HOW TO PITCH YOUR PRODUCT AT A CONFERENCE WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL (AND ANNOYING ALL YOUR ATTENDEES)
We’ve all been to those conference sessions or keynotes where your’re expecting some inspiration or great technical pointers, and instead you get a blatant product pitch from some company. It’s exactly like an extra-long annoying commercial in the middle of your favorite show — except it shows up unexpectedly, meaning you can’t plan around it.
This topic comes up regularly in the technology conference space, most recently by Mike Bursell asking speakers to Stay On Topic! I applaud his list of reasons people go to conferences, and wonder the same thing: of all the conferences in all the towns in all the world, why do marketers have to bring product pitches to our conference?
Therefore, I have a modest proposal:
HOW TO PITCH YOUR PRODUCT AT A CONFERENCE WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL (AND ANNOYING ALL YOUR ATTENDEES)
- Contact the conference organizers ahead of time and ask for the sponsorship prospectus (Key Point! Conferences WANT you to do this!)
- Pick a sponsorship level (probably a mid/higher one) and see what event you get signage at
- Ask what physical size the signage is and if you can customize it
- Design a really awesome poster that fits in the sign’s space
- Print it and profit, secure that all the attendees attending that breakfast/lunch/event will see your awesome poster without being annoyed by a blatant commercial where they expect useful technical content!
Bam! Done! Responsible marketing at conferences!
Just recently I saw two back-to-back keynotes that were blatant advertisements or pitches for their companies. Attendees can tell it’s a pitch, and the live twitter feed makes it really obvious what people are thinking about your marketer’s attempt at a product pitch during a technical conference. It’s not good, trust us.
I do understand in some conferences that top tier sponsor packages come with a keynote slot, and it’s an important way for conferences to keep attendee ticket prices down or provide better services. Still, it was acutely embarrassing watching a poor corporate keynoter gamely but tonelessly wade through the direct product pitch deck to an audience expecting more.
What do you look for at conferences? Is it OK to live-tweet “OMG this keynote is a commercial, can we change the channel” during a technical event? Any tips for conference organizers on better supporting speakers at their events?
