Let me explain…..
These are some shoes that I own.
When I first saw them on the shelf of the shoe store I
inhaled slightly, a little breathlessly like supermodels do – they were
spectacular…. “I was in love”.
Soft leather to gently cradle my feet, platform heels to bring me to a
respectable height, in a beautiful shade of milky cream to match…well to match
everything. I tried them on in the shoe store, rolling up the pant-legs of my
jeans to see how they looked in the weird little angled mirror they have
specifically designed for that purpose.
Oh.My.Gawd. Perfection!
They screamed, “Buy me!”
So I did.
The perfect opportunity to wear the shoes came soon after. I
slipped into a glittery gold dress and put my magical new shoes on. They were
exactly as I remembered….
Like Cinderella in her glass slippers…..off to the party I
went.
I made my entrance in my new shoes….standing so tall in my
platforms, the high heels forcing my rear end to create a slight “booty-tooch”
which belied its age.
Flash forward two hours. My feet are bare and those damn
shoes….objects of torture are abandoned in a pile under my table. I am walking
slightly hobbled now, blisters adorn my heels….my booty no longer “tooches”. I
am mad that I bought the damn shoes and feeling terribly disappointed.
My closet contains one or two pair of 2 hour shoes…..shoes that I once coveted, believing that somehow they would make me look different, feel different. They didn't live up to expectations.
I have been to conferences that remind me a little of my “2
Hour Shoes”. Events that lure me in with a fabulous website, creative marketing
and wild promises of superior education and networking opportunities. Don't get me wrong, those are all great things......but only if they deliver.
Day one – fabulous
Day two – face palm…..disappointment….can’t get out of there
fast enough
Hobbled with disappointment….barely getting through it,
hating each and every step – looking for a way out. Fly home mad thinking about wasted time and money.
My office drawer contains one or two lanyards…..lanyards
from conferences that cost me a lot of money to attend and
unfortunately…..failed to deliver. They simply didn’t live up to the hype.
Last year I wrote a post called, “Pricing Disappointment”
where I said, “You cannot put a price-tag on disappointment especially if it is a disappointing experience”.
In many situations you have only one opportunity to make a
good first impression: to attendees, to sponsors, to stakeholders.
For a conference planner, there is only one thing worse than attending a crappy conference...and that is planning one.
Here are some tips:
- Don’t over-promise and under-deliver
- Promote clear goals and objectives
- Be honest
- Be transparent
- Be authentic
(Stay tuned for my next blog post: "Green Meetings - Put a Bird on it!")
