Wine, whiskey, cake and cash!

The current situation in the international MICE market

MICE Sales becomes virtual. All trade fairs and most organisers of big sales events are abandoning their real event formats and staging virtual events. Just a few weeks ago it was said that there was no substitute for personal face-to-face meetings and now virtual face-2-face meetings are being touted as the ultimate solution. That is incredible.

The problem

The target group (buyers) has long since ceased to participate. Every day they receive invitations to ever new virtual events in which they should participate. Tourism boards, convention bureaus, hotels and hotel chains, DMC's, DMC and destination representatives invite non-stop - not least because of the lack of alternatives - trade fairs and sales events no longer take place in reality and trade journals are bankrupt or are not currently printed. So suppliers as well as organisers of sales events and trade fairs rush into virtual face-2-face discussions via Zoom, Webex, Teams, Skype and Co.

Wine, whiskey, cake and cash!

The target group jumps off because they have enough, in fact they have nothing to organise at the moment, or because they are already in a hurry from or in insolvency. The suppliers have noticed this and are baiting with "wine, whiskey, cake and cash" to participate. Pure desperation! Without such and similar goodies, most event planners can no longer be won over for online conversations. Organisers of sales events are now going as far as rewarding buyers in money if they listen to the suppliers and pretend to be interested. For an event planner who is in a very bad economic situation, a fast income for 15 minutes of listening and a friendly smiling. The supplier is being deceived.

The supplier must present himself digitally - to interested buyers and not to bribed event planners

Virtual conversations with event planners (buyers) who hold these conversations because of the goodies and not out of genuine interest are worthless, pointless and a waste of personnel, time and money resources. The only problem is that it is not possible in such arranged face-2-face meetings to filter out who is actually interested in the supplier's brands, products and services.

A seriously interested target group is always looking for the supplier and not vice versa

Therefore, virtual supplier presentations only make sense if they generate maximum attention through a high reach within a precisely defined target group, so that actually interested event planners (buyers) turn to them out of genuine interest and consume them. Just like Netflix: the promotion for a series provides this viewer. The viewer wants to see what is on offer and then decides for or against it. Transferred this means: the supplier has to present himself with a maximum awareness of the target group and thus wins over real interested event planners and soon real fans for his offers.

This can only be achieved with virtual formats that do not take place in closed virtual rooms, but which attract maximum attention and are recommended by event planners to other event planners.

For this purpose we have come up with MICEboard STREAM TV. It is not based on winning event planners with "wine, whisky, cake and cash", but on picking out event planners who are actually seriously interested in the supplier and motivating them to communicate, share, recommend and buy the supplier's offers. 

Pls. see here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/show-now-your-brand-products-services-event-planners-germany-cramer/

And here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/spotlight-singapore-miceboard-stream-tv-event-planners-peter-cramer/

MICEboard SALES EVENTS

With MICEboard we offer access to a precisely defined target group: German-speaking event planners who regularly organise events abroad.

And it is precisely this target group that forms the daily growing MICEboard community. This enables us not only to carry out digital content measures and real sales events, but we also have access to the right target group for international suppliers to offer these measures.

For the German-speaking countries, we now offer - after 8 years of development - the largest community of German-speaking event planners who regularly organise international events of all kinds. This is a unique USP in the MICE industry. As far as the markets Germany, Austria and Switzerland are of interest to you, we offer you access to the corresponding target group.

There are no substitute to face-2-face talks between supplier and buyer

However, such events must be adapted to the new normality. There are two main aspects to this adaptation:

• a supplementary digitalisation that ensures that the supplier gets more attention within the target group (buyer)
• an adaptation of real sales events according to health protection aspects. In concrete terms, this means that - at least currently and in the coming months - sales events can only take place with a reduced number of participants, which ensures all requirements for the protection of the health of all participants

MICE by melody and MICE Table Talk as live formats proven even in the crisis

In September 2020, we held the first specialist events in Du?sseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich for exclusively international suppliers in Germany since March 2020. All health and safety requirements were well implemented. The events have shown that it is possible to hold events. Events are not part of the pandemic problem, but part of the solution.

MICEboard Stream TV and MICEboard Events are in combination the better solution than virtual sales events with participants who are rewarded with goodies for their participation.

In February 2021 we will again offer professional events in Du?sseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. Adapted to the corresponding pandemic situation.