To celebrate The Event Group's 20th Anniversary, each month this year we are looking back at some of the milestones that brought us to today. This month we remember two volunteer-run events we helped take to the next level.

The Event Group at 20: Elevating Your Event

After 20 years in the event business, we know it takes a lot of passion to get an event off the ground. Sometimes that passion comes from volunteers, who devote the time and energy to bring their vision to life.

If they're successful, they often encounter another challenge. As an event increases in scale, they no longer have the time or resources to manage the added size and complexity while maintaining the event’s quality.

As an event management company, we’re here to help. Sometimes volunteer organizers are initially reluctant to hire outside assistance. However, by doing so they get access to professionals who are able to focus fully on making the event a success. For volunteers, life or work can intervene and put everything else on the back burner. For us, your event is our 9-5 job, and we have backup when team members are out. We are also well positioned to negotiate costs based on the buying power of producing multiple events. Those factors result in increased growth as well as savings of both time and money that typically more than offset the investment.

WomenVenture

A good example of this occurred early in The Event Group's history. On Dec. 8, 1997, we were hired to help produce the 1998 WomenVenture Conference. Up until then, the event had been run by volunteers from WomenVenture and a small internal staff.

When TEG signed on, no venue had been contracted, no keynote was secured, and it was scheduled to take place on May 8, 1998 ... leaving just six month to put everything in place. In that time, TEG was able to find and lock in a venue, secure keynote speaker Dr. Maya Angelou, and bring in nearly 2,500 attendees for an event that had previously attracted 700 people.

It was also the first year the event featured an expo, and TEG recruited 90 sponsors and exhibitors for a record-breaking fundraiser. What had been a good event became a great event, and everyone who partnered on it, including lead sponsor American Express, was happy with the results.

Remodelers Edge

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) produced their annual conference, Remodelers Edge, for five years using volunteers and in-house staff. To take it to the next level, TEG was brought in to handle all aspects of the event: marketing, sponsorship, registration, and all event management and logistics.

TEG's goal was to grow the event in attendance, sponsorship sales, exposure, and profitability, allowing NARI staff to focus on their job requirements while utilizing volunteers for their connections. During our time working with the event, we were successful. TEG doubled attendance numbers, increased attendance revenue by more than 250 percent, and sponsorship and advertising revenue grew from $6,000 to more than $115,000 in three years.

The Event Group not only grew the event in numbers, but also initiated additional value-added events, such as a series of smaller VIP receptions, dinners, and entertainment along with numerous seminars and an exhibit hall. Over a three-year span, the event grew so significantly that it was bought by its competition, JBL Live.

If you missed any of our previous 20th Anniversary milestones, you can read about them at here: TEG Milestones