One great way to interact with potential and current customers is speaking with them in a small group setting and sharing your product or service. This can be during a speed session (15-minute round robin) or concurrent session. Now is the time to submit a session proposal for TABS annual conferences.
Partner School
A good rule of thumb is to partner with one of your clients that is a member of the organization – in this case TABS. Tune your presentation to how your product or service has benefited the school, the challenges they have overcome, and how your company helped them meet their goals. You will have a better chance of having your proposal accepted and have higher attendance at the session.
Educational, not Promotional
There is a fine line between sharing information and instilling knowledge and a sales pitch. Keeping your session focused on educating your audience is key. Conference attendees want to learn – they don’t want a dog and pony show. What can you teach the attendees? What has your company or organization learned that can help the attendees and give them knowledge to take back to their school? If they are further interested in your product, then you can encourage them to stop by your booth in the exhibit hall and give them your sales pitch – but not during the session.
Catch the Attention of the Attendees with a Great Title
Kicking off your session with a great title will call attention to your session and increasing the odds it will be accepted as well as having a strong turnout for you session at the conference. According to the Velvet Chainsaw there are four things to keep in mind when writing your session title. They call these the four “U’s” Approach.
- Be USEFUL to the reader
- Provide the reader with a sense of URGENCY
- Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE
- Do all of the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC Way
You want to be sure your title is authentic to what you will be sharing in the session and that the presenter over-delivers on the content.
Take Away
What will the conference attendees take away from your session? Will you provide a handout of your slides so attendees can take notes and follow along? Or will the take away be intangible but exciting? Will attendees be buzzing with ideas and information to take back to their schools?
Your goal should be to provide such a stellar session that the attendees are talking to their colleagues about it in the hallway and can’t wait to rush back to their school and start implementing your ideas. You don’t want them to feel like they just attended a sales call.
So are you ready to submit a proposal?
TABS is currently accepting session proposals for their annual conference to be held in Boston, MA December 2-4. TABS Conference is geared toward all boarding school faculty, staff, and administrators with an emphasis on Admissions, Academics, Residential Life, and Heads. Proposals will be accepted until April 10. Please read the proposal guidelines prior to submission. Submit your proposal online.