Issue #28: Conference Confessions

Thank you to everyone who emailed me to rant (um, provide feedback) about conferences and events. Clearly, there is no shortage of opinions on the topic, and hopefully I’ve incorporated a wider sentiment in this issue.

Don’t forget to recommend S.M.P to colleagues, by forwarding them this email where they can subscribe for free.

🥇 Top-clicked link in issue #27: Deloitte’s report on why Airlines need a new loyalty playbook

In this Issue:

I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years and attended more conferences than I can count. From the brand side as a marketer, and from the provider side leading Loyalty Services at Mastercard. I’ve been an audience member, keynote speaker, been on panels, sat for fireside chats, sponsored, hosted dinners and more. Here in the US, but also around the world in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. All that is to say I’ve seen it from all angles.

Yet, in the last 5-10 years I’m rarely hearing positive comments…from anyone:

Admittedly, I’ve found conferences outside the US to be better than here at home. Higher attendance, more engaged audience, more honest conversations. Why, I’m not exactly sure. But it was part of the catalyst in writing this article, aimed at improving the US conference system, albeit I’m sure some of the ideas can be applied more widely.

Don’t get me wrong, conference organizers are truly trying to better the industry and have the best intentions. But with the constraints I previously mentioned, it’s all the more reason it’s time for some changes.

1. Stop the fluff: Less PR presentations, more truths. We keep patting ourselves on the back and everyone assumes everyone else has figured it out. Nobody does, we’re just not talking about it. Speaker after speaker waxes poetic about their accomplishments as if it’s a LinkedIn post IRL. Instead, brand marketers need to share the “oh shit we got this wrong…” moments and how they fixed it, and the “do this/not that” learnings. “Please, more problem solving and results” said one brand leader.

2. Guardrails on stage-sponsored content: A higher B2B bar. I’m not looking to ban B2B providers from the stage, but we need to vet the talk over the logo as right now the feeling is they are “one big sales pitch from the hosts” as one reader said. Just because you paid for the room does not exempt you from standards. We need real case studies, real POV from those who (truly) see it all, not a commercial come to life. Because marketers are looking for authenticity from providers and can sniff out a 30-min ad very quickly.

3. Bring in diverse voices: Academics and more. Some of the best speakers I’ve listened to are not brands and not providers—they’re professors. They have data, research, and a neutrality that’s refreshing. Also, what about consumer panels? For conferences all about the customer we never bring in the customer.

4. Go beyond travel: Loyalty lessons from gaming, CPG, retail DTC and more. Related to #3, we’re all obsessed (me included) with lessons from the travel sector for the obvious reasons. But the freshest and most diverse learnings are cross-industry, and diversity extend to brand types too. The biggest brands are in demand as the logo helps sell tickets, but they’re the most muzzled by their comms team to say nothing controversial. Smaller brands have just as many learnings, and sometimes take more risk.

5. Loyalty without the program: Non-point stories that drive engagement. I’m thankfully seeing a bit more of this, but still not enough. We need more brands sharing how they are succeeding absent a formal program, and the tactics and initiatives driving engagement that have nothing to do with points and tiers.

6. Talk about the job and the career: A modern take is needed. This one came up a lot from readers. More presentations about loyalty and CRM as a career— the skills needed to move up and around. A current gripe is that too many conferences are filled with veterans (like me), who aren’t navigating being new to the industry during a highly disruptive time. “What are the potential longer-term paths we should follow? Where can I find a mentor? What skills are valuable in the AI age” came up from readers.

7. Kill the panel: Replace with debate. I’ve been a panel moderator and a participant many times. They. Do. Not. Work. Typically 4 people on stage, no one gets enough airtime so there’s rarely any depth, and no one wants to disagree with each other so it’s over-politeness. But speakers and moderators love them because they think it requires no preparation, just show up and answer the PR-talking points while the audience falls asleep or scrolls on their phone. Instead, let’s replace with a host and 2 people debate-style in a point/counterpoint back and forth with speakers who really have varying views.

8. Engage the room. Add audience participation. In this digital age, I measure my presentation success on how many people were not on their phones or laptop. Too many of our conferences are talking at the audience, not with and “it’s a bit of a snooze fest” as one reader wrote. And our conferences are not filling massive ballrooms too big to drive engagement. We need more poll-the-room moments and debate from the audience. Organizers need to make audience engagement a requirement for speakers.

9. Make it a safe space: Stop recordings and photos. #1, #7 and #8 are harder to do when everything is recorded and your slides could end up on LI before you’ve left the stage. Instead, give participants edited summaries and take-aways post conference.

10. Fix the B2B/B2C imbalance: Minimum 3:1 marketer to provider ratio. Sounds harsh, but right now the balance is so out-of-whack and provider heavy, that each provider is desperate to engage with the few marketers in the room. And the marketers feel swarmed by sellers. No one is happy. Conference organizers are focused on securing sponsors and money to put on the event, but aren’t doing enough marketing to drive brand attendance. So there is a doom-loop which leads to the content on stage being skewed to being sold to brands vs. teaching brands.

11. Change the pricing model. More diversity and tiered fees. If you’re a $1B+ provider you can pay the enormous sponsorship fees. But a small loyalty provider can’t stomach it (“so many small service providers are doing smart work in loyalty but the vendor pricing is prohibitively expensive” said one reader). On the brand side, not all travel budgets are created equal and a 3-person loyalty team can’t ask for $1500+ hotel/flights to attend a conference. Everyone is priced out except the big guys, whether in the audience or on the stage (because no one is getting paid to speak in our industry), leading to a diversity-of-thought problem. Let’s tier the tickets for a wider range of attendance.

12. Let’s get off stage. Smaller is sometimes better. Whether in B2B or B2C, the best conversations and biggest learnings happened off stage. At the dinners, the lunches, the side convo’s. We need more of this, a lot more. And not centered around a larger conference where issue #11 prevents the diversity needed. Instead, as one brand marketer said, “there is value in hosted events like small groups in suites at the US open or other premium events to make meaningful connections”.

None of the 12 are easy fixes (ok, maybe the ‘no panel’ is 😏 ), but we need to push change, or I fear within 5 years the state of industry events will be in worse shape.

Do you agree or disagree with my list? Anything you would add? Have you seen conferences doing some of these already, and how are they working out?