Yes, We Like Piña Coladas! (#credDoesCabo)

2017 has already been quite a year for cred - we’ve secured 850+ events, expanded the event management side of the biz, and seen a record number of referrals.

As a result, one SF afternoon in February, Executive Director Caitlin and Managing Directors Steph and Laura walked into the office, bumping “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” with ice cold Coronas in hand.

The reason? A very unexpected announcement that the entire team would be going to Cabo! Cycling through stages of surprise, disbelief, and sheer excitement (but mostly disbelief), the rest of us were ready to spontaneously combust.

A few weeks later, we traded fog for sunshine and jetted off to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico for a long weekend. Not only did we have the chance to fit in some much-needed R&R, but it was a great team-building opportunity as well.

When we weren’t hanging out by the pool or catching a few rays, we took the time to really reflect on everything that’s brought cred to where it is today. We discovered the perfect team meeting location: Beachside with chips, guac, and margaritas; and also learned some fun facts about one other, including:

• Managing Director Stephanie once had a pet gecko named Winston. (She later ended up getting a henna of him!)

• Client Relations Jr. Associate Roya is a brown belt in karate.

• Executive Director Caitlin and Events & Operations Specialist Kyle were both elected Senior Class President in high school.

• Client Relations Jr. Associate Ariana has mad pool volleyball skills.

The trip definitely left us refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to accomplish our next goal:

Confirming our 1000th event!

(Stay tuned.)

RampUp 2017 Recap

That's a wrap! For the past few months, we've been working closely with LiveRamp to put together the agenda and speaker line-up for RampUp 2017. (cred also helped with RampUp 2016!)

In its fifth year, the annual summit has carved a name for itself in the MarTech industry, delivering insightful content around artificial intelligence, data quality, mobile, and more.

One of our favorite sessions was "Hot Zone: The Marketing Industry's Most Difficult Questions Answered," moderated by SafeGraph's Auren Hoffman. To start, Auren offered a $2 bill signed by the panel to whoever asked the most controversial question. Touching on topics like data attribution, democratization and ethics, the panel featured: Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, Drawbridge; Aaron Bell, AdRoll; Brian O'Kelley, AppNexus; and, Kishore Kanakamedala, Google.

Another attendee favorite was "Proximity Marketing is Ready." Moderated by LBMA's Asif Khan, the panel featured: Thomas Walle, Unacast; Brian Handly, Reveal Mobile; Walt Doyle, GasBuddy; and John Dokes, AccuWeather Network. A key takeaway? Mobile without location data is just another screen.

This year, the two-day conference took place at The Masonic and The Fairmont, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. In total, there were more than 2,300 attendees, 130 great speakers, and 55 engaging sessions across the Pre-Conference and Main Day of the event. 

We can't wait to see what next year has in store - hope to see you there!

Entering the Hot Zone...

For more insights and key takeaways from #RampUp17, check out the following articles:

• Gearing Up for RampUp 2017

• RampUp Day One: Key Takeaways

• RampUp: Blood, Sweat And Tears As Major Marketers Transform From The Ground Up

• RampUp 2017: Trends and Topics from MarTech’s Best

NEED HELP PLANNING YOUR OWN EVENT?

CONTACT EVENTS@CREDPR.COM.

South by Southwest: The Countdown Begins

Thirty years later, what was once a local music festival has transformed into an utter phenomenon as one of the largest, most influential technology events in the world. SXSW is iconic in today’s tech scene, spanning music, film and technology - it is one of the few conferences bringing together hundreds of powerful speakers and thought leaders across all walks of life.

Kicking off in one week is the SXSW Interactive Festival, a portion of the conference that features emerging technologies and innovative startups. This year, we’re excited to have secured speaking engagements for Tim Chang, Partner, Mayfield Fund, and Aarthi Ramamurthy, Founder & CEO, Lumoid.

The two will be joined by Steve El-Hage, Founder & CEO, Massdrop for a panel discussion on how eCommerce can still be successful despite the threat of Amazon, as well as how the “access over ownership” mentality has impacted retail. Check it out:

Future of Retail: The On-Demand, Peer Economy

Monday, March 13, 2017 at 9:30 – 10:30 AM

Retail, meet collaborative consumption. Pioneers of the sharing economy, like Zipcar and Airbnb, understand today’s consumers: we want access over ownership, and we want it now. More and more brands are tapping into this technology-impelled model for retail, offering services like peer-to-peer closet-sharing and the option to try-before-you-buy products. It’s a nod to the immense purchasing power of millennials–– and their unique perspectives on consumption. It’s also a sweeping transformation of the retail experience.

Speakers:

• Tim Chang, Partner at Mayfield Fund

• Aarthi Ramamurthy, Founder & CEO at Lumoid

• Steve El-Hage, Founder & CEO at Massdrop

Interested in any of the other speaker sessions? Check out the full agenda here.

Speaking 101: How to Maximize Audience Attention (When Everyone's Glued to Their Phones)

With the average adult touching their phone around 2,617 times a day*, it’s only a matter of time before something distracts them from your presentation.

So what can you do? If you can’t fight them, join them. Here are a couple of ways to turn a distracted audience into an engaged one:

Live Polling & Results Display

If you’ve ever stood in front of a room of people, asked a question, and waited helplessly while no one felt confident enough to answer, your solution is live polling. Using an event app, you can ask your audience simple questions and give them the power to reply immediately using their phone.

After collecting the data, results can then be streamed in real-time to an on-stage display. This is a great tool for re-capturing your audience’s interest and focus. Live polling allows for active participation and takes the edge off speaking in a crowded room.

Networking & One-on-One Meetings

How often have you walked away from an event wondering what connections you could have made had you talked to everyone in the room? Using the event app as a meeting facilitator, attendees can now find out exactly who is in the audience, send invites for meetings, or be matched up with others with similar interests (ATTN entrepreneurs: this is an easy way to get ahold of that investor who’s been hard to reach). Event apps leave no opportunity unrecognized and allow audience members to engage both with one another as well as with speakers.

Guide your audience to action

Before heading off the stage and leaving your audience to digest your presentation, make sure you’re giving them the right tools to take action. Use your mobile events app to share your contact information and social media handles, include any presentation decks, and send through a quick survey to gather feedback after your talk.

If possible, ask the event organizer ahead of time to have your session recorded and include a link to the session in your email. This way, you can ensure a lasting impact on your audience.

Once you tap into these new forms of audience engagement, you will become a more compelling speaker, achieve a greater event ROI, and increase overall attendee satisfaction. Make sure you turn this generation's reliance on mobile devices into the next level of audience engagement.

For more on audience engagement via mobile device, read more here and here.

*Article published on NetworkWorld, IDG.

Speaking 101: How to Convince Others to Repeat Your Words

Repetition. Mnemonics. Visualization. These are but a few ways that people commit things to memory. Knowing this, speakers can - and should - utilize certain strategies to make their presentations more effective and memorable.

In this post, we’ll break down some thoughts on memory by Memzy's Managing Director and Cognitive Neuroscientist Carmen Simon, including portability, timelessness, and syntax.

Portability, or the ability to apply something in various contexts.

How “portable” is your idea or message? According to a study by Cornell University, phrasing affects memorability, and relies on both distinctiveness and generality. People are more likely to repeat phrases if they can apply them in multiple contexts.

Carmen’s recommendation? Create generic statements, using the present tense and limiting personal pronouns. Think of some famous movie lines or slogans, and think about how they could’ve ended up.

You’re gonna need a bigger boat. --> You’re gonna need the bigger boat.

The first instance, which is the actual movie line from Jaws, can be used pretty flexibly. Some use it when they’re simply in need of more resources. Had the writing team written the line as the latter, it would not have made any sense off the water and wouldn’t be as commonplace of a phrase as it is today.

Timelessness.

The best repeatable messages have a lasting impact and endure time. They focus on three aspects:

1. A fundamental problem, one that is related to the audience receiving the message,

2. Building a stimulating mental image, and

3. The right level of complexity.

Quick note on the third point: There is a difference between profound complexity and intimidating complexity. Never overwhelm your audience with too much information that they cannot process.

Simple (but disfluent) syntax.

The order of words is important if you want people to remember what you have to say. At the same time, disfluency is also necessary.

That is, half the battle is making sure your statements flow together as a whole, creating what Carmen calls a “safe canvas.” Next is marking that canvas with distinct, disfluent words to provide cognitive roadblocks that elicit deeper processing. Seems counterintuitive, but it works. (Just make sure your entire message isn’t all over the place!)

For more on memory tips and tricks, listen to Dr. Carmen Simon on Persuasive Techniques for Business and Life here.

Speaking 101: Timeless Tips for Giving Effective Presentations

Regardless of whatever industry you're in, it’s likely that you will have to give a presentation at some point in your life. And if you’re like any of our clients, maybe you’re actively speaking at conferences and events.

So what do you need to know about giving a presentation?

Here are 10 tips for delivering a clear, understandable, and thought-provoking message.

1. Keep it simple. Unnecessary complexity should always be avoided. Don’t whip out a thesaurus before your presentation in an effort to sound more intelligent. Be real, be yourself, and use your own words.

2. Stick to three key points. Narrow your focus - state your three points at the beginning of your presentation, and then reiterate them at the end. These are those key takeaways that your audience won’t want to forget.

3. Engage your audience. Be interactive during your talk by finding ways to keep your audience involved. How? That’s up to you to decide! (Here are 8 ways to make your presentation more interactive.)

4. Use visuals. One way to engage your audience (see point #3) is by using memorable visuals to emphasize your point. Stay away from too many bullet points and information overload.

5. Be honest. Don’t try to fake passion for a topic that you don’t actually care about (or know nothing about). Your audience will see right through you.

6. Move around. It’s the same as going to a concert. Audiences want to watch something dynamic. So walk around, use your hands (not too much though - it can be distracting), and make your point more visually appealing.

7. Share stories. Help your audience relate to your message by incorporating a personal anecdote or two. Just make sure you don’t pepper the presentation with too much of your personal life…

8. Be conversational. Remember that it’s not a lecture. We cannot stress this enough.

9. Consult an expert. Always strive to improve your public speaking style and the quality of your presentations. Watch how-to videos, pay attention to other speakers onstage, read articles, take a course in public speaking, hire a vocal coach - always try to do and be better.

10. Practice makes perfect. You can never practice too much. Rehearse in front of others or in front of a mirror, and don’t forget it’s okay to start small and then work your way up!

Interested in more? Here are 5 Speaker Fails to Avoid.

You can also view the original Entrepreneur article by Jacqueline Whitmore here.

2016: A Year in Review

A look back at 2016 and a look ahead to 2017.

To start things off, we'd like to say thank you to those of you who made 2016 special. Our team believes in one another and the impact of thought leadership through speaking, but it’s an even more incredible feeling knowing our clients also value the work that we do and believe in us too.

In 2016, more referrals came through the door than ever (always a good sign). Additionally, cred secured its 500th event - and as of this blog post, JUST secured its 700th! Talk about traction. 

While we’re listing some cool achievements, cred also won WeWork: California Street’s Halloween costume contest and holiday office decorating competition. All in a day’s work, as we like to say. (Major props to Kyle, our Director of Decor, for bringing home the W!)

In 2016, we really honed in on what works well, as well as strengthened and expanded upon our relationships with events:

“Thanks for sending in so many great speaker suggestions. You really nailed what we were looking for.”

“You’ve obviously taken the time to study [our] format, tone and requirements and seem to be hitting a home run on proposals submitted for different clients.”

“Still can't believe how many folks you represented for [these] proposals. Really great stuff across the board.”

Looking forward to what 2017 has in store!

Stay tuned.

Event 101: Leverage Social Media for Promotion

Here’s the truth: Whether you’re hosting a 1,500-person conference or a small workshop for 30, your event needs a social media marketing strategy.

Why? Think about it. Why do you attend an event?

1. Networking

2. To learn something valuable (hopefully!)

And that’s what social media is all about - networking, developing, and sharing insightful content. In this way, social media goes hand-in-hand with your event. It can multiply your reach and in turn, boost your event’s reputation and overall number of attendees. Social media also allows speakers, exhibitors, and other attendees to interact before and after your event, thereby offering a more personalized experience. So where do you begin?

First, you’ll need to determine which platforms to use. 84% of event organizers use Facebook to promote their event, with 61% on Twitter and 42% using Youtube. What makes the most sense for your event / what platform does your target attendee audience use the most?

Second, establish your goals. What do you want? More sales? More traffic to your event page and therefore more attendees? More awareness and reputation? Sit down, and think about what you're trying to accomplish before jumping into anything.

Third, create an action plan with content ideas. What clever or useful content can you provide your followers on social media? What is going to make people ‘like,’ re-tweet, star, and share your posts? Ultimately, why should people be interested in your event?

Finally, execute. Easier said than done - and that’s why there are people out there, dedicated to social media as a profession. Social media requires a strategy, and you have to devote time and resources to it. A few tips from us:

• Visual content performs better. (In fact, researchers found that colored visuals increase people's willingness to read a piece of content by 80%.)

• Pay attention. For your specific audience, when do you seem to be getting the most engagement? This kind of testing, for your particular audience, will require a little bit of trial and error - maybe it’s Tuesdays in the afternoon right after lunch,? Either way, consider trends, and replicate that success. 

• Engage with other social media influencers that are relevant to your event and brand, and always, always reply to people, especially when you're just getting started. That’s how you build up loyalty.

For more tips and tricks, check out Eventtia’s articles on event promotion, here and here.

Need help planning your own event?

Contact events@credpr.com.