Timing is everything, and we have to admit the timing of our state of the industry report on putting on hosted events has a curious footnote, given the recent developments surrounding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Travel to numerous countries that have been hardest hit is quickly becoming discouraged (or outright banned), and as the number of deaths in the United States continues to climb, organizations have canceled planned hosted events or requested that nationals from the countries most impacted not make their planned U.S. trip.
Though it is interesting to note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documents that upwards of 60,000 Americans die from the flu each year, which equates to more than 1,000 per week. While that doesn’t diminish the threat COVID-19 presents, it certainly puts the current status in perspective. But many have opted for the better-safe-than-sorry viewpoint, as evidenced by HIMMS decision to cancel next week’s Global Health Conference and Exhibition, where several OEMS—including Konica Minolta, Epson, Ricoh, Brother International and Lexmark—were slated to exhibit booths.
Knock wood, the virus will become a non-factor in the coming months and Americans can resume their regular travel without significant interruption. That also means attending hosted events without hesitation, and as a complement to this month’s focus, we will take a look at the planning of the educational component for attendees, and the role manufacturers can play.
Putting together the content for the eighth annual Boise Technology Show was no small feat, according to Haley Grigsby, marketing director for Fisher’s Technology. It entailed scanning attendee surveys from previous events, which proved most valuable. One of the most time-consuming elements was vetting professional presenters, particularly for sessions that are scheduled for 45 minutes or an hour.
“We want to make sure that it is good, relevant content,” Grigsby said. “We pull candidates from local technology organizations and colleges. For our multigenerational management seminar, we used a professor from Boise State. It’s important to find people who have a local draw, individuals who have had a huge impact on our community in the business world. And some of the seminar slots have drawn as many as 200 people.”
With tracks that speak to individuals who serve a number of different roles within their business, it was important for Fisher’s to assemble a wide range of individuals who could perform a deep dive into a given topic. From marketing to IT, cybersecurity and human resources management, the agenda offered a vast menu of information.
“We spend so much time on bringing together amazing content,” she observed. “When you put out the big names attending on social media, people pay attention. We’ve had a lot of returning attendees register.”
Following an initial hosted event that targeted business verticals of every flavor, KOMAX Business Systems of South Charleston, West Virginia, decided to refocus the events it hosts at Appalachian Power Park to a single business sector, which proved to be more fruitful. President/Owner Bob Maxwell notes the help from KOMAX’s manufacturer partners has been quite instrumental in providing a fuller educational scope for a given vertical’s needs.
“Our manufacturers are always enthusiastic about pitching in wherever they’re needed,” he said. “Our salespeople are trained to keep up on the different products and services that we offer. On occasion, a client or prospect will probe a little deeper with questions, and ordinarily, the rep would need to get back to them with an answer. But with manufacturer reps on hand, the odds of them being able to answer the question are pretty good, and more often than not, they can respond immediately.
“We have great support from our manufacturer partners; they’re here with us, arm in arm, to talk about the products and services we offer.”
Ohio Business Machines (OBM) of Cleveland put on its first large-scale event last August at the home of the Cleveland Browns, FirstEnergy Stadium. Janae Spagnola-Lyons, company vice president, notes that besides herself, a staff of five other OBM employees invested about five to ten hours apiece each week in putting together the entire event.
Manufacturer partners such as Sharp provided guidance along the way, particularly regarding the frequency and channels for promoting the event. Spagnola-Lyons admits there were a few hiccups along the way, but in the end, OBM was able to pull in a healthy crowd of 275 clients and prospects. Last month, OBM scheduled a more intimate gathering of 15 strategic clients in partnership with security specialist Sophos to discuss endpoint protection.
“We’re going from one extreme to another to see what it feels like, and decide where we might go from there,” Spagnola-Lyons noted. “If we do that large of a scale again, it won’t be much different. It’s tough to get 300 people that are interested in the same thing.”
