3 Ways To Ensure the Long Term Profitability Of Your Conference

I talk to associations who tell me that their annual meeting is the bread and butter of the organization, not to mention upwards of 60% of the operating revenue.

Turning (or keeping) the event into a profit center is a long-term venture, tied to the attendees perception of value of the conference.

After serving hundreds of associations the past several years, here’s what I come up with:

1. Maintain or increase the value proposition. Don't look to JUST cut costs to increase the profit margin. Removing a valuable hands-on piece like a flash drive or large syllabus book  to go online may save you money now, but will it make your attendees see your event as less desirable-valuable? (Penny-wise…) Balance the educational content and tangibles with the fancy Hors D'oeuvres and coffee breaks.


2. Look for ways to increase revenue. Many of my customers are using their educational content as a carrot or leverage to increase membership and attendance. Some associations are having success with away some free content to attract new attendees. Once attendees have browsed a certain amount of content online, they are met with an offer to join the association, attend the conference or perhaps buy the content at a higher rate than members. (e.g. Amazon’s preview of the first few pages of books, or highbeam.com’s abstract view.) This has increased the conversion rate of people who browse to people who attend or become members.


3. Offer a choice in educational materials media formats, and charge attendees if they pick more than one. A current client of mine still offers their large syllabus book, but is transitioning to digital media by also offering the handouts on a USB Drive.  Everyone gets a book OR USB as part of their registration fee, but not both. If they want both, then they have to pay for both. Attendees make this choice at registration time and it seems to ‘culture’ them to a slow change. (What’s that old story about boiling the frog?) It also adds thousands of dollars to the bottom line!

Those are just some strategies and thoughts that have been successfully implemented as associations struggle to save money, and try to keep everyone happy.—a big challenge!