July/August 2005
Cheat Sheet: Conference Archives
How to use archiving to add value to your event for attendees and revenue to your bottom line

By Linda C. Chandler

Why archive?
• Archived conference sessions add value for attendees. After they’ve spent thousands of dollars and days away from the office to attend a conference, giving them something they’ll use as a reference throughout the year helps prove it was all worth it.
• Limited access to archived material can help convince potential attendees that they’re missing something by not being at the event.
• Archives create lasting sponsorship opportunities.

What can you archive?
• Text documents such as speeches or presentations
• PowerPoint slides containing text or graphics
• Multimedia presentations, combining audio and PowerPoint, for example
• Streaming audio/streaming video

Pros and cons of archiving formats
Paper
• Pro: Traditional, tangible, portable and usable anywhere.
• Con: May be cumbersome to store and carry, may make show organizer look “behind the times” and, for environmentalists, may be politically incorrect. Generally print still has longer production time, and it’s history as soon as it’s off the press.
CD
• Pro: It’s a tangible product you use without having to be online. Light and easy to transport. Many now designed in MP3.
• Con: It’s finished when it’s burned. No additional content can be added.
Web
• Pro: It’s easy to correct, update or add material. Nothing to transport. Usage is measurable through hits and time online.
• Con: It may become a time challenge for some users who have dial-up access or slower computers.

How much will it cost?
Not surprisingly, costs vary widely, usually based on features, set-up and volume/number of users.
• To put audio only on a CD runs anywhere from $30-$150, depending on the volume involved against the labor required.
• Volume discounts are usually available for CDs so the cost per item can vary from $2 to $20 each.
• Average prices for online archiving seem to vary from $15 to $30 per attendee. The price very much depends on what features the show organizer wants and how much traffic they can generate.
• Another alternative is to find a company that will set up and run online archives for free in return for the show selling and marketing the archives. These companies may pay a royalty fee back to the show. Most have minimum attendee and usage requirements, and most tend to favor organizations with a built-in need for education, such as continuing-education credits.

How to charge
• Provide free CD or Web access to attendees, charge all others
• Charge for most current information, no charge for older materials
• Charge per view, by individual files
• Charge an annual subscription rate for access to everything

Revenue-generating ideas
• Set prices based on value. If an attendee spends $500 on a conference registration and has time to see 10 sessions, each session is worth $50. Then don’t give away your entire conference archive for $50.
• Secure sponsors for production costs and include their messages on the CD or other format, including Web.
• Sell archived materials after the conference from your Web store or library at a higher price than on site.
• Take advantage of the flexibility of both CD and Web to use archived presentations as interactive continuing-education modules. Include pre- and post-tests. Besides being available year-round, they may save the expense of writing curriculum. (See www.netsymposium.com and www.softconference.com/oba/ for continuing education examples.)
• If handling archives sales is not a priority to you, let a supplier sell the archives and give your organization royalties. Link from your Web site to theirs.

Marketing tips
• Promote archived content on all conference materials. Include a place on the registration form — printed or online — to order materials in advance of the conference, on site or by mail afterward.
• Use materials after the show to promote future events. “See what you missed at …” using short clips on the Web site, for instance.
• Attract new members or attendees by giving them limited access to information.
• Push archives through e-mail newsletters with links to Web pages or with promotions for CDs or other formats.
• Give your archives a prominent position on your Web page, whether it involves ordering transcripts, cassettes and CDs or viewing and listening to archives online.

Making archives user-friendly
•  Ask about “auto setup” features and check to see whether the supplier offers Web or telephone support.
• Be sure to include links for downloading necessary operating programs like Adobe Acrobat or Macromedia Flash. (Both these cross MAC and Windows platforms.)
• Incorporate a table of contents, or even better, a search function so users can find what they want quickly.
• Designate a staff person to assist through e-mail or by phone to ensure a comfort level for users.

Sources
Kim Arellano, TradeFair Group, www.tradefairgoup.com, (832) 242-1969
Christie Batten, The Sound of Knowledge, www.tsok.net, (858) 635-5969
Matthew Diamond, Content Management Corp., www.softconference.com, (888) 711-1138
Heather McArthur, Ontario Bar Association, www.oba.org, (800) 668-8900
David J. McKnight, Omnipress, www.omnipress.com, (800) 828-0305
Jim Parker, Digitell, Inc., www.digitellinc.com, (800) 679-3646
Joseph Taylor, Radiological Society of North America, www.rsna.org, (630) 571-2670
Todd Wagner, Conference Archives, www.conferencearchives.com, (814) 536-3356