{"id":732,"date":"2013-08-12T15:07:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T22:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janusdialogs.com\/?p=732"},"modified":"2014-03-28T14:28:02","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T21:28:02","slug":"be-a-fool-innovate-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janusdialogs.com\/?p=732","title":{"rendered":"Be a Fool – Innovate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"foolbulb\"<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. <\/i><\/p>\n

Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Everything changes and nothing remains still… you cannot step twice into the same <\/i>stream.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Heraclitus<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These two perspectives on change paint a very accurate picture of the challenges faced daily by experience marketers and event producers. Change is difficult, and yet it is constant.<\/p>\n

We see it all the time in the simplest of things. The final version of a deck, an idea, or a business plan is released after weeks of work, only to be revised the next day. This is not the result of the plan being incomplete or the developer incompetent, but of the constant state of change we live in.<\/p>\n

For annual events and repeating experiences, the constant state of change is a challenging force on both maintaining legacy expectations <\/i>and determining when to introduce new concepts and experiences. <\/i><\/p>\n

For instance, \u201cbright shiny objects\u201d come and go. They either incorporate themselves into the \u201cnorm\u201d of events, or burn out and fade away. Sustainability, for example, has become a normal and included part of most programs. Audience Response Systems (once the technology that would change the world) not so much.<\/p>\n

Surviving or not, rarely is an emerging trend so unique that over time it continues to require the same separation and specialty that it enjoyed in its early days. <\/i><\/p>\n

Currently \u201cvirtual\u201d events and social media are such items \u2013 connecting<\/i> to, but not fully integrating with, the in-person experience and living for the moment<\/i> of the event rather than always on<\/i> in full support of the core objectives.<\/p>\n

Often target audiences are audiences all the time<\/i> while they are attendees for only a short time. They visit the company web site regularly, so why have a separate site just for the event? They come to your primary social media channels, so why additional channels to monitor just for the event?<\/p>\n

The degree to which measurement is effected by change is in direct correlation to the amount of time that has passed. This is one reason comparing results of a program to the prior year<\/span><\/i> is far less accurate than comparing them to a pre-event base line<\/i>. It is hard (at best) to isolate the impact of other influences and changes on the audience over the past year. It is much easier to understand the impact over the few days of the experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It<\/i> is change, continuing change, inevitable change that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is but the world as it will be. This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our business people, our\u00a0every man\u00a0must take on a science fictional way of thinking.<\/i><\/p>\n

Isaac Asimov<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So the weight of planning should be more firmly on the front foot than the back. History and legacy, while important and at times more comfortable,<\/i> can set boundaries and barriers that at best<\/i> prevent full response to a current reality, and at worst<\/i> anchor the experience in the past.<\/p>\n

No, this is not easy.<\/p>\n

There is a delicate balance and finesse required to introduce new ideas while maintaining and learning from history.<\/p>\n

Placing priority on<\/p>\n