Over recent months One Nucleus has consulted widely on the why, what, and who aspects of choosing the right events to attend to balance cost, approaches, and expectations to meet the business needs most cost-effectively.
by Tony Jones, CEO, One Nucleus
In this article:
- Why are you attending that event?
- Good practice guide for event selection, preparedness and presence
- One Nucleus lessons and changes
There has never been a time when human nature hasn’t driven most to want to be more efficient. Without this, bio-partnering platforms, business intelligence databases and investment concierge services would likely not have gained traction to the ubiquitous levels that now represent significant markets. However, is there always a trade-off between cold and relationship-based deal flow generation? There is no doubt both are required if success and competitiveness are to be delivered, so it is more a case of balance and right time, right place.
Below is a summary of the key messages that arose around choosing the right events:
|
Event Type |
Why |
What |
Who |
|
Large global /international events (>£1000 delegate fee) |
Business lead generation Brand profile Industry insight Sales pipeline development |
Build ‘Ideal Customer Profile’ Create collateral Max 1-2-1 partnering system use On-site networking plan Follow-up |
Can be seniority-led Known/expert team present Sufficient human resource All staff briefed and prepared CRM integration |
|
Ecosystem group conferences (< £750 delegate fee) |
Business lead generation Relationship building Brand profile Industry insight Career development |
Build ‘Ideal Customer Profile’ Create collateral On-site networking plan Utilise connectivity apps Follow-up |
Senior team presence builds local brand value for SMEs Large corporate and investor innovation scouts L&D opportunity for new entrants/career shifters |
|
Membership Group events (£0-100 delegate fee) |
Industry insights Local intelligence sharing Brand value growth through relationship building Business lead generation Team/Career development |
Open mind approach to others Clarity of knowledge gaps or contacts you seek Embrace the value of serendipity and be curious Follow up |
C-suite – promote company, test messaging and influence discussion BD/sales staff – build trust leading to direct and indirect business lead generation Managers – employee development to enhance team performance Career builders - gain insight, advice and help |
Just Being!
Across the discussions, there have been some recurring themes that amount to some guardrails when it comes to engagement in events. These included:
- Be needy!
There are numerous reasons to attend events, but identifying what needs any particular event will satisfy is key to assessing the cost/benefit of any options. There may be more than one need satisfied, but the primary goal should be the dominant factor to match cost, indirect resources and expectations of return. Important here was the feeling that bigger is not always better, and that there is, perhaps, a value chain that is effectively a training escalator to ensure the return on investment from the larger, global events is maximised.
- Be selective!
Once the primary need has been established, there will be a number of events to evaluate that, on first glance, meet the criteria. Whether the right topics are on the programme that you wish to learn about, the right potential investors, partners, or clients are there too, or whether it is a good forum to raise profile and build trust, are strong questions to ask to prioritise the choices.
- Be curious!
With your email inbox, social media timeline and even phone call history bulging with event salespeople giving you all the reasons you want to hear to pay to attend their event, considering what you really need to know is important. Being hoodwinked by over enthusiastic sales teams making somewhat unproven or unrealistic claims is a common trap. Compelling claims of ‘XX number of investors already registered’ or ‘$YYBn of investment happened because of our event last time’ could fall under hype over data, given we are all aware of the deal-making relationship-building process and timescales needed. Be sure to ask for evidence, reassurances and references. It’s likely that the organiser cannot answer every question, but they should come over as trustworthy and take the time to understand you and your company.
- Be prepared!
Not just for an event, but consistently across all communications and collateral, your value proposition and messaging should be clear and digestible and convey not just what you do but why the target audience should care. The phrase ‘that’s good for you, but what is great for me?’ being a particular guidance to consider (ref. Kat Arney). Beyond that, allow ample time to prepare accordingly so that your time is used as effectively as possible. Make sure others know you are attending; where available, use the 1-2-1 partnering platform fully and ensure you are fully briefed to deal with any predicted questions.
- Be present!
The event selected, attendance fee and any indirect needs booked and paid, you have prepared well. Do not let all that investment go to waste and not be present. Too often a lack of consideration for how an exhibition booth is designed and staffed loses potential reward, a lack of focus in the 1-2-1 meetings, attention in conference sessions and even a closed approach to networking can reduce your return on investment.
- Be creative!
Everyone has, at one time or another, after doing all the good practice above, found themselves at an event which has turned out to be not quite what they wanted. The range of options then becomes a range of leave early and cut your losses, persevere and bemoan to anyone who listens that you are unhappy, or adapt your goals and make the most of it. The latter would make the most sense; after all the expense and time is already committed. The first and second options do not pay off. The first, since no benefit is gained; the second just leaves a bad brand image of you and your business. Adapting means you gain the unexpected. Potential to learn, connect and follow up with hitherto known or unknown unknowns.
- Be considerate!
Absolutely, the top priority of attending the event for you is to meet your needs and goals. The people you meet have gone through the same great process above as you, and their needs and goals may be different. Therefore, being considerate to enable them to prioritise their goals as needed can build a much better impression, relationship and deal opportunity. If their top priority is to meet investors, for example, the priority of their follow-up actions is geared by that (if you are not an investor, that is). If the other person suggests you follow up in two weeks rather than immediately since they know they won’t have bandwidth to reply, it’s good advice to do that. Rushing back to a hotel room and following up immediately suggests little attention or care for their needs.
- Be creative!
There is no such thing as an infinite budget, and, much like target delegates you meet at an event, priority for you may not be priority for your budget holder or marketing team, and everyone has to justify expenditure at some point. This is where local, ecosystem-based events such as those delivered by One Nucleus can help both directly and indirectly. Directly, the events can meet a number of the needs set out in the table above around building brand value and trust and gaining industry insights and support for career development of yourself and colleagues. Indirectly, leveraging such local, low-cost events to be as prepared as possible for the larger global forums means the budget expended in the £1000’s at those events is better spent when you are prepared. Locally can be a great practice arena among friends by pitching for advice, as well as money, or testing out elevator pitch lines. Take the feedback on board, note what resonates, observe others’ behaviours to gain traction and trust. Taking the learnings, onward introductions and confidence gained into the larger, costlier conferences means the impact of your cash and resource spend is amplified. Being creative, aware and focused about why your local events are valuable, leaving room for the serendipitous encounters also since the cost to attend was minimal, will stand you in good stead.
Lessons for One Nucleus
There are always lessons to learn, and for One Nucleus, that provides an opportunity to adapt our activities and delivery to align with current and future needs. Diary congestion and budgets are two key barriers almost every company we work with raise as challenges. To assist in these aspects, One Nucleus is implementing a number of changes in our event portfolio going forward, which include:
- Bringing the ON Annual Awards into Genesis.
- Focus on delivering thematic seminars to maximise relevant learning and connectivity.
- Targeting consolidated days of events in either London or Cambridge to ease diary congestion, travel costs and maximise the serendipitous opportunity.
- Re-scheduling key initiatives such as Boston Bootcamp, BioBeat and ON Helix to enable greater leveraging of these larger activities by their participants.
Build everywhere from here:
There is no doubt that some things happen best locally, whilst other things require international and wider engagement. One Nucleus focus is making sure that the things that can happen best locally are delivered, cost-effective to attend and geared towards onwards success for all.
Stay abreast of One Nucleus upcoming events and offers at https://onenucleus.com/one-nucleus-events or email [email protected]