Web Sites - What ARE Some of You Thinking?

The reason there have not been many posts on my blog over recent months is that I am heavily engrossed in writing revisions to my two textbooks on special event production, due for publication in the fall of 2015.

In doing the research for the books, I have had to scour the web for information, mostly photographs, as well as interview numerous experts in the industry. I thought it might be useful to share with you some of my discoveries in terms of the quality of the product out there and how it affects my thinking.

Let's start by assuming that the reason most event companies have a web site is to attract business. From what I have found, some companies do it extremely well, and others fall drastically short. The ones who do it well have the following in common:

1. The site loads extremely quickly, within four or five seconds. If it does not, I leave.

2. There is no silly or overly fancy or overly artsy front page telling me to wait, or worse, not telling me anything useful. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. If there is, I leave.

3. The front page of the site is attractive and highly visual. However, there is no cutesy music or repeating video playing. If there is, I leave.

4. Navigation to the information I want - invariably event images or company background - is simple, effective, and very fast. If I get taken in circles to other pages I don't want, or those pages I do want take more than a couple of seconds to load, I leave.

5. The images of events that the company has done are of the highest quality. This is absolutely critical to me in forming a good opinion of the company. They must load almost immediately and should be of high enough resolution to fill at least half my screen. I don't really care if there is a watermark on them as long as I can see the quality of the work without squinting. If you as a company are worried about your ideas being stolen, you are sadly misguided. It is far more important to have readily accessible a large number of high quality images. It will do you far more good than worrying about the very remote possibility that your ideas may be stolen. On that note, if you are that worried, then you better take another job since you probably don't have enough ideas to start with. If the images are not large enough or of high enough quality in terms of what appears to be the company's work at an event, I leave. Word to the wise - hire the best photographer that money can buy to take photos of your event.

6. They may use videos but they are short (i.e. less than 2 minutes) and get right to the heart of the matter, whether it is showcasing entertainment or reviewing an actual event.

7. The company information is complete and honest, telling me how the company came into existence, who the main owners are, and exactly what the company specialties are. No beating around the bush, no verbosity - straight to the point.

8. They do not use a form to fill out as the only method of contact. I have encountered so many companies that do not list any email addresses or even contact phone numbers. What on earth are they even doing on the web if they do not want anyone to get in touch with them?? This is perhaps the most idiotic concept that any company could use. List all your key employees, what their jobs are, and their direct phone numbers and email addresses. Not only have I sent countless such forms to companies asking for information, but most NEVER answer. You can be sure I will never seek out those companies again.

There you have it, a bit of a load off my chest. If it makes you re-think your web site strategy and design, then I hope I have helped you. Web design has come a long way in the last few years and it is not difficult to create a site with the qualities I have discussed.

The Event Safety Guide - GET A COPY!!

This week I received in the mail a copy of The Event Safety Guide: A Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Live Entertainment Events in the United States.

It is unfortunate that they included the words "United States" in the title because this guide could be used in any country with appropriate changes to referenced standards and regulations. It is, bar none, the most comprehensive book on event risk management that I have ever seen.

The Event Safety Alliance (ESA) published the book. The alliance was born after several high-profile disasters (e.g. the Indiana State Fair stage collapse in 2011) threatened the reputation of the industry, causing concerned industry professionals to get together. The result was not only the formation of the ESA, but also this ground-breaking publication.

With everything you need to know all in one place, the guide contains 39 chapters (and 354 pages) on all areas of event risk, from medical and first aid to food, rigging, special effects, and on and on. These are not just simple checklists or references to other publications, but detailed explanations of what to watch out for in each specific area. It is the accumulation of years of experience from event professionals.

Since standards and guidelines such as this are only voluntary, there is not yet any mandatory requirement for event producers and managers to follow it. However, as an industry, it would be my strong suggestion that lobbying begin to turn it into a regulation.

You can purchase the guide for $49.95 USD in hard copy or electronic format from the ESA web site at http://eventsafetyalliance.org.

Well done ESA!!

Trusted Event Planning Tips For Your Business

Melanie Woodward, founder and event planner, created Event Planning Blueprint as a result of her own experience starting events with little experience. Since 2004, when she started her event planning business, she has planned events around the world, worked with celebrities and sports professionals, planned multi-million dollar events, and has helped event planners with no experience start planning their own events.

Melanie now creates event planning videos and approached me some weeks ago to be interviewed. The results of that taped interview can be seen in the video below.

Melanie covers a wide variety of topics in special event planning. Check her out at http://www.eventplanningblueprint.com.

Does Terrorism Threaten Hallmark Events?

All of us in the event business have become acutely aware of the importance of risk management over the last twelve years. The Boston Marathon bombings have just raised that awareness to a new level.

Whether it was political terrorism, whether it was a disgruntled runner who did not qualify, whether it was home-grown, or whether it was externally-grown does not matter. What matters is that it happened at a public special event. That event was what we might call a "hallmark" event. It and its larger cousins, "mega" events, often attract large numbers of participants and spectators from a host nation and from other nations. These types of events can bring in a lot of money to the host city. They can also become prime targets at which those with a cause can make a public statement. What will happen to such events from now on?

First, as with 9/11, the requirement for even more thorough risk assessment and management will increase. Invariably, this will mean increased policing, more barriers and screenings for spectators and participants, more detailed accreditation, more delays for traffic and transportation, higher fees for all involved, etc, etc. This begs the question, "When does the cost of this increased protection become too high?" It's a hard question to answer, because it means that event organizers have to balance their decision on whether to continue hosting such events based on their perceived return on investment on the one hand with the negative publicity of "giving up" and "letting the bad guys win" on the other.

Let's look at this decision, though, taking Boston as the example. No doubt the Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau has statistics on hand which indicate the value of the marathon in bringing tourist dollars (external dollars) into the city. Unlike the Olympics, it is my guess that the marathon does not cause many visiting runners or spectators to re-visit Boston at a later time. Nor does it cause large numbers of tourists from around the world to flock to Boston because they have seen it on TV or seen accompanying tourist ads. Unlike the larger Olympics, I am guessing that Boston does not see increased tourism or convention traffic because of the marathon. The only money they see comes from participants and their entourages. In other words, it is a one-time event each year.

Thus, with the increased security they will have to pay for next year, will there be any ROI? If not, and if those expenses are now deemed too high, what happens to the various charities that benefit from the runners' participation? Even more importantly, will runners around the world and Americans in general, be more inclined to force the marathon to continue rather then admitting defeat to the "bad guys?" Why is it necessarily wrong to admit this? If it is, how much risk can they live with and what are the chances that "lightning might strike twice?" Who would be crazy enough to try to bomb the marathon a second time? The answer is all part of the risk assessment.

We have to keep in mind that the total elimination of all risk is still an impossibility.