Recently, Stephanie Scheller from Grow Disrupt was asked how she chooses if an event is suitable for her. It is a great question as most of us are too occupied to attend events that turn out to be a waste of our time and money. Here are a few things Stephanie has come to look out for in the past few years to help her identify if an event is a good match for her. Maybe these will be helpful for you as well.
Target Audience
Initially, she examines who the ideal target audience is. If it's not clear from the website or advertising, that's an issue. If it appears that they are aiming for everyone who wishes to be financially stable, that's too wide-ranging. She wouldn't want to attend a gathering that focuses on developing your financial stability since she is now at a different stage of her life and career.
Stephanie indicates that she would be enthusiastic to attend an event aimed at creating revenue from intellectual property for small companies. "Excellent! So, the focus is on producing revenue from intellectual property for small business owners!" The ideal audience for this event is clearly small business owners.
Is the Information Helpful?
Stephanie's second consideration is if the material will be beneficial to her. She examines who the target audience is and if she is a part of that demographic. If the event is tailored to her needs, she would attend. Additionally, Stephanie often looks for the agenda or other relevant information as many time-consuming pitch-fests don't provide an agenda or outline the type of content they plan to offer as they are not bringing any substantial information.
Stephanie has been to many events, so she is not interested in listening to the same thing again. She needs to know whether the content is going to be beneficial for her and if it is relevant to her current situation. If you can't tell what is being discussed at the event, you might be dealing with somebody who hasn't organized the event properly. It is a huge warning sign if they are trying to promote tickets before they know what content they are going to cover.
“Will this knowledge be beneficial to my current situation? Or is this something that could be useful soon, perhaps in a year or even two?”
Speaker Quality
Subsequently, the third thing she does is find out if the speakers are being paid. There are several ways to figure this out. However, it may not be mentioned on the website, for example, TheGrowRetreat.com does have that information, but it is not the same for all sites.
Stephanie explains why this is important. She has attended many events and finds it irritating when she is only given half of the data. This is often because the speaker is not being paid, so they're trying to compensate for their time spent at the event, or they have had to pay to be there! This is a major warning sign as the speaker will only be concerned with getting a return on their investment from the attendees. They are expecting the audience to buy from them.
She also gets frustrated when she realizes that she is better informed on a certain subject than the speaker. This is usually due to the speaker having less experience, making it not worth their fee to be on the stage. It doesn't mean the person isn't an amazing individual. But when organizing an event, it is important to decide where the funds are going to be distributed, and it may not be sensible to pay someone who doesn't have a complete mastery of the topic.
Paid and established speakers are a must. She is always trying to determine if the presenters are being compensated or not. One of the ways she does this is by looking at the cost of a ticket. Is the amount realistic? You must be cautious here as there are times that fraudsters will set a high cost to give the illusion of legitimacy. Another factor she examines is tiered pricing. If you can gain access to an event for $99, but others are paying $1000-3000, it's an obvious sign that the speakers are not being paid.
The other criteria she uses to judge speakers is whether they have any kind of online presence or support. If a speaker has only published a couple of books on Amazon that are relatively short, it is likely they are not being paid to speak. Conversely, if they have several books that are much longer, they are probably professionals and are being compensated for their appearance.
Event Size
When it comes to deciding which events to attend, she considers the size. She no longer desires to be at gatherings of more than 10,000 people as they tire her out rather than invigorate her. Furthermore, such events usually involve a lot of pitching, which she finds tiresome. Instead, she looks for events with 10-30 people.
Organizer’s Track Record
She also assesses the person organizing the event and considers their record of organizing events. If it is a first timer, she is not willing to spend as much money as she would for someone who has been organizing events for a long time and has improved and perfected their skills in doing so, guaranteeing an enjoyable experience.
Stephanie attends local events, but she will only commit to an event if there are positive indications. She recognizes that her criteria for a local event is slightly less than if she had to pay for airfare or purchase a costly ticket.
Conclusion
She is very selective about the events she goes to since she understands that her most valuable asset is her time. Our time and energy are sacred. Time is invaluable, so she must be certain that she is using her energy in a place that will restore her and make her feel empowered.