A couple of weeks ago, I received one of those invitation emails for a conference. The event seemed interesting so I thought I should find out more. Here are my initial thoughts:

The conference

The two-day conference on mobile marketing platforms had a good wealth of speakers. The event website, created by a marketing organisation, was functional, but a little uninspiring. There was definitely room for improvement in this area, but overall the website was ok. A recent blog post in The Event Manager Blog on how event websites can be improved is a good starting point. As far as delegates’ rates go, £954 for a two day event. No accommodation or travel included and no dinner either. The venue just a run-of-the-mill London hotel and lunch was… well, chain hotel food. The speakers were basically the whole pull factor.

Visibility and Pre-event Info

The organisers had secured some high-profile speakers from big UK and international brands, and yet there was no indication those companies were supporting or sponsoring the event in any way, other than allowing their employees to get the day out of the office. If, on the one hand explicit company support may give an event a stronger appeal, on the other hand it might give the impression the companies being advertised are merely trying to sell something. Having an event with no sponsorship or support puts a lot of pressure on the quality of speakers and relies heavily, if not exclusively on delegates’ fees to cover costs. It may also be the case, albeit unlikely, that the organisers were bearing some of the costs with the hope of building the conference profile, which was only in its second edition, as well as future business. The event had the support of a marketing association, which was probably responsible for the speakers’ network of contacts.

Programme Content

The conference topic were relevant to many different industries. Its general appeal would certainly contribute to the overall numbers. In fact its very theme made it easier to reach the right audience: an event about mobile media for the mobile media savvy. This shows how important conception and theming are in the planning process.

A conference programme may be the most interesting ever, but it won’t have the impact you desire if you hide it inside one of your website pages. Content needs to be promoted, talked about, discussed. Social media is a good way of promoting your conference content, but one must ensure the information is not always only being circulated amongst the same audience. Teasers can and should be sent out with regularity, but with intent. Bombarding your target attendees with simple information they already know will only frustrate them. Rather Ethan sending out a tweet with “we have x and y speaking at our event” send out a “did you known that x is responsible for y” or ” would you like to hear how z has overhauled…” The event organisers carried on posting their usual, and most of the time, interesting feeds, but could’ve made the posts more directly related to the event content and allowed delegates to share their experiences. This post in Inc. explains what I mean.

Another important aspect that prospective attendees see right through is the kind of program that has only one interesting speaker, with the whole day filled with talks and presentations by people belonging to the association organising the event. Regardless of how good the speakers may be, there has to be a balance. The value of the event will be calculated based not only on how exclusive or hard to come by the speakers are, but also on the overall range of speakers. The event in question was spot on!

Overall Impression

The conference seemed highly interesting, with some high-profile speakers and a convenient location. The cost for local residents may have been ok, but adding flight and accommodation to it could put the event a little on the expensive side, unless attendees were flying no-frills and staying in a budget hotel. Given my personal interest in the topic and the range of speakers, I would have chosen to attend the event. One or two fun activities or a nice dinner would have made the event even more appealing, though.