Refresh, Rethink and Re-evaluate Your Events

The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro's Business Hall of Fame event, a black-tie evening with sparkling drinks flowing and big trophies on full display, celebrated the impact of those who shaped its local business community. President & CEO Aaron Nelson said the event was a fun one, full of warm camaraderie and a jubilant atmosphere.

It all came to an end in 2020. It was canceled—and not because of the pandemic. The event simply wasn’t adding up on the chamber’s score card. Revenue was down, attendance was waning and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) was abysmal. Because of how the chamber captures data for its events—tracking attendance, NPS, staff time, net revenue and alignment with the organization’s goals—the staff knew it was time to call it quits. “We track them over time and can see how they compare with each other,” Nelson said. “We would prefer to be a membership organization that does some events rather than an event organization that has some members.”

Just because your chamber has always done an event doesn’t mean it needs to continue. You might feel the pressure that you have to do an event or the more events you have, the more value your chamber provides to members. But that’s not necessarily the case. For instance, during budget season, Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) both eliminates events and adds new ones.

 “There is a lot of mindfulness in the practice of thinking through this and being strategic,” said Sydney Doctor, the senior director of events management for GLI. GLI uses an event matrix decision tree to decide if an event should stay, go or needs reimagining.

GLI’s event, The Business of Bourbon, had great turnout and revenue. The bourbon industry is an economic driver in Louisville and the event featured distillers and businesses that made items that accompany the industry, like barrels, glasses and even furniture. But the event had stiff competition. GLI staff used the event matrix to determine its future. “Not only are distillers doing other events, but there are bourbon clubs that were doing great ones, as well, so that’s why we decided to give it away,” Doctor said. “It started falling away from our major strategy and that’s why we decided to let it go.”