Over the past couple of years I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a number of conferences in the US and I’ve been impressed at how they’ve evolved from the stereotypical – you attend – we talk – you listen model to highly interactive events that encourage contribution from the attendees and where the speakers are highly available and actively engage with the audience.
This quote from LinkedIn sums up how the conference market has changed.
the emergence of tools for self-expression (blogs), micro- dialogue (Twitter), alternative reality (Second Life), networks (Ning), capturing and collaborating (podcasts and wikis), and participant-driven organization (unconferences, open space, barcamps).
So with that experience I was surprised last week when Marcus Evans cold called me about a conference they are holding in February 2010 around Social Media – the conference (or Summit as they prefer to call their events) is titled ‘Social Media Marketing Bootcamp.
Given the event was about Social Media, I was very interested in finding out just how Marcus Evans are using the social sphere to build awareness and interest in the event.
What surprised me the most is that they are holding an event about social media but they aren’t doing anything to show that they understand the topic – not even the basics. The event has no social profile, no social promotion, and no attempt to promote the use of the tools and strategies that the event seeks to focus on. In fact, the event doesn’t even have its own site, nor does it rate a mention on their own websites was concerning to say the least.
Here’s the conference brochure that was sent to me via email:
Given Marcus Evans were pitching to me to be a sponsor, why would I invest in an event about social media that doesn’t use the very tools that deliver the sociality?
I declined to participate for a couple of (additional) reasons
- The whole conference has a heavy brand and marketing focus. Whilst this is OK, it’s not our core focus.
- My opinion is that this event model is old and too prone to delivering marginal ROI.
- I’m always deeply suspicious when someone tells me the audience have budgets approved and are ready to spend!
Granted I’m not an event specialist, I’m just a consumer but I do believe they could be doing a better job with the structure and promotion of the event. I’d even be happy to help map out a social strategy for the event – they just have to ask.
Anonymous
April 7, 2010
I think you’re very wise to be suspicious. I’ve also been cold called by Marcus Evans recently, offering a chance to meet senior buyers from some companies who are apparently desperate to use my company’s services.
I didn’t believe a word of it.
Interestingly, have a look at what happens if you type “Marcus Evans scam” into Google. It looks like they’ve spent a lot of money on making sure all the top results point to their own (largely irrelevant) websites. That should tell you something.
Mark Parker
April 11, 2010
Hi Anon
Thanks for the comment. I’ve had the opportunity to attend Marcus Evans events back in 2001-2003 as a delegate and sponsor. In those days – they did an OK job – pay big money and maybe get a result.
The point of my post was that Marcus Evans were pitching a conference and had not even taken the basic steps to understand the potential audience(s). For a global conference provider, this was a major oversight