I’m back from California. Technically I was back on Thursday, but I took the last few days to just relax and recover from the minor jet lag.
If you don’t know, I was away for a few days to help my company, that I work full-time with, run one of their biggest events.
They were definitely some of the longest days I’ve ever experienced, 12+ hour days to be more exact. But they were also some of the most fun days I’ve experienced too.
I stayed in a resort, ate like a king, hung out with co-workers, and slept like a baby in their extra comfy bed.
There was nothing to complain about, except the fact that the resort was so big that it took a bit of time to walk everywhere.
Heck, it took me almost five minutes just to go from the lobby to my room. That’s obnoxiously long. And I realize that makes me sound very lazy, but it is what it is.
But I do want to share some cool things I learned about event sponsorship, so let’s start.
1. Demonstration really helps lift the weight of selling. As far as I remember, a lot of sponsors there were software companies, and some of them had screens set up on their booths to showcase their software to the attendees that were interested. If their demonstration can show how effective it can help solve their problems and how much easier their lives would be, 90% of the selling is pretty much already done.
2. Not related, but economy plane rides are terrible. I don’t understand how people survive international flights. Plus I get motion sickness, which is something I never knew about myself until now.
Just want to throw this out there. It’ll probably serve you no purpose.
Moving on.
3. There’s a lot of power in association. One of the things companies can do is sponsor parties or private lunches. They pay a fee to basically stick their name on that specific event and they also get the contact info of all the people who attend their functions. From what I understand, they do take part in the planning too, but it’s nothing too big. I remember this one post someone made in the event app thanking the sponsors for putting up the functions. Even though it was the conference organizers that did most of the planning, they still gain recognition, which I found really interesting.
4. There’s something about speaking on stage that automatically gives you a lot of credibility. When you demonstrate your knowledge in front of an audience, there’s going to be someone who has a problem that’s looking for a solution you provide. It’ll be a no-brainer for that person to approach you after finishing your speaking session. One of my co-workers said that speakers, who are already executives of big companies, would provide consulting services on the side for those people in the audience who are interested in working with him/her.
That’s all for today.