THE ART OF SEMINAR MARKETING.

* Showcase independent perspectives: One of the classic models for a half-day seminar is to feature three speakers--an industry analyst or consultant, a local customer, and a company representative. "For our seminars, an analyst/consultant starts by getting the audience to consider the exciting possibilities of where to take their companies in the future," says Justin Phillips of InSystems Technologies. "Then we bring out a customer who discusses how our product is being used and how it lines up with industry trends. Finally, an internal company speaker presents our vision of how the product will help attendees solve their business issues." After the formal presentations, Phillips adds, "we open the floor for questions, and this is typically the most valuable part of the session: A room full of prospects has a chance to ask a satisfied customer how the whole relationship has worked."

Justin Phillips, manager of marketing programs, InSystems Technologies, 19 Allstate Pkwy., Markham, Ont. L3R 5A4; 905/513-1400. E-mail: jphillips@insystems.com.

* Get the audience involved: "Interaction is king," says independent developer Will Fastie, the former editor of PC Tech Journal. "Folks have to feel they're part of the event, not just passive bystanders. That's why we used the Phil Donahue method, with me in the role of Phil. I roamed the floor looking for people who were clearly bursting but were probably too shy to come up to a microphone stand. My coming to them was more personal and made them feel more important," says Fastie. "I also became their advocate, berating the panel if they misunderstood a question or chiding them if their answer was too simplistic. I'd also ask followup questions and then check with the audience member to see if the additional information was helpful."

Will Fastie, consultant, 7110 Sheffield Rd., Baltimore, Md. 21212; 410/340-1049. E-mail: will@fastie.net.

* Encourage fireworks: "Lately, I've become bored with the standard three-panelists-and-a-moderator format," says Michelle Bowman of Bowman Communications Group. "Seminar coordinators need to be more creative about choosing speakers who are charismatic and provocative in their comments. Build a little sensationalism into the format and you'll attract more interest and attendees."

Michelle Bowman, principal, Bowman Communications Group, 1601 114th Ave. SE, Bellevue, Wash. 98004; 425/467-8374. E-mail: mbowman@concentric.net.

* Stress role-playing: Author Godfrey Harris runs seminars on word-of- mouth advertising, and he includes a "hypothetical role-playing situation" near the beginning of each session. Says Harris: "Rather than ask for volunteers, we call on people at random to participate, then ask others in the room to comment on the resulting interaction. My goal is to get everyone involved in participating or commenting." Role- playing loosens up the audience and gets them to pay more attention to the material, Harris points out. "People remember what they said, did, or contributed far more than they remember a slide on the screen."

Godfrey Harris, president, Harris/Ragan Management Group, 9200 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90069; 310/278-8037. E-mail: hrmg@aol.com.

* Showcase the expertise of in-house speakers: It's tempting to make a company's products the centerpiece of a seminar, but it's ultimately better to focus on people, argues Laura Biggs. "Illustrate what a leader you are and demonstrate why attendees would want to work with your company," she says. "We've established our executives as experts on various subjects this way, and we now get requests from across the industry to present at other events."

Laura Biggs, director of marketing, Vocus, 4296 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, Md. 20706; 301/459-2590. E-mail: lbiggs@vocus.com

* Set up special-interest groups: "Seminars are best when people have a chance to feel connected to other participants," says Karen Carnabucci, a professional seminar presenter and trainer. "One way to make this happen (without sounding like a too-happy cruise director) is to set up small groups so people will have a 'home' in a very large group, and to make these groups self-selected based on special interests that link to the larger seminar topic." If possible, she adds, the topics themselves should be "generated from group members themselves, rather than the seminar leader."

Karen Carnabucci, principal, Companions in Healing, 216 Merrie Ln., Racine, Wisc. 53405; 262/633-2645. E-mail: karen@companionsinhealing.com.

* Seed the Q&A segment: One way to reinforce key seminar messages, says publicist Michael Becce, is to "plant a few attendees" who are ready to ask leading questions. "For example, during a seminar on outsourcing back office functions, we had someone ask, 'How do I know if I'm a good outsourcing candidate?' 'I'm glad you asked that,' the speaker answered. 'We have an online calculator that will help you determine...'"

Michael Becce, president, MRB Public Relations, Three East Front St., Red Bank, N.J. 07701; 732/758-1100. E-mail: mbecce@mrb-pr.com.

* Prepare a script: Marketing consultant Jessee Allread says he routinely asks presenters in advance for "a minimum of two and a maximum of five questions they wish to be asked." He then edits the questions and develops a script that he gives to speakers a few weeks before the event. "This method gives the panelists a chance to get their message out in an innocuous way and gives the moderator a chance to weave a larger story together, controlling the content." Just before the session begins, Allread adds, he warns his speakers that he'll probably deviate from the script at several points. "It's important to seem spontaneous and extemporaneous," he says.

Jessee Allread, principal, DX3 Consulting, 1430 Chico Ave., Birdwell, Calif. 95926; 530/891-0557. E-mail: jjallread@aol.com.

* Respect the audience: "Don't approach Fortune 1000 prospects with consumer mass merchandising tactics," warns Mary Driscoll, who oversees CFO Magazine's conference division. "The trick, for a seminar promoter, is that you're competing for the precious time of hard-to-reach execs. Price is not an issue. Rather, they'll attend if you provide real meat, answers to burning questions, and give them a chance to network with their peers. You can't trick them into attending with great brochure copy. Speakers must be admired authorities. The audience must be their peer group. You must optimize their time commitment. Then leave them alone--they get very angry when they attend a seminar, then find themselves deluged with baseball caps, key chains, t-shirts, product brochures, etc. And stay out of their e-mail in-boxes. Some software vendors are currently jazzed by 'e-mail address generator programs.' It's the kiss of death."

Mary Driscoll, president, CFO Enterprises, 253 Summer St., Boston, Mass. 02210; 617/345-9700. E-mail: marydriscoll@cfo.com.

* Get to know the attendees: "We insist that everyone on the program is at the site of the seminar one hour before registration begins," says Godfrey Harris. "We ask that our presenters mingle with participants as they wait to register, as they are having coffee before the room opens, and when they're in their seats before the start." The goal, he says, is "to find out names, companies, interests, needs, and reasons for attending and weave that learning into their presentations. We make partcipants our friends and they become our supporters."

Godfrey Harris, president, Harris/Ragan Management Group, 9200 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90069; 310/278-8037. E-mail: hrmg@aol.com.

HOW TO MANAGE SEMINAR LOGISTICS

* Watch the clock: Timing issues can have a significant impact on the turnout for an event. "Schedule the seminar for 8:30am (not too early, not too late) and be sure to start on time," suggests Muriel Miagoux of NetQuartz. "The presentations should last no longer than three hours so people don't feel they're wasting their full day."

Muriel Miagoux, marketing executive, NetQuartz, 131-151 rue du Premier Mai, Nanterre Cedex, France F-92737; +33 1 56 05 89 89. E-mail: mmiagoux@netquartz.com.

* Be "relentless" about details: Larry Ellis of SoftWright has been running training seminars at the same hotel for the past six years, but he still insists on providing written setup instructions and drawings for virtually every aspect of his events. "We show up the day before and confirm that all arrangements are in place. We check all light levels, Internet access, and everything else that can go wrong," he says. "The arrangements are often not correct, and we have time to make the hotel correct the problems." Except for a few large items, SoftWright also maintains its own audio-visual equipment. "Hotel A-V departments are usually not up to our demands," he notes.

Larry Ellis, president, SoftWright, 1010 S. Joliet St., Aurora, Colo. 80012; 303/344-5486. E-mail: larry.ellis@softwright.com.

* Look for a well-managed meeting site: "Our first priority is to find a brand-name hotel with conference facilities," says Darrell Walker of First Resort Software. "I like Renaissance and Marriott hotels the best--I can count on a conference staff that understands professional meetings." Walker says his company originally held its seminars at client sites, but switched because "our clients have a 'different reality' about how meetings should be run." One client set up seminar space in a very large housekeeping warehouse, he recalls. "It was interesting to have housekeepers pull daily linens while I was speaking," Walker quips.