I was browsing through LinkedIn Answers today and came across a question from one of my contacts, Dan Ake,  “What is your biggest issue regarding conference sales?”  There were a number of answers posted, but one really stood out:

“My experience as a conference exhibitor is that the attendees have much more opportunity to network and make connections than do the exhibitors, and for a small fraction of the cost of being an exhibitor. If the purpose is to make new connections, being an attendee is the most cost effective approach.” (Glenn Jenkinson)

Why this particular answer?  Because it’s clear that the organizers at the conferences where Mr. Jenkinson has been exhibiting are missing an opportunity to create value for their exhibitors AND their attendees:  Pre-scheduled 1×1 meetings.

How much more valuable would the conference be, if Mr. Jenkinson arrived on-site knowing that he had 5, 10, 15 pre-scheduled meetings set up with interested attendees?  He would still have to deal with the folks who are just coming by his booth for the freebies, but at the end of the event he would have had meaningful face-to-face meetings with some number of qualified sales prospects and/or business partners.

We all know that attendees and exhibitors both find face to face interaction on the tradeshow floor to be important in the process of finding vendors, evaluating vendors and making the purchase decision.   With pre-scheduled 1×1 meetings, both attendees and exhibitors can be assured that they will have meaningful interactions as a result of attending the conference.

Want to know more about how you can incorporate 1×1 meetings into your next conference?  Send us an email: meetings@twst.com

We asked a group of successful corporate meeting planners to share with us their insights into what makes an effective website for marketing an event.   We took away 7 great tips that we’ve been sharing with you over the last couple of weeks.  Today, we come to lucky number 7!

7. PROVIDE VALUE-ADDED CONTENT

After your event concludes, keep registered attendees engaged by providing content for download. This content might be copies of slides or handouts or podcasts/webcasts of the presentations themselves.  Some content you may want to password protect, so that only registered, and paying, attendees can access.  Other content you may want to make available to anyone who finds your site.   One of our clients, Odyssey Media produces a annual 4 day networking conference/retreat for women and they follow up the event by posting photographs of the event on the website.  This online photo diary reminds the attendees of how much they enjoyed the event, and inspires new potential attendees to seek an invite to the event the following year.

I am off to Boston for the CanaccordGenuity Growth Conference – their website is a terrific example of a well structured and complete event website.  Check it out!

I had a call yesterday from an event planner in the UK asking about how flexible MeetMax is, really.  He has looked at a lot of different online registration systems, and his complaint is that they are all flexible, but only to a point. “This one lets you have just 4 pages; that one lets you have more but the page design/layout can’t be changed.”  I offered to put together a set of screen shots illustrating a few of the many variations you can do with MeetMax.  I thought you all might be interested as well — so click here to view.

If we can be of help to you with software for marketing/registration for your next event, please give us a shout – www.meetmax.com or meetings@twst.com

I recently found an article on Forbes.com that speaks to the business case for face to face meetings.  In their study of 750 business executives, Forbes reports that “executives expressed an overwhelming preference or face-to-face meetings, with more than eight out of ten saying they like in-person contact more than virtual. Asked why, those that prefer face-to-face meetings cited how they build stronger, more meaningful relationships (85%), the ability to “read” another person (77%), and greater social interaction (75%).”

Here at MeetMax, we specialize in working with corporations for which conferences are a key part of how they provide value to their clients.   At their conferences, they feature 1-on-1 meetings so that attendees can connect, in private pre-scheduled meetings, with companies with whom they may invest or otherwise do business together.  Just a sample of some of the events our clients have held this summer –

• China Conference: 451 registered. 119 Attendees have 1-on-1 meetings. There are 1062 meetings in total
• Healthcare Conference: 478 registered. 92 Attendees have 1-on-1 meetings. There are 542 meetings in total.
• Automotive/Transportation Conference: 304 registered. 228 Attendees have 1-on-1 meetings. There are 2387 meetings in total.
• Energy Conference: 775 registered. 311 Attendees have 1-on-1 meetings. There are 1212 meetings in total.

At these events, attendees had on average between 4 and 10 meetings.  These are meetings that are scheduled for them before they even show up at the conference — so they know in advance the value that they will get from attending.  And the conference sponsor/organizer can make a strong case for attending – because they can guarantee some minimum number of private meetings.   With travel budgets being slashed, conference organizers need to be able to demonstrate why attending their conference is going to provide a return on investment.  And as the Forbes article points out, for the majority of business executives, face to face business development meetings provide a strong return on investment.

So that’s the case for including 1-on-1 meetings as part of your conference.  But, imagine scheduling 2387 meetings on a spreadsheet!  It hurts my head to think about how complex and time-consuming a task that would be, if you tried to do the scheduling without good tools.

At MeetMax, we provide you with the tools that meeting planners need to successfully manage a 1-on-1 meeting program within a conference.  By integrating 1-on-1 requests with online registration, you can streamline the requests process.  Our one-click scheduling tools make it simple to build the meeting schedules for each participant.  And, built-in communications tools make it easy to email schedules to all participants in advance.  On-site tools help you keep track of what’s going on throughout the day, and make sure that people are notified of any changes in their schedule as the day progresses.

When you are planning your 2011 user group conference, or trade association annual meeting, or industry conference – think about how 1-on-1 meetings can help you increase the ROI for your attendees and your company.  If we can be of help to you, please give us a shout – meetings@twst.com.