In March 2020, Kurt Smith faced a major challenge. As Senior Director, Strategic Events Knowledge Program at ServiceNow, Smith was responsible for spearheading the strategy and execution of Knowledge, ServiceNow’s annual customer conference. But with COVID-19 gripping the world, in-person events were on pause everywhere, and Smith and the team knew that if Knowledge 2020 was going to happen in May, ServiceNow would have to rethink it from the ground up. With that constraint, ServiceNow quickly got to work, pivoting the event into a completely digital conference within six weeks. 

In 2021, Smith and the team had the advantage of building Knowledge 2021 as a digital event from the ground up, developing an event that offered a fresh, captivating spin on the B2B conference experience via 145 hours of live and pre-recorded content premiering over two weeks.  

One of the most notable hallmarks of ServiceNow’s new approach was the event’s cinematic opening keynote, which inspired viewers by detailing stories of how ServiceNow’s workflow solutions were helping customers build a better world. Instead of the traditional live event “Broadway stage” experience, the team decided to go “Hollywood”—putting a new cinematic focus on the delivery of the keynote.

The Opening Keynote’s “Workflow your world” story was brought to life at the stunning California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The concept of workflowing was visually demonstrated as host Veronica De La Cruz “flowed through” the museum, engaging with several ServiceNow executive visionaries. Captivating customer story videos were interspersed throughout the 30-minute keynote to show how powerful workflows impact daily life.

This new approach was core to the strategy of the event, said Smith. The team wanted Knowledge 2021 to focus less on the company’s product roadmap and more on ServiceNow’s real-world impact. “We didn’t want to spend all of our time talking about our products” Smith explained. “We wanted to talk about the meaningful ways our customers’ solutions are changing people’s lives.” 

Another major enhancement was the team’s approach to programming. While many businesses have simply ported the in-person conference experience online by producing the same hour-long keynotes and product demonstrations, ServiceNow produced programming that was short and compelling. Doing so was vital for combating “Zoom fatigue” and keeping viewers engaged. Demo sessions were limited to seven minutes and were filmed with dynamic, slowly panning camera shots that drew viewers in.   

While this approach to short segments did force a fundamental change in messaging for executives used to longer sessions, Smith knew that doing so was important to creating a captivating, watchable experience for viewers. This approach also gave the clips a longer shelf life, since ServiceNow was able to re-cut the segments for distribution across various channels.  

“Feedback was positive across the board because what we were doing was so different,” said Smith. “Everyone just loved the concise stories and sessions, and the beauty of what we produced.”  

To view the Knowledge 2021 Opening Keynote, go to https://knowledge.servicenow.com/.

ServiceNow won four Stevie Awards in The 2021 American Business Awards. They won two Stevie Awards in the category Corporate & Community - B2B Event and two Stevie Awards in Corporate & Community - Employee Engagement Event. 

Interested in The 2022 American Business Awards?

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is certainly nothing new; it’s been around for decades. Essentially, small computer chips and antennae contained within tags are used to store and transmit data, making it the ideal solution for location tracking and information gathering.

So, it’s not surprising the tech got its start by tracking cattle and monitoring product shipments as they moved across the globe. What used to be limited to livestock and global logistics, however, has evolved over time. RFID tech is now one of the most exciting implements in modern event planning.

Modern RFID Solutions

One of the most significant ways RFID technology has evolved is in size. The computer chips and antennae are now small enough to seamlessly fit in personal badges or event bracelets.

This means an event attendee can slip on a bracelet or affix a badge to a shirt and have access to all the powerful benefits of this tech. Event attendees aren’t the only beneficiaries, though. Event planners are also seeing revolutionary possibilities thanks to this seemingly simple tech.

RFID Benefits for Event Attendees

As an attendee, RFID bracelets facilitate a handful of experience-enhancing benefits. First and foremost, it significantly cuts down on how long attendees must wait in line. More than half of live event attendees cite long lines as one of the most frustrating and negative aspects of attending an event. With RFID bracelets, though, a scan gets a person through check-in and security quickly and efficiently. By cutting down on the amount of time people stand around waiting to enter the event, you greatly enhance perception and enjoyment from the onset.

RFID bracelets can also be linked to various payment accounts, meaning attendees can swipe their bracelets to buy food, drink, souvenirs, or any other event-specific items. Attendees no longer have to stress about keeping an eye on their wallets or purses while navigating a crowded event or finding an ATM to get cash.

The other major benefit relates to social integration. Photographers can easily scan a bracelet and then link relevant pictures to that attendee, making posting to various social platforms easier than ever. This is good for attendees, but it’s also great for event coordinators, who thrive on positive word of mouth via social media.

RFID Benefits for Event Planners

RFID technology doesn’t just benefit attendees; it also makes the professional lives of event planners significantly better.

Security, for example, is always a concern at large-scale events. RFID-based passes can control attendee access to certain areas, such as VIP sections, and it allows security members to perform real-time checks of visitor accreditation. Plus, this technology significantly reduces the likelihood of  illegally reproduced, fraudulent passes.

The massive amount of tracking data also allows event coordinators to perform traffic pattern analysis, which reveals the most popular event features, identifies bottlenecks, and provides insight into venue layout deficiencies or successes.

As a particularly large incentive to incorporate this technology, several reports reveal that the speed and convenience of tapping to pay rather than dealing with cash or credit cards results in anywhere from 15 to 30 percent increased spend per person.

Events and Tech: Beyond RFID

RFID tech is just one modern innovation making its way into the world of event planning. Artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition software are also increasingly becoming a part of this landscape. Many companies today are tapping into the power of these technologies in order to enhance attendee or user experience at planned events. This includes EventsAIR, an event technology platform based out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

“The way different technologies are starting to integrate and morph into one within the event planning space is something we’ve believed in from the start,” says Joe Ciliberto, global director of sales and marketing for EventsAIR. “Technology allows event planning companies today to be one-stop shops for all event-related needs.”

EventsAIR recently earned a Gold Stevie® Award in the Event Management Solution category at The 2019 International Business Awards®.

How have modern conveniences changed business and leisure travel in 2019? What are the most desirable destinations? How do travelers prefer booking flights and hotels?

Anyone who searches for travel deals now is met with an onslaught of recommendations about where to visit, where to stay, and exactly what to do.

As the mobile experience becomes more personalized, it’s easier than ever to book exactly what you want. Travel research, however, shows travel agents are doing more than just surviving. The overall US travel agency market is projected to reach $127 billion by 2021, which is up from $112.8 billion in 2017.

Despite having access to their next vacation right from their pockets, it seems customers are still eager to pay someone to take care of all their needs.

Stevie-winner Northstar Travel Group, based in Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, is one of the leading B2B marketing solutions companies serving all segments of the travel industry. Despite the tech boom in travel, Northstar continues to flourish as a connector of buyers and sellers in global travel and hospitality products.

It’s All about Building Relationships

Northstar firmly believes in the importance of helping professionals in the travel industry meet face to face at exciting events. 

“We’re dedicated to connecting the next generation of travel buyers and sellers. We want to get to know each other through unique, collaborative content sessions; outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, and yoga; and social events full of local flavor.”

That’s Victoria Halpin, a marketing associate at Northstar. She asserts that having everyone come together helps professionals gain insight on how the current generation will influence the future of the travel industry. Halpin says this is also a great way to help everyone build relationships for life.

Competitors, such as Questex, WATT, and Adara, also make an effort to include career-building programs and social activities during retreats, but Northstar likes to differentiate itself by providing additional value through data and benchmarks.

“In addition to over eighty-four face-to-face events in more than eleven countries related to retail travel, hospitality and hotel investment, corporate travel, travel technology, and sports travel, we also provide research and business intelligence to serve the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry: online travel distribution.”

All these efforts result in engaging more than 1.4 million monthly website visitors and over 2.7 million content customers. No other content and marketing services provider serving the travel and meetings industry approaches this scale, reach, or market share.

Although the industry is strong, several challenges still lie ahead.

Digital innovation continues to create entirely new opportunities for the market. Companies are competing for your dollars and offering alternative “off-the-beaten-path” experiences. Airbnb has become a popular way to stay in foreign countries because of the authentic cultural experiences afforded by staying with locals.

This is forcing travel brands to ramp up cost-cutting strategies and to devise more efficient ways of doing business in order to improve revenue and to sustain market leadership.

Time will tell how this evolving workforce will attract tomorrow’s talent and dollars, but Northstar and similar companies look poised to continue to refine business practices and to support their customers.

Northstar Travel Group won three Stevie® Awards at the 2019 American Business Awards®: a Gold Stevie in the Brand & Experiences - Launch Event category, a Bronze Stevie in the Brand & Experiences - Interactive Outdoor Event category, and another Bronze Stevie in the Corporate & Community - B2B Event category.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

The last few years have seen a spread of digitalization and a subsequent disruption of nearly every corner of the economy. However, vintage clothes and consumer products have been on the rise. As Western economies and professional mind-sets became increasingly future oriented, popular culture and trends simultaneously became more concerned with the styles of bygone eras. Furthermore, some consumer products that embodied this age of rapidly accelerating digitalization—arguably, Apple devices—were seemingly inspired by the simple elegance of consumer products from past eras.

In a time of rapid progress, simplicity is at the heart of this attraction to all things vintage. Professional lives are growing ever more demanding; industries are becoming more complex and are changing at an increasing pace; and the same is true of the skill sets required of workers, as well as the tools available to them. Even as the tech-driven post-crisis recovery saw unemployment eventually decline dramatically across the West, fears about job security were exacerbated, not alleviated.

While politicians grabbed the headlines, this nostalgia for simpler days was expressed in a primarily aesthetic manner. Individual items of retro clothing, including fedoras, were imbued in their day with controversial political meaning. Today, however, most consumers simply associate those bygone eras with personal style and culture, and they prefer to think of items from the past as culturally (rather than politically or socioeconomically) historical. Widespread interest in the social upheavals of the 1960s, for example, continues, but that interest is still mainly manifested through a fascination with the era’s music and fashion.

Adapting to this trend was easy even for the makers of high-tech consumer products, who simply had to cover their innovative technologies in vintage-looking cases. For service providers, such as marketing specialists, marrying a tech-based, innovative approach to vintage style proved more difficult. After all, advertising and marketing characters are more difficult to dissociate from their broader historical contexts than consumer products.

For these service providers, they soon found choosing an era to focus on was a delicate balancing act. A vintage approach to marketing events and campaigns required careful, detailed deliberation. As with consumer products, the idea is to use an appealing vintage look and feel that harks back to an earlier age but conceals the decades of development and insights gained under that veneer.

Such a concept has to be created from the ground up, as exemplified by the vintage “Lady Betty” brand from Chili Concept. Chili Concept is a blue-chip marketing company with an eye on digitalization and innovation, which was demonstrated by their 2018 Gold Stevie® Award for Best Product Launch Event and 2018 Bronze Stevie Award and Best Brand Experience Event in the German Stevie Awards. The company won for its work with celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal and the launch of his Shriro Everdure barbecue grill in Australia.

The company is future-oriented, and founder Christine Clemenz is aware of the significance of digitalization. Chili Concept is also evidently capable of contemporary direction and program management at the highest level. This makes their unique Lady Betty brand all the more noteworthy.

The brand places a heavy emphasis on sound, using primarily German swing and German-language pop music to evoke that country’s economic miracle era from the late 1940s and 1950s. The era is expertly chosen.

While the 1950s are remembered in the Anglosphere as the pre-60s era of social repression, those years are mostly remembered in Germany for a rapid ascendance from the country’s bleakest political and socioeconomic phase. Lady Betty encapsulates both the era’s style and entertainment while it conducts complex, tailored events, such as “Lady Betty’s Evening of Dance.” This included casino-like events and tastings of different foods considered treats during that time, including the obvious candidates, cheese and wine, as well as beer and lemonade.

All these items were recently marketed by their industries as fresh and interesting rather than staid and boring. With small-batch craft beers becoming increasingly popular in recent years, this approach exemplifies how marketing events can be both vintage in outlook and perfectly attuned to contemporary trends, as well as high-level corporate expectations and standards.

Getting slimmer while your wallet grows thicker is what Isagenix believes makes them stand out from other marketing companies. Isagenix is a network marketing company that focuses on healthy lifestyles and wealth creation for “everyday people” who want nutritional support systems across the health and fitness spectrum, and in many cases, financial gains.

They took their “success through events” initiative to their highest level at their flagship Celebration event, which won them the 2016 Best Brand Experience Event Gold Stevie Award.

In The 2016 American Business Awards, Isagenix was honored with three Gold, two Silver, and four Bronze Stevie Awards.

The 2017 American Busienss Awards are still accepting nominations through April 7.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE

Tools, training and resources are offered at their events throughout the year to help customers and associates, while giving the opportunity to network with like-minded people.

“When you join Isagenix, you get much more than our amazing products. You’ll experience our culture of fun, family, success, growth, passion, and integrity that will bring out the best in you and inspire you to help bring out the best in others.”

The Numbers of Self-Improvement

In 2016, Isagenix reached nearly one billion dollars in global sales through an independent network of associates around the world.

The Celebration event also passed an attendance record, attracting more than 12,000 members and customers to new training sessions, product launches and a plethora of recognition ceremonies. Celebration showcases customer satisfaction, which helps new members see success stories, and interactive spectacles commemorating customer milestones.

Core Values Matter

Co-owners Jim and Kathy Coover say, “Winning a Stevie boosted internal employee morale and even encouraged us to top our last event by pushing creative mindsets.”

As a health and wellness company, Isagenix enjoys seeing more and more people take an active role in living their set of values to motivate, inspire and drive their associates.

Isagenix believes commemorating success encourages customers to attend their events and witness others living the company’s culture of, “fun, family, success, growth, passion and integrity.” The challenging but fun side of lifestyle changes, especially health and financial improvement, is that Isagenix believes needs the most attention.

“We hold high expectations not only for our corporate team, but also for our associates who are at the forefront of our growth, achievements, and accomplishments. We call it What Drives Us.”

The 15th annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year, is accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Full entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. The final entry deadline is Wednesday, March 15. 

There are nine Live Event Awards categories in The 2017 American Business Awards.

These categories recognize excellence in live events staged since January 1 2016.

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2017 ABAs will include

a. An essay of up to 525 words describing the event: its genesis, goals, development, and results. You may include detailed production notes, audience demographics, etc

b. Any number of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. These may include video clips, photographs, press reviews, news articles, and so on

c. Optionally, you may list creative and production credits for your event - a list of the people and organizations that contributed to its development

G01. Best Brand Experience Event
G02. Best Consumer Event (e.g. auto show, boat show, health & fitness expo, etc.)
G03. Best Exhibition Display, Stand or Feature
G04. Best Tradeshow or Convention
G05. Best Association Event or Meeting
G06. Best Corporate Image Event
G07. Best New Product Introduction Event
G08. Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event
G09. Best Public Relations Event

Winners of Live Event Awards in The 2016 American Business Awards include:

Best Brand Experience Event - Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations and Business Services
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Momentum Worldwide, New York, NY: FACEBOOK IQ LIVE

Best Brand Experience Event - All Other Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNERS:
Isagenix, Chandler, AZ: Celebration 2015

GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL: Florida Classic

Best Consumer Event
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
George P. Johnson, Auburn Hills, MI: FCA Gears Experience at the North American International Auto Show

Best Exhibition Display, Stand or Feature
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
George P. Johnson, Auburn Hills, MI: Honda Your Dreams Are Our Dreams

Best Tradeshow or Convention
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Isagenix, Chandler, AZ: Celebration 2015

Best Corporate Image Event
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
HubSpot, Cambridge, MA: INBOUND 2015

Best New Product Introduction Event
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Isagenix, Chandler, AZ: Celebration 2015

Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Merkle, Columbia, MD: Merkle’s Annual Awards Program

The 2016 (14th Annual) American Business Awards judging committees have been announced. There are 11 judging committees this year, each reviewing entries from respective category groups. Today we will highlight the Live Events Awards judging chair and committee.

The American Business Awards are widely considered to be the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.  The 2016 awards  honor achievements since the beginning of 2015.  Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. The extended final entry deadline is Tuesday, April 19.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Judging Chair:

Staci Johnson, Vice President of Marketing
Roth Staffing Companies, L.P., Orange, California, USA

Staci Johnson is the Vice President of Marketing for Roth Staffing Companies, one of the largest privately held staffing companies in the country. She heads the corporate marketing department and all its functions, including campaigns, website creation, digital marketing, email catalogs, social media, live events, virtual events, public relations, newsletters, branding … if it gets communicated, it goes through Staci’s Marketing team.

Staci was the recipient of the 2015 Gold Stevie Award for Marketing Executive of the Year. With her help, Roth Staffing Companies has been honored by Fortune as a 100 Best Workplaces for Women and 50 Best Small & Medium Workplaces, as well as Best Staffing Firms to Work For by Staffing Industry Analysts, and Best of Staffing for both Client and Talent Satisfaction by Inavero and CareerBuilder. Staci’s Marketing team has been lauded with VOICE Awards from the American Staffing Association for five consecutive years and referred to as the best Marketing department in the industry.  The team has also been recognized with B2B Marketing Awards.

Committee:

Jarie Bolander, COO
Lab Sensor Solutions, San Francisco, California, USA
Jarie is an engineering by training and an entrepreneur by nature with over 20 years of bring innovative solutions to market. He is currently the COO of Lab Sensor Solutions, a digital health company that is applying sensor technology to track clinical samples to prevent spoilage.

Marc Charles, Vice President, Director of Business Leadership
Momentum Worldwide, New York, New York, USA
Marc leads the team with over 10 years of agency experience working on a diverse roster of brands. He is an accomplished luxury, automotive, and multicultural marketing executive with a proven ability to drive measurable business results. His focus on innovative strategic solutions building brand equity , driving scale and maximizing ROI help move his agency and clients forward. He has held roles on account categories from Sports and Television to Financial Services and Technology.

Erin Farrell Talbot, Founder & President
Farrell Talbot Consulting, New York, New York, USA
Erin Farrell Talbot has 20+ years of public relations experience with firms ranging from start-­ups to Fortune 100 companies. Having held key roles in corporate communications departments and public relations agencies, she has developed keen insights and perspectives as a communications and media relations strategist.

Katherine Goldman, SVP, Executive Creative Director
Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, New York, USA
Katherine Goldman is SVP, Executive Creative Director at Jack Morton Worldwide in New York. There she has led strategy development and creative application for major clients including Verizon, IBM, UPS, Pitney Bowes, The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs, CA Technologies, Panasonic and Xerox.

Gerald Huesch, President & CEO
Global Leadership School, Durmersheim, Germany
Senat der Wirtschaft, CEO Global Leadership School, CEO Deutsche Gesellschaft für Stressmanagement mbH: "The business world is complicated. There are no 1 : 1 equations anymore. We need to synchronize our leadership and collaboration for any task, project or transformation - to avoid deadly double and blind work." Gerald Huesch offers this global evidence based leadership system.

Philip Larson, Senior Producer
inVNT, Washington, D.C., USA
Phil Larson is a Senior Producer with one of the leading brand communications agencies in the world: INVNT. Specializing in creative services, meetings & events, media & digital, and branded environments, he’s collaborated and produced experiences for a wide range of clients that include: PepsiCo, Merck, SHRM, Subway, and MetLife.

David Saef, Executive Vice President, MarketWorks & Strategy, CTSM
Global Experience Specialists (GES), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Live Event categories to be judged include:

G01. Best Brand Experience Event
G02. Best Consumer Event (e.g. auto show, boat show, health & fitness expo, etc.)
G03. Best Exhibition Display, Stand or Feature
G04. Best Tradeshow or Convention
G05. Best Association Event or Meeting
G06. Best Corporate Image Event
G07. Best New Product Introduction Event
G08. Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event
G09. Best Public Relations Event