Reviving B2B engagement at conferences/exhibitions using a simple Mobile Website – Introducing Procialize

We all have attended conferences and exhibitions in our careers. Every experience is a feeling of déjà vu. We read about this upcoming event that features topics and speakers who matter the most to the problems we are facing at work. Some events are known to attract the leaders of the industry at one place. It becomes quintessential that we attend the event. We sign up enthusiastically, overlooking the registration fee as a ‘building my professional network’ investment.

Immediately, we receive confirmation and we block our calendars.  Mentally, we make a note of the stalls we would visit, people whom we would meet, and sessions we would attend. As each day passes on, work bombards us. Slowly but surely, the event slips into the back of our mind. 

Soon we are flying or driving to the event. We reach on time and quickly wear the delegate IDs. We are ready to ‘grow our networks’.

Suddenly we are lost. There are hundreds or thousands like us, wandering about from stall-to-stall. We don’t know where to begin, who to approach, what to talk about. We start weirdly looking at people’s badges, trying to link companies with our subjects of interest. By the first half of the day, we barely manage to meet 3 other delegates, and discuss topics that don’t really benefit our business or us. 

The Speaker discussions don’t seem to be helping us either. Speakers are rambling on about topics that don’t really help us. During the Q and A sessions, at least 50 delegates have questions, and some of the delegates grab the microphone to display how smart or experienced they are – blabbering on for 5 minutes about a situation they faced and how they tackled the problem. The organizers are helpless, and after sometime – couldn’t care less. Suddenly the event that would have mattered so much seems to be losing it’s sheen.

So we decide to walk around and see the stalls. Every stall seems to be crowded by groups, groups of delegates laughing about something, or groups where one sales representative his giving his discourse. You find it tiring to join in a group and try to comprehend the ongoing discussion. For memorabilia, we pick up as many brochures and visiting cards as we can get our hands on – never knowing which brochure we will read or which sales rep will we end up calling.

Once the event is over, we breathe a sigh of relief. We joke among the few contacts we have made, about how we couldn’t wait for it to end. We don’t know where those brochures and cards mysteriously disappear. We promise ourselves never to attend such events again.

A few months later, we see an advertisement for another ‘top networking event’….

So how do we solve this repetitive, painful cycle?

The answer is simple: Use a mobile website on a Smartphone. 

Why Mobile Website? 

With the introduction of cheaper smartphones and faster internet speeds, people now are accessing data more on the move then they are using laptops and desktops. Mobile phones are becoming more intelligent, easier to use and integrated with all the software application one needs. The introduction of mobile apps was a welcome change; as suddenly one could do a lot more on the phone, then rely on the internet. In a country like India, where majority of people still use EDGE to access the internet, apps ensure significant processing is carried out by the mobile phones and only social media interaction is left for the internet.

But what happens when your big-ticket conferences are being organized not so frequently (< 4 events a year)? Do you still continue to build an app for your conference, just because it is the ‘in’ thing to do? Do you really feel your audiences would find apps more useful as compared to the mobile websites? We don’t think so. The problem with apps for conferences is follows

• Costs are exorbitant: Firstly the mobile phone market in India is very fragmented. Android backed phones are capturing the market share, and iOS (Apple) has suddenly become aggressive. But the average delegate who goes to conferences still relies on his/her Blackberry. In such a case you would have to end up building native apps for Blackberry, Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows Phone etc. Each implementation would cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
• App building is time-consuming: We are well aware about the tight deadlines, which conference organizers follow. In such a scenario, waiting for the app to get ‘published’ is an acute pain point, especially when the theme and agenda of every conference is always different.
• Creation of digital junk and ‘app fatigue’: A conference usually is a congregation of people with a common cause, who have not really interacted frequently in the past. Part of the reason people go to conferences is because they don’t know each other and want to build a network. In such a scenario, expecting people to interact frequently, especially when they have only been together for 2-3 days, is wishful thinking. We have observed several conferences ‘apps’, where the on-app traffic crashes after a week, thereby leaving an underutilized  over-spent, and digital medium. People are downloading apps for music, games, travel, food and other things. They use a particular app for a couple of days, before realizing it is not fulfilling their need. And as a result, ‘app-fatigue’ begins.
• Is your crowd even ready to change the way it networks: A lot of younger event organizers are eager to get conference apps built. We could have recommended you to do the same as well. But we won’t, simply because we realize the need to try a new technology out, at the lowest cost possible. Our relationship managers, will never try to ‘force sell’ a product which won’t be of any use to you. We will always advice you to get an app, only if your patrons meet regularly, and have no hierarchical differences in their careers. We want to have a longer relationship with you, that is why we will always advice you to try using mobile websites first and understand your delegates better. Are there more android users, or Blackberry fans? Is your delegate base primarily on 3G, or does it still require evolution from EDGE. Without knowing these details, buying an app-like product is wasteful expenditure.

So the question is simple, do you want to waste tons of money, which can be used in Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, or even hiring a better caterer?

Our mobile websites are light, simple, neat and intuitive. Our graphic designers have been asked to focus more on the user experience, and less on the type of blue that would make the site ‘look better’. Our coding is concise, and is optimized to work on your delegate’s EDGE Network. He/she would be pleased; the delegate having 3G would be delighted.

To conclude, rather than debate about the merits and demerits of apps, you ought to try our features on a mobile website platform. Don’t worry about how it will appear on an iPhone, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab – our technology is responsive, and will leave your delegates, sponsors and you more informed, and better networked.