Seminar Event Forces Attendees to Meet Vendors
October 29, 2009 by Mary Ellen
Seminars and trade shows take an inordinate amount of time and energy, so gauging return on investment takes careful scrutiny from everyone involved.
The Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence, a not for profit founded by the Northern New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) sponsored an event for existing business owners event last week.
Sponsor tables lined the room. Attendees were required to collect signatures from every vendor present to qualify for the grand prize, 10 hours of one-on-one consulting from the keynote presenter. (NOTE: In following up with vendors, I discovered most prefer this method as it helps get traffic to the booth.)
I observed:
Conversations were interrupted as people thrust their dance card and pen into our midst and requested the obligatory fulfillment.
Vendors launched into a spiel with no prompting or interest from participants. (Some just wanted a signature.) NOTE: One vendor explained: “We take two booth workers to every show; that way, if one is tied up the other can sign attendee cards.” She also noted this tactic of forced booth visits has been growing in use.
Brochures were thrust at me. Each was full color, representing expensive collateral. Because I hadn’t requested any of these materials, they found their way to the recycle pile immediately after the show. NOTE: When I did my follow up, one vendor said that she offers handouts by request or simply allows participants to pick them up from the table.
Follow up has been non-existent. To date, I’ve had only one email follow up from the booths I visited. (The vendor had promised a special report to those who submitted a business card; since that wasn’t my experience, I hit delete.)
Unusual? Not really. This experience is probably better than some. Every vendor I spoke with gave this event a thumbs up for the money involved. One even enthused: “This was exactly targeted to where my business is now.”
The question remains the same for every promoter and the sponsors they attract: how do you generate involvement? Some of my ideas include:
Survey this year’s attendees to discover what they would like to see/hear in 2010. (In my discussions, I discovered this was not an option as there was no list from last year. In a volunteer, not for profit organization, this happens.) Plan now in order to make next year stronger.
Survey this year’s attendees on a variety of items, including presenter names, presentation titles, and event timing. Specifically:
“Getting a Second Wind to Run Your Business…Adjusting to the Landscape” titled the afternoon’s program. Two presentations provided content:
- “The Economy Sucks, So What Now?” (This presentation discussed current economics from a historical perspective and provided perspective.)
- “What Now? A Program for Business Owners after They’ve Launched their Business” (This presentation addressed marketing in its broadest sense, offering stories about the overview of marketing tools and their implementation. Handouts were unrelated to materials discussed.)
For the second year, this afternoon offering was scheduled just ahead of the NAWBO meeting. A number of women expressed concern with the “long day” such back-to-back events entailed. Would more members attend if these opportunities were presented separately? Could the Foundation attract other, non-NAWBO members if they scheduled at a different time or in a different venue?
Finally, consider a few well-placed interviews of participants to yield information for use in years to come. The organization may have a formalized debriefing program. If so, additional interviews now would add to the impact of future programs. This is called “Getting a Second Wind to Run Your Seminar.”
Other ideas? Post your responses here and I’ll pass them along.
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2 Responses to “Seminar Event Forces Attendees to Meet Vendors”
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Please. shoot me now. This is the worst kind of marketing. “’We take two booth workers to every show; that way, if one is tied up the other can sign attendee cards.’” She also noted this tactic of forced booth visits has been growing in use.”
Ah, the sound and fury of “power networking.”
And, once again people confuse activity with results, noise with conversation. Certainly, they may (emphasis on “may”) have the right people in the room – but did they actually connect? Did they follow up? (Seems they didn’t.) Do they even know what the potential customer needs?
Key word here is “force.” If you’re forcing people to do something, well, they may do it, but they don’t necessarily want to…nor will they be sitting by the phone hoping for a call from Vendor #28 on the card. When I’ve attended events like this – I don’t play. I visit the booths (if any) that actually interest me then hit the bar. After all, whatever they’re offering, I can probably get someplace else (including one-on-one consulting – I’ve got a power poobah list already, which includes people like – well – you for sanity checks.) and I’m a little too old for scavenger hunts or speed dating.
The info presented shows me what not to do. So many people are rapt up into what they can squeeze customers for that they could care less in what their product/service means to others. As a nascent small business, sure I could prompt increase profit margins to make money, but I am more interested in investment. That takes relationships. I would prefer to cultivate them due to the nature of my business. It is my reality.