spidell's tax seminars.   So while I would usually preface this column by saying you need a gameplan at the live events you attend, this year I have a second purpose. You may want to borrow these bullets—or link to it (this article is posted on the SIIA Blog)—so that you can advise your own audience how to take full advantage of the events you put on.   Here are 9 tips to get the most out of the events you attend:   1. Focus your attention on possible outcomes. "Many people think of networking as showing up, randomly interacting, and hoping something good will happen," wrote Jeff Korhan, author of Built-In Social: Essent ...