Brand New Mobile Technologies Event #BNMT
As a team we decided to organize “Brand New Mobile Technologies”, which is a worldwide mobile technology exhibition, connecting leaders from the mobile world, innovators, content creators, device manufacturers with their audience. A worldwide tech-focused, B2B event that will feature a cutting-edge exhibition, an extensive agenda of conference sessions, informative summits & seminars, workshops, partner programs, and networking events.
We decided to organize this exhibition because it is an incredible opportunity for Greece to reestablish its’ profile, especially at this challenging time-period. The exhibition will prove that Greece can be trusted by the corporate world and it will also serve as a platform for companies and Greek businesses to showcase their work. It is a very good way to show the world our excellent engineers, and maybe it will be the first step to create some better jobs in Greece. In general, this event is crucial for the entrepreneurial world, since it provides a chance to business to unveil to the world technologies they have developed. It also is a perfect place for networking between individuals with experience or beginners that are interested in the technological world.
The people and teams who will take part in the event with different roles and responsibilities are many and diverse. First and foremost, it’s the Organizing Committee, the Brand New team. Secondly, a crucial factor is the Partners and the Sponsors of the event, all of whom have technological background and a big interest in promoting Greece, such as the Eleftherios Venizelos airport, or the State Scholarships Foundation (ΙΚΥ). Moreover, there are the Event Supporters, who are different teams of people that will help the OC the days of the event in many different positions. These people are volunteers, mainly from the universities in Attica, and also the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, so that there is a group of doctors available in case of an emergency. A big part of the event is also the Speakers, all of whom will give substance to the exhibition with the rich and interesting content they will provide through their speeches, such as technology evangelists Elon Musk and Jeff Dean. Last but not least, the event could never happen without the Audience, all the entrepreneurs, start ups, programmers, mechanics, professors and students, content creators and editors, as well as people really passionate about mobile technologies, from all over the world, who will join the event and provide to it themselves by having fruitful conversations.
As to where the event will take place, as a team we decided that Metropolitan Expo would be the best option. The venue was wisely chosen because of its location and facilities. It is located at Athens International Airport “Elefterios Venizelos” in Spata — Attica, just 2kms after Airport buildings and 3 minutes from the station of the metro and suburban railway. The airport area, as well, is a very important business and shopping destination in Greece, with high quality services and facilities (transport, hotels, highways). Metropolitan Expo offers high level services for organizers, exhibitors and visitors of the hosted events.
Since this is an international event, and our visitors will join us from all around the world, there are many things that must be considered in order to decide the exact dates of the event. First and foremost, we must ensure the center’s available days. Our event shouldn’t collide with any other great event, big enough to torn our visitors or the media. We must also ensure that there isn’t another similar event going on at the same time as ours. We do not want to lose our visitors nor our speakers- partners- sponsors. The chosen dates should be convenient for our target audience. Last but not least, the weather and the climatic conditions in general must be considered. Our final decision is for the event to take place on the 5th June till the 8st June. June is, also, an ideal period to visit Greece. The weather is exceptional, sunny and warm, in order for our visitors to have the chance to combine it with vacations, but the high season has not started yet, with the massive heat and the enormous prices.
Next, we made a made a “1 year long” promotion plan, starting from June 2020, to June 2021:
Continuing to Partnerships, as a team we made a list of 15 companies and bearers that we mentioned earlier, that are having a serious impact in our country, in the technological and communicational market, or even both. Moreover, the event will take place at the Metropolitan EXPO in Athens. The venue was wisely chosen because of its location and facilities. The exhibition centre Metropolitan Expo is located at Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” in Spata — Attica, just 2 kms after Airport buildings and 3 minutes from the station of the metro and suburban railway.
Lastly, it would be impossible for us to organize this event without our personnel so, we made a separation of the personnel we will need before and during the event.
Regarding the agenda of the event, we decided to create themed days for the event so it will be more interesting for the visitors but also more organized. The days are organized as shown below.
Thematic days:
1st day: Artificial Intelligence + IoT
2nd day: 5G + Data Protection
3rd day: New Technologies — Start-ups
4th day: “Green Technology”
The 4th hall 6.200qm has been decided to be dedicated to Virtual Reality + Gaming (immersive content). The other 3 bigger halls will host the spots of all the companies that will rent as many sqm as they want.
Speeches dedicated to each theme days will be occurring in our two conference rooms, as well as workshops and visitors will also have the chance to network. Well known people, like Elon Musk, Guy Kawasaki and other important businessmen and women will give their own speech during the conferences.
The BNMT Exhibition 2021 will consist of 400 exhibitors based on our estimations. In order to estimate the number of the expected exhibitors and the size of their stand areas we considered the capacity of the exhibition center.
Moreover, the ticket prices vary in price so everyone can get a taste of the event. For example the student pass is 120 euros, the start up pass 500 euros and the VIP platinum pass 1200 euros. Each ticket offers a variety of advantages to the visitor.
Promotional Material & Channels
First of all, we created a sponsorship booklet, in order to approach the possible sponsors. In this booklet, we explained why someone has to be a sponsor, the privileges and the sponsorship programme and basic details about the event.
In addition, we sent some e-mails and press releases. The e-mails were about sponsorships & partnerships. Every single email had different content depending on the brand image of the collaborator. We, also, communicated with the participants, in order to confirm them the registration and giving more information.
As you can notice below, we created some printed material, one poster and a leaflet. They had the basic information, common color coding and references to our digital media.
So, as we mentioned the digital media, let’s talk about our website and social media.
Our website follows the necessary line of a user friendly platform. Users can return to the page in every tab and there are all the fundamental extra information. So, diving into the platform, a user can find more info about the event, Brand New Technologies, the agenda, the plenaries, the social programme and of course register, buy a ticker and contact with us. There is a page with the privacy policy and the cookies of the guest on the website.
So, let’s discover our social media approach!
We decided to use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for different reasons.
Facebook: The power of impression. We adjust content that will engage users in order to get more notifications from us. The news feed of Facebook has changed. Now the content is changing and is adapting on what a user follows or reads more, not the most recent post.
Instagram: The power of image. Instagram is the arena of scroll. Strong images & colors, brief messages and effortless consistency are the key elements to engage users. Instagram has a challenge. You have to protect your content, in order not to get lost in the scroll battle. So, that’s what we tried to achieve.
Twitter: The power of community. Twitter is not only a social media. It’s a huge community. In order to get the engagement you want, you have to start conversation, to move users on a dialogue. This medium is about exchanging opinions and interaction. So, that’s what we gave attention to.
The content to every platform was different, due to their differences and their strongest individual advantages as media.
Pandemic Outbreak & Crisis Management
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic crisis that shocked the entire world, the BNMT Exhibition 2021 is not going to take place, in order to reassure the health and security of all of our participants. Hence, we had to decide, as the Organizing Committee, the future of the event. We followed a series of steps in order to handle the crisis.
1st Step: Internal Scenario Analysis
- First scenario: At first we thought of cancelling the event and returning the money to the visitors and exhibitors, as well as to the sponsors.
- Second scenario: The event would take place in parts. This would mean that not all speeches would take place so as to avoid social gathering, nor would the workshops, like many kiosks, be installed and set up. Also, those entering the event venues would be significantly reduced as the regulation that applies to individuals per square meter should be observed, respecting all protection measures.
- Third scenario: The event would take place through a virtual reality tour. Guests could see each booth and visit all the locations.
- Fourth scenario: It is what we have chosen and we consider it possible, cost-effective but it also meets all the legal requirements and hence, we would not have to proceed to refunds. The event will not be cancelled but it will be postponed for one year. So it will take place during 2022. It will normally take place a year later as planned and visitors and exhibitors will be able to participate with the same ticket or package. The exact dates will be announced when we are sure of when it is safe for the event to take place. Also this scenario allows visitors and various other participants to visit our country and give a boost at the Greek market, which is much needed now after the pandemic crisis. It will offer people a motivation to visit Greece in order to attend the event and also to combine it with plenty other activities that our country offers.
2nd Step: Communication with Legal and Financial Advisor
In order to decide which scenario was the best option we had to take legal and financial advice from experts. At first, we communicated with our legal representative who gave us the bigger picture of the legal impact of each option. Our lawyer indicated that we should proceed to the postponement of the event for the following year due to Force Majeure. Our Financial Advisor examined all the four scenarios and indicated that the fourth one was, by all means, the best option financially wise.
3rd Step: Contact the Partners and Sponsors
. This event wouldn’t be possible without the help οf the Partners and Sponsors. This is why it is important to reach out to them and listen to their thoughts and how they see the bigger picture of the situation. To let them know our perspective on things, and then, to find a common ground together.
4th Step: Postponement for 1 year and not cancellation
Specifically, we concluded on the postponement of the event because this way the sponsors remain due to contracts, due to Force Majeure, and tickets are not completely lost. The participation cost for the visitors is pretty high due to the high quality technology experience that the event has to offer. In order to keep our visitors pleased we are going to modify each ticket package and offer them more possibilities without any extra cost, when the event is finally launched in 2022.
5th Step: Communication strategy
· We believe that it is our obligation and duty to inform on time our audience, visitors, partners, sponsors, and exhibitors about the postponement of the event, all with a different medium and addressed exclusively to them. The postponement of the event is communicated by sending an official email to all of them with content adapted to each, which will cover both the reasons for the postponement and the financial part.
· It was also decided after many sessions that our general public will be informed through the official website of the event but also the social media that it has. Most importantly, the campaign will run normally, as branding cannot be stopped, and it is an integral part of spreading the event. We are going to use every communication channel that we own to reassure that our audience is well-informed.
· The Media Sponsors will also help us out to spread the word about the postponement of the event.
· Finally, there will be an official press release regarding the postponement.
6th Step: Alternative event
After exploring all the different options regarding the future of the event, we also decided to provide a virtual BNMT online experience for 2021 participants. The gravity of the situation is huge for every factor of the exhibition, that is why we did not just want to postpone it completely for 2022, but also to provide something to everyone who were looking forward to this event. Hence, we concluded on Creating a virtual event, in which all the partners and sponsors will appear, we will have news of the technological world, virtual tours of spaces and innovations, and a tour of the Metropolitan Expo spaces. This will serve as a teaser for next year’s regular event, so the main message of this virtual exhibition will be “See you next year for the Full Experience!”
Thank you for this journey!
Team Brand New for #ADandPRLab.
