Spreading the News at Just the Right Times by Bev Johns

    "I sent them an announcement of the event one month ago. They should have just put it on their calendar and remembered it." 

    That approach just doesn't work any more. It is good to announce the event in advance so people do get it on the calendar but picture this scenario. You sent the reminder on a day when the person was swamped with work and they didn't write it down, or they did and just forgot about the event.  Perhaps you sent the announcement on a Monday morning and we know how crazy Mondays are as people get back to work. Your invitation to the event got buried. You may have sent it when someone was out of town and they overlooked it.

    In my previous blog, I talked about the importance of multiple ways to spread the word about your event.  You want to balance your time promotion of an event. Do it frequently in between in many ways but especially do it on the advance end and on the last minute end.  You want people to know about the event well in advance and then in-between but you also need to let people know at the last-minute. 

    We are living in a last minute society and reality tells us that some people will wait until the last minute to plan to attend.  They are busy people and operate from day to day. I have chaired several virtual conferences for the last three years and am amazed that people will try to register the morning of the event.  Last minute reminders are a must. Decide when your cut off for registrations is and then remind people of that deadline right before the date. 

    If you are having Zoom meetings, send the invitation in advance but also send the link right before the event. Zoom links get lost in what I call "the sea of emails." A recent reminder helps. 

    Remember the more you promote the more you are likely for a good attendance. Happy Promotion.