Tag Archives: corporate events



How To Capture Attention At Corporate Events

Posted on November 12th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

We just recently completed our fourth annual video for Glenwood Academy, and something really stood out this year that anyone planning an event can learn from.

First, some background, the school is a non-profit in Chicago’s south suburbs. It’s a great school for good kids growing up in bad neighborhoods.

School leaders hold a fundraising luncheon every year before Thanksgiving. It’s a big deal. They hold it in the main ballroom at the Hilton Chicago. It’s about as swag an event space as you’re going to find.

This is the first year I’ve been able to attend, and I was impressed… big time. The school’s most generous donors and the kids from the school, all sitting at tables together mingling. There’s a live auction for some big-ticket items, and then an opportunity for people to make scholarship donations.

video’s role at the event

Before the scholarship donations, school leaders show a video. This is where we come in. The task we’re given every year is to bring to life Glenwood’s students and help people see and feel how their donations make a difference.

Video– learn more about Glenwood’s video philosophy

The theme behind this year’s video was “a day in the life” of Glenwood’s students. I was happy to hear the audience give it a big ovation.

What you can learn from Glenwood

Here’s what everyone can learn from Glenwood. First, they spend the money to produce a quality video. This is a big-time event with important people, and they want a video to match the event. Glenwood may be a non-profit, but they understand the power of video and clearly believe they’re getting a return on their investment.

Second, they know how to stage things. The video came in a little more than half-way through the program. Just when people’s interest or attention might be fading, they hit them with a video. It perked up everyone and got them ready to open their wallets for the main part of the fundraising.

Folks… their leaders “get” it. Video has the power to grab an audience’s attention and get them pumped-up about the subject at hand.

You need video at your corporate events.

–Tony Gnau

Planning Ahead Leads To Video Success

Posted on November 1st, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Planning ahead can save you a lot of headaches. That’s true with many things, but especially video.

During a vlog shoot this week for one of our clients, the CEO spoke about the organization’s national conference. Following the shoot, I smiled and asked their corporate communications director what videos she wanted to produce surrounding the conference.

Somewhat bold of me, but she loved the idea. She said she really needs to start thinking about that and planning ahead.

Why you Should plan ahead

Yes, she does. We all do. When you start planning your videos in advance, you’ll be surprised about how things fall into place. The shoot is less hectic, and the results are frequently better. Usually because the video fits into a greater PR or marketing plan.

It doesn’t have to be the details for how every aspect of the videos are going to be produced. I’m talking about having a plan for what stories you want to tell.

Who’s are audience? What stories will impact them? These are the things you want to discuss in advance.

The better organized you are from the beginning, the more likely your videos will impress.

–Tony Gnau

 

Mobile Video On Minds At BrandSmart Conference

Posted on October 24th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

No surprise… a big topic of conversation at BrandSmart 2012 was the rise of mobile and what it means to marketing. A question asked during one of the panels is if video has a role.

Alex Kutsishin, president at FiddleFly mobile web solution said adding video to mobile is “brilliant.” He seemed totally on-board and liked the idea of QR codes in stores sending customers to mobile videos.

Mobile video is brilliant, but…

There was a little push-back from Ro Kumar, CEO at Digital Aisle. He cautioned the audience saying video in that situation needs special care. The issue… length. Mr. Kumar says the last thing customer are going to want to do is stand in an aisle watching a long video.

Agreed. I blogged yesterday about producing videos focused on your audience. That’s true when it comes to selecting your content, but it also means considering where they’ll watch the video.

Consider your audience

If you have a captive audience at a meeting or an industry conference like BrandSmart (virtually all the presenters used video), you can show a 3-4 minute video. If your audience is watching on a smart phone in a store, you better keep it short. I’d suggest 1-minute or less.

Mobile is here and video has a role, but you still need to know your audience.

–Tony Gnau

BrandSmart Presenters Turn To Video

Posted on October 22nd, 2012 | Leave a Comment

BrandSmart 2012 turned out to be an interesting education. The annual event thrown by the Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association brought together all sorts of marketing bigwigs.

It was an education for me because while T60 works as an arm of the marketing business, it’s only part of what we do. We’re not immersed in all aspects of the industry everyday, so it was interesting hearing about where things appear to be going.

Video was certainly discussed and I’ll blog more about that later this week (PLUG!), but today I’m going to touch on a simple observation. Virtually every presenter at BrandSmart used video during their presentation.

Now, we’ve done a bunch of videos for clients who wanted them specifically for a live presentation at meetings or conferences. Lincoln Park Zoo and Glenwood Academy jump to mind. Videos like these are great because instead of just delivering information from a presenter standing on stage, you can add dynamic and interesting storytelling.

Here’s the thing that struck me though at BrandSmart. The presenters were experienced marketers. They understand storytelling and how to capture an audience. They do it everyday. Their livelihood depends on it, and these people chose video to help them connect with the BrandSmart audience.

If that isn’t an endorsement for video, I don’t know what is.

Using video during your typical speech, presentation or corporate event can turn it into something special.

–Tony Gnau

BrandSmart 2012 And Looking Ahead

Posted on October 17th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Nice day Wednesday at BrandSmart 2012. The Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association brought together some great panels and speakers to talk about all the changes taking place in marketing.

The highlight for me might have been Second City. Someone from the improv comedy organization talked about the similarities between what they do and what marketers do. Didn’t hurt bringing some Second City performers along to do a few quick sketches.

Anyway, good stuff… and I plan on sharing it all with you next week. TEASE! That’s right, Monday-Thursday next week I’ll share some observations from BrandSmart 2012.

Stay tuned!

–Tony Gnau

Unpopular Answer To Many Questions

Posted on October 11th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

I don’t care if you’re a solopreneur or CEO at a Fortune 500 company, money is always an issue. The number one question I get asked about video… how much does it cost?

I’m not afraid to answer that question. You’ll find T60 is a rarity in the video world. We actually post prices on our website. Of course, those are ballpark figures. Every project is unique, but I at least wanted to give people some sort of idea of what we charge.

Wants and needs

Which leads me to the subject at hand. We have all sorts of wants and needs at T60 right now, and everything costs money. I’d love to just write a check and get everything all at once, but that’s not realistic so we’re doing something radical.

We’re budgeting. Every creative person out there just got a cold chill. I’m with you, but it’s necessary if we want to achieve our goals.

We’re in the process of a complete website overhaul, and it’s just about time to upgrade our camera and editing suite. There’s a lot involved. We can’t do it all at once so we’re saving money, earmarking it for the things we value, and making purchases as we get the cash.

Video budgeting

Video is interesting. You can have it produced for as little as $500, or it could cost $20,000. There’s all sort of variables. So you know what you need to do… budget. Talk to producers ahead of time. Get an idea of what your video will cost before you set your budget.

FYI… this also happens to be true with anything you need to buy for your business. Save, save, save!

You’ll thank me later.

–Tony Gnau

p.s. T60 is debt free and doesn’t have a credit card or line of credit. Yes, it is possible. THANK YOU Dave Ramsey.

Old School vs. New School Ryder Cup Marketing

Posted on September 26th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Okay… I’m officially declaring this Ryder Cup week. With golf’s biggest event taking place in our backyard at Medinah Country Club, a lot of my interest is focused out there but I’m still finding blog material.

My wife, daughter and I made a family outing of it at yesterday’s practice round. I was struck by something. It’s a blending of old and new school.

Old school vs. new school

Golf loves its traditions, so head to a major tournament like this and you’ll find manual scoreboards. At the same time, you’re find huge video boards all over the course.

While walking the course yesterday I downloaded a Ryder Cup iPhone app, allowing me to see real-time scoring and video right on my phone.

Don’t get left behind

My point… you can find a place for tradition, but at the end of the day you better be on cutting-edge. Your PR/marketing/event planning better reflect what consumers are demanding.

In other words, you better be producing video.

–Tony Gnau

Ryder Cup Spurs Event Video Memories

Posted on September 24th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

The 2012 Ryder Cup is set to start this Friday at Medinah Country Club. If you’re not a golf fan, imagine the Olympics and Super Bowl rolled into one. It’s golf’s biggest event, featuring a team of American golfers facing off against a team from Europe.

Medinah C.C. is one of the most well-known clubs in the world. It has hosted three U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. The last PGA was in 2006, and T60 was thrilled to produce an event video for the members. The 20-minute DVD featured how members prepared for the event, then played host. It earned T60 its first Telly Award.

Video is an event planner essential

That video is when I began to realize that video is a must for anyone hosting an event. The video we produced for Medinah was a closed-door type of thing. It was for members only. But most events want, need, crave publicity. What better way to get it than by creating a video that takes people there.

Some invited guests might not have been able to attend. They can now. People who did attend might want to share the experience with their friends. Now they can.

Video transports viewers

 

Video is the medium that allows you to transport people to the event with them never having to be there. It allows the event to live on even after it’s over. Video allows you to take people back there when you’re promoting similar events in the years to come.

Video might just be one of the event planner’s most overlooked tools.

–Tony Gnau

Don’t Plan A Corporate Event Without This

Posted on September 17th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

This post is for anyone who’s hosting an event. PR pros, event coordinators or the company employee who’s been given the task of organizing an important party, launch or meeting.

You booked the venue, worked out catering, created the invites… did you remember a videographer?

Sure, a photographer might be on your to-do list, but a videographer brings even greater social value.

I’m not talking about shooting some general video, slapping it together and sending it out. I’m talking about creative video, interviews and quality storytelling that gives viewers a sense of what it was like to be at the event.

perfect for email follow-ups

Now you have something special. Now you have something to email to everyone who attended. “Thanks for attending our event.  We hope you enjoy the video we produced and share it with your friends and colleagues.”

Now you have something to email to everyone who couldn’t make it. “Sorry you weren’t able to attend, but you can still be a part of the party! Check out this short video.”

Social Media and future promotion

We haven’t even gotten to social media yet. You can share the video there as well.

Did I mention you can use the video to promote the same or similar event the next year?

You spend lots of time, energy and cash on these events, and they’re usually over in a matter of hours. Why not produce a video that allows the it to live on well after the party ends?

–Tony Gnau

Want to see how some of our clients have done it?Event Videos

The Media Wants Your Corporate Video

Posted on August 23rd, 2012 | Leave a Comment

I advocate pretty hard for video. I’m a big believer in the medium and what it can do for businesses. I’m also realistic, so I get excited when someone with a bigger megaphone takes up the charge.

Enter Gini Dietrich… PR/marketing expert, superstar blogger and a published author. Her following is measured in the tens of thousands and we’re proud to call her a T60 client.

One of her blog posts last week caught my attention. She wrote about how PR pros aren’t keeping up with what journalists want, and she cited some recent studies…

These combined studies showed 80 percent of journalists and bloggers value images that are easily available and ready to use. And 75 percent says they want video and that 30 percent of their websites now use externally produced video.

Did you catch that? 75 percent of journalists want video. This speaks to me on multiple levels considering I own a video production company and once made my living as a TV news reporter.

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t too long ago I was offering some suggestions on how companies can cater to the media. These studies only prove it’s an even better idea than I originally thought.

So… PR-types… keep these stats in mind. If you want to provide extra incentive for journalists to cover your clients, video is something you should consider.

Business leaders… if you want to make your company a source for information related to your industry, you should probably update you media page with some video as well.

–Tony Gnau