Event Marketing

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How To Attend a Conference

June 1, 2011 in Event Marketing, Marketing | No comments

conference badges

Do you enjoy attending conferences as much as I do? Meeting new people, exposure to new ideas and idealism are all infectious. But a week after the conference is over, what really sticks with you? Is your investment of time and money worthwhile? Here are 8 tips for creative professionals to get the most out of attending a conference.

1. Choose The Right Conference
It’s tempting to only attend conferences where your tribe gathers (fellow designers, architects, writers, etc.). This can be good for inspiration but also choose conferences where potential clients gather. Ask your current clients, in your targeted industry, which conferences they attend. Then consider who the speakers and attendees will be. I’ve found that regional conferences offers more intimacy and a higher concentration of potential clients than national conferences.

2. Don’t Just Attend
A great way to build brand awareness is to be visible at a conference. The best way to do this is get on the agenda as a presenter. Start with being a panelist in a breakout, then a sole presenter. Move your way up the food chain to be a panelist or keynote speaker in a general session. Conferences typically put out a request for presenters at least 6 months prior to the event. Another great way to build visibility at a conference is to be a sponsor (but only if this allows for personal introductions to VIP organizers or attendees). Or, Volunteer to help organize the conference in a way that allows you to demonstrate your talents or to develop a new skill. In short, do something to make you feel more connected to the conference.

3. Pre-Conference Networking
Conferences always announce speakers before the event as a marketing tool. Determine which speakers you would like to meet and start following them on Twitter or subscribe to their newsletter. Help to promote their session at the conference by tweeting something like “I’m excited to hear @davidlecours at the @aiga_y16.” Genuine flattery will make you more memorable when you actually meet the speaker at the conference. The previous tweet also helps to promote the conference itself which might gain you an extra drink ticket from your new friend, the conference organizer. Conferences will often pre-announce attendees. This is a great opportunity to reach out to those you’d like to meet. Pre-arrange meeting for a meal, or for coffee during a break, because nobody likes being that lonely guy standing around trying to look occupied.

4. Planning, Goals, and Flexibility
Once the conference starts, it’s easy to simply follow the herd. But you need to be selfish to make sure your needs are met. Get clear on why you are attending a conference before you register. This can be your purpose. Then set some goals that will support that purpose. For example, you may want to meet 5 new client prospects, gain 3 new blog ideas, or find 2 potential teaming partners. Look through the conference agenda to make a tentative schedule for the sessions and breakouts you prefer to attend. Then be flexible enough to adapt when your Design Hero asks you to lunch because you pre-conference tweeted about her presentation.

5. Capture Content Digitally
I am migrating from taking handwritten notes in a notebook to using a laptop, and eventually a tablet. My handwriting can be illegible and I often use my notes as content for this blog so going digital is more efficient. By capturing your notes digitally, you eliminate the intermediary step of having to transcribe your notes. This increases the shelf life of that content. For visuals, use your smart phone or digital camera to capture key slides of a presentation. As long as you aren’t using the content commercially, digital video or audio capture is another great way to make sure you don’t miss a word.

6. Share What You Learned
It’s been said that you don’t really know a subject until you teach it to someone else. A great way to digest the knowledge you consumed at the conference, is to share it with others. Those that weren’t able to attend the conference will appreciate this. Those that did attend will appreciate a review, and also hearing about alternate breakout sessions that they were not able to attend. One way to share is to live tweet those nuggets of wisdom your followers would appreciate. Or, share a blog post about individual sessions or highlights of the entire conference.

7. Meeting New People
A big motivation for me to attend conferences is to meet new people. But, as an introvert, this can be challenging. Introducing oneself is awkward for most people. An effective icebreaker is to ask “what did you think of the previous speaker/session?” or “what’s the best thing you’ve heard at this conference?” There is no doubt that you’ll be asked “what do you do?” or “where do you work?” Have a self introduction that is intriguing enough that people will ask follow-on questions.  A final tip is to find people you don’t know to share a meal. If they are at the conference, you already have one thing in common. One of my best friends today is someone that I met at lunch at a conference over five years ago.

8. Absorb As Much As Possible
Conferences can be physically, mentally and emotionally tiring. Sleep on the plane or when you get home. Seize every opportunity that the conference offers to get a full return on your investment. Some of the best conversations and connections get made around the periphery of a conference. I’m still kicking myself for not joining a group going out after SMPS The Wave. I missed out on a live mermaid swimming in a giant tank. It even inspired Josh Miles to write a great post How a Mermaid Got Me Talking About a Brand.

I hope these tips are useful for you to get the most out of a conference. What have I missed? What are some strategies you use when attending a conference?

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Lift Your Brand Using The Halo Effect

May 18, 2010 in Brand, Branding, Event Marketing, Positioning | 9 comments

When things happen to me in threes, I take notice. I recently had three different experiences where my perception of a brand was lifted. (Evidently being a brand expert does not make me immune to the “mind control” brands employ.) All three experiences were with car brands and they all used the “halo effect” to sway my impressionable mind.

The Halo Effect
This brand building strategy is accomplished by aligning your brand (a) with a very shiny person, place, event or other brand (b). The luminosity of brand (b) is so great that it (b) casts a favorable glow onto your brand (a). It’s a clever way to elevate the perception of your brand through association. Think of not-so-smooth Turtle hanging out with heartthrob Vince in HBO’s Entourage and you get the idea.

Leverage The Best of Your Community
My first halo effect experience was at a party that Dave Brown of Holiday Matinee invited me to. Dave and Zack Nielsen of Sezio have an enviable project of spending Ford’s money to promote the Ford Fiesta. Ford gave them a car, cash, creative tools, and instructions to simply talk about the Fiesta. One of Dave and Zack’s brilliant solutions was to tap into their own creative community and throw a party at a cool location (Bar Basic) with great music and people. The event included a few hipster retailers creating pop-up stores within the party. I never would have paid a second look to the Ford Fiesta but as I was leaving the party, I glanced at the strategically parked car thinking to myself, “that’s a pretty cool little ride.” I felt punk’d, but in a good way.

Associate Your Brand with Impeccable Quality
Full Disclosure: I own a Honda Element which was mostly a practical decision based on the functionality of being able to insert my dog, surfboard and wife’s Prius into the back of the car. Even after buying the car, I wasn’t a Honda fan until after being introduced to a series of short documentary films called Dream The Impossible available here. The film’s universal themes in Failure: The Secret to Success and Racing Against Time move me on an emotional level. I also appreciate that while the films were commissioned by Honda, they are not about cars. Using quality imagery, music and story telling, the films are so beautifully executed that they radically shifted my perception of Honda.

Make Fun of Yourself
Many years ago I decided that it was just too much work to be cool. If your brand, or category, is notoriously uncool, a great strategy is to make fun of yourself. This will differentiate you from your competitors that take themselves way too seriously. Humor is always cool. And if you can pull it off like Toyota’s campaign for the Sienna mini-van (previously uncool), then you’ve scored. The hilarious ads and mock hip-hop music video Rollin’ in my Swagger Wagon left me thinking that maybe I should get some kids and a Sienna, err Swagger Wagon. Never thought I’d say that.

I know what your thinking. The car industry has gazillion dollar marketing budgets to shape hearts and minds. Yes they do, but you don’t have to. Take the strategies from above and execute it guerilla style (i.e. on the cheap).

So, how can you use the “halo effect” to cast a favorable glow onto your brand? Consider teaming up with another brand that may be extra-shiny. Doing work for shiny brands can be beneficial. I still have people think that we are responsible for launching Red Bull in the USA because we designed some simple graphics for their first in-store promotion. Getting shiny people to interact with work you’ve done is also effective. If they’ll provide some sort of endorsement, then even better. If there is a way to place your work in a shiny environment, do so. An artist friend of mine Susan Wickstrand Roche has some of her artwork in the hit TV show Modern Family. In short, constantly be searching for opportunties to promote your brand so you don’t have to always do the heavy lifting.

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