Some of you may know I’m not actually from Somerset (though I do like my cider!) but from California. I grew up following baseball pretty closely and loved my “local” team, the Oakland A’s.
We had the great names and big hitters of Mark McGwire & Jose Conseco, but the A’s were heading for a slump… that was difficult to get out of! I was reminded of this watching Moneyball recently…
Essentially, Billy Beane, the General Manager of the A’s was up against it. He was faced with a decreasing budget, he was losing his top players and had to think of something new to get Oakland back to the top.
So he did. And he used data.
The short story is that he brought on board a young economics graduate with new ideas about how to assess a player’s value and ability based on their on base percentage (more on base, means more likely to score runs). This wasn’t met with huge enthusiasm from the board or the scouts (traditionally used to find new players – emphasis on traditional!). After a slow start (and bad performance) they went on to win 20 consecutive games and set an American league record.
Post Season, Billy was then offered contracts with top clubs like the RedSox (for $12.5million – which would have made him the highest paid general manager in sports history) which he refused, to stay with Oakland. Two years later… Boston RedSox went on to win the World Series using Billy’s model!
How is this relevant to exhibitions?
It’s pretty simple really. I wanted to highlight that by using data, you can improve your return. For example, are you looking for new revenue streams, new features or for new audiences?
Even if you only have a basic understanding of data (you look at your reports right?) you have access to this information (provided its within your job spec;-). You can find the gaps for new audiences, which could then bring you new sponsorship or exhibitors. You can see visiting paterns to see if you can increase dwell time at your event. You can see delegate types, to see if you need to showcase new content.The list could go on…
Use the data you have wisely and you can increase your return!
Key takeaways?
Capture quality data.
Use it effectively
Grow your event.
Awesome. (bringing some American back to my vocabulary 😉