Plan Your Agenda to Advance Your Audience’s Agenda
As the Esprit team heads into a busy 2nd quarter there appears to be a common theme among the meetings we are planning and producing… clients sponsoring educational conferences to give their customers a competitive edge.
B-to-B marketing is being driven by a focused approach to a very specific group of key decision makers and influencers. By advancing information and ideas about your customer’s marketplace, you provide a valuable service, earn trust and develop relationships.
User conferences, topical educational seminars and symposiums that are sponsored by a company that addresses areas of concern to your audience are excellent ways to communicate an integrated marketing message and foster relationship selling.
Additionally, connection drives content and I’ve come to be a firm believer in this concept throughout my years in face-to-face communications. If you deliver a quality agenda people feel connected to your organization and this connection will increase the impact of the content that is presented and how your organization is perceived.
Take a look at these events and see what they are doing to connect to their audience.
Siemens PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) Solid Edge University
Being held at the Westin Peachtree Atlanta, this three-day event’s audience is comprised of designers and engineers who are involved with creating new products and fostering innovation. What’s unique to this learning environment is that it features an agenda packed with many hands-on sessions and computer labs led by industry experts. Learning by doing.
A great example of connecting with the attendees is the off-site party held at Sweetwater Brewery. It’s a tremendous opportunity for attendees to network in a fun environment and in fact, Siemens and one of their customers actually designed and installed some of the bottling solutions at the plant. The party couldn’t be held at a more relevant location than that!
http://www.solidedgeu.com/
Harbor Aluminum Outlook Summit
Held at the Radisson Blu Aqua, Chicago, this annual summit hosts an audience comprised of professionals who are involved in the aluminum business. What’s interesting about this learning set-up is that the core meeting is all general sessions. The two-day meeting agenda is broken down into five two-hour sessions, each focused on a particular topic. Each session is made up of three or four 20-minute speeches followed by a 30-minute Q & A session, moderated by a topic expert. Attendees benefit from these two-hour sessions giving a 360 degree view of things on a single topic versus weaving in and out of multiple topics throughout the event. Focus is the key.
http://www.harboraluminumsummit.com/
Nielsen Consumer 360 Conference
With the JW Marriott Hill Country, San Antonio as its backdrop, this annual conference is comprised of marketing, media and brand professionals for media and consumer package goods companies. Attendees’ learning experience is heightened by the use of very content specific “super sessions” that incorporate a digital flipchart and smart phone polling apps to capture the audience’s ideas and opinions, which are translated into actionable insights and takeaways post-conference.
How’s this for connecting to the audience? Nielsen spared no expense as they booked Grammy-nominated recording artists, BareNaked Ladies to perform. What a grand gesture to say thank you to the attendees and to let them know that their partnership is valued.
http://nielsen.com/consumer360
Siemens Industry Automation Summit
Located at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Hotel in Orlando, this summit consists of designers and engineers whose primary goal is to learn about trends in industry of automation and robotics.
Attendees will be able to choose from a wide variety of hands-on training sessions led by Siemens Senior Technical Consultants. Attendees will be led through exercises and labs using the latest technologies and software. All classes include a certificate that can be submitted for professional development hours.
http://www.industry.usa.siemens.com/automation/us/en/summit/pages/summit.aspx
Summary
Four meetings this spring for four different clients, all customer focused and driven by the content that helps their audiences get the edge in today’s competitive marketplace. For your next event make sure you plan the agenda to help your audience advance theirs.