BowerPower Papers #8, Winter 2008

BowerPower Papers, a quarterly digital newsletter from Bower & Co. Consulting LLC, aims to inspire non-profit leaders and event/festival producers to think creatively about marketing, corporate sponsorship, events, and business development.

Volume 3 Issue 1

Winter 2008

Greetings!

Happy Valentine's Day! In this issue of BowerPower Papers, I reveal the truth about love and events. Please share it with friends and colleagues.

To new subscribers, welcome! I look forward to your feedback and comments.

May you receive many more valentines today and lots of chocolate.

Gail S. Bower
President

THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE AND EVENTS by Gail S. Bower
Annual events and festivals are like love relationships. Easy to take for granted, impossible to control, magic when they work, and baffling without a decoder ring when they don't. Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. (From Othello, Act III, Scene iii) Some events, like Woodstock, are one-night stands that should not be repeated (remember the 30th Anniversary disaster?), while some you grow old with (think New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Superbowl, for example). Sometimes we're attracted to an event, but then we're fickle. Or the event just doesn't feel right. Or we've found a new one. The truth is events are like organic, evolving life forms. Just like relationships. They need cultivation. They teach us. We give them shape. Then attendees show up and that shape evolves still more. While I'll leave relationship advice to Dr. Phil and Oprah, I offer you the real deal about these event myths and a few choice Shakespearean quotes to put you in the mood. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. (From Sonnet 116) Myth #1 The passion will last forever. Nothing lasts forever. In my experience during the last 22 years and with more than 120 events, ranging from small press conferences and product launches to national festivals and presidential inaugurations, the first year is the dream year, the honeymoon. After that, you bring the passion (or not)-just like in relationship. Myth #2 I'll be happy when I have the perfect one. Newsflash: there is no such thing as the perfect one! And if there were, just imagine what a boring event it would be. Events are chaotic-at least if people attend them. The best you can do is create programming that sells tickets, and then plan, prepare, and provide services that reasonably accommodate your attendees. When the attendees arrive, a dynamic that is somewhat out of your control will emerge. Your systems and procedures all will be tested. From that moment on, you make your best decisions, continue to be responsive, and, heck, even have some fun! Show up, be present, and co-create. Just like in relationship. Myth #3 I had no idea that he/she was unhappy! You've heard stories about couples who split up, and the ones dumped are dumbfounded. How can this be? (I'll bet Dr. Phil has a thing or two to say!) One word: denial. Some event producers do the same thing. They like to pretend it's still the early days of the event, the honeymoon days, when things were clicking along, and money was pouring in. But they failed to notice as the years wore on that times changed, musicians passed on, the neighborhood's demographics changed, new technology emerged, and other changes occurred. Then they wake up one day, fretting. Attendance has fallen. Revenue declined. The buzz is gone. What do we do now? Smart producers see the trends ahead of time and start planning early. Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin As self-neglecting. (From Henry V, Act II, Scene iv) Myth #4 If he/she would only change. It's so easy to blame the other person, isn't it? Sometimes what's really needed is to just take a look at ourselves. Or, in the case of an event, our practices. By nature, humans seek security, comfort, and safety. Events and relationships have in common an ungraspable essence or energy, ambiguity, and, sometimes, chaos-not very comfortable concepts for those of us who long for definition, clarity, and order. Right? So, we toil away, consciously and unconsciously, to make things safe and orderly. And sometimes, we stay in this rut for a very long time, until one day we realize something has changed with our event. Some event producers keep doing the same thing but with more gusto. Some come up with great ideas that solve the wrong problems. Some give up. The successful ones accept what is happening-the climate, the conditions, the problems, and all the good things-and seek to understand what they can do to improve their own practices, to grow and evolve. Myth #5 Surely I can do better. We live in a throwaway society-at least until the already tiresome "go green" marketing messages kick in and create the much needed changes to our behavior-and that includes human relationships, too. Yeah, sure, if the relationship is abusive or truly doesn't work, get out. In the words of an Oprah magazine headline: "If the Horse is Dead, Get Off." Same with your event. But just like in relationships, our events work on us as we work on them. We evolve. We grow. We explore new ideas. We let go and accept. And sometimes we fight, kicking and screaming. As my therapist friend Barbara reminded me once, "There's a thin line between love and hate." All in all, she said, she'd rather be with her partner than not. If your event no longer works or pleases you, maybe you're no longer working on it. How can you spice things up? Call Gail Bower at 215/922-6937 if you need help spicing up your event or festival. As for spicing up your relationship, check newsstands. I'm sure Cosmopolitan has a few tips for you.

Marketing in a Down Market

by Gail S. Bower

The new year is off to a turbulent start on the stock market, which usually cues the number crunchers to slash the marketing budgets. Here are three reasons why that's a bad idea.

Customers, clients, constituents, and donors still need to find you. If they can't, they'll find your competitor.
Your competitor's presence will be more visible. If you suspend marketing operations, there will be one fewer voice in the marketplace that your competitor has to shout over.
You'll need twice as much energy to relaunch. Say you batten down the hatches to weather the storm, and in the meantime, the marketplace changes because your competitor has a more dominant presence. Now you'll need to expend more money, more effort, and more resources to recover. That's not progress. That's problem solving.

   It's better to maintain a consistent effort, even if you have to cut back a bit. Send your newsletter three times a year, rather than quarterly, for example, but fill it with valuable information.
   It's also smart to modify your approach. Maybe more or different people need your services in a slower market. Or, the value proposition of your services may tell a different story in recessionary times than in bullish ones.
   Finally, it's always more challenging to do more with less. Some of the greatest and most creative artists do this all the time. Get creative.
   If you'd like to share something creative your organization is doing to make more with less, please send me an email at Gail@GailBower.com. I'll share it with readers in the next issue (reserving the right to edit for space limitations). Thanks!

Gail Bower, President, Bower & Co. Consulting LLC, specializes in raising the visibility, revenue, and impact of non-profit organizations and festivals/events. She's a professional consultant, author, and speaker, with more than 20 years of experience managing some of the country's most important events, festivals and sponsorships. (Business Philadelphia named Gail among the "100 People to Watch" in 1993.) Launched in Philadelphia in 1987, today Bower & Co. provides marketing and business development counsel and implements marketing programs. For more information, visit her web site or contact her at 1-866/36-BOWER (1-866-362-6937).