Crushing it at Conferences

By: Arnold Huffman

I have attended hundreds of conferences not only in the US and Canada but also on every continent including Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and only missing South America and Antarctica (not sure I’ll ever check that box). 

In my years of conference-going, I’ve formed a few of my truths and takeaways that you can apply to your own efforts, with the hope that you’ll find newfound success in doing so.

Let’s start with the hard stuff. Now, this may sound cynical, but here are the truths about potential clients and customers attending a conference:

• Most don’t want to talk to you
• Most don’t care what you do
• Most will flip over their name badge so you can’t see their name and company
• Some will even act like they are on the to avoid you in the hallways
• Most just want the tchotchke for their kids (if you have a good tchotchke…word spreads like wildfire if you have a good one, but refer back to the first bullet point)

If you are a sponsoring vendor, whereby your company has paid a handsome ransom to have a booth and presence at a conference, you, the representative(s) at the conference repping your business, are being measured on ‘ROI’. 

‘Conference ROI’ is code for “how many business cards did you collect/badges did you scan” of potential customers? Knowing this fact, you eat your Wheaties in the morning, you do your pushups, and maybe even go for a run to get the endorphins ramped up to talk to every single human that walks by your booth.

Reality is you are likely to have less than 5% of the attendees who genuinely want to talk to you. The majority (call it 75%) fall into the bullet points above. That leaves you 20% to win, somehow, someway. 

So what gives? Here are a few ideas to maximize your opportunity with those 20% to ensure you hit your ‘ROI Target’, depending on your budget:

• Pay more to have a presentation slot ($$$$$) – Usually this is a case study speaking opportunity which requires to be done in conjunction with your client/customer. This can get expensive because not only are you paying for the speaking slot, you are also likely paying for your customer’s ticket to be there. 
• Max out your tchotchke game ($$$-$$$$) – There are plenty of opportunities here. One idea is to treat it like a carnival game. All the small prizes for just stopping by and all the bigger prizes if someone speaks with you with intent. You can even have a lottery system whereby they have to come back a second time to win the ‘big prize.’ Another idea is to actually have a carnival game, one that takes 10 seconds whereby you have a chance to pitch them while they prep/line up for the game. If they win, they get the prize, if they miss, then at least they heard your pitch.
• Hire a personality ($$$-$$$$) – Entertainment is king. Most people attending these events just want to be entertained. Give them something to laugh at, be amazed by or be inspired by. If your product can do that, then great! But most don’t. So, you need to hire someone to come and create a buzz at your booth. I have a friend who once hired David Blaine (the magician) to do his famous ‘Street Magic’ during a happy hour at their booth. And while it cost even more, it 100% drew a crowd.
• Create the best damn video ($$-$$$) – Continuously running video content is a great draw for a booth, because the visitor can learn about your company/what you do without talking to you. That is a win-win for them, because if they like what they see, then they will actually talk with you or follow up after the conference. But creating a video takes planning, creativity and either investment or skill. If you are going to make a video, make it worth making. And for damn sure, make it either funny or inspiring. Whatever you do, don’t make a talking head product demo. Save your visitors the pain and agony.
• Throw a raging happy hour ($-$$) – If all else fails, libations rarely fail. People will always show up for a few swigs — because it will help them get through the dinner they probably have booked with another vendor that night. So, they appreciate you ‘greasing the skids’ ahead of time. And heck, if they can have a couple in the company of other attendees, then they aren’t the only ones listening to you at the same time and can tune out if they want.

As you prepare for a conference, you need a gameplan. There are a few key things you should do to maximize your success when doing so. 

• First, you need to create a theme for the event. Your goal is to get people’s attention. Be it superheroes or supercars, there are ways to make it fun and engaging. This is very important and if you want success, you must put in the time to figure out how to stand out. Be as gregarious as your brand (and your leadership) will allow you to be. Come up with a theme that will allow you to walk on stilts, fire a tee-shirt gun, or even pop off some fireworks. The farther you go, the more likely you will get the attendees’ attention.
• Once you have a theme, put it to work. Ahead of the conference, if you have the attendee list, you will want to prioritize the list to the key prospects. Using your theme, send a pre-event package to notify them about your booth, letting them know you will be there. Sending nicely packaged gifts will certainly get their attention. We once sent monogrammed sake sets to prospective clients.
• During the event, as noted above, put forth your best effort to engage people. Be the big draw. Be the booth that everyone wants to come to.
• Lastly, after the event, be sure to follow up with all your new contacts. Offer the opportunity to just stay in touch. Don’t oversell them, but rather, earn their confidence. Keep them in your CRM and build a nurture program to stay on their radar. The time will come when they need your service or product. Remember, you’re playing the long game.

I can tell you that if you came back with contact info for 20 to 25% of attendees from a 1,000 person conference (200-250 prospects/contacts), that your company will be jazzed up and everyone will say “I have to go back to that conference again next year!” (which may sound painful to you if you are the representative, but you did such a good job, you’ve earned another trip to Orlando or Vegas 😊).

So, you might as well make the most of it. It all starts with the right attitude, starting with the planning of being there, the right theme, the approach, and how much dust you can kick up. Have fun while working the conference. Spend money. Be outrageous. 

Fireworks anyone?