The Future of Conferences and Professional Associations
This probably deserves two posts, but I think the matters are related, so I’m lumping them together. I found myself writing this after being asked by one of our team members at CustomScoop whether I thought a professional development conference was worth more than $2000 to attend. Half of that was the conference fee and the other half travel-related expenses. It, of course, did not include the value of that person’s time since that would need to be factored in as well to make an accurate value judgment.
But two posts I read in the last couple of days entered into the mix as well. The first was from my new friend John Wall (how long is a friend new, by the way? in social media circles it seems like the timeline for everything is shortened!). He wrote:
My membership to the Boston chapter of the Business Marketing Association is coming up for renewal. As I look back over the year, the only thing I got out of my membership is the certificate that’s under a pile of stuff somewhere in the pile of stuff that builds up with the trade mags in a random corner. Of course that still puts them one step ahead of my membership to the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA), I don’t recall getting a certificate from them.
Another point of reference came from a Microsoft employee named Kintan Brahmbhatt. He asked, “Why do you go to a conference?” and offered up a good post on the subject. I find fewer and fewer people seem to attend conferences for the content, but more for the networking. Kintan says something similar: “the common and the highest order bit for me to attend any conference has always been and will always be ‘to meet new people’, with similar or different interests.”
With the rise of “unconferences” like the wildly successful Podcamp (over 1000 attendees in New York recently) and parties like the TechCrunch/August Capital one coming up or the mixers that Rafat Ali puts on for PaidContent, how necessary are conferences and associations?
Conferences
I still pay substantial dollars to go to some conferences. I pay over $2000 a pop to attend each of the two annual DEMO events put on by Chris Shipley. It’s a mix of the technology demos and the people that brings me there. It is a real time to recharge my batteries by seeing great innovation and talking with fellow entrepreneurs and investors that I don’t see often (as well as meeting new ones). But I’m still undecided on whether to spring a similar amount for Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis’ TechCrunch 20. I’m inclined to for many of the same reasons as DEMO, but how often can I shell out that sort of cash and feel justified in doing so? Why not just read TechCrunch and Scoble to get my scoops and Twitter for networking?
Similarly, I will generally pay to attend major communications industry events like the PRSA or IABC annual conferences. They’re not quite as expensive as DEMO or TechCrunch 20, but they’re still not cheap. And with so much live blogging and official video now available, is the networking really worth it? If so, how often?
What I’d really like to see is someone to take the best of these expensive, established conferences and blend in some of the elements of an unconference to make it a more affordable event to attend with more potent content. I think it can be done. Unconferences scare more mainstream attendees because most people fear the unknown. So have an agenda, but offer up a track with some flexibility for those who are open to the concept. Choose venues that may not be quite as grand, but that perhaps offer more affordable conference fees. Find a way to integrate vendors in a transparent way that allows benefits to be shared by attendee and sponsors alike.
Professional Associations
This is one that’s a much tougher nut to crack. I belong to a number of associations, including PRSA and IABC. I have been active with the PRSA New York board for a number of years now and have seen first-hand the challenges that associations face today. It’s much harder to entice younger people to shell out membership fees and employers are less inclined to foot the bill themselves.
When you’re paying hundreds of dollars a year in membership dues, you expect something in return. But what is the biggest value that most of these groups offer? Newsletters and events. The newsletters are free, though they offer far less value today in an age of blogs and other instant (and free) communication. Often the events are good (PRSA chapters put on some great events, and not just the ones that I participate in!). But the discounts provided to members are often fairly paltry (it seems like $10 to $25 less is fairly typical of the ones I see that aren’t $1000 events). It takes a lot of those discounts in a year to make up for the dues investment.
The bottom line is professional associations must do more to innovate and adapt to the changing environment we all operate in. Newsletters and magazines that once served as a lifeline to professionals no longer fill the same need as they did in the pre-Internet era when niche news, information, and commentary was harder to find. Local events that once offered a glimpse into the mind of an expert now need more to distinguish themselves. The content isn’t what drives me to go listen to Katie Paine. I can get that from her newsletter, blog, and live blogging accounts of her conference appearances (and there’s probably video, too, that I’m overlooking). It’s the conversation and networking. So tailor events to maximize those benefits.
Conclusion
The landscape is changing for
conferences and professio
nal associations. The old ways of doing things are dead. The venerable COMDEX conference lost its place at the top of the computer industry heap because it no longer served a burning need in the community. Others will face the same fate if they fail to innovate and adapt
I wandered over here from my new curator, Chris Brogan. I am one of the lead organizers of Podcamp Philly, Sept. 7, 8 and 9, and helped organize Podcamp NYC.
I think the power of the unconference is making conferences not only more affordable, but they tend to be all about community and sharing- speaking with your audience rather than at them.
Podcamp tends to be a bit like Consumer Reports of New Media- people talk about how they do things like podcasting and blogging, what works for them, how things like search engine optimization works, and what new tools are available and what is working well. I’ve learned so much at each Podcamp, I end up sounding like that stupid hair replacement commercial “I’m not just an attendee, I’m also an Organizer.”
We’d love to have you join us in Philly- you can get to our registration off the main podcamp site at http://www.podcamp.org.
Whitney Hoffman
the LD Podcast
Podcamp Philly Lead Organizer
I didn’t mean to make it seem as if the only benefit of Podcamp or other unconferences is the price. Podcamp Philly is on my public travel calendar and I intend to try to make it. But I do think unconferences will have a hard time attracting more mainstream audiences because the non-geeks I know like to have a better idea what they’re going to learn and from who before committing to traveling to a conference.
Thanks for the shout, we will have to get a geek dinner going at podcamp!
Yes, another of the friends of Chris Brogan who sent us a link to this posting. As a person who has been creating and running face-to-face marketing programs (aka tradeshows, conferences, events) for close to 30 years, yes there is a change underfoot. In the interest of full disclosure, I was the VP & General Manager of COMDEX during the big years of 1995 through 2001, and relevancy wasn’t the primary reason COMDEX went away. ROI became the big issue with many of the companies, mostly because taking part was always about out-doing and out-shining the next guy. What was missing was setting up a plan of what we want to accomplish and how we will accomplish what we want. [COMDEX also had some other issues including ownership changes and constant press attention rehashing stories about a couple of big name companies who dropped out making the news annually, making it look like these were recent drop outs. If you see IBM stopped being a customer six years in a row you might think you should second guess your investment as well. But this is a story for a different day. And IBM dropped out in 1997, once. And stayed out from then on.]
As for attendees, the big problem has been a similar one – not planning or thinking about what they want to accomplish at the event and just showing up. You don’t just end up at the mall to shop (ok, well some people do) and walk in and think ‘why am I here?’. At least you think ‘I need this and I know where to go get it, or where to look and compare.’ With conferences too many people go to go, and not to follow through on specific needs and plans. If you need to meet up with someone or a vendor or a client, set up the appointment. That makes the trip or visit the the event relevant. If you are going to scout new technology, for example, then make a couple of appointments. If you are going to specifically learn something in a session, plan ahead to be at that session and even do a little home work in advance. But don’t just go for the sake of going – you can’t measure the success of that.
On the topic of local associations – the reason these were important to you earlier in life (like when you signed up) was you felt you would either meet some people who would be useful to you or you would meet vendors or possible clients. It’s a two way street – what have you done lately to avail yourself of the association and the opportunities? If it’s the Business Marketing Association in Boston, did you take part in their May, 2007 New Marketing Summit and meet some of the interesting people doing relevant things to those in marketing and PR. If not it’s not really fair to blame the event or the association for not providing value. Granted, associations and events are bad at showing you the value of the relationship, and that will be the ultimate demise of many of these groups. But the two way street here is for you to step up and take the lead, get active in the group, meet some of the people and see where you might be able to offer your skills as a trainer, mentor or leader. And others will tap you as the expert, you will meet people who are relevant to your business and then you will have stepped up the returns from the group.
One reason the unconferences have such appeal is people are forced to do what upon arrival? Identify something that is relevant to them and take action to get it. You look at the topics posted on the PostIt notes and select where to go. You are in control of extracting value from the event and hence you feel the event “produced” more for you. Same results can be had by working through the traditional conference’s planning materials before you go to the event.
Chip and others – good luck and hit me up if you want more ideas on ways to make the face-to-face “stuff” work better. [email protected]
Bill, thanks for the very thoughtful and informative response. You make some very good points. Obviously, I was over simplifying the COMDEX story.
As to associations, my point there is that most (though not all) events put on by associations are open to members or non-members alike. So the event itself is not a benefit of membership, only the discount is.
Arrington talks about TechCrunch 20, among other things, in this interview by a couple Stanford b-school students:
http://iinnovate.blogspot.com/2007/06/michael-arrington-founder-of-techcrunch.html
iinnovate is a podcast on entrepreneurship and innovation. Take a listen and let us know what you think!
Min, on behalf of iinnovate.
I wandered over here from my new curator, Chris Brogan. I am one of the lead organizers of Podcamp Philly, Sept. 7, 8 and 9, and helped organize Podcamp NYC.
I think the power of the unconference is making conferences not only more affordable, but they tend to be all about community and sharing- speaking with your audience rather than at them.
Podcamp tends to be a bit like Consumer Reports of New Media- people talk about how they do things like podcasting and blogging, what works for them, how things like search engine optimization works, and what new tools are available and what is working well. I've learned so much at each Podcamp, I end up sounding like that stupid hair replacement commercial “I'm not just an attendee, I'm also an Organizer.”
We'd love to have you join us in Philly- you can get to our registration off the main podcamp site at http://www.podcamp.org.
Whitney Hoffman
the LD Podcast
Podcamp Philly Lead Organizer