I’m heading down to sunny Miami this week for Sparta Systems’ annual user conference, TrackWise Connection, and it’s gotten me to think about the perception of user conferences in general within the industry. We’ve done considerable work over the years in helping our clients plan and execute their user events, and while the user conference can receive flak in the tech universe for being little more than a boondoggle, we’re big believers in instead using it as a platform to provide your most important audience with value beyond the technology they use in the day-to-day machinations of their jobs.
First and foremost, the user conference should be viewed as a way to invest in your most important audience, and give something back to the people in the trenches, for whom the use of your technology is essential to helping them perform their roles. Putting together a program of valuable educational content can go a long way toward giving users the tools and knowledge to make more effective use of your technology, ultimately enabling them to better demonstrate their own value within their companies. Add to this the opportunity to engage with these folks in an informal, face-to-face setting, and the benefits typically result in a lasting relationship that secures them as loyal users, even when they move on to other opportunities.
This isn’t to say, however, that the well-programmed user conference shouldn’t leave a little time for fun. Planning evening activities and even the occasional afternoon excursion can really loosen things up, and give users the opportunity to spend time networking in a more casual atmosphere than the typical cocktail party can provide. You don’t have to break the bank with these types of activities, but it’s important to make your users feel appreciated by allowing them the chance to cut loose from the more formal educational setting with activities that help them to relax and enjoy the company of their peers.
Lastly (and selfishly), the user conference can be an invaluable opportunity to educate your users on the value of PR, and potentially even secure a few new references who’ve yet to commit to communications activities. This doesn’t necessarily have to include getting written approval from a customer to participate in a press release, media interview, etc. Instead, with a little creativity, it can include things as basic as securing customers’ input on how to better engage them, whether it’s by targeting the publications they’re reading, reaching out with social media tools such as Twitter (even potentially gaining a few new followers for your handle) or taping some off-the-cuff video interviews for posting on your company Web site. There are plenty of ways to use the user conference for PR activities, and with a captive audience of your customers at hand, not doing so would be an enormous missed opportunity.
The easiest excuse for companies not to plan a formal user conference is the financial one – i.e., that with the economy in its current state, the idea of spending so much of the company’s resources on such a seemingly frivolous event would be foolish. Yet whether it’s merely a single-day local event or an elaborate three-day getaway, a well-programmed user conference is an investment in your most important audience, one that can reap benefits in both the short- and the long-term.
By Mark Van Hook