Kyle Hillman, CMM

I thought I was successfully stepping away from event planning, but they’re dragging me back in so who are the young leaders on creative education formats and please do not recommend somebody that was popular 10 years ago. #eventprofs

My favorite thing overheard at the ASAE Annual Meeting just now: “we have the Cadillac of lanyards.” Get deal done sales rep.

So cue the setting up the auto forward to a folder rule for #ASAE26 vendor solicitations. If you have something genuinely new in tech - hit me up here. I will check it out - but no way am I reading these emails. #eventech #eventprofs #associations

@tojulius How can you book a conference here if you think you might have issues coming in?

@HillmanEvents International travel to the US in late March -13%

If you have a US event that relies on international travelers... I feel for you right now.

@tojulius Seeing room block outpace registrations… which is troublesome to me. No real outlay with reservation and we are all used to canceling rooms. Hesitation to register.

One thing I know for sure is that all this uncertainty will make late registration patterns for events even worse.

@tojulius And because it makes sense I suspect they’ll close it, leaving us all to scramble again to find an alternative to CVent. I I still miss Regonline and Attendify

@tojulius I still like Zoom events. It’s not great but for the cost honestly it’s a good enough shell which is really what most of these are anyway. Most people already have Zoom accounts and are familiar with navigating Zoom. It honestly just makes sense.

Ok Friends: - Zoom latest round of layoffs casts doubts on the future of Zoom Events - An exclusive interview with Greg Hitchen and where he will spend Terrapinn’s $50M budget - Event Planning 2.0 and why most events fail. Tomorrow’s newsletter is 🔥

I am likely moving to Blue Sky - if you DM and I don't respond, it is likely because I am not here. Likely.

I spoke to an expert in tech pricing. They told me how technology companies in the event industry purposely leave out the most needed features to inflate pricing. Blaming it to 'complexity' to boost sales. Then it all turns out into 'let us help you reduce stress' marketing. That approach is systematic in many other supplier areas where unfair competition, price gauging, multi-year contracts are erased by macarons and double decker booths at trade shows. You care for the industry and planners, show it! Especially during the most infaltionary years in decades. Here is what planners want:

In-person events for a virtual platform was always interesting to me.

The problem with many eventtech company is that they raise $10/15M and instead of spending on the product, they prefer to waste them on clueless sales people who send random messages and leave voicemails to lists acquired on the internet. No marketing, no relationships, no strategy. Just an urge to drive revenue.

@maddenifico Look, burn what you want - but it is wild to me to buy a Trump flag (supporting his pocket) to burn it.

A perfect metaphor for what the American people are going to do on November 5th. 🎯🙌🙏👏👊🌊🇺🇸

@agfinn This: “And by demos, I mean give people a chance to use your software, hands-on, and ask your engineers the hard questions”

If you're in event tech (e.g. event apps, registration, platforms, etc.), and you are NOT doing live demos at your booths, that tells attendees one of three things. 1. Your product doesn't work the way your marketing says it does. 2. You're afraid to show your product to prospects for some reason. (which makes people think of point 1) 3. You're afraid to answer hard questions about your product. @HillmanEvents inspired this post - his post about his experience at ASAE & some exhibitors with software solutions is linked below. I was stunned that software companies wouldn't show off their goods at a trade show. Why on earth would you, as a company, spend THOUSANDS to have a booth at a trade show, only to schedule demos LATER? You have a captive audience. You should be ramming your booth full of people, running mass demos, giving attendees a chance to play with your product. Vendors at trade shows, hear me as clear as possible. The whole POINT of exhibiting is to give prospects a chance to SEE, TOUCH, FEEL, and ASK. SEE your products. TOUCH your products. FEEL what it's like to use your products. And most important... ASK the people behind your product about it. Why do you think companies like Ross Video haul massive video switchers around the world to big shows like IBC in Amsterdam and NAB in Las Vegas? It isn't for funsies. It's because they WANT people to SEE, TOUCH, FEEL, and ASK. I've seen shipping bills for big booths. They're astronomical. But they do it because it's a HUGE driver of new business. Event SaaS companies have a HUGE advantage - all you need is a laptop and a TV to run demos. And by demos, I mean give people a chance to use your software, hands-on, and ask your engineers the hard questions. And then, if there's a good fit, schedule that follow-up conversation where a purchasing decision gets made. (If you even need that.) I had a client that was going to exhibit at a trade show. It was a small one, about 300 attendees. They had no booth strategy - they were planning to go with business cards and some banners. It was a SaaS for managing bus fleets. I told them, "rent a big TV. Email everyone you know within a 100 mile radius of the show. Pre-schedule meetings. After your booth demos, schedule a follow-up. If they don't want one, move on." They did all that. They closed $16,000 of new sales and put another $40,000 in the pipeline. On one trade show with 300 people. They saw success because they let people SEE, TOUCH, FEEL, and ASK. So if you're in event SaaS, and you're NOT letting people play with your product at the booth... but you can have a call later? You're just making attendees feel like there's something sketchy about your product.

5.) I went to a Hyatt evening reception, and a salesperson from another chain cornered me and kept talking about their property, which was not a Hyatt property. Maybe it was a normal practice, but it felt icky. Don't do that.

I found one vendor I was ready to sign up for. He was like “I will follow up later” and off I went to view other products that compete against his. If you are paying for a booth, be prepared to do deals.

A few observations from the ASAE show floor. 1.) knd of surprised when I asked twice - can I see the software solution in action - and they say not at the show, but we can set up a time later. That's likely not to happen. Work is going to take over, and I am here and present.

@DailyDOOH No. It is that we are training vendors wrong? Are they sending the wrong people? It is not everyone mind you..but it is more than I would expect.

.. so many vendors don't have a clue when they exhibit at a trade show do they?

@tojulius Weirdest sales strategy. Imagine walking into a car dealership. Saying I want to buy that red car and sales saying, let me scan you, and I will call you next week on the phone to get it done.

@tojulius Julius, I literally grilled this guy for 15 minutes - then said, " Let's do it - a 3 month contract and evaluate (he does monthly agreements), and he said I have scanned you and I will follow-up. My jaw dropped.

@agfinn I have no idea - I don't even like demos - the first time I ever asked for one because I was genuinely curious. I was told to schedule appointment later.. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@HillmanEvents How are vendors not doing mass demos in front of everyone?

@atnguyen Facts

The saddest thing is that this thread could have been written in 2018, 2020, or 2024. The divide between how tech companies sell to #eventprofs is just as prevalent as ever.