Association Insight International & European Association Insights Spring 2015 | Page 40

Association Insights | Association Success Story Association Success Story Project Activities Development of an AGM with small table-tops, to a commercially viable leading Industry Event, resulting in 500% increase in exhibition space over 5 years. Defining the event strategy – establishing the goals and objectives not only of the Association but also the event stakeholders (sponsors, large-scale exhibitors, key media partners)to ensure a successful event for all parties. Reviewing the key success factors throughout the project to ensure on track. Categories Strategic Event Development, Event Management, Marketing, Sponsorship& Exhibition Sales Dates Mid-November Annually Association LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association) Members Made up ofalmost 900 company members worldwide Project team Operations Director, Business Development Director, Web Developer, Marketing Manager, Conference Producer, Onsite Support Staff Position LiftEx as the leading event in its fieldand elevate the event to the next level by adding educational content, knowledge sharing, new features, and targeted networking opportunities – so that it is the ‘go to’ event for all those interested in the overhead lifting industry from relevant vertical markets. Holistic communication strategy – produce a consistent message across all touch points driving to a single event landing page - be it an email signature, advert, HMTL email, etc, providing a toolkit and making it easy for the association to market. This also enables us to analyse the results of every part of the campaign. Create an event identity complementing the Association branding but as a “stand-alone” event. Objectives To leverage the existing AGM attendance: » For the event to be the UK’s leading exhibition for the lifting industry » Members to have an annual platform to meet and network and discuss issues outside of the AGM » Make this a LEEA-endorsed event with strong member benefits, but attract non-members to boost membership. » To align the event with key industry media partners » Increase the % of end-user buyers across all relevant vertical markets » Target – Aim for 1000sqm net exhibition space in 5 years » Target – 2000 visitors by the 2015 event » Make this the no.1 go-to event for education, industry updates, innovation and networking Introduction LiftEx brings together those involved in the Lifting Equipment Industry across the UK, Europe and Worldwide. We partner with a PCO to meet our strategic event objectives Background LiftEx began in 2005 after a few member companies wished to display their products at the AGM during the coffee breaks and grew organically for the next 5 years. In 2010, increased demand led us to create LiftEx and bring on a partner to professionalise and strategically develop the event for the long term, and to remove roadblocks to help us streamline our workload and help us achieve our goals. 40 | © Associations Network 2015 The logo was designed to incorporate key products in the industry in a simple and striking way, as well as highlighting the 3 key strands of the event. We produce consistent branding across all marketing channels including website, print and social media. Design and build a simple yet effective event website which to act as the hub for the event. Marketing campaign – create a full annual campaign reaching out to all end-user markets As part of this campaign a key focus was to work closely with the media partners to establish close, ongoing relationships Using relevant content and compelling messages to drive potential visitors to find out more on the website and ultimately register their attendance www.associationsnetwork.org