So what are the obvious benefits of attending conferences? Other than rubbing shoulders with the good and the great, a spot of networking and a free feed that is.
Thankfully, Lee Odden has saved me the time and effort of taxing myself with any flickers of free original thought by already discussing his ten secret benefits of attending SEM conferences.
It’s geared more to people inside the industry so I shall cherry-pick just a few points.
Competitive intelligence – As you play the meet and greet game, you’ll undoubtedly run into employees from competing firms. Be sure to ask lots of questions. Smile, be friendly and engaging. Remember how important it is to be a great listener and remember: Loose lips sink ships! Also be sure to get PPTs from direct competitors, especially from their “new” speakers, who tend to want to impress and often include more information than they should. Also, some speakers don’t provide the conference organizer with copies of their PPTs. Don’t let that stop you! What do you think that pocket camera is for?
So it’s obviously quite easy for those of you not in the industry to tell those who are by their inane grins and furtive expressions. It’s similar to those sales folks at trade shows, armed with barcode scanners, whose first line of eye contact is to your nametag. I know that’s what nametags are for, but look me in the eye when you start talking to me. You’re not there just to prove to your head of sales that you’ve got some prospects.
Sales Training – Not really, but sorta. If you’re breaking into an aspect of search marketing that is somewhat new to you, pay attention to how your better versed competition explains themselves, their company and services, I mean advice, during presentations. The fact is, metaphors, analogies and a good story can go a long way towards explaining complex or unique SEM topics when you’re selling. Why bother making up your own when you can steal (argh, I mean borrow) them from the competition? (Reworked with your own information of course.)
Now you’d like to think you’re going to come away from a conference knowing slightly more than you did on arrival. And that goes for everyone. But I know how important it is to use stories and metaphors when talking about to the uninitiated about all that stuff that flies over their heads. Remember – your clients aren’t stupid because they don’t understand your gobbledygook. It’s our job to translate this stuff into understandable palatable chunks.
It’s a Vacation! – Convincing your boss that the next Search Marketing conference will infuse your brain with super secret SEO ninja knowledge might just get you closer to that partially all expenses paid mini-vacation to New York, Seattle, San Jose, Stockholm (don’t you have clients with Swedish sounding names?), Bejing or even London. Pull that off and you’re famous. At least until you get fired because you went to too many parties and didn’t pay attention during sessions.
I would never be so unkind as to ask where exactly Pittsburgh ranks on the vacate-ometer, but the Hilton Garden Inn looked mighty fine as I drove past on my way to Ikea last weekend. Personally, I’m more excited about this type of knowledge reaching slightly different areas. This kind of thing isn’t just for those coast-dwellers y’know.
If there are any other secret benefits you can come up with, please feel free to share them in the comments.
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