| EVENT INTELLIGENCE 06.12.08 12:31 PM |
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M.C.s Gone Wild: Keeping Talent From Going Off-Book and Out-of-Bounds
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 | Jon Stewart at a 2005 Magazine Publisers of America event
Photo: M. Szwajkos/ Getty Images |
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The great thing about napkins or centerpieces or tents is that they don’t talk back. They don’t have a bad day, forget their audience, or have a few too many cocktails before an event. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for people, and when a planner enlists someone as a host or M.C., a certain element of risk and unpredictability gets added to the mix. And a poor performance can upset guests, sponsors, journalists—and, of course, the process of producing the event itself.
For example: Rosie O’Donnell made some jaws drop at the New York Women in Communications’ Matrix Awards luncheon last year, dropping the F-bomb and unleashing a less-than-refined rant directed at Donald Trump. In 2005, Jon Stewart ruffled feathers while mediating a panel for the Magazine Publishers of America, during which he skewered—some thought inappropriately—the magazines of -panelists Dave Zinczenko (from Men’s Health) and Kate White (from Cosmopolitan). And tongues wagged after Stephen Colbert addressed the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner crowd, which included the commander in chief himself, with an irony-rich routine that many felt punched, rather than poked fun at, the president.
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RELATED TOPICS
M.C.s, New York Women in Communications, Matrix Awards, Magazine Publishers of America, White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, AOL, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan magazine, Jon Stewart, Rosie O'Donnell, Stephen Colbert |
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| Q & A 12.04.07 12:58 PM |
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Rodale's Bouker Pool Runs a Growing Event Division
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 | Rodale's Bouker Pool
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash |
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All this month we're bringing you Q&As with our 2007 Event Strategists of the Year. Here's the first.
In February 2006, as Rodale was bringing its event marketing efforts in-house, the Emmaus, Pennsylvania-based magazine publisher hired Bouker Pool to manage it. His mandate was to dedicate the resources and oversight needed to capitalize on a race series and other events tied to the company’s well-known titles, which include Runner’s World and Men’s Health.
Pool, 35, began sorting through a program that was previously managed by a third-party agency—a situation he contends wasn’t working—and devising ways to improve it. Less than two years later, Rodale’s Sports Marketing and Events Group, which sponsors more than 6,000 running, cycling, and competitive athletic events annually, is thriving: Revenues skyrocketed 169 percent in fiscal year 2007. In the process, Pool and his full-time staff of six have sold both their peers and their clients on a strategy that integrates magazine ads with three-dimensional, one-on-one customer experiences.
Explain the range of events your clients sponsor.
Obviously, we have proprietary events in-house, such as the Best Life film festival, but our approach is to listen to clients and not try to shoehorn them into a proprietary event if it doesn’t fit, because we have the capability to go beyond our walls to create a custom program. We have relationships with more than 6,000 other events and festival expos in the company’s portfolio of events.
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RELATED TOPICS
Event Strategists of the Year, Rodale, Men's Health, Runner's World |
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