Conferences: Are They Worth Your Precious Startup Time?. From travel costs, to exhibitor fees, to booth materials and promotional items, conferences are not the most cost-effective events for a startup. So, when you get an opportunity to attend a big industry conference, how do you know if it is worth your while? How do you pick out the events to make the most of your precious startup dollars? If your sales are concentrated in the B2B market, however, recognize that many of these shows attract a consumer market made up of families and environmental enthusiasts, which won't be ideal for you. Look at the numbers. Yes, 30,000 people may attend a conference, but this is a total figure, meaning that there will be 30,000 attendees across two or three days. One hidden factor that took me a few less-than-desirable conference experiences to understand is the importance of event set-up and schedule. Are there breakouts/workshops, main stage keynotes, and, most importantly, a scheduled exhibition time? Attending conferences and events doesn't have to be.
The summer solstice went by last week, signalling the (early) start for us all of shorter days, and, for entrepreneurs, the start of the fall countdown — because entrepreneurs plan early, right?
But amid the preparations for the coming fall season’s back-to-school, Fashion Week and final-quarter launches, the burning question for many entrepreneurs is their event schedule. This means, specificially, the conferences, conventions, trade shows and industry showcases they might choose to attend.
It’s impossible to deny the impact of event marketing. According to the Events Industry Council, in the United States alone there are over 1.8 million meetings, trade shows, conventions and incentive events and other meetings held annually.
In the early stages of your startup journey, you may find it easy to be drawn into the hype of a conference, especially when its promoters promise networking and a level of brand exposure that you’ve never encountered. Who doesn’t like a curated room full of potential buyers, investors or industry partners? At the least, if you attend, you’re bound to find people who “get” what you do and are just as enthousiastic as you are about your vision or industry.
Unfortunately, though, these pricey events are not always what they’re cracked up to be, so discerning the ones worth your time versus those which are better off to skip can be challenging.
What’s more, if you’re bootstrapping or running tight on cash flow, you’ll find the pressure to secure a return on your investment even greater. From travel costs, to exhibitor fees, to booth materials and promotional items, conferences are not the most cost-effective events for a startup.
It’s not uncommon, in fact, for an exhibitor booth to cost a company $3,500, and that doesn’t include the supplementary costs like booth materials, lodging and wi-fii. If you are looking to attend the major conferences, expect costs to set you back five or six figures: To attend CES, for example,fees, lodging and extra expenses for one exhibitor reporting these sums (to Inc.) added up to over $150,000!
Rarely does a startup have the cash flow to cover outrageous exhibitor fees. Yet, early-stage startups can benefit tremendously from attending these events. Conferences, when they are a good fit, offer an entrepreneur a curated audience to test his or her MVP, and opportunities to network with key influencers that can help their startup to grow.
So, when you get an opportunity to attend a big industry…
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