photo by Sheila Sund (http://bit.ly/1JtWJlD)
There are so many choices available when committing to attending and sponsoring a conference. TABS is no different.
- What is our conference budget?
- Will the types of prospective clients/customers be at the conference?
- How will this fit into our travel schedule?
- What will our ROI be if we attend this conference?
- How many of our current clients will attend?
These are all important questions for a company or organization to consider when planning out their year and the conferences or trade shows they will attend. One guaranteed way to fall under or within budget and get the most “bang for your buck” is to be sure to commit during the Early Bird registration period.
Registering during the early bird guarantees you will save money – usually several hundred dollars- but there are also many other benefits.
When you commit to sponsorship during the early bird you will be added to the conference website as a sponsor sooner. This aligns your company with the organization sponsoring the conference immediately. You are seen as a trusted partner of the organization and like-minded schools will recognize that and be more likely to call on you for your products or services.
Your company name, logo, description, and contact information will be included in the conference preview. Often times the preview is sent to the whole database of subscribers or member schools to encourage them to attend the conference. This puts your company in front of a lot of potential clients. This year the annual conference preview will be sent to nearly 10,000 people from TABS member schools.
Table selection becomes a tactic, not a default. When you register early as a conference sponsor you have the opportunity to select where you will be in the exhibit hall. Do you like to be front and center to catch folks as they enter the exhibit hall? Do you like to position yourself next to the bar or snack area so you can chat people up as they get a drink or something to nosh? Maybe you have a competitor that you like to be next to or distance yourself from. Wherever you like to be the earlier you register the more options you have in the exhibit hall.
Additionally when you register early and get your travel plans in order you will save on hotel and airfare.
These are just some of the great benefits of signing on during the early bird period. The longer you wait, the more you miss out on as a sponsor and the less you achieve in terms of ROI. In the long run you end up paying more for less. And no body’s bottom line benefits from that!
So be prepared.
TABS Annual Conference is Dec. 3-5, 2015 in Boston, MA. Sponsorship registration opens in April and the Early Bird deadline is June 30, 2015.
Be the Early Bird! Catch the Worm.