It’s time again for the IFA Annual Convention. Will you be attending?

Whenever I think about a franchise event and consider attending the same, I ask myself a series of questions – What am I hoping to achieve by attending this particular event? Is the event relevant to the services I offer? Are my current clients, and potential clients, attending the event? And, what are the (real) costs involved in attending the event?

I’m sure most everyone within the franchise community faces similar questions, either of themselves, or by senior executives. So, how do we receive the most benefit from attending a particular franchise event… and in this case, franchising’s most important event!

An article posted on Social Media B2B about networking at B2B Conferences and Tradeshows provides some great tips. I’m certain franchise professionals will find these tips most useful when attending many of the upcoming franchise events. I know I will.

12 Networking Tips for B2B Conferences
By Amanda O’Brien

Before the Conference

1. Use LinkedIn (and Facebook) to find people attending your conference – You can search for your conferences in the Events section (of both) and see who in your network is attending. LinkedIn Groups are also a great place to find people who are attending the same conference as you. Start a discussion in a group and make a plan to connect in person while you are there.

2. Find the Twitter Hashtag for the event – Many events now have a Twitter hashtag for their event so people can follow the stream of content being tweeted out about their event. If there isn’t a hastag, make one and alert your network about it. IFA Convention hastag is #IFA2012.

3. Download mobile apps on your smartphone to collect contact information – Doing the ‘business card shuffle’ is stale. Most people I know have a whole drawer, cup, bowl, trashcan et al. of business cards from meetings and conferences. Find a better way to connect. Perhaps their business phone number isn’t what you need but you would connect better if you could get their Instant Messenger name, Twitter name or Google Buzz/Wave information. IFA2012 App

I like to use Evernote for taking notes on the go (think: taking a photo of someone with an audio note of your conversation highlights). A fun way to exchange all of your contact information is with the Bump application. With a simple physical bump of your phone to the person you want to connect with, you can swap all of your contact information. Never underestimate the power of LinkedIn as they also have a great app to collect data on-the-go.

4. Tell your network you are going and find out what they want to know more about – Let your customers and network know you are attending this conference and ask them if there is anything they want you to make sure you bring back with you. Post a blog, a tweet or update your Facebook fans and you may get some great ideas from them on which sessions you should attend or who you should talk to.

During the Conference

5. Try using Twitter DMs versus email – When we all leave for a conference, we set up a vacation email. Why? Because we don’t plan on (or want to be held accountable) for checking our email while we are on-the-go. If you want to send someone a message, try sending them a direct message on Twitter for a faster response.

6. Get content for later – Too many people are trying to “live document” events. Save your energy and make a plan to collect information for later. Use a sound or video recorder to capture an impromptu interview and save it for when you get back. Edit your content to make it have one quick point and share it with your network.

If you make a good connection with a thought leader in your industry get their contact information and make a plan to contact them later. Ask to interview them later, after the conference, via email or over the phone.

7. Be a part of the experience – We have probably all seen those people who are documenting every minute of an event either by live blogging, tweeting or recording it. You will get more out of your experience (and the dollars it took to get you there), if you spend your time being a part of the experience, meeting people and listening to speakers then you will documenting the whole process. Take home key points and relationships, not mountains of text, tweets, audio and video footage.

A Few Other Tips

8. Have a plan – There is so much content at conferences. Research speakers beforehand, if you can, and make a list of what you cannot miss and what you will fit in if you can. Set up meetings with business partners and potential clients before you go so you don’t get sidetracked.

9. Go with the flow – Yes you should have a plan, but you also need to leave some of your days up to chance and opportunity. You can’t do everything, so leave yourself some breaks in your days. Some of the best experiences I have had with conferences have been small groups meeting to the side of the conference or unplanned dinners with people I have met.

10. BYOP (Bring Your Own Power) – Bring your cell phone charger and computer power cord with you wherever you go. Want to make friends real fast? Bring a power strip with you and share the juice with your neighbors.

11. Make breakfast and dinner plans – Conferences keep you pretty busy all afternoon. Make plans with people you want some face time with before and after the sessions. I like to meet people for breakfast. Dinner can be tough after a long day.

12. Be friendly – This should go without saying but be friendly to everyone you meet or sit next to. You never know who is a professional blogger, your next sales lead, a Twitter celebrity or your next best friend.

Originally posted on this site January 2010 & January 2011.

IFA Member Feedback Requested

The following is correspondence I received today from Matthew A. Haller, Sr. Director of Communications | International Franchise Association. In order to assist in spreading the word and gathering information, I am excited to share the same with FranchisEssentials clients and subscribers, as well as to all my franchise social media friends, connections and followers.

This year, the IFA Convention’s Technology Summit will feature speakers from two of our newest members: Facebook and Google. Both organizations understand the franchising world has unique requirements and challenges and would like to better understand these unique issues. This feedback site has been created as a simple one-way communication channel for IFA members to submit their suggestions on what they would like to see each of these speakers address during the Tech Summit at this year’s convention. I would encourage you to send the link to the companies you represent or to fill out the questionnaires on their behalf.

Also, if you’re on Twitter, please RT this link to your followers so we can solicit as much feedback as possible from the franchising community: https://twitter.com/#!/Franchising411/status/162562851402293248

Please let me know if you have any questions and looking forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks in Orlando!

 

Thanks,
Matt

2012 IFA Convention – Great Opportunity to Network and Learn

All franchisors should be represented at the 2012 International Franchise Association Annual Convention in Orlando, FL from February 11-14. The star studded educational program and exhibition is detailed in the IFA Convention Brochure.

Steve Caldeira, International Franchise Association President & CEO states, “You need only look to the IFA Annual Convention programming to know what issues are front and center with today’s franchise professionals. As we continue to struggle with a sluggish economic recovery and uncertainty in the regulatory arena, the IFA Convention is the perfect forum for proactively tackling the critical issues and finding solutions to prepare franchise professionals for future growth.”

Franchisors who have yet to discover the benefits of membership can take advantage of IFA’s 2 year Introductory Membership program for new members for $1,500/year, which includes 1 free pass to the Convention (which costs $1,950 for non-members). Log onto IFA’s website for more info and the appropriate membership application. For more information, please contact Paul Rocchio, Director, Development & Member Services at International Franchise Association.

“An IFA Annual Convention is unlike any other event, with content designed for franchisors, franchisees and representatives of companies providing supporting services orproducts to franchised businesses. Whether you are a seasoned pro or new to franchising, there is something here for you” states International Franchise Association 2011 Chairman, Jack Earle, “You’ll find solutions to some of your most pressing business challenges; best practice tips and advice from peers and industry experts; and research and business data only IFA can deliver.”

For more information, please preview the IFA Convention Brochure.

Franchises Excluded from Small Business Saturday – AMEX Responds!

Well, I am happy to say that I have been in touch with AMEX as one of their VPs contacted me directly and apologized for their exclusion of franchising. They just missed the boat on franchising being an integral part of small business. They never even considered franchisees as Moms and Pops investing their money in a small business of their own. All their thoughts were focused on the giants of franchising and not the smaller franchises. Although, I did communicate that even the McDonalds franchisees are small business owners themselves. The long and the short is that AMEX knows they committed a huge blunder in excluding franchising.

Rosa Alfonso, the AMEX VP that contacted me directly, wants to set up a conference call next week with several other AMEX VPs to start down the road of getting franchising involved in next year’s Small Business Saturday. I am so excited they took notice and are willing to do something about it.

As much as I would love to be front and center on this, I recognize that it should not be without the IFA. This is about franchising being recognized as an essential component to America’s economic recovery, as IFA President, Steve Caldeira has promoted since leading the IFA. It’s about continuing to educate, not only the masses, but even the giants of business like American Express. I’m sure Steve and his staff could think of many ways this can further benefit franchising.

To that end, I have reached out to Steve Caldeira and will defer to him and the IFA staff in moving forward. Of course, I look forward to being involved as I am passionate about franchising!

Franchise Social Media – A hot topic at West Coast Franchise Expo

Franchise professionals will again be flocking to Los Angeles for the West Coast Franchise Expo. The popular annual event, sponsored by the International Franchise Association, will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th.

Although the event is primarily for individuals interested in exploring franchise opportunities, WCFE also provides an opportunity for franchise professionals to network and share information with other franchise pros. And, as social media continues to be a popular topic of discussion, many will be exploring ways to effectively use and integrate social media in their franchise organizations. That’s where I come in as during the expo I will be presenting three times within the seminars and in-depth symposia, all about Franchise Social Media.

On Friday, November 4th, I will be presenting at 1PM in Room 507. This FREE seminar, Integrating Social Media for Franchise Lead Generation: An Effective Approach, is being promoted as…

Today’s franchise sales and development efforts should be an integration of new technology and traditional strategies. Integration creates the foundation of a comprehensive approach to achieving multiple goals and objectives within start up, emerging and mature franchise organizations. While focusing on creating or improving brand awareness for the franchise organization at local, regional and national levels, the cross-platform, multi-tiered principles of integrating social media with traditional lead generation strategies results in generating genuine interest in the franchise concept itself. Enhancing and complementing traditional strategies in this manner has proven effective. 

Then, on Saturday, November 5th from 10AM to 1PM, I have been asked to present at Symposium 4, Web 2.0: Social Networking + Data in Franchising. This event is FEE-BASED and is sponsored by Plave Koch LLC. Attendees are eligible for CFE credits. The symposium is being promoted as…

This session will delve into how franchisors and franchisees can protect their brand while making the best use of social networking sites. Among other things, this session will explore some of the do’s and don’ts of setting up social networking sites for an entire system, addressing rogue franchisees and licensees who set up their own sites, and establish a system-wide strategy and policy for social networking and social media. This session will also explore data collection, use, and protection in franchise companies. Finally, this session will address using online tools to manage and enhance your company’s online franchise development efforts.

On Sunday, November 6th, in the last seminar of the event, I will be presenting at 2:30PM in Room 512. This FREE seminar, Franchise Lead Conversion: A Smooth Transition from Online to In-person, is being promoted as…

Franchise marketing for today and tomorrow must be technologically advanced to attract a more sophisticated, educated (and cautious) franchise candidate than the franchise industry has ever seen before. An evolving trend highlights the increasing number of transitioning, highly-skilled and educated business professionals and corporate executives exploring franchising as a career alternative while already successful street-smart entrepreneurs investigate franchising, perhaps for the first time, as part of their diversification and expansion strategies. It’s the transition from the virtual world of social media and digital marketing to: email, phone calls and in-person visits that need to be seamless. Franchise candidates should not perceive any variation in messaging when transitioning to one-on-one interaction within the franchise sales process. Key takeaway: people buy from people, and technology does not sell franchises. 

Although my presentations will cover Franchise Social Media from basics and beyond, including specific focus on franchise lead generation AND conversion, it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the event I will be on the expo floor and will be available to discuss how to effectively use social media within a franchise organization, at all levels, and for multiple benefits. If you’d like, we could also discuss my new program, Personal Branding for Franchisees or even upcoming FranSummit events. Just stop me and let’s talk. Or, if you’d like to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please call or text me at (832) 797-9851, or send me a tweet. My Twitter profile is @PaulSegreto.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Los Angeles!