Free State Marketing Event Training Plan for Conference Season
The industrial equipment industry is gearing up for a great conference season and we’re excited to be headed to a few industry conferences, expos, and events this year! When you think of trade shows or conferences, what goes through your mind?
Endless walking in uncomfortable shoes resulting in massive blisters?
Massive trade show displays that all kind of blend together?
Overwhelming thoughts of who to talk to, where to go, and what to do first?
Immense amounts of swag?
Large events and multiple days of meeting and talking to new people can seem daunting and overwhelming, especially for us introverts. However, they can be incredibly helpful and provide immense opportunities for you and your business. At some point, as a business owner, you’ll probably need to attend them. Having a guide for preparation can definitely help! Our Free State Marketing Event Training Plan is especially helpful for a few vital reasons:
Attending events with a purpose and being able to fully realize the return on your investment helps you clearly determine which events are worth attending and which events are simply a drain on your mental health and bank account.
We’ve created this plan with the intention of focusing on your growth as a business professional, but we’ve also included tips on how to maintain your physical and mental health during these events. For many of us (introverts and extroverts), we need time to recover. We all do this differently. We strongly encourage you to understand how you recharge and to maintain those practices during the event so that you can get the most out of your experience.
Our plan will help you maximize the experience you have at your next trade show, conference, or large event! We’ve broken our training plan out into three sections: ‘Before the event’, ‘During the event’, and ‘After the event/Back in the office’. We’re considering making a checklist for event preparation. Leave us a comment below if that might be something you’d find beneficial!
Before the event:
Prior to the big event or the entire season, ensure that your business cards are up to date and you have plenty on hand. The same thing goes for brochures, fact sheets, etc. that you may be planning to take with you. Make sure you have a secure way to carry these materials, too.
Ensure that your LinkedIn profile has been updated with your current employment information, headshot, work examples, etc. If you’re able to engage with those who might be attending the event through LinkedIn prior to leaving, that might be a good idea, too. Consider posting some related articles and searching the event hashtag.
If you or your organization regularly produces content for your website, consider writing a blog post about the upcoming event, including some of your goals and thoughts about the upcoming event. You could also publish this content directly to LinkedIn.
Review the companies and individuals attending and presenting at the event. Do some research and make notes about specific things to ask about or that you might want to learn more about. Consider connecting with these organizations or individuals through social media before heading out.
Set your goals and intention for attending the event and keep that end goal in mind as you’re mapping out your plan and attending the event. Not only will this keep you focused, you’ll also be able to better measure your Return on Investment after the event is over. This idea of long-term planning can help you plan a tighter budget (events are NOT cheap to attend!) and ensure that you are moving in the right direction.
Prepare your travel arrangements with intention. What? Yes, this is important. Staying in the same hotel where the conference is being held provides opportunities to engage with other attendees outside the conference: in line for coffee, in the hotel gym, etc. These are great, low-key ways to build rapport and expand your network - and who knows, maybe you’ll find someone to sit with at lunch that day?
Will you have team members attending the event with you? Ensure that each person who is attending the event understands their purpose, their goals, and what is expected of them each day. You may even want to cover expectations for attire, etc.
Is your elevator speech ready? If not, this is the time to write it, tweak it, and PRACTICE it! Over and over until you can clearly and succinctly explain who you are and what you do in less than 30 seconds. Need help getting started? Here’s mine:
My name is Erin Younkin and I own Free State Marketing. We’re a small virtual marketing company providing a wide-variety of marketing services, like content creation, graphic design, and social media management, to nonprofits and small businesses, primarily in the defense and heavy equipment industries.
Physically prepare for trade shows and conference season. These events can be exhausting and you want to be on your game because you never know who you’ll meet. Before the event, ensure that you’re eating well, exercising, and drinking lots of water. Consider packing professional, yet comfortable clothing including shoes that you can walk in for 12+ hours.
During the event:
We published a great blog post earlier this month about how to integrate social media into your event experience and it includes some great tips on how to effectively use social media during an event. We definitely recommend checking it out!
As you’re packing and preparing for each day, streamline with you have on you each day, especially if you’re a woman. Carrying multiple bags can be daunting and if your bag is heavy, it could really weigh down your event experience.
*Yes, we went there. Sharing mom jokes is one of our favorite pastimes - ha!*
So, back to preparing each day. Minimize what’s in your bag and only take what you need. Consider making a trip back to your hotel room over lunch to unload anything you might’ve picked up that morning. Though it might be helpful to have your computer with you for the event, consider leaving it secured in your hotel room instead of lugging it around all day. Also, ensure that you still have quick and easy access to your business cards and other materials that you may want to share with those you meet.
If your event provides you with a nametag, ensure that it is placed next to your right shoulder on your chest. This is the proper place for a nametag so it is easy to view when shaking hands with someone.
If your teammates are attending with you, schedule a time and place to meet in the morning and evening to prepare for the day and recap what each person has experienced. You can save the big download for when the event is over. Keep these meetings short and simply share anything that needs immediate attention.
Review the next day’s schedule the night before so you’re aware of where you’re supposed to be and what your schedule looks like. Keep your research close, including the notes and questions you made based on the organizations and people who would be attending. Prepare to introduce yourself to them and be ready to use your elevator pitch. Even if you’ve connected with these people on social media (and that’s a great way to softly introduce yourself to someone), social media relationships need to be solidified in real life.
Look up and engage while attending the event. Though we all want to keep our phones on us, place your phone on Do Not Disturb or Silent and put it away. Introduce yourself to new people and be open to new conversations with people you might not normally talk to or meet. Say yes and remind yourself that anything is possible, you just have to put yourself out there. This may be more challenging for some, but remind yourself that you don’t have to do it forever. Set a time limit or a goal (i.e., I’m going to speak to one new person during tonight’s social hour.) and once you’ve achieved your goal, take time to recharge or rest.
Maintain your mental and physical health during events by drinking a lot of water, taking breaks when necessary, and exercising. Those chance gym conversations only happen if you actually go to the gym, right?
After the event/Back in the office:
Follow up is crucial for events and trade shows. For some larger businesses, they may do mass follow ups, but for those of us small business owners, we highly recommend following up in person. Emails and phone calls are great. If you have note cards with your business logo, a hand-written note is also a great idea.
Writing a blog post to follow up on the event is a great way to demonstrate your thought-leadership on some things you learned and to engage with those who attended the event or might consider attending next year. You could publish the blog on your own website and share via social media, but you could also publish it directly to LinkedIn for increased engagement. Depending on your industry, you might also consider doing a video recap of the event or creating a video and a blog.
Review the event internally and create an AAR (After Action Report) that analyzes internal decisions (lodging, transportation, etc.), information quality, networking opportunities, client leads, etc. Not only will this AAR help you determine what went well and what could be improved for next year, but as you attend more events, you’ll be able to use these AARs to compare events and ensure you and your team are attending the right events to achieve your goals.
As you implement what you learned or begin to follow up with sales leads, keep track of the outcomes and add them to your AARs on a quarterly basis. Making this a habit will help you get an even better idea of your ROI for the event.
Take pictures of all of the business cards you collected at the event. I usually do this on the plane as I’m recording any expense receipts. You can keep these business card pictures in your phone’s photos app or you can use a business card scanner app. Once I take a picture of these business cards, I usually throw them away unless there’s a specific reason to keep them.
Recover using the methods that work best for you. Again, these events are exhausting. Ensure you’re eating well, exercising, getting plenty of sleep, and drinking a lot of water. If you’re traveling to and from an event and there’s a major time change, make sure to allocate some time to get your body back on track after the event.