Malcolm Gladwell introduced us to the 10,000 hours rule, explaining in “Outliers” that the key to world-class success in any field is at least 10,000 hours practice. As a business, Uno Loco has now clocked over 20 years, or 50,000 hours practicing our craft. Our purpose is “making you famous”, and we wanted to share some of what we’ve learned about delivering world class business events.
Know your audience, motivation, and message.
In thinking about this, here are two great questions to ask about the outcomes once your event is complete:
- What’s the headline you’d ideally write for you or your business?
- What do you want people to say about your business when you’re NOT in the room?
Understand the business – not just the event.
The best partners won’t just be event producers, they’ll be people who get you and your business and who can use creativity to solve problems. Not just execute.
Create a unifying idea to unite the experience.
We’ve all been at events which feel loose and disconnected. Like any great story, a live event needs an underlying narrative to tie it all together. Dropping in performance, speakers or tech tricks for entertainment will only distract from what you’re trying to achieve.
Use your people to deliver authentic stories. Surround them with talent.
In a B2B or internal setting, the most credible messengers are almost always your own leaders or people. But you have to make them feel comfortable, look great and perform well. You want to make them famous! This is where professional support is invaluable.
Exceed audience expectations
They’re giving up their valuable time and attention. Give them something to remember, something they’ll talk about when they get home. The feedback we love is that we’ve delivered “the best event ever”. Keep them wanting more!
Plan, prepare, practice.
We may be a number eight wire nation, but improv is seldom a great idea in business events. We meticulously plan, test, practice and rehearse to iron out kinks and get things just right. No-one wants to die on stage. Especially your CEO!
Integrate tech and content to amplify your impact.
Maybe it’s using opening video to showcase your people, products and a ‘day in the life’. Or a live hologram of your CEO generated by your super-fast mobile network. But do it because it amplifies your message – not just because you can.
Collaborative, integrated and agile delivery team.
Big events are live theatre. You can’t call cut and start shooting again. They integrate content, messaging, sound, lighting, tech, talent, venues, catering, design, transport and so much more. In that environment, you need a team who are experts in their craft, but know how to work together to deliver a seamless experience.
Understand what works (and doesn’t) in a ‘live’ environment.
Because it’s live, some stuff produced for different environments just doesn’t work. For example, we work a lot with ad agencies who are world-class in what they do. But often the outputs they produce just won’t work in a live setting. It’s not because it’s bad work – it’s just that it’s designed for a different medium.
About Uno Loco:
For over 20 years Uno Loco has built a reputation for delivering New Zealand’s most creative large-scale events, content and experiential activations
About Blair Glubb
Blair is well known in NZ marketing circles from his leadership roles in digital, strategy and marketing. He’s spent time with corporates and startups, as well as both sides of the agency / client divide in NZ and offshore. He’s CEO and co-owner of event specialists, Uno Loco.
