Some of the biggest marketing breakthroughs have come from brands that made new connections with unexpected demographics. Consider Nintendo Wii and its raging success with trendsetting moms for example. Who knew right? Following Nintendo’s lead brands once considered long shots with certain market segments are finding success by targeting tastemakers at niche events. The key to bringing together these odd couplings: connecting the dots through creative and relevant experiences.

September is a month typically associated with Fashion Week and fall fashion magazines. This year however it also included Fashion’s Night Out an event held on Sept. 10 from 5 to 11 p.m. designed to boost the ailing fashion and design industries. More than 700 retailers across New York’s five boroughs from massive department stores like Macy’s

Facebook has more than 150 million monthly active users. Twitter visits have skyrocketed 1 400 percent in the past year. And according to a recent Nielsen report the time consumers spend on social networks has increased 73 percent since 2008. Yes social media is exploding all around us. Even our moms are giving it a go.
Yet despite its popularity the social networking space is a vast and tricky medium to activate in.

When the economy hit the ground like Joe Frazier didn’t like its face event marketers could have fallen right down with it and hugged the canvas. But you didn’t. You took the left hook from accounting about your budgets and most recently the uppercut from the media and the public about your sponsorships and meetings. And you’re still standing.

If there’s one word no one in event marketing wants to hear it’s “cancellation.” Yet with today’s struggling economy some marketers are faced with the reality of having to pull at least one already-booked event from the portfolio. If you’ve gotta do it here are some tips to help you avoid—or at least minimize—costly cancellation fees.