Home > Articles By Issue > December 2005

LiveXchange: A Smashing Success

The inaugural Business Facilities LiveXchange held in November 2005 matched our readers with locations. Expect it to double in size for 2006.

By Karim Khan

BF LiveXchange Corporate executives and economic developers participate in a seminar together at LiveXchange. Photo by Group C Communications, Inc.

About this time last year, we knew we has a great concept. That concept—bringing together our readers with a wide variety of locations seeking their investment—needed a name. It wasn’t quite a forum and certainly not a “show;” it was a place to exchange ideas and information on two topics that matters to our readers—relocation and expansion—and thus the Business Facilities LiveXchange was born.

What we had in mind was meant to be small, exclusive, respectful of attendees’ time and schedules, and free of distractions. The core of the event is the one-on-one meeting system, giving everyone a chance to have a conversation with the attendees they’d like to meet with most. By looking at everyone’s meeting preferences (filled out ahead of time), we created a schedule that was different for every attendee and minimized the chance of unproductive meetings. The meetings (25 minutes each) were purposely kept long enough to determine if further conversations needed to take place (perhaps at lunch or at the cigar bar after dinner), and short enough to keep things moving if the fit wasn’t right.

We picked the Château Élan, about 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta, GA as the resort to host LiveXchange. Atlanta is easy and affordable to get to, and the Château is remote enough to be free of outside distractions. With its white glove table service, outstanding cuisine, and luxury amenities, it really proved to be an ideal place to conduct business in a formal but relaxed manner.

BF LiveXchange The comfortable and well-lit Atrium Lobby of the Château Élan served as the space for one-on-one meetings. Photo by Group C Communications, Inc.

To maximize time, even lunches and dinners were carefully created as meetings. A beautiful day of golf on one of the Château’s three courses also paired up attendees interested in meeting each other. Amazingly, we fit these high-quality meetings (numbering around 12 to 15 for each delegate) into only two days out of the office. Aside from transportation to LiveXchange, Business Facilities picked up the tab for everything else—even the shuttle to and from the airport. For the 2006 LiveXchange, Business Facilities will even be covering airfare for qualified delegates.

We worked all year to let our readers know about LiveXchange and how it would benefit them. The editors spent a lot of time creating the series of educational seminars, workshops, and think-tanks that our delegates and sponsors would attend. Our staff was confident, but definitely had the jitters that accompany any first-time event. We knew the stories about similar-sounding events put on by other organizations in years past, and how they failed because the organizers didn’t fully appreciate the needs of all parties attending.

By the end of the first day of LiveXchange, we knew our experience in the corporate relocation and expansion world since 1968 had served us well: it was clear that we knocked it out of the park. That’s not a phrase we picked ourselves; rather, it’s literally what several of our delegates, sponsors, and speakers told us.

Lunches and dinners were a chance to discuss business in a more relaxed setting. Photo by Group C Communications, Inc.

Everyone at LiveXchange 2005 seemed amazed by the quality of the surroundings: the food wasn’t standard catered fare, it was truly gourmet; the Château conference center was filled with natural light and pleasant staff, in contrast to so many hotel ballrooms used for events; there was a sense of constant activity, but never so much that it became stressful or overwhelming.

More to the point, everybody we talked to found LiveXchange, even just several hours into the event, to be a refreshing alternative to other events meant to match growing companies with appropriate locations. Delegates were learning from each other about the process of selecting a new location for business. They got to compare the offerings of all the locations attending that fit their basic criteria, and determine who they would be interested in following up with. And our surveys showed that they got enormous value out of the speakers we invited, with many requesting that digital copies of the presentations be posted online afterward for download.

Sponsoring locations told us they had never been to an event that gave them access to so many executives with real, substantial projects on the table. They were also surprised to find out how relevant and valuable the educational sessions were. The combination of meeting with our readers and the cream of the crop in site consultants made sponsoring the event a no-brainer for them; on a per-meeting basis, it’s the most cost-effective tool on the market.

Naturally, plans are well underway for the 2006 LiveXchange, which will again be held at the Château Élan. Having figured out how to run the event in 2005, we have much more time to prepare for 2006 and we can focus on bringing you an even bigger and better event. Not too big though—keeping it intimate is one of the things that makes it work so well. Space is limited, so sign up today.

Readers: Attend LiveXchange 2006 FREE.
Visit www.BFLiveXchange.com for more information.