By Jackie Camacho-Ruiz
Hosting an international event can be intimidating, even for those who are pros at putting together events in their home country. So that you can skip the intimidation routine and step out in confidence, I have seven expert tips and a few stories that will help you to plan your own international event.
As the contributing authors in my book series, “Today’s Inspired Latina,” will tell you–and there are 152 of them—I work hard to create the magic at every international event I hold. As with anything of value, there were growing pains and lessons to be learned along the way to creating that magic. In sharing these, I hope you’ll be inspired, encouraged, and avoid pitfalls.
Choosing the Location
Before starting the process of planning the event itself, choose the location where you want to hold it. That means not only selecting the country but the city as well. Do you need to visit in person before selecting a destination? There’s no hard and fast rule on this but it is more about your comfort level and budget.
For our event in Puerto Vallarta, we had been there several times and had an opportunity to visit the location, but sometimes you can’t. I wasn’t in Belgium before I did the event there. For that event, I relied on my local champion to guide me and to help me make that happen. She was the one to say things like, there’s an adjacent room on the second floor, here’s a contact–reach out to him, or get so-and-so booked and taken care of. It was perfect.
Finding Your “Champion”
Once you’ve chosen your location, it’s time to find your champion and select a date, and those two often go together. This person, optimally, would be holding an event in that location as well. They would not only help market your event, but also encourage their attendees to come in a few days early or stay a couple of days longer to attend your event as well. This can only happen if you choose a date just before or after theirs. You might want to consider offering those attendees a discount on their entry fee or some other bonus.
I think it’s important to have a collaborator in the country that you are servicing. It’s almost like a tag team. Especially when you have international events, you have international travelers as well that come in for those destinations. I think it’s important to have several layers of collaboration. The first one is to have a champion–somebody that says, yes, I support you; come out, I will open up my network; I will make this happen for you.
Go Local
Another essential person is a local “ambassador” who knows the community well. This person is not as busy as a champion but can roll up their sleeves, make phone calls, send emails, and activate their network to help with your event. This can be a person you hire, and might be more easily found through that city’s equivalent of a Chamber of Commerce or another local business network.
Gaining the help of a local influencer is critical. You absolutely need that. Sometimes that individual has media contacts, and sometimes they don’t. Some have a list of contacts that is more vast than others. I would say have an ambassador, and also have other people helping you spread the word within the local community. Even though international events drive and draw a lot of people from the international market, you also want as many local people to attend as possible.
Don’t make the mistake I did, by relying on one person, and one local institution, to get word of an event out, and to encourage members to attend. As it turned out, the university we were relying on didn’t see the connection to the book launch in the same way that my author and I did.
We waited and waited and waited. And we didn’t really get the response that we wanted. They were not saying, no, they were just not being responsive. It ended up that we put a lot of eggs into that basket, and then at the end, we didn’t get the support.
Hire an Interpreter
Hiring an interpreter can help push your event from good to great. Attendees from other countries may not speak the local language and an interpreter can be invaluable–helping in a medical emergency, recommending local restaurants, or cautioning of areas to stay away from.
They can also help you to work more efficiently with your A/V team, suppliers, and members of your event and hotel staff.
Create a Social Media Campaign
Planning for an international event starts about a year ahead, and a big part of that is putting a social media campaign in place. Elements of that campaign can include posts on social media, landing pages, and videos of influencers and speakers promoting the event. Hashtags should be created so attendees can express not only their excitement as the event nears but their experiences during and after the event.
Tagging influencers and speakers in videos and other promotional posts lets all their followers and supporters know about the event and generate interest in their country.
The Lure of an Exotic Destination
Hosting an event in an exotic location can be all it takes to lure people to come. Sure, it might be less costly to attend an event in the nearest big city to where you live, but does it hold any excitement for the attendee? Chances are, it doesn’t.
Announce that you are holding an international event in Paris, Amsterdam, Puerto Vallarta, or some other international location, and you will attract people from all over the world to come and join you.
Why? People want to be part of an international experience. One of the things that I notice is that people want to travel, and they want an excuse to travel. They want an excuse to be out of their house and go to an exotic destination.
There is something mystical about having an event at an exotic destination. All of a sudden, people don’t care about how far it is or how long they have to sit on a plane, because there’s something really cool about having an event in an exotic destination. People get excited.
That can happen when you least expect it. When I was going on a European tour to promote the recent volume of “Today’s Inspired Latina,” published by JJR Marketing’s sister company, Fig Factor Media, I was surprised when a lot of the authors jumped on board. They told me they wanted to go, too. I was going to do a keynote and hadn’t even asked them to go, but I was happy that they came–14 authors crossed the Atlantic Ocean to be there.
More than the Event
While the event itself is the focus, hosting an international event is always about more than that. It’s also about the location you chose, the beauty of the area, and the attractions it has to offer.
If you’ve been to an international event, then you know the destination itself is part of the lure, the magic. Always make sure to organize at least one outing. Two or three is even better. Attendees can take advantage of these to enjoy what the host country and city have to offer.
These extra outings add to the overall experience of the event and help leave those who go on the excursions with great memories they will keep for a lifetime. Once back home, their conversations often start with, “When I went to that event in (whatever city you choose) we did this…or learned that.” That is the kind of goodwill advertising you couldn’t possibly pay for.
Need Help Marketing Your Business?
As CEO of JJR Marketing, and author of more than a dozen books, I’ve enjoyed the many opportunities to perfect the art of hosting an international event. I also have an exceptionally talented staff who share my values, have the confidence you’ll find to be contagious, honesty that’s refreshing, and, above all, integrity. Together we keep a lot of balls in the air at one time and are dedicated to helping others find their own brand of success.