• by Melynda Fuller , February 11, 2019

Last week The New York Times ran a story called “Events are the New Magazines,” exploring the need for publishers to cash in on the events business and an agency called Special Projects that helps them to do just that. 

According to the story, publishers increasingly rely on the revenue earned from events and the celebrities who make them attractive to would-be attendees. 

Similarly, event management platform Bizzabo has seen dramatic growth in publishers adopting its software since 2016, when it counted just 39 publishers as clients.  Today it has 328, including Vice, Coindesk and The Drum. 

Alon Alroy, co-founder and CMO at Bizzabo, told Publishers Daily, “Recently, we’re seeing an explosion of online publishers who have pursued an event strategy. And, a key differentiator between them is the look and feel of their websites and the sophistication of their branding.” 

Bizzabo’s software provides publishers with a way to “to easily design a completely branded experience for their attendees” through its website editor. Publishers can also use its white label app to create a holistically branded event. Its suite of tools supports the entire event lifecycle from event marketing to collecting attendee data to evaluating ROI. 

The platform also allows publishers to incorporate sponsorships through increased visibility across website design, apps and email communications, while also suggesting additional branding opportunities and creating sponsor profiles that connect attendees with brands. 

Dasha Sukovatitsyn, Coindesk’s operations manager, reports the outlet generated an additional $120,000 in revenue by using Bizzabo’s Ticket Boost tool that turned “event attendees into event promoters.” 

Meanwhile, The Drum’s events and marketing coordinator Talloulah Matthews said it was able to increase registrations by 20% through the platform. 

Alroy added, “Bizzabo provides a streamlined, integrated solution that allows any event marketer to manage everything from ticketing and registration, to post-event analytics, to one central dashboard. “

Last year, Bizzabo reported 59% of its publisher business came from the U.S, with 87% of that business from verticals focused on media. The number of events hosted varied, with 36% of customers planning 13 or more events per year and 34% hosting 12 or fewer.

“The smartest publishers know that live events are becoming a more meaningful revenue stream, in addition to being one of the best opportunities for them to form relationships with readers, sponsors, media partners and advertisers,” said Alroy. “As a result, publishers that want to establish themselves as industry leaders are folding events into their content plans.”