Singapore - The MICE Blog

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.

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.

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!:)

Recently I had the big honour to speak to students studying for Diploma in Leisure & Events Management from Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore. They were in the UK from 25th September – 5th October and when in London they asked me to speak about social media and technology, so I decided to share my blogging experience with them.

The reason I was so happy to meet them and speak about my experience is because not too long ago I was a student myself and during my event management studies at Regent’s University London we also had study trips each semester and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of international experience. We went to Liverpool, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and two semesters I spent abroad in Germany, which greatly contributed to my personal development and understanding of the industry.

Other speakers at the event were Deborah Kelly, Business Development Manager and Sarah Neill, Project Manager – Major Events at London & Partners and Jason Chan, Area Director – Northern and Western Europe and Maria Pangoli, Manager Northern & Western Europe at Singapore Tourism Board. 31 students from Diploma in Leisure & Events Management were on this trip with more than 80% of them in the 2nd year of studies, and the rest in the 3rd, final year.

Deborah and Sarah spoke about the role of London & Partners, how they work, past and future events, the Olympic Legacy and gave a great overview of the different career paths students can pursue in the events industry. Jason and Maria spoke about targeting and segmentation, their positioning as a long haul destination, key aspects they promote to leisure and business tourists and how they represent destination Singapore in London.

I was curious to know group’s itinerary and the choice of venues and activities. They flew from Singapore to Dubai and from Dubai to Manchester and started their tour in Manchester, visiting Manchester United Museum, Stadium Tour and a tour of the BBC.

From Manchester they travelled to Birmingham to visit Cadbury World and continued to Bath where they visited the Thermae Bath Spa before leaving to Swindon for an overnight stay there and kicked off the day with a visit of the Warner Brothers Tour and the Making of Harry Potter. From there they departed to London and first stop was a backstage of The Phantom’s Liar followed by The Phantom of the Opera musical.

On the following day they visited University of Surrey campus and in the afternoon we had our session at The Strand Palace Hotel, followed by dinner at the Carvery & Grill in the hotel. Next day they started with Shrek’s Adventure, exploration of Covent Garden and dinner in China Town.

On the next day they headed to Wimbledon to learn about their operations and from there to the Natural History Museum and concluded the day with the Mamma Mia musical.

Last day before departure they did a London City Tour and visited the Museum of London before heading to the airport, travelling to Singapore via Dubai.

Recently I was asked “what one piece of advice would you give to people looking to get into this industry?” My answer is to get international work experience! Do an internship, volunteer, go on a study trip like this, do a language course abroad, but just go out there, see other cultures and learn how they work, study and live.

While I stayed in Europe they took a long haul flight to the UK and I’m sure in couple of years, when the students graduate and start their jobs in the industry, they will remember this experience more than any other course at university, they will meet me and others at IMEX, IBTM or any other international industry event and can leverage these connection for future business opportunities.

I was very honoured to be part of their programme and wish them all the best finishing their studies and starting a career in the event industry.