Trade Shows and Networking Events: Are they worth it?
A few weeks ago my wife and daughter spent some time her her mom and dad and it was just me for 6 days.
The first night they were gone, I attended a networking event for a non-profit here in Kansas City. They asked me to be serve on the board. It was pleasant and I had a good time. One of the guys there who I’ve met before asked me if I attended a lot of networking events like the Chamber of Commerce. I told him no because that CEO’s and VP of Sale’s of companies that I want to do business with typically don’t attend these events.
Tomorrow I’m leaving for Las Vegas to attend Jigsaw’s 3rd Annual Rainmaker Event from Tuesday through Friday.
I assume and I could be assuming incorrectly that there will be lots of people from technology and consulting companies at this event. I could be wrong. There’s nothing wrong with attending networking events, happy hours, or Chambers of Commerce.
The question is this: Does your target audience attend these as well?
Our target niche at Connect 5000 are software, technology and consulting companies with high average sales. Maybe they attend Oracle Open World, or Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, or SXSW in Austin, or Salesforce.com’s event, elsewhere.
Willie Sutton famously said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was.
Same thing with networking events. Go to places your target makers attend.
I’m Ray Ruecker and we at Connect 5000 help technology and consulting companies make meaningful introductions and profitable connections. If you need help scheduling meetings for your sales team or need some coaching to be more effective, please contact us!
