Author: Alex Oliveira

As a seasoned Marketing Consultant, I’ve made it my mission to bring my clients the latest and greatest in marketing tools of all kinds. This means staying ahead of the curve and continue building my own professional toolkit – and a major tool in my stash is conferences. There is truly no better way to learn from experts in your particular industry than to see and hear them in person. Webinars, blogs, and websites alone just don’t cut it. So every year I attend, at a minimum, 15 conferences.

In total, I’ve attended more than 300 conferences for industries ranging from fashion to construction to automotive to marketing across dozens of cities in the U.S. and abroad. Sometimes I’m searching for better opportunities and sometimes I’m looking for better talent. One thing is for sure, I take a lot of notes and follow up with the people I meet. My goal is to fill up my learning bucket with strategies from professionals who are working the hardest to stay ahead of the curve. Much of my innovative strategies come from attending conferences. Some of the conferences are top-notch, with eloquent, knowledgeable keynote speakers and engaging content. Some are still developing into their future, better selves. 

To make the most of my time and capitalize on the value of attending these conferences, I’ve developed a detailed conference-going process. Approaching each one with the same key strategies pre-conference, during the conference and post-conference ensures you get the most out of your time there and, most importantly, guaranteed return on investment. In addition to attending, my company, Prediq, will sometimes exhibit or sponsor parts of the conferences. It’s a great way to let the world know what we do. I’ve also taken up speaking at these conferences. Speaking can be an effective way to meet prospects and give back to businesses searching for the type of content I speak about. 

One of the newest conferences I’m speaking at is Lead Generation World in Denver, CO on January 20, 2020.  I’ll be sharing effective ways to improve engagement in Lead Generation campaigns by using Design Thinking principles and improving User-Experience on websites. I’m excited to be attending this conference and grateful to Michael Ferree for inviting me to be a speaker. Michael and I recently did a podcast together where we talked about Lead Generation and the conference. You can hear it here.

Pre-Conference Planning

Before every conference, check out the agenda, download the app and write down your goals. Sit with your team to determine who will be attending the conference and what his or her role will be. From there, break down the time spent at the conference. Which speakers are must-sees for you? I’ve seen the great leaders Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Marc Benioff, and Barbara Corcoran, among many other incredible business minds, at conferences. Don’t be shy to go up to these speakers and have a conversation after their talk. If you enjoyed it, tell them! 

How many workshops/sessions can you fit into your schedule? Make sure to attend the ones focused on areas your business needs improvement on and ones that highlight innovations in your industry.

Which booths and exhibitors are at the top of your list to visit? Seek out companies with products or services that will benefit your customer base. In recent years, booths with unique spins, such as robotics competitions, Shark Tank-type pitches, hackathons, and artists or comedians performing have attracted many conference-goers. And the amazing swag certainly doesn’t hurt! I always travel back home with a bunch of swag for my 4 kids. T-shirts and note pads are still the favorites!

What are the most important networking events you should attend? Competitions like golf and bowling are a great way to help entrepreneurs connect and have fun. The most popular networking locations tend to be local bars and pubs. And which clients and vendors are you meeting? Splitting your time three ways is most productive, with a third of the conference time spent in sessions, a third in networking and meetings, and the remaining third visiting exhibitors.

Once your action plan is established, have your team spend several weeks making pre-conference calls, connecting with prospects on the conference app or LinkedIn, setting meetings and making travel arrangements.

Making The Most Of The Event

Upon arriving at the venue, the first thing to do is check-in, get your badges and download the conference’s app, if there is one. The best conferences have apps that allow conference-goers to manage schedules, find networking events, interact on social media with unique hashtags, and connect with speakers and other attendees. I recommend staying at the same hotel where the conference is held or nearby if the conference is at a convention center. 

Once checked in, send confirmation texts to each of the people you’re scheduled to meet with that day. Before those meetings, set aside time for yourself to practice your pitch. Even if you’re a seasoned conference-goer and have had thousands of meetings, you always want to be on your game and make an impression on each individual and potential and current client. Make it a point to familiarize yourself with new clients via their LinkedIn profile and website.

Confirm that your phone is fully charged and then grab your conference arsenal: business cards, coffee, water, mints, hand sanitizer, notepad, pen, and portable phone charger and your game face. Don’t forget to bring your portable charger. This will save you the trouble of looking for charging stations or worse have no charge. I typically set between 12 and 15 solid meetings and sprinkle in some networking and impromptu face-to-face conversations while visiting the exhibits. Make sure you add a few meeting notes to your notepad, business card or use an app like Evernote to keep track of the opportunities before you.

Once your daily meetings have wrapped, take an hour to review your meetings, identify and prioritize client potential while the information is fresh in your mind, and prepare for the next few hours of networking and dinners with clients. I also never leave a city without having a great meal and visiting a local attraction.

Post-Conference Work

The conference is over. You can rest, right? Wrong! Give yourself a day to decompress but don’t disconnect completely. Now’s the time to capitalize on the connections you made. Have a post-conference debriefing with your team to review your detailed notes and decide which contacts you’ll chase first. For the post-conference strategy, you can break it up into 3 sections. Just like with the planning you’ll focus on Learning, Meetings & Opportunities. First, for Learning, I challenge you to implement at least one tactic you learned in one of the sessions or workshops within the first month after coming back. If you think you picked up several nuggets that are worth testing then create a schedule to test them in the coming weeks. 

Secondly, for Meetings, I would recommend sending a summary email with a request for a follow-up call, and then send a handwritten thank you note. A little personal attention goes a long way. Hopefully, you’re using a CRM to keep track of all these leads. Lastly, for Opportunities I recommend you research the people and companies you met in the exhibit hall. The match between 2 companies may not only be buying or selling – it may be a mutually beneficial referral arrangement. We call those Channel Partnerships. If we think we know enough businesses that can use a product we’ll explore such an arrangement. In the following days, weeks and months, track the opportunity and compare the outcome with the initial goals set. And that’s it – this process is how you can make attending an industry conference one of your most valuable and effective money-making marketing tools. Happy conferencing in 2020!