Events & Conferences

We typically don’t recommend spending money attending conferences. Most are generic and yield poor returns. Lost time before and after an event can also distract from primary goals.

If an event is strictly about your technology and the audience loves what you are making, it’s worth considering. The audience should comprise potential customers, i.e., individuals who can generate revenue for your business. Otherwise, it is extremely hard to get a good return for the time and money invested.

Conferences

Tiers of participation can range from attending and presenting to hosting a booth and sponsoring. Be clear about your goal of attending the conference. For example, “generate X# of sales leads” is a measurable goal. “Increase brand awareness” is not.

Examples of reasons to attend a conference and measurable goals

1. Recruiting: generate X# of qualified applicants for XYZ role(s).

2. Lead generation: collect X# of qualified leads and contact leads within 3 days.

3. Events can only help with the initial lead generation. The follow up is what is more useful and events are where the job is just starting.

4. Community building: add X# of people to the Discord group.

5. Investor relations: secure X# of meetings with specific investor firms.

Conference booth

Include an incentive. When hosting a conference booth, include an incentive to get people to visit your booth and sign up for something. Example: 50% off the first year’s subscription.

Strong messaging. Booths that tend to do well at events have strong, targeted messaging. To increase your chances of meeting your event goal, consider creating event-specific messaging tailored to the audience attending the event. For example, if the event is about a specific technology that your product uses, make that front and center.

Events for team bonding

Team building is not a strong enough reason to sponsor or host a booth at an event on its own. You can hold team-building events separately from conferences. If you pair an event with team bonding, arrive a few days early for dedicated team-building time.