E-Source Says
Vibrant and Virtual make the 2020 Conference Stand-Out
While many companies are postponing or canceling their annual conferences, The Entrepreneur’s Source® made the difficult decision to skip the beach and hold its annual conference virtually.
Every year, for decades, hundreds of TES coaches and franchisor members converge on a glamorous beachfront resort to reconnect with old friends, build new relationships, exchange best practices, and have a great time. Terry Powell, Visionary Founder of The Entrepreneur’s Source®, initially balked at the idea of holding a virtual conference.
“Our virtual conference was a huge success. I can’t believe I can say that about a virtual conference,” Powell said. “I would’ve bet all the money in the world that it would be the biggest bomb we ever had. We’ve received three to five times more positive feedback than we get from our live conferences. Everyone was really blown away and amazed it went so well.”
Once we made the decision to hold a virtual conference, we committed to making it a stellar experience for participants by making the investment to ensure it was a success. “Once I decided we were going to hold our conference virtually, we were going to do it right and we were going to do it big,” Powell said.
“We had a lot of naysayers, including myself, and critics who didn’t think it would be worth it. It’s expensive to do it live, but it’s almost equally expensive to do it virtually for the things you need to do to balance out that experience for people,” said Powell.
Keys to A Successful Virtual Conference
The Entrepreneur’s Source® experienced high attendance at their first virtual conference and received positive feedback from participants. Here are several key factors that ensured their event was a success.
Break it Up. Traditionally, The Entrepreneur’s Source® hosts full-day sessions for a week during its live conference. They broke the conference up over a series of weeks, which allowed coaches to continue to provide coaching to their career ownership clients.
Keep Up with Traditions. Each year, The Entrepreneur’s Source® ends its conference with a formal award ceremony where they present coveted awards, like “Coach of the Year” and “Client of the Year”. Attendees look forward to the camaraderie and memories they make during this event. Since it wouldn’t be a conference without its awards ceremony, TES opted to host the party online. They presented awards and gave a chance for recipients to give an acceptance speech. “It worked out amazingly well. The only thing that wasn’t there was the alcohol,” Powell said.
Offer Insightful Content. One of the benefits of attending a conference is learning about the latest industry trends and strategies to help foster success. The virtual conference offered many opportunities to exchange best practices and gain insights. Heather Christie, host of the podcast “Evolve to Win,” led a session at the conference. Christie is a keynote speaker, leadership trainer and executive coach to chief executives, senior leaders and executive Leadership Teams. She combines her business and leadership coaching background to help business owners improve performance.
Providing ways for our community to connect helps fuel success. Offering a virtual conference helped The Entrepreneur’s Source® successfully navigate this unique moment.
If you are considering a new career path and need help discovering new possibilities, connect with more than 100 Career Ownership Coaches™ by visiting www.entrepreneurssource.com. Also check out our guide book, “Your Career 2.0®: A Survival Guide for The Battered Career and Investor Syndrome®.”