The National Association of Chain Drug Stores in recent years has re-engineered some meetings by tailoring programs for more personal communication between attendees and exhibitors, and interaction with attendees through implementation of new technology, including social media.

NACDS senior vice president of meetings and conferences Jim Whitman said the meetings team now takes a deep look at attendee information, then builds networking events, trade shows or education programs to best serve them.

That close examination led the association to develop its "Meet the Market" concept meetings, in which prior to an event's start it matches retailers and buyers with manufacturers and suppliers for short appointments.

The program began the association's annual Marketplace Conference, then continued at its annual Pharmacy & Technology Conference, where it was dubbed "Meet the Retailer." According to Whitman, the association now is looking to adapt the matchmaking program so that it can be used for all its major events. Whitman said it enables manufacturers and retailers to focus show activities and gives the trade show floor a "jump start."

The meetings team also has worked to improve its communications to attendees and exhibitors in advance of events. Some of those improvements entailed building enhancements to conference websites, including "the kind of relevant information that people want," better integration with online registration tools and enabling users to have more control over their profiles, reducing errors in their personal information.

As for using such technology as online registration tool integration, Whitman said, "To make life easier and have more effective ROI for the registrant once they register, some people are doing it as an individual within their company or others are doing it for multiple people. The technology has to allow both to happen. When all is said and done, the individual is the one who really knows the true accuracy of everything out there."

In the second half of 2009, the NACDS meetings department began using Twitter to notify followers about conference speakers, sessions and registration information. Whitman said they are using the tool "judiciously to try to see the right use of it for everybody."

He added, "It's a lot of communication going across the wires out there. You want to make sure that what we're doing reflects what NACDS is about in the messages we are conveying, the accuracy of the information and building upon what is happening leading up to and during the conference."

For its membership of more than 150 drug stores, supermarkets and mass merchants with pharmacies, 900 suppliers and more than 70 international members from 24 countries, the association annually hosts five large meetings. Its largest conferences tend to be in the 3,300 to 3,500-person range, Whitman said. NACDS also holds a series of smaller board and committee meetings, and more specialized conferences, such as its legislative focused RxImpact event in Washington, D.C., for about 250 attendees.

The NACDS meetings team has managed nearly all components of the programs for more than 15 years, including registration, exhibit sales, logistics, food and beverage planning, graphic design and speaker contracts.

Whitman, a lawyer, also oversees meetings and related-services contracts. He has been with the association for 33 years. Before overseeing the meetings program, he served on the NACDS government and regulatory affairs team.

His approach to the current buyer's market is to run the association's events "like a business. There are cycles. One day, you are on one side of the cycle, and the other day, you are on the other side. We stake our reputation on consistency, equity and fairness throughout."

In negotiations with hotels and meeting venues during the economic downturn, the association's meetings team has driven a "hard bargain," Whitman said, "but we also understand where they are coming from. When everyone understands what everyone's needs are, then we can find creative solutions."

Originally published April 12, 2010 This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy