We want to run a mini Xerocon.”
That’s what Carpenter Box said when they came to us for help with an upcoming event – one they had never run before. Having recently attended Xerocon, they saw the potential for delivering a similar type event for small businesses – direct from their accountants.
The goal was to make an impression, showcase the power of Xero and its integrated apps, and get a few hundred people to attend. Carpenter Box smashed all these goals out of the park, delivering an impressive event and even winning the Xero Accounting Partner of the Year award at the next Xerocon.
Here’s how they did it:
- Event name: If you’re going to be running a major event, you need hashtags and cool graphic design and something catchy. The original idea of “something around effective business systems” felt a little tired, and they wanted fresh. The name itself came from a discussion on “the shark slide” from Xerocon. From the shark concept we got to words like frenzy and Jaws and bite, and then the light came on. The resulting name, BITE, stands for Business, Innovation, Technology, and Efficiency – so it had meaning and had interest.
- Logo & branding: The entire event (with its shiny new name) now needed proper branding. An event logo, a website, hashtags, the whole enchilada. We looked at the existing Carpenter Box branding and brought it together with the shark concept so there was consistency and newness. lanyard-cbox
- Event plan: To run an event at this level, a quick list in a Word document wasn’t going to be enough. We created a custom event plan for BITE, listing out every marketing action that needed to be taken – from “Design save the date postcard” to “Write content for follow up blog 4”.
- Event website: Carpenter Box already had a website of their own, but we wanted BITE to stand out and be easily discoverable (and shareable). Working together with the mighty team at Rocketspark, we custom-created a Rocketspark website for the event, complete with shark video. (We got feedback that some people booked onto the event merely because the shark video was so cool.) View event site
- Event admin: Throughout the whole process, there were many hours spent on the event detail, such as setting up the event on Eventbrite, liaising with the NoodleLive people for the event app, talking to sponsors and getting their files and images, sending files to the printers, and dispensing advice and enthusiasm as needed.
- Invitation emails: Now that all the foundational work was ready, it was time to invite the people! First there was a ‘Save the date’ postcard sent out in the post, but the main invitation work was done in Mailchimp. We set up a Mailchimp account, designed the email templates, and wrote content for all the invitation and follow up emails.
- Graphic design: Everything needed to be designed – from lanyards to pop up banners, from postcards to sponsorship presentations. Thanks to a clear brand, the design work came together consistently for a great event impression.
- Social media: Reaching a larger audience required a foray into social media exclusively for BITE. Using Carpenter Box and Nathan Keeley’s social accounts, we wrote and shared posts relating to the event, building event registration and the firm’s profile on social.
Event results
Finally the big day came! The results were spectacular by any standard – 424 registrations, with over 300 of those showing up on the day. Great keynotes, enthusiastic attendees, 30+ exhibitors, shark cakes, goodie bags, apps and hashtags being used, and a commitment to run BITE again in 2017!
]]