What makes a business conference or event worth traveling for?

[tranguyen]

Happy Wednesday folks ⭐

We recently had the opportunity to host an in-person event at our Oakland office and it was really great to connect with local Seller Community members and get insights from Square sellers out of the surrounding areas. As business events and conferences return to in-person attendance, we’d love to learn: 

What makes a business conference or event worth traveling for?

Is there anything in particular that you look to first when checking out a conference or event? Share it all here with us!

[DinaLRosenberg]

This past May we went to a conference put on by one of the biggest metaphysical publishers in America with many top level authors attending. We had the opportunity to put together a swag bag for the speakers and meet some of the top people from the company. It was ABSOLUTELY worth it for us to rub elbows and get tons of content and education to bring back to our customers. We travel 2x a year to the big gem and mineral shows (currently in Denver).. these we HAVE to do as it is a buying event and sellers are here from around the world.

[Doran]

For us, it is who is presenting, on what topic,, and which vendors will be in the marketplace.  If it is all the usual stuff, I skip this far into my career.  If it is new products or equipment or speakers I can learn from I always make sure I'm there. 

[TCSlaguna]

We have been to conferences for metaphysical stores, and the business how-to sessions have been very helpful. Hearing what works for other businesses and what other businesses struggle with, bouncing ideas off each other, is extremely useful. Special offers are always a plus. Good food and I'm there! 😊

[Stacelyn24]

I would say learning and gathering new information, product launches and the ability to purchase a great show discount, and the location makes a difference as well.  Hopefully I'll be able to attend the next one 🙂

[PartyManiaMD]

Years ago we used to attend the big Halloween and party expo's they would have, this was before a lot of the industry got consolidated. We'd walk away with tons of free samples, free candy, and huge roller bags full of catalogs. It was a lot of fun because there were often booth incentives, new and hot items we could preorder and get first dibs on, and it was a great way to get a pulse on the product lines.

Nowadays it's just not worth it because they'll send us catalogs and the sales and samples are pretty much non-existent.

When we first started the industry there were thousands of manufacturers and now we're down to a couple of handfuls. You can see the difference in the way they treat a new client now versus when we first started. (We used to get free fixtures, free product fills, etc to earn our continued business; now it's prepay or apply for terms)

[doc_choc]

Meeting your old friends and making new ones.

[lawnbrook]

Australia is a big place,

We choose carefully what event's we attend. It's an opportunity to get new industry insight, network, and for us there is also a social aspect.

[mpmpmp22]

For me, it is the people who I am going to meet and see at the event! Honestly, most of the time I am more excited for that than any talk or presentations that are going to happen. 

[mitchellhobb55]

Years ago we used to attend the big Halloween and party expo's they would have, this was before a lot of the industry got consolidated. We'd walk away with tons of   LAMTOGEL   free samples, free candy, and huge roller bags full of catalogs. It was a lot of fun because there were often booth incentives, new and hot items we could preorder and get first dibs on, and it was a great way to get a pulse on the product lines..................

[Bronze_Palms]

Great question - I find many conferences are high level/intro so I change my mindset to make it more of a networking opportunity. A chance to talk shop with others in the industry and see what they are doing to grow the best business for them.