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PayPal X Innovate 09: Tips on hosting a developer conference

Tamara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:55:43 +0000

On November 3^rd and 4^th, PayPal will be hosting their first dedicated developer conference – PayPal X Innovate 09 – to unveil their open platform. There will be hundreds of developers participating in more than 35 interactive technical sessions and Code & Build Labs. To find out more about the conference and what it takes to put on an event of this size and nature, we got the inside scoop from PayPal’s Naveed Anwar, senior director of the PayPal Developer Platform.

What is PayPal X Innovate 2009 and what was the genesis of this event?

It’s PayPal’s first developer conference. On July 23 we announced that we were opening up our platform, giving developers full access to PayPal’s features and giving them the tools to build applications that leverage the great infrastructure and payment platform that we’ve established. The purpose of the conference is to gather this information and give our developers the tools and resources that they need to be successful. The community has asked for this event for some time, so we are excited to bring it to life.

Are there particular highlights that you are excited about?

We have a fantastic speaker line-up including John Donahoe, eBay’s CEO, Scott Thompson, president of PayPal, and our guest Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media. We have tracks focused on mobile, devices and new technology moderated by industry leaders and VCs.

But what I’m really excited about is seeing developers showcase what they’ve done with the beta version of our API and giving attendees a chance to share with the world how they envision transactions changing the way people think about building applications that have clear monetization models.

Apart from these great sessions we are going to have close to 200 engineers available from the PayPal platform team who are responsible for the infrastructure and APIs – real people who have worked on the product available onsite to work with the attendees to help them with during the code and build sessions.

Check out a list of these highlights and more here.

What are some of the unique things that you have to think about given that this is specifically a developer conference?

I think with all conferences, as an organizer you really have to have great content and world-class speakers. As a developer conference, providing access to real people that know the code is essential to making the attendee experience as rich as possible. We put a lot of thought into the code and build sessions. Attendees come to learn in a hands-on environment where they can get instant feedback. We’ve gone as far as to let attendees sign out rooms to host impromptu sessions and we’ve worked to set up many opportunities for attendees to demo their apps and share their work with the community through a demo pit and kiosks. We’re also working on a few surprises to really enhance the conference, so check out x.com for more details closer to the event.

Who are the sponsors and how did you attract them?

We have more than 20 great sponsors like Playspan, Sun and Zuora. We started working with our existing strategic partners to understand how we could create an event that they wanted to be a part of. We started these conversations early, focused on compelling content, and worked to make them a core part of the program, integrating them into panels and workshops instead of just having them as a monetary donor.

How big a role does social media play in this event and how specifically are you using it?

We will be using social media to connect attendees and generate buzz. We’re doing all the basics like running a Twitter account and a Facebook event page. We also spoke to the major blog influencers and focused on creating enough great content for them for them to want to blog about. Social media is key to creating and fostering a viral effect which is important for reaching potential attendees. We’re using flip cam videos to capture announcements about the conference so that people have something to share and pass on and get excited about.

We’re using the Twitter Hashtag #ppxi09 to aggregate all the tweets about the event and help attendees connect before, during, and after the event. At the event we will stream the Twitter feed so that everyone can see the buzz and chatter in real-time.

Do you have any other best practices to share with other event planners who are throwing large events like this?

Here’s my top five best practices:

1. Know your audience.

2. Define parameters, goals and metrics upfront.

3. Focus on content and make sure that your event is unique.

4. Look carefully at timing. Time your event around a major announcement and leverage the momentum.

5. Be open with the community. Gain credibility with them. It’s the community that will take your event, and ultimately your product, to the next level.

Edith Yeung on How to Attract Sponsors for Your Event

Tamara — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:47:51 +0000

Edith Yeung is the Executive Producer of BizTechDay, a business strategy and technology conference that attracts over 1200+ business icons, renowned thought leaders and inspired entrepreneurs. Here they will connect, educate and inspire each other with innovative tactics on how to best use internet technologies to start and grow their businesses. Edith describes the event as a TED-like conference for small businesses where they can gather practical strategies for using Web 2.0 tools and technologies.

She is also the Host of CBS 5 Startup Profile and founder of San Francisco Entrepreneur Meetup Group with over 2600 members.

Edith has successfully gathered a band of strong sponsors and partners for the event including Comcast Business Class, Elance, Constant Contact, American Express and Virgin America. As we wrote in a recent post, sponsorship is a key way to ensure a profitable event, so we spoke with Edith to gather her advice for attracting sponsors to your event.

Here are Edith’s best practices for fellow event organizers:

#1 – Identify Your Ideal Sponsors

Your ideal sponsors are the ones who truly care about your audience. They should be someone who not only wants to reach your market, but someone who can add value to your event. This means you should know what segments you are reaching, whether or not they are decision makers, C-Level executives or developers. Just because a company has budget doesn’t mean they should sponsor you. Just because they sponsor another event doesn’t mean they should sponsor yours. Target audience alignment between you and your sponsor is key to a successful partnership.

Case Study – BizTechDay 2009 & Comcast Business Class

Comcast Business Class is our presenting sponsor this year and we are absolutely the perfect partners. All small business owners need high-speed internet access for their businesses and the BizTechDay audience is predominantly small business owners. Mark and Tracey from Comcast Business Class both want to add value and contribute to our community. They are just fabulous to work with.

#2 – Speak Their Language

I know all of us are excited about our own event and think all companies should give us moolah. Unfortunately, in the sponsorship world, it doesn’t work that way! Think from your sponsors’ point of view – Why should they invest in you if you don’t take the time to understand what they are looking for and how they can benefit? Or may be you should even try out your sponsor’s product once in a while?

Case Study – BizTechDay 2009 & Constant Contact

Stu Carty from Constant Contact is an amazing speaker. I saw him speak 3 years ago when I first started my business and have always kept him in mind for future events. I used Constant Contact as a marketing tool and I understand the ins and outs and their benefits for the community. I have to say… it’s just so much easier when you are already using your sponsors’ products. They appreciate you when you appreciate them.

#3 – Data. Data. Data.

Don’t just talk. Provide proof and data. Your potential sponsors will usually ask for previous attendee demographic data. They want to know whom they are spending their marketing dollars on. Be prepared. It’s part of the process. Sufficient demographic data can save you a lot of time.

#4 – Don’t Just Pitch. Build Relationships.

Your sponsors do not just do business with a conference or a company. They do business with someone they can trust and that’s you. Sponsorship is not just a one-time sale. It’s a long-term relationship. Don’t just go out there and pitch. Be genuine. Show that you truly care about helping your sponsors’ businesses to do better. You want them to come back year after year, right? Taking the time to build a good relationship upfront can payoff for years to come.

Case Study – BizTechDay 2009 & Elance

Brad Porteus from Elance is fabulous to work with. Elance discovered BizTechDay because I was a fan of their service and CBS 5 wanted to do a story on both of us. I wasn’t looking for sponsorship initially, but we just dugg what Elance does and eventually we decided to work together. It takes time to build a strong business relationship.

#5 – Follow Up. Again and Again.

The reality is your event is NOT and will never be the most important thing to your sponsor. It is important (of course!) because they want reach their target audience, but they are bombarded with marketing opportunities night and day and yours it’s just one of them. Don’t get offended if they don’t respond right away. They will eventually get back to you if your event is worthwhile, but don’t be afraid to check in to make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle.

#6 – Take care of them at the event.

It’s your job as an event organizer to make sure your sponsor has a rewarding experience throughout your event. You need to make sure they have what they need and that you deliver on what was promised so they ‘want’ to come back and engage with you again.

#7 – Invite Them to Come Back!

Trust me. I know how hard it is to put together a fabulous event. However, once the event is over, it is not really over…You need to again follow up and do a ‘post-mortem’ review meeting with your sponsors. Learn what went well, or not. Listen to their feedback. Invite them to come back next year right away. Invite them now while the experience is still fresh in their mind.

To learn more about working with Fortune 500 Companies and raising sponsorship, come to BizTechDay and attend ‘How to Partner with Fortune 500 Companies’ and ‘How to Raise Sponsorship for Your Next Event’.

Register by August 14th to get Early Bird discounts and readers of this article may enjoy a 25% discount to BizTechDay by registering here.

To err is human, but this conference is divine: FailCon ‘09

Tamara — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:29:03 +0000

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, only this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

SNAP Summit is one of the leading Bay Area conferences on social web development and startup culture. This year they’re bringing us FailCon, with tales of failure and survival from some of the biggest names and major players in the social web world. It takes place on October 27th at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco. We had the chance to interview the conference’s lead organizer, Cassie Phillipps, on the inspiration behind this event and get her tips on managing high profile speakers.

1. How did you come up with the idea for FailCon?

I was talking with attendees at the last SNAP Summit, getting feedback and a feel for the room. We all joked about how speakers love to rattle on about big successes, and brush over their mistakes. I, jokingly, mentioned that a conference where every speaker had to go over only their mess-ups, in detail, with examples of just what happened would be pretty new and funny. Surprisingly, people seemed to (not jokingly) agree.

2. What do you hope attendees will take away from the event?

I hope that they take away a great sense of inspiration. That hearing these stories of complete failure, from people who figured out how to stand up and move on, will better prepare them and excite them for their own endeavors.

3. Who will be speaking at the event?

A full list of people is up on our site, and while I hate leaving anyone out, I don’t want to bore your readers. To name a few, we’ve got Max Levchin talking about early failures and some missteps with PayPal and Slide, and Mark Pinkus discussing what happened with Tribe.net. I’m talking with Gary V’s PR rep to possibly get a talk about the spirit an entrepreneur needs, NOT to succeed, but to get over failure. Sandy Jen and Seth Sternberg will be discussing why solo founders are at higher risk of failure, and what variables are needed in for a strong team. Oh! And one of my favorites: a panel of top VCs like Ron Conway and David Hornik talking about how they handle investment failures!

4. Managing an agenda full of guest speakers is difficult task. Do you have any tips from your experience?

Have a story you tell throughout the day before you start approaching speakers. For example, FailCon isnt just failure stories; it’s the path of a company from team development, through investment and product, on to marketing, and then how to wrap it all up if all else goes wrong. With that story prepared ahead of time, I could better determine who I needed in the agenda and what they would have to discuss. Its really easy to get a hazy day without much guidance or purpose, which is incredibly hard to market.

5. Do you have any other best practices for event planners putting on major conferences or events?

If you can, get every presentation 24 hours in advance, and review them all. This insures a few things.
They all work.
They are in order and ready day-of.
They are relevant, interesting, and not just a pitch for their brand.
I’d also suggest getting a draft, or at least a description a good week or more before.

6. Anything else you’d like to share about FailCon?

FailCon is the first of its time! And while it is at the heart of conference season, it’s taking a totally new approach to topics and content. It’s definitely not to be missed.

7. Just for fun, if you were an event, what kind of event would you be?

I would definitely be a small user group, being shown a demo product, and then expressing their feedback. I thrive on smaller groups and personal interactions, and I love helping people develop their ideas and products.

BlogHer gets creative with LobbyCon event

Tamara — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:04:53 +0000

Elisa Camahort Page, blogging pioneer and marketing executive, leads all events, marketing and public relations for BlogHer, the number-one community for and guide to blogs by women. BlogHer holds an annual conference to bring together bloggers from around the world for hands-on learning, discussions and networking. The conference sold out in record time this year, but Elisa and her team came up with the creative idea of LobbyCon to extend the event and meet additional demand. We interviewed Elisa to find out more about LobbyCon and gather tips and tricks for event holders looking to create sell out events.

1. How did you come up with the idea for LobbyCon?

BlogHer’s annual conference has actually sold out every year since since its 2005 inception, but never so early as BlogHer ‘09. It sold out in March! Because our model sets pricing to be very affordable for our community, the bloggers, we need sponsors to subsidize the cost of attendees. Our first response was to increase our sponsor goal and see if we could bring in more sponsors, and therefore bring in more bloggers. We were successful with that…to the point of the venue’s meeting space capacity. Then we started seeing people blog and tweet about just showing up and hanging out in the lobby. We thought: What can we do for those people. We talked to the hotel about what it would take to stream keynote sessions into an available space. Turns out they had a perfect space…the Chi Bar, which is not in use during the day…and they could indeed stream to the existing screens in that space. We had more room for the parties and on the expo floor, so LobbyCon was born!

2. Are you doing anything differently to ensure that the LobbyCon attendees have a great experience?

While we don’t have space to deliver all of the great break-out programming (and all of the great meals) that full conference attendees will enjoy, we wanted to make sure they had access to more than just the parties and the swag. The streaming of the general sessions, from the opening welcome, to our unique Community Keynote featuring live blog readings, to our Saturday keynotes featuring amazing thinkers like Tina Brown, Ilene Chaiken and danah boyd, was an integral part of what gave LobbyCon real value over literally sitting in the lobby.

3. What do you hope attendees will take away from the event?

We always say that we hope our attendees walk out of every session having learned something they can’t wait to try, having heard something they can’t wait to share and/or having met someone who will be a friend for life.

4. What’s the secret to hosting a sellout event in this economy?

Our entire business, not just our conference business, is built around our community. We can only lead by listening. We find many different ways that the community – the actual bloggers who are willing to buy the tickets, arrange the travel and leave their daily responsibilities – can feel they have a hand in the conference. We have programming that is community-generated. We have our Community Keynote, which was really the highlight of last year’s event. We have a volunteer green committee, who helps us understand where we could take steps to be more green. Our conference bookstore is stocked with books written by attendees. The list goes on. When people feel they had a hand in something, they want to talk about it, share it.

5. What single promotional tactic would you say drove the most attendees to your event?

Twitter has become a much bigger part of our outreach effort over the last 12-18 months.

6. Anything else you’d like to share about the BlogHer ’09 conference and LobbyCon?

Three things:

1. You’ll be able to follow the live blogs of every session at BlogHer.com

2. Audio and video will get posted some time after.

3. We’ll be announcing BlogHer ’10’s location and dates (and opening registration) at BlogHer ‘09, don’t miss it!!

Launch your product in the Spring at DEMO 09

Jack — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:53:45 +0000

The producers of the DEMO conferences are already screening products and selecting the most significant to launch at DEMO 09, which will take place March 1-3, 2009 in Palm Desert, California. Products debuting at DEMO conferences represent every market segment — everything from more efficient air conditioner technology; to a smart phone application that helps dieters count calories; to a thin, flexible and lightweight electronic reader device.

DEMO takes a global view of the tech industry and features technologies from around the world. Attendees never know exactly what they are going to see at DEMO, but they attend knowing that the debuting products have been carefully vetted for industry-impact. Known for encouraging business acceleration, DEMO attracts companies ready to jump into the next phase of company growth: acquiring customers and partners, garnering international press coverage, and obtaining funding. DEMO conferences showcase innovations from new and established companies with working technologies for measurable market spaces. It’s the event series that launched technologies such as VMware, the Palm Pilot, Java 1.0, TiVo, IronPort Systems, WebEx, Half.com, salesforce.com, Ugobe’s Pleo, Six Apart’s Moveable Type and many more.

Executive Producer Chris Shipley and analyst Carla Thompson are busy screening product prototypes and considering them for DEMO 09. In this process, they ask, “Is it a standout product? Does it represent an industry first or the best of a category? Will it drive further progress in technology?” To be considered for DEMO, a product must:

Make its public debut at the DEMO conference
Make a significant contribution to the state of the art in its target market
Change the dynamics of the marketplace into which it is introduced
Be backed by a management team capable of delivering the product to market

Submit your application for DEMO 09 (The deadline for applications is December 1, 2008). Register.

Pubmatic announces AdRevenue 08

Jack — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:25:36 +0000

PubMatic, a provider of real-time ad optimization services to publishers, today announced AdRevenue ‘08, the first conference dedicated entirely to improving the value of ad inventory for online publishers and ad networks. PubMatic, known for recognizing trends in ad network pricing with its AdPrice Index, identified the need for a forum where the most respected names in online advertising come together to address strategies to maximize industry-wide ad inventory revenue. During the one-day summit taking place November 14th in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Club, attendees are invited to meet with leading technology entrepreneurs, executives, established media and industry thought leaders from Adify, Avenue A | Razorfish, ContextWeb, Draper Fischer Jurvetson, Forrester Research, Google / DoubleClick, NBC Universal, Quantcast, and others. Register.

The State of Whales

Jack — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:07:28 +0000

I can’t remember the last time I saw a “Save the Whales” bumper sticker. Our collective attention may drift to other causes and other issues, but there can be little doubt that the fate of the earth’s largest mammals remains dubious. Now in its 11th year, the American Cetacean Society’s international conference “Whales in a Changing World” offers answers and a look at how whales, dolphins and porpoises are faring in these uncertain environmental times. Scheduled for November 13th to the 16th, the conference encompasses multiple activities including a whale watching cruise in Monterey Bay and a symposium featuring some of the world’s foremost marine biologists and whale experts. In their own words: “American Cetacean Society conferences have a long tradition of presenting the latest findings and news about whales and other marine life. We also work to promote discussion and thought about the role and conservation of whales in an ever-changing world, and leave attendees motivated to work together for the good of the whales. American Cetacean Society conferences are open to everyone – you don’t need to be ‘in the field’ to participate. So come, be energized and enlightened.” Recommended.

TechCrunch50: It’s like TechCrunch40, but better!

Jack — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:38:20 +0000

These days it seems that every Joe with a Meetup following is trying to pull-off a tech conference of some sort or other. And if anybody knows how many Joes there are in the world these days, it’s Eventbrite. Hehe. But noise and rabid entrepreneurship in the space notwithstanding, it’s clear that there are only a few truly important tech conferences that one should really make an effort to attend. Why are they important?

1. Because they convene the most influential people to our business and technological lives

2. Because they try to bring interesting new companies to light, and occasionally succeed

By that measure, one of the most important tech conferences of the year is certain to be TechCrunch50. A sure sign of its importance (not to mention its success) is the fact that it is now impossible for anyone who does not already have a ticket to attend. TechCrunch50 is oversold. I convey this with some self-interest, since I’ll be working the door on Monday and do not wish to play bouncer to too many of you, lol. Actually, that isn’t exactly true. I hear there’s a waiting list now, but the mechanics through which anyone will be selected that way are anybody’s guess.

But seriously, I deliberately plagiarized the title of this page, published so many months ago, to call attention to the fact that promotional hyperbole has come to pass. TechCrunch50 is very likely going to be better than TechCrunch40. To list just a few reasons:

The one-on-one interview with Peter Thiel

The Parties

The Panels

A provocative theme

If it weren’t so cruel to do so, I would say DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO ATTEND TECHCRUNCH50.

Eventbrite powers TechCrunch40 conference registration

facebook f8 wrap-up

Patricia — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:11:57 +0000

Eventbrite was the registration partner for the facebook f8 conference which took place yesterday in San Francisco, and by all accounts the event was a great success. Congrats to the facebook events team for a perfect execution and to all the participants, attendees and crew members who contributed to an exceptional conference. Eventbrite Photos.