Recently we held the first part of the annual internal Informex strategy meetings. Every year in June the Informex team sits down to evaluate our most recent US show and to discuss new programs for the next year - what needs to be improved, what we need to get rid of, and what we should just leave well enough alone. It is an essential process to make sure we keep the show current and growing. Once our internal meetings take place we have the opportunity to meet with our SOCMA Informex Advisory Committee and new ideas by the industry experts.

 

One of the most important portions of the strategy meetings is the phone calls the Informex team conducts with recent attendees. Every team member is responsible for contacting 20-30 customers and asking them how they liked the show and what is their feedback. These responses are integral to our strategy. I wanted to share some of those findings with you, faithful blog readers. You are part of the Informex team and we need to know what you think is important for the upcoming year.

 

One of the major recurring themes we heard was there should be more content added to the show. Attendees enjoyed the breakfast briefings very much, and would like to see even more educational sessions. The thought is that more content will bring in more attendees and give more value to the current attendees.

 

Another frequently mentioned topic was having some sort of structured networking sessions. Don’t worry we won’t take away the bar, we’ll still have the receptions at the end of the day, however the feedback was that people wanted something more controlled. A more ordered environment with the opportunity to meet a large quantity of potential buyers and sellers. I think this is a terrific idea. Many shows have speed networking where people can sign-up to spend a short amount of time making connections with a large number of people.

 

One of the more surprising findings from the phone calls, at least in my opinion, was that people really missed the poster sessions. We had numerous people ask why we no longer had posters around the hall. If people would like to have posters, that is not a problem, we can bring poster sessions back. Would you like to see technical posters? Or marketing posters of exhibitors? Or research posters?

 

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think? Would you like to see more conference sessions held along side of the show? Would you participate in a structured networking event? Do you like having poster sessions? What else are we missing that would make the event must-attend in your opinion? Let us know! Leave a comment or send me an email, jjessup@informex.com