more financial risk). Similarly, one seminar room may be over-
flowing, while another has barely drawn a dozen people. A dread
of association event planners is to have a sparse audience for a key
speaker, or a half-filled room with empty tables at the closing gala.
It is the role of marketers to work with planners in scheduling
events effectively and to project through the promotional arsenal
at their command the magnetism and value each function holds
for those who are attending the event.
As the marketing executive, you must also be sensitive to the
purpose of attendance by your audience. For the corporate mar-
keter, the purpose of attendance is relatively consistent. If the
company calls its technical directors to a conference to learn about
new concepts in broadband communications systems, their pur-
pose for attending is relatively easy to define. You will want to de-
velop a marketing approach that will clearly set forth the profile
of the program, the expectations of attendee performance, and the
positive results that they should anticipate.
Association event attendees’ purposes for attending are much
more difficult to homogenize. Why do they attend? Their emotions
and aspirations may be disparate. The reasons may include any
combination of a virtually endless list, some of which are shown
in Figure 6-1. Through the research we have discussed earlier, the
marketer must determine at best the criteria for attendance and the
expectations of the audience in order to develop a market strategy
that appeals to the majority of the association’s members and
guests.
It becomes clear that the corporate market could be described
as homogeneous, while the typical association market is heteroge-
neous, in terms of purpose, individual priorities, and event
expectations.
A few other comparisons are important to consider. For exam-
ple, in “booking” or scheduling events, corporate meetings and
conferences are known for relatively short lead times for organiz-
ing many events. Because of the more predictable and established
timing of mandated association events and the need to promote at-
tendance, associations are known for longer lead times. If you are
marketing the corporate event, this means that you may be work-
ing with a much tighter timeline than your association counterpart
to strategize, develop, and deliver a marketing plan that achieves
the company’s objectives prior to the event date. Association134 Chapter 6 Marketing Corporate Meetings, Products, Services, and Events