The economy is taking its toll on the event markets, that much has been seen with lower than normal attendance at many of the regional shows across the country in the opening of 2009. Specifically, the larger shows are either scaling back or being dumped altogether (read as: Gartner cancelling their Spring Symposium/ITxpo in Las Vegas and Barcelona). The fine folks over at SageCircle have some good advice about how vendors should deal with this in today's market [link here ].
What we find a bit surprising however, is that the vendor communiy, in some cases, is scaling back their outreach to their own customer base. In this case, Symantec has cancelled their annual Vision conference, opting instead to bolt it onto their ManageFusion event under the guise of an "expanded track" list in Vegas the first week of March. At the other end of the spectrum however, is McAfee, who appears to be going ahead with the show, in this case, their annual Focus event, also in Las Vegas.
While I fully understand the need to cut back on travel and expenses in this economy, it seems to me that curbing an opportunity to really connect with a wide swath of your existing customer-base at one time is just too good of an opporunity to pass up. The benefits of filling a room with the combined talent of your clients is a HUGE chance to gain valuable insight and direction about what is *really* keeping them up at night and what you can (or cannot) do to help them. also, in this crazy job market, providing an event where folks can cross-pollinate and make new contacts also serves a purpose and goes long way toward positioning the vendor as a trusted advisor. afterall, despite what your marketing department says, all business really is done between people…not companies.
For those of you attending either event, please reach out to us. We'd like to help you make the most of them while you are there and would love to know what you are expecting from your vendors as 2009 unfolds.
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