I can’t believe that it’s only a few days before TRAFFIC in Santa Clara! Once again I’ll be heading across the Pacific to meet up with everyone. As normal I have mixed feelings about attending a conference on the other side of the world. I’m excited to be going but I know that I’ll be missing Roselyn and the kids.

I’m sure that many of you can relate to the feelings that I just expressed. It’s always great meeting up with a lot of likeminded individuals that share a passion for the same thing that you do but then again....there is a more personal cost involved.

I think that in these harder economic times the value of family and friends has gone up and every business expense is not only examined for its direct cost but also the personal cost. This leads to a really interesting point.

If you’re a conference organiser then how do you inspire your target market to make the financial and personal cost to attend? I’ve seen numerous emails for a number of different conferences sent through inspiring us all too sign-up because it’s going to be the best conference ever or the parties will be fantastic or even, heaven forbid, for the content of the sessions.

Being reasonably analytical I would like to propose a formula that I use in working out whether I’ll attend or not. It goes like this:

 


My emotional imperative - Timothy, Elise and Sarah

If “Attend at conference” is positive then you will likely see me at the event and if it’s negative then no matter how wonderful it’s going to be there is little to no chance of me attending.

Let me break out the formula a little. Business generated is not just direct revenue but it could be measured in relationships that I’m reasonably confident will lead to a transaction at some stage in the future. The knowledge gained should not be under-estimated. Getting a dump of valuable information in a few days can quite often cause you to view your business in a totally different light.

The “financial cost” is the conference fees, air fare, accommodation etc. Although it’s quite expensive to attend a conference on the other side of the world it’s often less of a factor of influence then many people suppose.

The personal cost is a constant. There will always be a personal cost of being away from loved ones but this will vary according to the “emotional imperative”. In other words, if you’re away a lot you don’t necessarily want to be away again. For example, if you son or daughter is about to have a really special event at school where they feature then you likely to have a very high “emotional imperative”. On the other hand it’s likely to be low if you’re single and don’t have any personal ties.

So what am I saying in all of this......fancy parties, expensive food or free alcohol don’t get me to conferences. The amount of business that I generate and the knowledge gained does get me there. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good party as much as the next guy but I really like a good party where I’m able to establish new relationships and justify why I’m away from my family.

For me the biggest impediment to attending a conference is the personal cost. I take the view that I will never get that time with my family ever again so the conference better be worth it! When I look at the upcoming TRAFFIC conference in Santa Clara I made the decision that in the past it has been worth it and my “Attend conference” formula ended up being positive.

What I’ve never understood is why conferences charge for wives/girl friends to attend when ultimately the most that many of them will do is go to the sponsored party at night. I know that my wife is highly uninterested in attending a conference on domains but would love to be there in the more social times with some of our friends. Why not make it free for wives/girl friends to attend the parties and dramatically lower the “emotional imperative”?

After rambling on for a while I think that I’d better get prepared for a couple of sessions that I’m involved in at TRAFFIC. This means digging deep into the research and hopefully add some value to everyone in attendance for their “knowledge gained”. :-)

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