The Competitive Advantage

January 31, 2023

Get on a Plane… Go to a Conference

As I write this, I’m 30,000 feet in the air heading home to Nashville from Miami, where I participated in my first conference of the year – the Insights Association’s CEO Summit. It’s just my third conference in the past 12 months, along with Greenbook’s IIeX event last Spring in Austin and the Quirks Event in New York this past Summer.

And the result of attending all of these conferences? Exactly the same… and I mean that in a good way:

August 30, 2022

Networking at a Conference? You Can’t Just Show Up!

The Fall season of industry events is upon us… the ESOMAR Congress, TMRE, the Corporate Researchers Conference and others. And if you’re planning on attending any of these… ARE YOU READY? Attending a conference to learn – and, more importantly – to network, should not be taken lightly. So, to help you get the most from your investment of time and money, here are 18 conference networking tips…

February 26, 2020

Don’t Just Show Up! 19 Hacks for Conference Networking Success.

At this time of year, firms throughout our industry are gearing up for Spring conferences – Quirk’s, IIeX, Qual360, AAPOR, NEXT, plus scores of smaller regional and vertical events. They’re preparing to spend hundreds of man hours and thousands of dollars to send a couple of their key personnel to a few of these events to learn and network. Will it be worth? Often… it’s not.

So, to be sure you get maximum ROI from the conferences you’ll be attending, here are 19 hacks to help in your preparation:

February 2, 2020

In Our Digital World, Do We ‘Crave’ the Human Touch?

STORY 1: I recently reconnected with an old friend who owns a large B2B publishing company, producing very targeted industrial magazines. As part of their service to advertisers, they also produce a number of vertical trade shows (aligned with those magazines).

When I asked about his publishing business, he said that it was doing fine… but then he added, “The trade shows are growing like crazy!”

April 17, 2018

Don’t just “show up” at a conference. Be prepared!

I’m attending a conference in 2 months. Here’s what I’m doing now to be prepared.

I’ll be attending Greenbook’s IIeX 2018 NA Conference in Atlanta this June. It’s one of my favorite industry events. Like many, I’m attending to expand my knowledge, but also to network – and hopefully initiate relationships with some potential clients. And even though it’s two months away, I’m preparing now to have a successful event. Here’s how…

August 22, 2017

Are you ready for ‘conference season?’

For as long as I have been in the market research industry, Fall has been ‘conference season.’ And while organizations like Quirk’s have established solid events in the first part of the calendar year, September-October-November continue to host most of the industry’s top events:

Insights Leadership Conference

TMRE – The Market Research Event

The ESOMAR Congress

The Corporate Researchers Conference (CRC)

The AMA Annual Conference

If you’ve got conference plans on your calendar this Fall, there are three areas that – if you’re properly prepared – can have a dramatic impact on your success at these events.

July 19, 2016

Creating a New Booth for the Fall Conference Season? Follow These 4 Guidelines…

It’s mid-July and the Fall conference season will be here before you know it. Are you ready?

One of the elements of successful exhibiting is a compelling booth. Whether you’ve got a big, solid structure or a simple pop-up, you can still deliver a message to the marketplace that gets attention. Because if you don’t, your ROI on those expensive conferences will be severely limited… not a message you want to take back to the boss! So if you’re thinking about a new booth for this Fall, consider these guidelines…

June 21, 2016

If these were my employees… I’d fire them!

For wasting thousands of dollars

As I write this, I’m attending Greenbook’s IIeX event in Atlanta… one of the largest conferences in our industry with over 800 participants. Along with the educational sessions, there are several dozen exhibiting companies lining the hallways and in adjacent exhibit rooms.

And here’s where it gets interesting – or infuriating – depending on your perspective. One of the exhibitors had a tabletop display that spanned the length of their 6-foot table. Behind the table, they placed their two chairs… WHERE THEY SAT FOR THE ENTIRE EVENT!

Over the course of the three days, I passed by their table numerous times (the last several times, out of morbid curiosity!). I never saw them engage passersby… and it was a busy event. They – yes, there were two of them – just sat there, talking to each other, ‘working’ on their cell phones and hiding from everyone else. They never once took advantage of the great selling opportunity that was [literally] right in front of them.