It all begins with a simple idea. Let’s have a few customers come to our headquarters one Friday for a lunch-and-learn on a topic of common interest. We’ll feed them, do a 45-minute presentation on managed services, pull one of their business cards from a fishbowl and present a $100 Best Buy gift card to the winner. Then our sales reps will circle back with them the following week.
Office technology dealers have dined with clients and prospects for as long as resellers have courted businesses with all manners of equipment and technology that make their work day easier and more efficient. In recent years, however, the idea of a hosted event has taken on new meaning. And what used to take a few hours of planning has escalated into a full-blown, sometimes even branded, event of Herculean proportions.
Everything is bigger: the invite list, the venue, the educational program, guest speakers, catering, prizes and contests—not to mention the budget and the time invested in bringing hundreds of guests to a third-party venue for an afternoon of education, fun and networking. It’s all designed to ultimately solidify relations with clients and prospects while generating business.
In the end, the point of a hosted event is to portray the dealer as a thought leader and instill confidence in attendees. The hope is that attendees will trust their dealer partners to provide guidance regarding the tools and technology that enable them to achieve more with less.
We’ve assembled a selection of dealers to share their experiences taking hosted events to the next level, so you can find an idea or three to take away from their efforts and implement into your own marketing endeavors.
As is the case with several dealers, the idea of KOMAX Business Systems doing a hosted event evolved from its advertising agreement with a local sports team—in this case, the West Virginia Power minor league baseball team in Charleston, West Virginia (an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners). As part of the deal, KOMAX is allotted space in one of the facility’s luxury boxes, where the dealer can host employees or clients for a night at Appalachian Power Park.
During the first year of the dealer’s agreement with the Power, KOMAX President/Owner Bob Maxwell decided to host a night at the park, which attracted nearly 100 customers and prospects. There were several copier models on display, but many attendees viewed the opportunity as a free night out to have some food and drink while taking in a game.
“We didn’t realize a lot of new selling opportunities from it,” Maxwell noted.
After that experience, Maxwell decided to take a different approach. Instead of inviting a broad array of clients and prospects, he decided to position the show from a vertical perspective. Subsequent years have centered on the educational space, the legal market, finance, and architects/engineers. Presentations have focused on products and software specific to those sectors, with manufacturers and software companies providing demonstrations.
We’re taking on more of the consultant’s role, making them aware of the latest trends in our marketplace and the given technologies we’re talking about. That’s proven to be quite successful for us.
– Bob Maxwell, KOMAX Business Systems
While the presentations have been more focused, Maxwell took precautions not to trample over the social aspect of the evening. He schedules the seminars for 5 p.m., roughly two hours before the first pitch of the game, so that attendees can become educated on the products and services that are specific to their fields without missing out on the good time.
“They don’t feel pressured that we’re trying to sell them something,” he said. “We’re taking on more of the consultant’s role, making them aware of the latest trends in our marketplace and the given technologies we’re talking about. That’s proven to be quite successful for us.”
In 2019, KOMAX enjoyed a successful event catered toward education, with principals, teachers and school boards representing roughly 35 district organizations, both public and private. Konica Minolta’s All Covered touted the virtues of the School Gate Guardian security and management system, and Promethean representatives talked about the line of interactive display panels offered through KOMAX. Within three months of the July event, the dealer had taken 10 orders for 60 panels, and is in talks to complete an even-more-lucrative deal.
“We hadn’t been promoting (the panels) like we should have, but the event opened our eyes to the possibilities offered by products such as these panels,” Maxwell added. “Like all dealers, we’re looking for other streams of revenue, and we’re putting more focus on these panels now.”
The year 2019 marked the eighth annual Boise Technology Show for Boise, Idaho-based Fisher’s Technology. The one-day technology trade show, held at the Boise Centre East, casts a wide net, providing valuable content for attendees of all professional persuasion, from CEOs and CFOs to IT engineers, marketing managers, administrators and HR personnel.
Fisher’s Technology
According to Marketing Director Haley Grigsby, the show offers a diverse range of topics and presentations given by noted regional technology heavyweights, covering IT security, cloud transformation, multi-generational workforces, women-led business startups, building digital brands, artificial intelligence, managing health care information and a host of other relevant topics. Some seminars draw as many as 100-200 attendees.
In addition to the seminars, lunch is provided, along with keynote speeches, a technology trade show and networking reception. Cool technology gadgets are also raffled off.
The big thing about this event that sets it apart from others is the leadership component
– Haley Grigsby, Fisher’s Technology
Konica Minolta and Canon were among the participants/booth holders, along with Microsoft, Laserfiche, TIAA Bank, PaperCut, Kofax and dozens of other regional and national manufacturers, software providers and other technology-based firms.
“It’s one thing to go online and look up information, but our trade show offers attendees the opportunity to interact with different vendors and demo equipment, from copiers to software,” she said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for businesses in this community to be able to attend one event where they can make all of their business technology decisions.
“Early on, we were bringing in 50-100 attendees, but now we have 400-plus. That’s quite large for the Boise market.”
The event costs approximately $50 to attend, but the business community in Boise clearly recognizes the value. Grigsby notes it takes a team effort to pull off such a large-scale event; beyond the sales and marketing teams at Fisher’s, the company taps into local colleges and universities (including Boise State), chambers of commerce, technical councils and various other organizations to pull together its educational agenda.
“The big thing about this event that sets it apart from others is the leadership component,” she said. “We’re not pigeon-holed on seminars and keynotes that focus just on technology. The tech component is important, but the human aspect of managing and leading people is critical to the success of organizations.”
Fisher’s Technology is moving the event to every other year in Boise, as the show takes considerable resources to stage, according to Grigsby. Its branch in Spokane, Washington, will host the event in 2020 before returning to the Boise Centre East in 2021. That will help to keep the content fresh and expose another market to a major show.
Cleveland-based Ohio Business Machines (OBM) dipped its toes into the hosted event circuit in a major way in 2019, putting on a technology showcase at FirstEnergy Stadium, home to the Cleveland Browns. In past years, OBM used its advertising relationships with the Browns—which included use of facility—for internal events, according to Janae Spagnola-Lyons, company vice president. So OBM decided to host an event for clients at the stadium in August, making it part customer appreciation, part technology showcase.
“There was a lot of hype surrounding the Browns in the preseason, so we wanted to piggyback off of all the excitement,” Spagnola-Lyons said. “We had a large space to fill, and I wanted to make sure we invited all of our partners. So we wanted to ensure we’d have something for everyone.”
On the technology side, Canon, Sharp, FP Mailing, Sophos and Synology were among the OBM partners that set up booths at the showcase, along with PaperCut and Star2Star. The idea was to have at least one partner from each category bucket that OBM offers to its clients. And Canon showcased its wide-format printing gear, producing Browns schedules and other football-related content, some of which was used as autograph fodder for former Cleveland stars Reggie Langhorne and Hanford Dixon to sign. One speaker gave a presentation on cybersecurity.
We had a large space to fill, and I wanted to make sure we invited all of our partners. So we wanted to ensure we’d have something for everyone.
– Janae Spagnola-Lyons, Ohio Business Machines (OBM)
OBM really scored points with attendee retention through the help of an outside entertainment company. The third-party provider brought in large televisions and stands that were set up behind every vendor’s booth for demonstration purposes. The event was held in the Lakeshore Club, which has televisions throughout the space for viewing games, and OBM was able to show technology content on these monitors.
Games and drawings also plied attendees, with a DJ providing the evening’s entertainment. OBM gave away 10 65” televisions and held a football-throwing contest in which the winner received a cruise. Games with football themes—hourly trivia questions, life-sized red cup ball tosses, cornhole—along with stadium tours, game ticket giveaways and meeting former Browns players kept the event lively and engaging for the 275 attendees.
As the event was partly geared toward customer appreciation, Spagnola-Lyons noted there was less of a push for selling beyond the vendor fair, although the event did yield some post-show sales. She is confident that OBM will make tweaks to the event moving forward that will help maximize the dealer’s ROI.
Oftentimes, an event can start out with one purpose, then evolve to serve multiple functions for the dealer. Take Applied Imaging of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and its annual hosted event. Created 11 years ago as a customer appreciation “tailgate” party for 175 people (customers and prospects) in advance of the annual University of Michigan-Michigan State football game, it has grown to two locations with more than 700 attendees.
Beyond the opportunity to “talk trash” about which team will win while feasting on a variety of food and beverages, attendees can mingle with Applied Imaging’s sales and leadership teams and learn more about how the dealer’s hardware, software and service solutions can solve their business challenges.
“Our marketing team now owns the event, and its goal is to educate and drive revenue while continuing to keep the spirit of the rivalry alive with sports-inspired yard games throughout, with high-ticket prizes that our customers and prospects can win,” said John Lowery, president of Applied Imaging.
The dealer’s invitee list consists of all customers, top prospects and previous-year attendees. A local catering company provides the expansive menu of food, while a multitude of games ranging from cornhole to football toss and water pong are offered. Attendees have an opportunity to win raffle prizes such as a 4K flat-screen TV, $500 gift cards, iPads, Yeti coolers and high-end headphones.
In addition, a technology showcase consists of vendor partners who exhibit their software, service and hardware platforms for expansion and new opportunities. Keeping with the theme of the event, most vendors will have a game at their booths, where visitors can win prizes.
What really sells the event is the sense of community it fosters. Lowery invites former players, cheerleaders, local TV/radio broadcasters and other notable people from both colleges to talk about their schools, teams and the storied rivalry between them.
Our marketing team now owns the event, and its goal is to educate and drive revenue while continuing to keep the spirit of the rivalry alive with sports-inspired yard games throughout, with high-ticket prizes that our customers and prospects can win.
– John Lowery, Applied Imaging
The proverbial phrase “less is more” can find validation in the Atlantic Production & Industrial Print Expo created by Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office. The New York City dealer began holding two expos per year in the early 2000s—one in the city, the other in Westchester, New York. That format was switched to one show for all offices and clients, held every other year. Its show in May 2015 attracted approximately 1,200 people and 650 unique companies, according to company President Larry Weiss.
The show continued to evolve. In 2017, it was geared toward C-level executives only, focusing on IT security and production print. Last year, production print was the solo subject, and 70 key decision makers from clients and prospects visited MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to learn more about the technology. Dwarfed by its 2015 counterpart, the expo nonetheless generated more than $1.5 million in business in less than six months.
“With the smaller expos, we’re able to take on current topics and relevant products for our clients in a much-more-intimate setting where we’re able to meet our ROI objectives,” Weiss observed.
These events are truly worth it, and although it’s not measured in the ROI, in the end all employees are filled with a strong sense of accomplishment.
– Larry Weiss, Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office
While the name of the event, its frequency, the products and services, and attendee target may be constantly on the move, the objective of informing, educating and generating increased business remains static. The executive management team Weiss assembles a team of mostly Atlantic personnel—with contributions from its OEMs (Konica Minolta, Ricoh and EFI for its most recent Production Expo last June). When it comes to Atlantic’s larger expos, all of its partners participate—Toshiba, Kyocera, HP, EFI and PaperCut, in addition to the aforementioned manufacturers. Those and other and tech partners help to whiteboard the current topics that are relevant to the products that will be on display at the expo. The team focuses on specific subject matter as it relates to the broader topic.
“Even at the Production Print Expo, although we do demonstrate most these large products, the educational piece of how they can grow their business and implement new technologies is the main focus for this segment,” Weiss added.
The dealer’s expos have yielded some big-name guests, including NFL stars Eli Manning and Phil Simms, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and decorated Navy SEAL Leif Babin. High-end gifts are also doled out via hourly drawings.
Even while Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office can find justification in the ROI each production yields, there are ancillary benefits derived. “These events are truly worth it, and although it’s not measured in the ROI, in the end all employees are filled with a strong sense of accomplishment,” Weiss said. “Morale is high and people feel so good about the company and themselves. To me, this is priceless.”
