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The Art of Networking and Winning at a Conference

Trade shows and conferences can be an intimidating affair for some, especially at large events. At a webinar titled "Get the Most out of the Five Star Conference," presented by Al Freedman, CEO, First Freedom Preservation, the audience got insights as well as tips on how they could look at getting more business while attending trade shows and conferences.

Starting off on with why trade shows and conferences were a cost-effective way for agents and brokers especially to get more business, Freedman said that these events allowed businesses to get face-to-face with customers, have all prospects in one place, meet industry experts, check out competition, and most importantly getting educated on the latest trends and strategies.

Freedman then gave tips on some winning strategies that attendees could use to get maximum benefit from these events. The first one was to know why you were at the event, and that included only four reasons--prospecting for clients, cementing relationships with customers, connecting with influencers, and building expertise, reputation, or brand.

The next tip was to understand which trade conferences and events worked best for a business. Some good ways to choose the right conference include, checking industry magazines and websites, searching for terms such as best trade show for the industry, do you want industry or consumer shows and research about the event you plan to attend and attend before you think of exhibiting.

Speaking about how one could take advantage of a "target-rich" environment, Freedman noted that attendees could check out speaker lists and watch videos of the speakers ahead of time to determine the sessions they would be most interested in attending. Some advance research and outreach could also help attendees schedule meetings, lunches, or cocktails with customers, prospective clients, and vendors.

Giving tips on how attendees could make their mark at a conference, Freedman said that wearing company branded clothing, preparing an elevator pitch for each audience they planned to reach out to, and most importantly creating collateral that they could share with people they meet went a long way in creating a lasting impression.

To learn more about getting the most out of a conference, click here.

About Author: Radhika Ojha

Radhika Ojha is an independent writer and copy-editor, and a reporter for DS News. She is a graduate of the University of Pune, India, where she received her B.A. in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing and an M.A. in Mass Communication. Upon completion of her masters degree, Ojha worked at a national English daily publication in India (The Indian Express) where she was a staff writer in the cultural and arts features section. Ojha, also worked as Principal Correspondent at HT Media Ltd and at Honeywell as an executive in corporate communications. She and her husband currently reside in Houston, Texas.
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