An Open Letter To Association Marketers During Events Season

By: Bill Zimmer, Head of Marketing & Creative

You haven't slept well in three weeks. Not because anything went wrong. Because everything is going well, for the most part. And you're the one making sure it stays that way.

Right now, somewhere on your screen, there is a spreadsheet with a column titled, “Status” and forty-seven rows underneath that say, “In Progress.” There is also an email from a speaker’s bureau representative asking about something that was already confirmed, a paid social campaign that went live this morning and needs to be watched, a registration number that is either good news or a reason to panic depending on who you show it to, and a creative brief that you wrote at 9:07 p.m. last Tuesday that no one has commented on yet.  

You are doing this job. You are executing the plan everyone agreed upon. And yet, there is more to be done. Always more. You must stay vigilant, strategic, and ready to pivot on a moment’s notice until you hit the goal and the doors open for your event.  

We know this vibe because we’ve spent years inside these moments, too. Not observing them. Living them. We know what it feels like when your biggest keynote email announcement finally gets approved and blows up inboxes. We also know what it feels like when it doesn't get the clicks you expected. We know all too well the specific anxiety of realizing that the color palette you chose for your event marketing campaign is accidentally identical to your competitor’s. We know the Thursday morning standup where someone asks about the numbers, and you give the honest answer, and the room goes quiet for a second longer than you wish it would.  

We know that even the best event cannot sell itself. If it could, it wouldn’t need marketing.

Association event marketing is not a small job dressed up in a small budget. It is a big job. With big responsibilities. Event marketing requires you to think like a brand visionary and execute like a logistics expert, often in the same meeting. It requires you to make things that move people to register, to attend, and to come back next year. It requires you to care about something that, by its nature, disappears the moment it works. There is no artifact. There is simply a room full of people who showed up because something you created convinced them it was worth it. Then, the room empties, and you start again.  

But that is exactly why we do it.  

Not for the status meetings. Not for the campaign metrics. For the room. For what happens in the room. The conversation that leads to a collaboration, the session that reframes how someone thinks about their work, the handshake that turns into a partnership that turns into something none of us could have predicted. Associations exist to move their industries forward. Event marketers are the ones who make that movement possible. That's not a small thing to put on your shoulders. But it's a remarkable thing to be trusted with.

If you're in the thick of event marketing right now: we see you. The work is harder than it looks, and it looks like a lot. Because it means a lot. Keep it up.

360 Live Media is a full-service marketing and events agency serving associations and nonprofits.