Case Study: Strong Content Delivers Strong Results: Enterprise Architecture Conference 2009

The Market Challenge
The government events market has never been more competitive.  Government leaders are being asked to do more with less in support of their agency missions – and to do so more efficiently, effectively, and with greater return on investment.  At the same time, the number of events, Webinars, podcasts, and other educational opportunities has increased dramatically vying for the employee’s limited time and even more limited training budget.  To rise above the din, event producers must identify and deliver on their brand’s differentiators in order to market and deliver high quality events.  For 1105, this means ensuring that its events reflect the exceptional educational content that its target audience has come to expect through its information and media offerings.  

Speaking the Language of Government – the CWI Difference
1105 engaged CWI’s event consulting services to develop the content for the 2009 Enterprise Architecture Conference and Exhibition.  As the public relations, marketing, and events firm of choice for public sector IT market leaders, CWI has a strong track record of success delivering events in the government market to targeted audiences.  1105 looked to CWI to create a theme and content targeted to the unique needs of the government EA community.  The CWI team worked collaboratively with 1105 and the EA Program Advisory Board to identify the theme – “Achieving Results from EA Investments” – and to design a conference program that would:

• Mirror the new administration’s focus on delivering results for the American people
• Address the new administration’s EA priorities and the impact of its agenda on the EA community
• Include topics such as management, lessons learned, and business transformation
• Invite participation by government executives in the EA stakeholder community such as program executives and Chief Information Officers (CIOs)

With these drivers in mind, CWI engaged the EA Program Advisory Board and the broader government EA community to spearhead 1105’s conference content development activities.  Specifically, CWI developed session topics; created the conference agenda; identified, invited, and confirmed session and keynote speakers; facilitated pre-conference speaker prep calls; developed an event script; and managed all pre-conference and on-site speaker logistics for the event.  In addition, CWI provided timely information to 1105 in order to market the event through electronic and print marketing collateral as well as the conference Web site.

Key Results
The 2009 Enterprise Architecture Conference and Exhibition was held on September 9-10, 2009.  CWI’s event consulting services and government expertise enabled 1105 to deliver a successful event with the following key attributes:

• Produced on time and on budget
• Met attendance goals including attendance by over 500 government, academic, and industry leaders from the EA and its stakeholder community (e.g., CIOs, program executives)
• Delivered three keynote speakers
• Delivered three session tracks, 18 sessions, and 71 conference speakers – 77 percent of speakers were government executives
• 76 percent of attendees rated overall session quality as a “4” or “5” on a scale of “1 to 5” (with “5” exceeding expectations and “1” not at all)
• 77 percent of attendees rated session content quality as a “4” or “5” on a scale of “1 to 5” (with “5” exceeding expectations and “1” not at all)

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