Know Before-You-Go:The First Time Attendees’ Guide for Navigating the Exhibit Hall
Many of us in the event management world have attended a variety of tradeshows, exhibitions, conventions, seminars, symposiums, meetings, summits, and conferences to know how to get the most out of the event experience. We typically know the whole process including the what, where and when before we even get there. We are planners, by nature, and have a ‘logistics’ mind-set in which we tend to operate with on a day-to-day basis. We are ready!
But what about the non-event professional? What about the consumer, the expo novice, and the convention center rookie? What about the first-time conference goer? For the first time attendee, making the most out of the allotted exhibit hall hours can be a challenge. Expo hours typically offer opportunities to meet, interact and learn from product and service representatives. Time in the exhibit hall can also coincide with networking opportunities and occasionally compete with sessions. So how does the novice buyer or influencer take advantage of all the educational and social resources your exhibition has to offer?
How to Design a Conference Introverts will Love – Guest Post by Lisa Petrilli
I have a secret. One that I’m about to share with you. I am an introvert…working in a very extraverted industry. Networking opportunities are often promoted by event organizers, like me, as a benefit of attending their event. Likewise surveyed attendees often cite networking opportunities and the quality of the connections that they make as a top reason for attending or returning to an event. Conferences seem to offer the ideal place and opportunity to meet people, especially if you are of the extraverted variety. But, if you are an introvert, like me, all of the face-to-face interactions that happen over the course of a multi-day event can leave you feeling a bit drained. Likewise, you may be attending an event for the first time and feel a bit of anxiety about inserting yourself into groups of repeat attendees that have banded together. Introverts and extraverts alike want to meet new people at the events they attend, but have very different approaches in doing so.
The dilemma then, for event organizers, is how to structure our events to appeal to and engage both personality types. I offer the following actionable advice in the form of a guest post from Lisa Petrilli. Lisa Petrilli is Chief Executive Officer of C-Level Strategies, Inc., Chief Operating and Marketing Officer for the To Be a Woman global platform, and Chief Relationship Officer for CEO Connection. She is also the author of the eBook The Introverts Guide to Success in Business and Leadership. Read more 
The Year Ahead – A Return to Excellence
Travis Stanton’s Editorial in the November issue of EXHIBITOR magazine hit home with me as I thought about our company this past year and where I want to take it in the year to come. He talked about how the last few years of economic recession and hiring freezes has squelched innovation as organizations have struggled to get things done with fewer resources. Out of necessity, the focus has been on managing costs and making things work, not on considering the new ideas that will that will drive future success. “Good became good enough and excellent became an aspiration, rather than an expectation.”
The New Year offers an opportunity for fresh perspective and new ideas. Like EXHIBITOR magazine, MRA Services has welcomed some new talent to our company. We, too, have attempted to change the conversation within our organization over the last few months to focus on how things could and should be done, even if it’s not how we’re currently doing them. We, too, will challenge ourselves to tap into fresh perspectives, while attempting to manage change initiatives to maintain stability and superior service.
In the year ahead, MRA Services will center our priorities on the following: Read more
Part 2 – Lucky 7s – High Stakes, Big Wins at Brand ManageCamp, Las Vegas!
For the final installment on my Brand ManageCamp 2011 experience, I want to share a few observations on the unexpected return on investment from attending this event – the new relationships that were forged and how to create relationship building opportunities at your next event. Conferences often tout “networking opportunities” as a benefit of attendance. While I think most of you would agree that making new contacts at an event is important, have you ever really thought about how to maximize attendee engagement opportunities onsite and the impact that those new relationships can have on personal and professional development?
Granted, a large part of the “networking” equation depends on the individual. And, I know by my own experience, it’s not always easy to walk up to a table full of strangers and tell your story. For me, it was a humbling experience and I know now how newcomers to my clients’ events must feel…something akin to that first trip to the elementary school lunchroom! As event organizers, we can help facilitate networking, not only by providing time and social functions, but also by structuring those events to make it easier for people to engage with one another. Consider these examples from my experience at Brand ManageCamp: Read more
Lucky 7s – High Stakes, Big Wins at Brand ManageCamp, Las Vegas! Part 1
When I last blogged, it was to write about my expectations and preparations for attending Brand ManageCamp 2011 in Las Vegas. And, as you may recall, I had high hopes for what I would gain through this experience and goals for how I’d measure my ROI for attending. Good or bad, I promised I’d share my experience with you. Now, I know Vegas is not typically the place where most people return home talking about their “big wins,” especially since winning big is somewhat of an anomaly in Vegas, but I, for one, got lucky! In fact, I came back with so many ideas and sources for inspiration to share; I’m dedicating two posts to the subject.
So, you ask, what made this event so special? And, more importantly, what can be duplicated at your next event? For starters, the check-in experience of the host hotel. This was a first for me, but they offered check-in at the airport, right there in the baggage claim area. How easy was that?! They allowed me to check-in early, accommodated my request to be in the tower closest to Starbucks (I have my priorities!), gave me a balcony with a view of the Strip and arranged round-trip shuttle transportation for me…all this before my bag landed on the baggage carousel. Now, as meeting planners we don’t necessarily have control over the hotel check-in process, but perhaps this experience may inspire other hotels in routinely visited destination cities to expedite their check-in processes in new and inventive ways. Read more
The ROI of Conference Attendance
As an account manager that helps plan conferences, it’s not often that I get out from behind the scenes to actually go to a conference as an attendee. But, I’m doing just that, as I look forward to attending Brand ManageCamp 2011 in Sin City. Brand ManageCamp is a marketing-focused conference that promises high-caliber speakers like Guy Kawasaki (my favorite go-to marketing inspiration source for everything from how to create “The World’s Shortest Marketing Plan” to how to create a cover letter that generates a call back) and fresh ideas for reaching and engaging with clients and prospective clients. It’s the first event of its kind that I have attended and I have high expectations…as does my boss!
As I’m confirming my flight and hotel arrangements, notifying folks that I’ll be away from the office and readying the projects I hope to get done while I’m away, I came across an interesting blog post from HubSpot – The Ultimate Event Checklist: Rock the Fall Conference Season! As an event management professional, I spend each day helping my team and my clients plan and develop their conferences. However, I must admit to not putting nearly that amount of detail into planning and organizing my own attendance at a professional development event…and I have a feeling I’m not alone!
I suspect that most of us determine attendance at an event based on one or a combination of the following:
- Recommendation from someone we trust
- A previous good experience attending that event
- The need for continuing education credits
- Celebrity or otherwise recognizable speaker(s)
In my opinion, the days of justifying attendance at an event solely based on location and venue are numbered, if not gone altogether. (For further reading on this, I recommend Jason Henderson’s previous post, “Conference Management 1.0”) We have to rationalize the expense of attending a conference to someone paying the registration and travel fees, right? In order to do that, we have to articulate the value we expect to get from attending – the ROI, if you will – just as we would do for any other investment of organizational funds. HubSpot’s checklist facilitated that “aha moment” for me and inspired me to devote some time and energy into developing my own objectives for attending this event (as if the potential to meet Guy Kawasaki wasn’t enough!)and how I will evaluate whether or not my attendance in 2012 will be justified.
With respect to attending an event, ROI for me is measured by the following objective:
What did I learn (either through sessions or new relationships) that I can implement within the next 12 months with the existing team and budget that will accomplish one or more of the following objectives:
a) Increase event participation for clients
b) Strengthen retention rates for conference sponsors, exhibitor and attendees
c) Deepen relationships with existing clients and key sponsors
d) Decrease expenses
e) Increase revenue
As an event organizer, do you know how your attendees calculate their return on investment? What evaluation criteria and objectives do they consider? I encourage you to take a moment and review your event from the attendee perspective and determine if your event, indeed, delivers a desirable and persuasive ROI, one that will attendees will choose to invest their limited funds. For example, do you broaden your professional development focus by exposing your attendees to proven practices from outside their specific industry? Do your speakers have an established reputation for success or do they have a compelling, proven story of accomplishment that can be duplicated by someone other than themselves? Do your sessions promote and deliver specific learning objectives that are relevant to your audience? Are there active opportunities for attendees to connect with each other and engage with conference presenters prior to the actual event? What methods are available for first time attendees to feel welcome and return the next year?
From this attendee’s perspective, I’m challenging Brand ManageCamp to deliver on my ROI. So, in addition to packing my bag this weekend, I’m also taking with me my goals for what I hope to learn and apply from attending this event, the list of others attending with whom I hope to meet and collaborate, along with a copy of Guy Kawasaki’s new book, Enchantment. I’ll post again from the conference for the results on how Brand ManageCamp lived up to my lofty expectations for value and return on investment. In this instance, here’s to hoping that what happens in Vegas, er make that Brand ManageCamp, doesn’t stay in Vegas!
