From the start of the economic down-turn that arrived in late 2000, association meetings have been on the minds of many companies to an extent that's unusual in a time of recession. But why? "Because many more firms began to think outside the box regarding their marketing strategies and trying to get positive recognition for themselves," says Scott Korzen, a trainer for Chicago-based Incomm Sales Training, which coaches convention/exhibition managers, exhibitors, and sponsors to maximize the benefits of shows. "And one outlet these firms have looked at is being an educational resource at industry-related conferences, as session leaders or panelists. It's a viable alternative to traditional marketing avenues, because it's a direct means of gaining name recognition and credibility, and it's not expensive." And interest in this inexpensive method has not waned as the economy picked up in recent months.
But if not done properly, being part of a session can, in fact, be expensive—not only to the company looking for exposure, but to the association as well. "As good a marketing tool as an educational session may be, companies must realize it's a dangerous thing if you don't handle the situation judiciously," Korzen adds. "It can actually do more harm than good for brand image if the speaker doesn't approach his duty the right way"—in other words, if he wades into the territory of infomercial. "When someone toots his own horn under the guise of delivering objective material, it hurts his own firm's credibility and the association's credibility."
In December 2002, The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page article detailing how some pharmaceutical companies coerced various doctors' associations to give them educational sessions to conduct as they pleased, which became blatant infomercials that nonetheless granted attendees continuing-education credits. While Korzen notes this is an unusually brazen example and that "association planners have, on the whole, done an excellent job of warding off creeping advances by sponsors to leverage educational content for their own purposes," this issue likely won't disappear.
Fortunately, some association event planners have found ways to allow suppliers to promote their expertise in front of attendees—without failing to objectively educate the audience on pressing industry issues.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE
Who better to talk about satisfying marketing-minded suppliers than the event coordinators for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA)? Martha Filson, director of conference operations for the New York City-based group, starts off by drawing a clear line for suppliers. "We don't let companies sponsor sessions," she states. "The feeling here is that they may sponsor tote bags, a meal function, et cetera, but not the educational component." Because if a company sponsors a session that contains industry-related subjects, "people can't help but think that perhaps the sponsor guided the direction of the content," she says.
On the other hand, the keynote and capnote addresses—generally given by someone outside the industry and on a topic broad enough to apply to all businesses—is fair game for large sponsors. "One year we had former President Bush speak about leadership, and that would not have been possible without the sponsor," Filson adds. "In such instances, the sponsor's executive can even help us introduce the speaker."
But the DMA goes beyond this fairly common framework to appease vendors and sponsors in a more unique way. In recognition of the fact that industry suppliers want their chance to pitch to attendees, and many attendees come to shows at least in part to experience these pitches, DMA not only puts no limits on what vendors can do inside their show booths, but it also creates a pavilion on the show floor dedicated to supplier-controlled sessions. "Basically, we'll have a mini-theater in the midst of all the show traffic, and any vendor can book a 30- or 60-minute slot [on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of how much a firm spent to be a vendor or sponsor] and make their pitch in any format they choose. The notice goes out to every exhibitor and sponsor at the same time, so the little guys feel that they are treated the same and have an equal opportunity as the big guys."
Filson notes that while DMA makes clear to attendees that these sessions are promotional in nature, the sessions actually well attended, with people freely shuttling in and out during each one. "The benefit of having a pavilion is that attendees do want this type of stuff as part of their overall show experience, and they know exactly what they're getting when they go to these sessions." And even though there is no cost for booking time in the pavilion, the DMA does work hard to make sure the infomercials stay only in the pavilion and the show booths. "If a company tries to go around us and have a promotional session at one of the hotels we're using, we won't let that happen," Filson says.
In the area of objective programming, however, there's no doubt that suppliers are a valuable source of industry information, and some of them should be involved in the purely educational attendee sessions. Stephen Kimmerling, conference program manager for the DMA, keeps suppliers in line this way: "Our industry's vendors—service providers, consultants, agencies, software companies—are the ones who want to sell their thinking, while those who sell tangible wares tend to be the end users in our business. But since vendors have a bird's eye view of the business due to their dealings with so many different clients, they are free to submit papers for session proposals. But the instructions are clear that they must provide a case study that includes bringing that end user into the session as well."
"So the vendor may talk about the challenges they are seeing from clients, and then discuss a particular challenge that this end user faced and the solution the firm proposed," adds Kimmerling. "Then the end user takes over, talking about how they rolled out the solution at their firm, what worked, what failed, and what attendees can take away from the end user's experience."
And if getting an end user in person at the show is not feasible for particular sessions, the DMA requires vendors to focus their session on best practices, with several end-user examples. But "we do give preference to proposals that have the end user involved," he notes.
To police the sessions, Kimmerling not only has detailed attendee evaluation forms, but he also sends his own staffers into sessions to monitor the theme, direction, and tone that presenters use. Both attendee and "watchdog" evaluations are tabulated by computer, and "speakers who do poorly more than once will be set aside in favor of those who are consistently objective and case-study oriented," Kimmerling says.
FOR FUN AND PROFIT
The Texas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recre-ation, and Dance (TAHPERD) does many of the same things as DMA regarding suppliers and education. But session requests from suppliers are so strong that Lisa Fall, director of convention and meetings, is able to charge suppliers to run about two dozen sessions concurrently with the other 150 purely educational sessions. "To make a session proposal [like the DMA, on a first-come, first-served basis], a firm must be a show exhibitor and they must also pay for the 60-minute session slot," Fall says. "These sessions are designated clearly on the program as 'commercial presentations,' so attendees know that they are going to hear a lot about one company and its products. But these folks need to see how the newest physical-fitness equipment is used, and they get a live demonstration away from the confines of the show floor that helps them in their work. They also get CEU credits for attending the commercial sessions we accept into our program. In short, there is a place for such sessions in our business—companies are willing to pay for them, and attendees are willing to sit in on them."
On the flip side, TAHPERD's rules for its purely educational sessions and for disciplining wayward presenters are even more stringent than most. "Our sessions are done by members, not vendors, but many members start their own consulting businesses and have services that they sell. So we have volunteers and board members attend each session. If anyone starts promoting anything, or even wears clothing that endorses a product, we don't let them participate again unless they agree to become an exhibitor—they have to buy the booth and the presentation. They can make a fool of us once, but not twice."
That's the fine line that association planners must walk when it comes to balancing attendees' needs, suppliers' wants, and the bottom line. In the end, "There obviously is great value for vendors when they participate in the educational component at shows," the DMA's Kimmerling says, "because they come across as substantive experts and resources. It has a legitimizing effect." But for the protection of their own brands, associations must remain vigilant and maintain the proper boundary.