The Economic Genius of Charlie Chaplin

I'm tired of being asked to "figure out" online video...justifying the costs or how to monetize it. Online video is already part of your DNA and all you need to do is recognize this fact.

For my 10th birthday party my Mum went to the local library and rented a movie projector (yes with actual film reels) and several Charlie Chaplin movies. My friends and I were allowed to watch the movies, rewind them as much as we wanted to re-watch the funniest parts, and change from movie to movie whenever we felt like it.

By comparison, the six year old in my life surfs YouTube for his favorite Disney and Thomas the Tank Engine videos...pausing, rewinding and jumping from video-to-video on demand using either my laptop or iPad.

Online video is no different than the silent films of Charlie Chaplin. The medium has not changed…just the content, technology and tools to view them with. Think of video as an evolving medium. Black-and-white silent films to colour movies with sound...television...and now online video. Would anybody care to argue the point that television, pre-Internet, was an experiment or should be ignored and not invested in? Or maybe that Hollywood is a passing fad?

Watching educational or entertainment video content is as natural to humans as breathing. Here's the secret...there is nothing to figure out except to ensure your online strategy includes video...or you may just miss the "television" of the next 30 years.

Until next time,

Steve

thestevereport@gmail.com

Awesome Example: An Awful Emcee

Sometimes we overlook how important an emcee is to your event. After attending a swanky gala event last Saturday night, I was reminded of this via a shocking experience.

Let me set the scene, there were about 200 people who attended this fundraising awards gala. Tickets were a premium, there was a silent auction, gourmet meal, wonderful decor and professional a/v. The awards were sponsored and three people were being recognized for their lifetime contributions to their industry.

The emcee is a household name and flew in for the event. It became appallingly apparent nobody had briefed her nor had she read the script before getting on stage. Other than the name of the event she didn't know how to pronounce the sponsoring organizations, the winner’s names nor their respective organizations. To be blunt she butchered the live event execution and at one point called to "roll the next video" 30 minutes too early. The video was to present the next lifetime achievement award...kind of critical to the program.

In all the hustle and bustle of getting an event out the door, we can't forget the most basic of details. The lesson learned? Your emcee can crash your event roll-out just as easily as your venue, a/v or food. However when your emcee crashes and burns at the podium…there is little you can do to recover. Spend the time to fully brief your emcee, especially if they are not from your industry.

Want to know the best punch line of the event? The final award recipient intentionally butchered the emcee's name several times calling her Shannon Tiegs...getting only half her name right.

Until next time,

Steve

thestevereport@gmail.com

A Tale of Two Worlds

I admit it; I’ve entered a new world and am enjoying it very much. Although, six weeks into my new world, I’ve leveraged relationships and applied skills learned in my old world.

Allow me to back track, earlier in 2011 you may recall that Business Information Group (BIG), a division of Glacier Media purchased several magazines from Rogers Publishing – one of which was Meetings & Incentive Travel and their IncentiveWorks show. In that deal, over 15 magazines were sold; two of them being Hardware Merchandising and Canadian Contractor. In September, a career opportunity presented itself to join BIG and lead the teams on Hardware and Contractor. Frankly, it was the kind of tremendous opportunity you just don’t say no to.

In a nutshell, Hardware Merchandising serves the home improvement retail industry – our readers are owners and decision makers at Rona, Home Hardware, Home Depot etc. Canadian Contractor serves the residential construction industry – our readers are renovation and custom home builders like Mike Holmes and Jim Caruk. This is a brand new world; a stretch from the meetings and incentive travel industry…sort of.

Hardware Merchandising has an awards program…and produces a gala event to present the awards that is co-located with another industry conference. The event was approximately five weeks after my start date and we had no sponsors and no attendees registered. The winners had been selected and thanks to our co-location had a date and a venue.

You’ve heard it time and time again; relationships are the secret key to any successful event. My story is one of many, which proves this theory (again). In just four weeks we had secured seven sponsors; all of them our industry’s national and regional associations from Newfoundland to British Columbia to Nunavut. We had registered 90 attendees, on par with past years attendance. We had produced seven 4 minute high-definition videos and developed the awards gala program including staging, audio visual, signage, menu and timing with the hotel. There were even custom chocolate logos made to enhance the dessert course, florals for décor and the event photographer was ready to roll.

I am very fortunate to have existing, strong relationships with the audio visual provider, the organization that owns the conference, the florist, venue and photographer. Without these relationships the process would not have gone so smoothly and, I dare say, the event would not have been the success it was without their tremendous support.

As many of you know…I’m a self confessed social media junkie. But this tale reinforces that face-to-face relationships will never be replaced with online ones.

Until next time,
Steve

Now known as…
Stephen (Steve) Dempsey, Publisher
Hardware Merchandising | Canadian Contractor
sdempsey@bizinfogroup.ca / P: 416 510 6780