Nine Ninja Tips To Stand Out At Conferences And Business Events

by Frank M. Waechter | Miscellaneous

Stand Out At Conferences And Business Events. Despite the growing popularity of virtual and online events, for many professionals, face-to-face networking remains one of the main reasons to attend a conference, if not the most important one, followed by learning. These events deliver information that helps professionals stay relevant and learn about the trends shaping the future of their industry. But often, delegates feel overwhelmed by busy conference schedules and huge events with hundreds or thousands of attendees. The result is, they end up missing the chance to network, which was, in fact, the main reason to attend. If this situation sounds familiar, you’ll want to keep reading to find advice on how to prepare for a conference or business event to ensure you stand out and meet your goals.

Stand out before the conference or business event

Preparation is the key to maximising the benefits of attending a professional event. It all starts with defining the ultimate goal or reason for attending. Goals vary from person to person, but often it will include generating new leads, meeting potential partners, getting referrals, or finding connections for a new role or job.

Linked to goal setting, it’s also essential to decide who you would like to meet. The list of speakers circulates beforehand, so take some time to review it. At trade shows, the organiser’s website will often have an exhibitor directory that you can use for the same purpose. You can also follow the event’s hashtag in social media and see who’s talking about it online or planning to attend. Once you’ve made a list, start interacting before the event and if possible, arrange a meeting beforehand. Don’t leave it to chance – we all know how difficult it can be to find someone at a large event.

Business cards are a must, but in some ways, they’re underutilised, since they can be made even more personal by adding a handwritten message. This requires time, but it will make your card and name stand out among hundreds of other attendees who simply hand out their business cards. The message should be friendly and business-like and related to your goal or reason for attending. It can even be a shortened written version of your elevator pitch.

Stand our during the conference or business event

Standing up in front of large groups of strangers can be daunting. But there are ways of doing so in a way that’s helpful to others, so they will be more inclined to remember you.

For example, have a look at the sessions you want to attend and for each session think about a question relevant to your industry that you would like to see answered. If the question isn’t answered during the session, use Q&A time to ask the speaker, or use your questions as conversation starters during breaks.

If a speaker made a point that was particularly helpful or you can relate it to your professional experience, you can use Q&A time to show appreciation. Share a personal story that reinforces the speaker’s point. Remember that storytelling is memorable and powerful and isn’t exclusive to speakers.

If the event is in your home town or in a city you know well, you could organise a meetup after the day’s sessions are over. Get creative and stand out, show attendees hidden gems in the city, or arrange informal meetings at a restaurant near the convention centre, offering insights into the industry in your location. This creates a natural and relaxed framework that can become a solid base for business connections.

Appearances matter, and in the world of casual, a polished and professional outfit can help you stand out from the crowd of delegates. Dressing well according to your own personal brand won’t only make an impact on others, but can also boost your self-confidence.

Don’t forget to make the most of social media: ultimately, these platforms are meant for socialising. Live-tweeting is effective in encouraging interaction, and replies to your tweets can generate exciting conversations that you can later follow up in person.

And once the event is over, always follow up on new connections. Go through the business cards you have collected and send a personalised email to everyone you have met.

Conclusion

Standing out at conferences and trade shows doesn’t have to be intimidating, but it requires some planning before and after the event. With a little bit of preparation and attitude, success is in your hands.

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4 Concepts To Understand Digital Transformation in the Event Industry

by Frank M. Waechter | Digital Marketing

As most meeting planners and event organisers know, technological disruption has brought profound changes to the MICE industry. Today, meetings, conferences, and exhibitions are increasingly being planned, organised and managed using digital tools. Digital tools are becoming an integral part of strategic event management given their proven ability to bring in substantial benefits. Such as significant cost and time savings, higher attendee satisfaction, and better exposure and image building.

Widespread digitalisation has brought us closer to a new understanding of communication within the meetings industry and being familiar with the key components this transformation is essential for planners, organisers, marketers, and anyone involved. In this post, we introduce four concepts that can help you understand the foundations of the digital transformation in the event industry.

1. Bringing In An Experiential Dimension

If you thought that we live in a digital era, think again: experts believe we are in the early stages of the Age of Experience. This means that every event now has the potential to become an immersive experience marked by authenticity and lasting engagement. Technologies like VR, AR, and 3D can unify the digital and physical aspects of an event, help create bi-directional conversations between the different parties involved, and eventually become content marketing engines in their own right. Moreover, adding an experiential dimension to an event turns attendees into participants, and motivates them to go from being consumers of information to have an active role in the generation of knowledge.

2. The User Experience of Events

Linked to the above is the fact that digitalisation has created a direct connection between the organisation and management of events and the field of user experience. The principles of UX are relevant to any digital tools used at events, and include:

Simplification of information: digital tools used at events should be designed to make it easy for participants to absorb and digest the information presented
Trust: when effective digital tools are in place, participants can appreciate how much time and effort have gone into creating an event that meets their expectations. This creates a sense of transparency that reinforces trustworthiness in the organiser
Feedback: not every participant is equally tech savvy, so it is important to ensure that event apps and other digital tools used at an industry event provide users with clear signals and timely feedback on how they should be used
Invisibility: great technology is as unobtrusive as possible. People expect tech tools to be an extension of their daily lives, so their implementation at events is no exception and should be planned with a focus on seamless functionality
More control to the user: digital event tools must shift the focus of control from the organiser to the attendee since flexible and user-friendly applications can empower participants and contribute to higher satisfaction rates

3. Personalisation and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence and related digital technologies, such as mixed-reality tech, are leading the digital transformation in the event industry. These tools enable organisers to create fully personalised environments in ways that were unthinkable only a few years ago.

AI applications (like iBeacons, concierge apps, and chatbots) can quickly gather contextual and granular data about attendees preferences and behaviour and provide them with real-time and relevant information, delivering curated content and offering opportunities for feedback. In addition to helping organise attendee-led events, these tools allow organisers to plan future and more personalised events, facilitate research, and bring valuable insights into lead management, as long as they are used alongside robust data security measures.

4. Networked Communities

Despite the emphasis on personalisation, every industry event has a clear social and relational component. Conferences, meetings, trade fairs, seminars, and similar events can be considered living organisms that rely on deep networks and meaningful connections to prosper. This is why the concept of networked communities is central to the digital transformation in the event industry. Tools like social media chats and online forums facilitate the emergence of communities at a conference or exhibition and play a role in helping keep communities alive throughout and after the event. When creating networks between and within attendees is at the core of event design, the technology used goes from being a product to becoming a service that enables meaningful and lasting conversations between all parties involved.

Conclusion

Digital tech is quickly becoming the backbone of events in the MICE industry. The digital transformation in the event industry is underpinned by the inclusion of experiential dimensions, the principles of UX design, growing personalisation, and networked communities that add human value to any event. These four concepts are far from short-lived trends since according to a recent report, nearly 70 percent of event organisers believe that digitalisation is here to stay. As time goes by, the implementation of events technology will give rise to new insights and opportunities. Events can become spaces for learning, interaction, innovation, and more, so now is the time to consider how you can take your event to the next level and jump on the bandwagon of digital transformation in the event industry.

The post 4 Concepts To Understand Digital Transformation in the Event Industry was first published on fmwaechter.com. Author Frank M. Waechter.

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Networking Technology and Events: An Overview of the Key Trends

by Frank M. Waechter | Digital Marketing

Networking Technology for conferences and events is changing at speed of light. Over the past decade, we have witnessed how the transformational power of technology has revolutionised many industries, from commerce to education and leisure. As a result, the events industry is not an exception. In recent years a series of new trends have emerged proving that technology can improve the quality of networking events and, as a result, bring higher returns on investment.

Networking Trends

One of those trends refers to how individuals attending an event are increasingly becoming perceived as active and engaged participants. Rather than as mere receptive audiences. People no longer attend events for the sake of attending or networking: they want to become an active part of them and have more control over their experience. The widespread availability of mobile devices and the adoption of social media for business purposes are one of the main reasons behind this qualitative change. Gamification is another key trend that has the potential to transform the way we think about and organise events.

Event planners have begun to realise the power that games have when it comes to motivating and engaging people. Event and conference mobile apps are part of the most popular ways of gamifying an event and of incentivising productive interactions. Lastly, digitalisation is playing a crucial role in shaping the way we produce and consume large amounts of information. There is a growing awareness about the possibilities that digital technologies can offer to events management, with a focus on enabling meaningful interactions and helping discover opportunities for collaboration. Below we discuss some examples of how to use technology for networking at exhibitions, conferences and events to benefit both event organisers and attendees.

Event Planning & Networking Technology

Networking technology can provide a useful platform that makes event planning more efficient, less time consuming, and more engaging. Therefore, for the majority of event planners, it has become common practice to focus on the social aspect of things, using social networks to promote an event, interact with participants to create a sense of community, get a dialogue going, and build enthusiasm before the actual event. Big data can also be used to improve the effectiveness of networking at events. Information collected through social media profiles can be used to target the interests of participants and create activities based on common interests.

Big Data and more

Use big data to let attendees set up and edit profiles before the event, and so find participants with similar interests, making face-to-face interaction easier and less awkward. Other event organisers are already experimenting with technologies like iBeacons, Bluetooth, and NFC in an attempt to make a more efficient use of big data. In addition, some typical applications include badge collection, surveys, digital vouchers, and the delivery of push notifications. These are all especially relevant ways of using networking technology at events to deliver a targeted experience and to transform interactions by giving them a personalised and meaningful edge.

Focusing On The Experience

The fact that event attendees are now considered active participants has put additional demands on organisers. Consequently, many planners have been focusing on architecting memorable experiences. Instead of simple events that can be ticked off a calendar. Some emerging trends with regards to this new emphasis on the experiential side of events include:

Wearables
Smart conference badges
Digital business cards
Social WiFi
Event communications tools

Wearables

Use wearables e.g. as a wayfinding tool, to make check-in faster and easier, or to quickly arrange meetings with other participants.

Smart conference badges

Smart conference badges rely on RFID technology to collect and store vital information about attendees. Helping to keep track of things like who they interacted with. Or which sessions they attended, or which vendor booths they visited. As a result, event organisers can also use the data collected by smart badges to generate analytics for subsequent follow-up.

Digital business cards

Digital business cards are another smart application of networking technology at events. These cards allow attendees to exchange and manage contact information seamlessly and to take advantage of “matching opportunities”. Furthermore, organisers can use them to build digital directories based on common interests or other relevant information.

Social WiFi

Give participants the chance to get online using their social network logins. This puts a wealth of useful data at the fingertips of event organisers. This data could include:

the duration of interactions
which sessions are more popular
the type of spontaneous web searches prompted by different talks

Event communications tools

Some organisers are already using in dedicated event apps that offer seamless communication opportunities between participants (such as app messaging tools or proximity networking apps) and between speakers and attendees, such as apps that filter the most relevant questions during Q&A sessions.

The article Networking Technology and Events: An Overview of the Key Trends was first published on fmwaechter.com. Author Frank M. Waechter.

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