Monday, September 22

1:45-2:30 p.m. M401

The Event Trend: Understanding Why Your Advertisers are Embracing Experiential Marketing, and Why You Should, Too

Speaker: Dan Hanover, Editor & Publisher, Event Marketer magazine

Experiential marketing is the biggest thing in marketing today and your advertisers are moving more of their marketing dollars into live events. In this session you'll learn the overall trends that are driving this activity and how you can tap into the trend by creating event platforms that your advertisers will pay for.

2:45-3:30 p.m. M402

How to Hire an Event Agency

Speaker: Larry Deutsch, SVP/Managing Director & Consumer Practice Leader, Jack Morton Worldwide

If you're looking to use live events as a revenue strategy, your events had better be strategically on-target and flawlessly executed. One way to sleep at night is to hire an event agency to develop sponsorship programs and do the heavy operational lifting of site selection, food & beverage planning, venue management, and the myriad other details that go into a successful event. In this session you'll learn how to identify the right agency for your company, and figure out how you can work together to produce the best-in-class events for your brand.

3:45-4:30 p.m. M403

Creating a Virtual Event Platform

Speaker: Chris Sullivan, VP, Managing Director ChannelWeb Network, Everything Channel

Online events are gaining traction as a low-cost and low-risk alternative to live events. Used strategically, virtual events can stand on their own or complement a live-event portfolio by exposing your exhibitors and sponsors to customers and prospects all year long. In this session you'll see real examples of virtual events that are creating significant revenue streams for publishers, and learn the economics and business models that you can employ for your own business.

Tuesday, September 23

9:45-10:45 a.m. T411

Building High-Ticket, High-Value Sponsorship Packages

Speaker: Karl Vontz, Director, Events, Media, Marketing & Visual Arts Group, The Nielsen Company

Creating an opportunity to bring together your advertisers and readers in a live setting is a powerful sales motivator, but your bigger opportunity is in creating integrated sales packages that get your sponsors to spend big. In this session, you'll learn proven strategies for building sponsorship programs that go beyond banners and booths to create value-laden sales opportunities.

11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. T412

Creating Magazine-Branded Events

Speaker: Tamara Stewart, Event Marketing Director, Real Simple

Most advertisers would rather partner with strong magazine brands to reach targeted audiences than create their own events from scratch. This session will focus on how to create a proprietary event strategy that your advertisers will buy into, and how to leverage print and your other assets to create unique packages that your advertisers can't get anywhere else.

2:45-3:30 p.m. T413

Big Events, Small Budgets

Speaker: Sona Hacherion, Executive Director, Creative and Marketing Services, New York Media

You don't need a big budget to create an event that produces big results. In this session you'll learn how New York magazine keep their events rockin' with modest investment, and see the techniques the magazine uses to produce great events on lean budgets.

4:45-5:30 p.m. T414

Great Event Makeovers

Speaker: Bouker Pool, VP, Sports Marketing & Events, Rodale

Marketing and advertising budgets are growing increasingly tight, causing greater competition for event dollars. Leading event strategist Bouker Pool will discuss how and why Rodale reinvented its events business, all while staying true to trusted Rodale brands such as Men's Health, and Runner's World. Pool will share insights on how your event can find creative revenue streams outside the traditional media budgets, as well has how to help your clients convert spectators into hand-raisers. Whether your event needs a makeover or just some minor tweaks, come hear Pool discuss the steps you need to take to make the right changes

Wednesday, September 24

9:15-10:00 a.m. W421

Models for Event Profitability

Speaker: Gordon Plutsky, Director, Marketing and Research, King Fish Media

There are several types of events for magazines of all sizes from small intimate dinners and roundtables to award shows and multi-day conferences. This session will cover best practices and case studies for successful B2B events that your magazine can produce. You will hear case studies on how these event formats and ideas can work for your magazine and market. Face-to-face events are one of the hottest and most profitable segments of the market -- learn how to turn yours into profit generators.

11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. W422

Event Planning: Understanding How to Create an Event Budget

Speaker: Mike Campbell, Sr. Partner/President, Javelin

Live events have many moving parts, and the opportunities for expense surprises are numerous if you don't know where to focus. In this session, we'll dissect several event budgets to understand the major cost areas, as well as how to limit your exposure, control expenses and build a tight budget and operational plan and framework for all of your events.

12:30-1:15 p.m. W423

Greening Your Events

Speaker: Nicolas Ibarguen, Publisher, Poder; Green Forum

If your management or advertisers haven't yet asked what you're doing to make your events "greener," they soon will be. One study has found that 47 percent of advertisers will be moving to a green event initiative within the next 12 months. Do you have a plan? If not, you can begin the process by attending this session and learning from other publishers who've already begun the green journey what you need to know, what's possible (and what isn't) and what trade-offs you need to consider when moving into greener event pastures.