MediaGrowth Blog

PART 1

Northstar Travel Group is a leading provider of information and experiences for the diverse travel industry, with digital, event and print formats that align with the objectives and needs of professionals in the diverse travel industry space, and the suppliers that target them.

In a recent MediaGrowth Excellorator interview, Jason shared some of Northstar’s thinking on creating high-return event experiences.  In this Perspectives (Part 1) we’ll highlight his thoughts on events in general.  Then, in the next Perspectives (Part 2) we’ll outline what he said about the interplay of events and digital.

• There is incredible strength in the event ecosystem today.  Events have become a core part of how business people meet with their customers, their colleagues in the industry, and, in some cases, their own team members.
• Northstar, through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, has gone from events providing about 3% of overall revenue to slightly less than 50%.
• Northstar events are both small and very large, and include conference, hosted buyer, trade show, and exhibition formats.
• Sponsorship and registration fees that seem high at first are actually considered cheap when the high-quality connections, information and experiences of a “best-in-class” event are demonstrated.
• Both attendees and sponsors will pay if you put the right people in front of them.
• Create ways to help participants connect with each other during events, paying attention to timing and venue design.  Everyone wants activations that make networking really easy. 
• Consider what event outcomes will engender ongoing participant trust and loyalty.
• “This has always worked before”, can be a dangerous supposition.  Long-established conferences should guard against complacency.  Disruption will continue.
• Advocacy is perhaps the most important way to grow an event.  “Nothing is going to get me to try a new event more than the recommendation of a colleague that I trust”, says Jason.
• Think carefully about how to give loyal attendees tools to easily share their experiences and take-aways with colleagues in their network and on social media.  Offer benefits for advocacy.
• Feedback from participants — even the negative kind that you don’t like hearing — is super important for knowing their needs and desires, and how effective you are at delivering them. 
• Listening grows trust.
• Print is still an important part of the mix at Northstar for segments of audiences that the company knows want to consume information that way.

PART 2 — Meshing Events and Digital

This MediaGrowth Perspectives newsletter highlights some of the comments that Jason made during our interview about the opportunities that present themselves when event and digital strategies are combined. 

• “The interplay of great digital content meshed with great event experiences (each built on a foundation of really understanding the audience) is quite possibly the most powerful business proposition the media industry has discovered so far.” says Jason.
• The digital ecosystem has been building over the last 25 years to enable B2B media companies to market content, audience networks and networking opportunities to super-targeted cohorts and even individuals.
• Northstar’s media footprint is essential in driving new attendees to its events.
• Stay connected and in dialogue with audiences 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.   Beyond getting their email addresses and blasting newsletters, it’s essential to better understand their interests — where they are engaging, and when they are giving signals of intent.
• Drive digital participants to events and event participants to digital content.
• Northstar built a web property around one of its large events to create a 24/7 dialogue on what that event is all about.  The audience members connecting with that site are now potential attendees for the event.
• Northstar will continue to invest in measurement products that can more clearly and powerfully bring to life the return on investment for customers.
• Event teams should lean into all of the tools in event management platforms that allow sharing and direct connectivity into social platforms.
• The possibility of using the data signaling from your media footprint and then layering on AI tools to be able to market in a much more scalable, personalized, systematic way is very exciting.
• Digital events, while different from those during the pandemic, can also be a valuable and important part of the mix.

Jason maintains that when digital and events are working together in symbiotic ways, digital drives quality audiences to events and events drive engagement and activation in the digital world.  Combined, information and experiences enable B2B media companies to offer a pathway to RFPs for customers and learning opportunities that keep audiences engaged and coming back.