The Basic Package: A Rich Experience for a Modest Price I discovered a whole new way to manage a conference that works if you’re on a budget: • Talk to everyone • Read name tags • Attend every included event • Be prepared to discover inspiration in the most unlikely places
By Catherine Bramkamp
I
recently attended the New Media Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas completely on the cheap. I attended New Media Expo because my podcast, Newbie Writers Podcast, had been nominated for an award, and CES because my husband was an exhibitor. I had never heard of the New Media Expo before the awards and so did not want to spend hundreds of dollars on an event that I may or may not benefit from. Here’s What I Learned at the New Media Expo: Conference organizers are increasingly stratifying the conference experience, different access for differently priced packages. The all-access pass at $350 allows those badge holders to attend all the workshops and sessions, while the basic package holders at $67 have limited access to the conference offerings. And there is no sneaking in. Volunteers often stand guard with QR readers to filter out the basic package holders from entering the workshops.
Talk To Everyone While the rest of the conference attendees are busy in the sessions, wander up and down the exhibit hall and chat up the vendors. They will be grateful for the human contact and your interest. Request a demonstration of their programs. Ask for details. Be happy to learn something new. The bonus to this approach is that when you spend longer than a few minutes chatting with a person, you’ll get past the prescribed presentation and will have a minute or two to talk about more personal subjects, which is memorable for them as well as advantageous for you.
“Conference organizers are increasingly stratifying the conference experience, different access for differently priced packages.” Take your break, make notes, dine, in the lounge or area set aside for all conference attendees. Seek out a place at a full table Continued on pg. 20
18 | AuthorEntrepreneurship.com February 2013