Conference Success: The Ultimate Guide

Steps to Prepare for a Trade Show

12 Steps brought to you buy: Linux Guide

1. Evaluate and select trade shows carefully.
   
   Participating in a show can require a major investment of time, money, and resources. Be tough in your evaluation of a show's worthiness. Are the attendees likely customers for your organization? Exposure to a few hundred very qualified targets is better than exposure to thousands of generalists who are very unlikely to be interested in your business.
2. Read the show manual.
   
   Before you do anything, contact the organizers of the show to find the show's manual. Everything you need to know about the show should be there, including a proposed or final schedule, registration information and forms, floor plans, exhibit specifications, invitations for potential speakers, and other important details.
3. Identify your goals.
   
   Be specific about the things you want to accomplish as a result of your participation in the show. Do you want to increase visibility, gain exposure to a large number of customers who might be interested in your products, or check out the competition? Concrete goals are important to determine the value of the trade show to your organization.
4. Define measurements of success.
   
   For each goal, determine a way to measure its success. Make these measurements as specific as possible. You could plan to hand out 1000 brochures, obtain contact information for at least 200 prospects, and take a key editor out to lunch. These benchmarks will help you decide whether the show was worth the expense.
5. Put your show plan in writing.
   
   The plan should include a workable schedule, a comprehensive list of preparation activities, and an individual assigned for each task. You cannot leave things to chance, or else Murphy's Law (Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.) will surely prevail!
6. Develop a key message for your booth exhibit.
   
   Like good advertising, a good exhibit clearly communicates one major message. This draws in more prospects to your booth than an unfocused cacophony of messages.
7. Design an open, inviting booth.
   
   An open booth design, with no tables obstructing access, invites attendees to come in. Your logo should be big enough to be seen from a good distance. Maximize "walking around" space by mounting brochure displays on walls. Use interesting graphics to draw people's attention. For demos, laptops and flat-screen monitors are space-efficient. If space permits, provide comfortable chairs to encourage prospects to linger. A portable booth should be reasonably easy to set up and take down.
8. Advertise your show participation.
   
   Use tag lines such as: "see us at Booth 1525 at the Linux World Conference" in news releases and other communications leading up to the show (even if those releases are about something unrelated). Write a news release announcing show-related news. Invite editors to stop by the booth, or set up appointments between them and your spokespeople.
9. Order all necessary supplies, including brochures and giveaways.
   
   If your marketing collateral needs to be updated or redesigned, take care of this early. You don't want to run the risk of having no brochures to hand out. Design forms for filling out prospect information-clear forms eliminate guesswork. Consider giveaways to generate attention and a sense of fun. These don't have to be expensive. Pens with your web address and a catchy slogan can be very effective.
10. Design PowerPoint presentations and demos for the booth.
    
    These will draw attendees to your booth and help them learn more about your business. Presentations will allow you to communicate information to many prospects at once.
11. Create a unique identity for your booth staff.
    
    Decide on the dress code for your staff. Matching blazers, T-shirts, or even boutonnieres will make your representatives easily identifiable.
12. Train your exhibit staff before each show.
    
    This is very important! Your staff needs to know what is expected of them. They need to be briefed on all new programs and initiatives that should be emphasized. They must know how to run the demos and presentations, and they should know some basic trouble shooting. Nothing looks more unprofessional then demos that don't work.

Seven Tips to Increase Seminar Attendance

1. Marketing Timing
   
   Usually, professionals market their events too early. Mailing lead time for announcements for a two-hour event should be around three or four weeks, not 12, 16, or 20. The shorter the seminar event, the shorter the lead time.
2. List Targeting
   
   Before sending out mail, make sure you have a reasonable expectation that the people on your mailing lists are even interested in your topic. There's nothing worse than wasting your efforts on a list of people who won't have the slightest interest.
3. Marketing Response Expectations
   
   The average response rate for most direct mailings is around 2%, but event marketers often measure response rate as number per thousand because often times it will equal only a fraction of a percent. Therefore, don't set your expectations too high or you will only be disappointed and have a low attendance. So be sure you have a lot of good names on the list and mail enough pieces to actually fill the room.
4. Marketing Piece
   
   Depending on the type of event and your target audience, you need to decide on the type of mailout. It could be a postcard, a letter, a package, or simply an email. Try out different media for different events. Just try to imagine your target audience and what would be the best way to reach them through all the noise and clutter.
5. Registration Fee
   
   Paid events actually generate higher attendance and have less no-shows. Also, the attendees are more interested in the content and not a free lunch or the like. They will also expect more value. However, depending on your service and your audience, a free event can work just as well. Just know your target market and experiment with both if you have to.
6. Event Title
   
   Your event title needs to convey what value you will deliver at the event. Try being as brief as possible and appealing to the reader. Certain phrases, such as "How To" are more effective than others. Try making a list of about ten different titles and get feedback from others. Or you could try different titles for the same event if you have multiple presentations for it and see which one generates the most attendance.
7. Marketing Partners
   
   Marketing partners are an often-overlooked source for boosting event attendance. By having partners, you can pool your resources and lists together and deliver together; also, your multi-faceted presentations will naturally draw in more people.