Browsing Tag

Event students

Web Summit 2016: Where the Tech World meets

The Web Summit is the largest technology marketplace in Europe and the second biggest in the world, and this year brought together more than 45,000 attendees and 2,000 volunteers from more than 165 countries including 1490 international tech start-ups.

How to best describe the experience? It was a buzzing atmosphere including a mix of start-ups, investors and professionals, a variety of content from tech to music and sport, renowned speakers and a family of volunteers that gave their best to make this a successful event. We’ve seen expert talks from global leaders, including the CTO of Facebook – Mike Schroepfer, the Co-Founder of Tinder – Sean Rad and CEO of VaynerMedia – Gary Vaynerchuk to name just a few. The conference attracted people with the biggest ideas in tech to connect and collaborate across four full-on days and nights.

University of Lincoln & The MICE Blog Q & A

In April I spoke at the Digital Student Ambassador Group (DSAG) event, organised by third year event management students at the University of Lincoln. I was one of the speakers they invited to speak on the topic of event technology, and to demonstrate the abilities of technology usage at universities (and the events industry), I decided the use Sli.do for the Q & A after my presentation about the business of blogging.

Temasek Polytechnic Singapore & The MICE Blog Q & A

Back in September I spoke to students from Temasek Polytechnic Singapore who study for Diploma in Leisure & Events Management. They were in London on a study trip and invited me to speak about blogging and social media, sharing my personal story and how I started the blog. In the end we used Sli.do for the Q & A. I love using Sli.do during my presentations because students always have the best questions. Let’s see what they asked.

How do you generate revenues from your blog?

There are several ways I generate revenue from the blog and these include

  • Lecturing about blogging and social media for events
  • #EventPlannersTalk LIVE event sponsorship and ticket sales
  • GoogleAdsense, these are the adverts you see on the right hand side
  • Sponsored post

Do you blog on a full time basis (Is it a job? Are you paid?)? Or is it solely based on your own interest and hobbies?

Yes, since 2016 I blog full time. A lot of what I write about is based on my own interests and hobbies, such as the destinations I travel to, events I attend and the content I choose for #EventPlannersTalk Twitter chat and LIVE events.

After how long of blogging will you then start earning from blogging?

It depends! It took me five years to start earning from blogging, but I also wasn’t doing it full time and wasn’t pro-active on sales.

What keep you working on your blog consistently?

My desire to share knowledge and because I love this industry keeps me working on the blog. From reporting about events, I have now the desire to create and decide on event content myself, and this I achieve through #EventPlannersTalk Twitter chat and LIVE events.

I believe when you started blogging, you would definitely encounter many negative people or I would say, “haters”. What keeps you pressing on and blogging?

I try and associate myself with positive and supportive people, who are as passionate as me about the events industry and collaborative.

What is unique about your blog that make it popular?

These are two things that make my blog unique. First is the very specific niche I’m covering. I have very strong focus on meetings, incentive, conferences and exhibitions. Secondly, readers love that my blog is very visual, on the blog and across social media channels.

What is your ultimate goal of blogging? Is it to network more with event lovers? Is it to gather more event lovers together or..??

Multiple, and they are constantly evolving. I started the blog back in 2011 as a way to connect with like-minded people, but now it’s also a way to build my personal brand and create a community. Blogging goals vary from person to person, and can be a cost effective way to grow and monetise the business, promote business (though sharing expertise and case studies), “Break the news” – such as publishing the press release on the blog and don’t have to rely on industry magazines, drive traffic to website and SEO, networking and last by not least making it a full time job.

How do you attract followers to your blog?

I use multiple techniques to attract followers and these are

  • Guest authors, crowdsourcing and interviews
  • Collaborations with major MICE suppliers who have larger database than me
  • Popular topics, such as event management education attracts new readers and shared more
  • Post regularly and consistently
  • #EventPlannesTalk Twitter chats
  • #EventPlannesTalk LIVE events

Do you engage with professionals to produce your photos and videos? Or do you learn Photoshop and after effect and produce the visuals yourself?

Both! This is something I had to learn and I’m still learning to take good photos. When I have budget from a sponsor I will always work with a professional (so I can pay them) so I can focus on other things, such as talking with event organisers and gathering more content.

It took you five years to start earning from blogging. How did you keep the passion alive?

I worked in events and studied event management therefore it was always a passion. First when I realised that it opens new doors, such as event invitations or networking opportunities, I kept doing it to build my profile and personal brand. Only later I realised that I can also monetize the blog through organising events or sponsored post because there was suddenly demand for it.

What are challenges when you 1st started the MICE blog?

When I started I didn’t have challenges because no one knew who I am. Only now, as the blog grows I encounter challenges. There are minor challenges, such as exceeding data space on the server and needing an upgrade, when updating a plug-in it messes up my google analytics and I lose stats for couple of days until I fix it, or some features on the blog don’t work properly because a plug-in is not updated. A bigger challenge I see now is how to innovate in this space and keep the content fresh and interesting.

How do you ensure that you content is interesting so that the blog is always active?

As mentioned above, it’s a constant challenge! It’s important for me to stay on top of what’s happening in the industry and be the first to report about a topic, event, destination or a venue.

How do you go for holidays if you have to blog weekly?

I cover many MICE destinations on the blog, therefore I can often combine holidays with blogging. This was the case when I went to Monaco and Nice.

© The MICE Blog


Monaco, September 2014

Do you actually share things on what you like on your blog or do you share what others want to see, or know about on your blog?

A mix of both, but more about what I like or personally experienced, as this what also makes my blog more personal and unique.

Since you know that in the fashion or food industry, bloggers earn more and are more known there. What makes you still want to get into blogging about events?

I didn’t start the blog in the first place to earn money therefore I enjoy doing this.

What was the best event you have been in your life and why?

The best one was the Meetovation training in Copenhagen in 2014. For me, that was the first time I experiences and learned about meeting design and the three day training was very intense, interactive and engaging. The training covered five elements of the Meetovation: active involvement, creative set up, local inspiration, responsible thinking and return on investment.

© The MICE Blog - event management blog


Case study is a fantastic method for participants to implement their knowledge. We got a case to organise a strategy kick off meeting for HR managers from car accessories sector and plan an event around the purpose of the meeting: present the new HR strategy, develop on subjects such as internal communication, recruitment process, motivation of staff and individual development planning. Lastly to include social elements that help people to get to know each other better. In addition to that – the event needed to reinforce three company values: loyalty, excitement, and development. After the initial brainstorming session we got a kit from out instructor Ann – “meet in a box” that is to visualise our meeting concept. This kit included all major venues in Copenhagen, seating styles, catering, transportation etc. to possibly visualise the meeting to potential clients. This is was the result. 

Would you consider coming to Singapore?

YES

Thank you for the great presentation and interesting way of Q&A!:)

Swiss MICE Destinations And My Volunteering Experience

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I started my events career in Switzerland, where I volunteered on several tourism and sporting events and had the chance to visit other professional and leisure exhibitions. Besides discovering the passion for events, volunteering gave me the opportunity to explore many of the Swiss MICE destinations and network with industry professionals.

The Swiss MICE destinations can be classifies into three categories:

Cities – such as Zürich, Geneva

Mountain destinations/ resorts – such as Zermatt, Gstaad

Regions – such as Wallis, Lake Geneva

Looking back I can say that volunteering was a very enriching experience. Firstly, if you don’t have any previous event experience, you can use this opportunity to boost your CV and network with other event professionals who may help you to get other jobs later on. Secondly, if you are not sure whether you would like to stay in the industry, volunteering  will help you to figure out whether you like this industry and want to keep doing it. Last but not least, is the EXPERIENCE, for which the attendees travel hours to attend and you have the chance to work there! If you like working with people and you are passionate about the event, be it music, sports or an art event – just do it. Volunteering will bring you many positive emotions and you will meet interesting and inspiring people.

Cities

Zurich, Suisse EMEX 2011. Zurich is an international hub and hosts exhibitions throughout the year. One of my favorites is the SuissEMEX where you can find everything about marketing and live communication.

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Geneva, Schweizer Ferientag 2011. The national tourism organization of Switzerland, Switzerland Tourism hosts every year an event for all the tourism professionals. Every year the event takes place in a different city or resort.

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Basel, IGEHO 2009.  IGEHO is an international exhibition for hotels and catering and takes place every two years. At the exhibition one can familiarize itself with the latest trends and attend speeches and demos. I had the chance to see the barmen competition. The exhibition takes place at the Messe Basel, which throughout the year hosts other big exhibitions, among others the jewelry exhibition Baselworld and Art Basel.

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Montreux, Travel Trade Workshop 2009. Since few years the exhibition changed the concept to target German and French speaking visitors separately and now it takes place both in Lausanne and Zürich.

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Mountain Destinations

St. Moritz, St. Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow 2010. Very exclusive event at top destination. The tournament takes place on a frozen lake.

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Engadin Skimarathon 2010. One of the most memorable events I worked at. The atmosphere was just great.

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Silvaplana, Engadinwind 2010. Having a big passion for sports, I visited the Engadinwind and had the chance to see top athletes perform incredible tricks on the water.

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Regions

Lake Zürich. I had a tourism seminar in Rapperswil, a city near Zürich. During the seminar we got to travel all around Zürich lake to cities including Thalwil, Küsnacht and Pfäffikon (and the noted MICE hotel Seedamm Plaza). The region is absolutely gorgeous and I would love to come there again. Staying in a city on Zürich lake is perfect for someone who would like to be next to Zürich but avoid the hassle of a big city.

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