I have been to several events both in the corporate world and as a mom blogger and some things never change.
I spoke to a friend I met at one of the mom events I attended and it made me think about the importance of targeting the right audience. After attending one of the events I received two emails from the place I attended. I was being invited to sign my son up to something he was a little too young to participate in. And after the first email, I wanted to reply with “You’re wasting your time, my son is only one!” But I just ignored them. I received another follow-up email from them about the same thing. I just blocked them.
I remember when the person at the entrance asked for my information. Being that this was a family event, I hoped the activities would be engaging and fun. It was a vendor’s dream and a mom’s nightmare. Actually, after speaking with one of the vendors at the event, she felt the same way as I did. Time was practically wasted and there was really no return on investment. I had invited a friend and apologized to her about it. But, that is the thing about these mommy-and-me events. Vendors are crazy about shoving their products down your throat.
Although I did meet new people and learned about a company that is really trying to take a stand against Breast Cancer and tasted food from a very delicious place to have lunch with my little family, some things were missing. And it all started with the welcome table.
The Sign-Up Sheet
If you are going to give the list of attendees to sponsors or vendors after the event, you will need to collect more than just their name and email. Imagine trying to connect with someone you do not know anything about. You need to learn more than just their name and email to know if they meet the criteria for your target audience.
In this case, they should have asked number of children, their age group and if they had any special events coming up, such as a birthday, a sweet 16, etc. There were different types of vendors, ranging from food to therapeutic. You want to make sure your list of attendees is beneficial to them, and yourself, so get to know everyone that walks in through those doors.
A List Of What To Expect
Yes, I received all the emails leading up to the event, and I could have probably recited the activities for that day in many different ways. But that was not the point. I was not told of the different activities that would take place when I actually arrived. Personally, I like to know what is going on and if an activity is running late, I need to know that too.
You can print out copies of the agenda for attendees to receive at the door, this way they know where to be and at what time.
It can be used as advertising space for the vendors as well.
Make Room For Everyone
Vendor tables were everywhere, and space was limited for moms with strollers. Saying excuse me to get through the vendor tables to make it on time for the activities was the most anyone really said to vendors. You want to make sure everyone feels comfortable, and if the space is small, do not overcrowd it with vendors. Also, this is a safety hazard. You never want to put your attendee’s life in danger just so your organization can make a few dollars.
Reconnect With Attendees And Vendors
Whether you are looking to get anonymous information about your event or want to get feedback for future events, contacting those who attended the event is critical to understanding where your events succeed and/or fail to meet expectations. You can set up an account on SurveyMonkey or even a Google form to collect information from attendees and vendors alike. Both are free options that offer great insight.
Are there any tips you would like to add? Comment below!