Marketing and internet marketing conferences are part of the product offering of many gurus and would-be gurus.
Unlike professional qualifications there are no requirements for continuing professional development in marketing a business, but those attending hope that their business will increase significantly.
From the viewpoint of the conference organiser there may be additional money to the entrance fee to be made through his or her own sales offer, or through offers made by other speakers. A “multi-speaker” event is becoming more common these days, and sometimes the entrance is free as money will be made on the speaker’s offers where organiser and speaker share revenue.
Having been to a number of conferences and seminars this year I have found it interesting how very differently they are run. The perfect conference, to be honest, would be where I leave the conference and magically new customers are already begging to work with me, or simply rushing for their credit cards so they can pay me money.
While I am waiting for that to happen (!) my wish list as an attendee is in this order:
1. Helpful atmosphere with guru (s) available to actually talk to you in the breaks about your issues without selling hard. (Very rare and precious.)
2. One or two big ideas that change perception and the sense of what is possible.
3. Likeable people to sit next to and meet. (JV partners of the future/friends starting as neighbours)
4. Some form of development during the event which moves action forward. We are all responsible for our own action but where it is integrated into the seminar it takes place more quickly and easily.
5. A list of tactics or a planned programme so that the doing takes place afterwards. A clear “next step”.
6. Some variety of speakers and presentation styles, but not too many.
7. One sales pitch made honestly and confidently. Not an over-hyped pitch-fest which contributes to overwhelm and makes the organisers look indecisive or greedy. Seeing a pitch made authentically and persuasively in the flesh can be empowering for an audience looking to develop their marketing.
8. Energy proactively managed. This doesn’t have to be massages and roof-raising shrieks but sitting still for three days is not normal.
9. A way of knowing who else is present. There will be natural alliances to be made.
Optional extras:
10. An organised follow-up group to work with to encourage implementation
11. An exotic location so simply getting there is a good experience
12. A beautiful notebook
13. Manual to take away.
None of the events I have attended have had all these elements. However, I can vouch for the fact that the non-critical (my optional points) were certainly an incentive to me to attend one of these seminars! While it had the optional extras in plenty it certainly lacked the very first option of being able to talk to the “guru/s”.