Introducing… Sarah Madden Goodlad (@sarahmadgood).
Sarah is a conference programme manager for the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) and recently was part of the team that put together their big 3-day annual event in Sydney, ADMA Forum. It was large and featured the likes of Joseph Jaffe, Mark Buckman from CBA and many others.
Part of Sarah’s job involves finding and vetting the speakers. So I thought it would be interesting to find out what someone like her is looking for… so you know how to stand a good chance of presenting your ideas next time.
1. What can someone wanting to present do to stand the best chance of being approached/selected?
A lot of people approach me to speak at our events, especially at ADMA Forum and whilst I work through every single idea that is submitted (and try to provide feedback to as many of these people as possible) I find that the ideas that really excite me and gain ‘cut through’ are the ones that have been well thought out and have an angle.
Presentation proposals should be sent to me with a catchy title, detail on what will be explored during the presentation, learnings for delegates and what they can expect to walk away with and apply to their own business. Potential speakers should know what is affecting marketers and ensure their presentation proposal is addressing and/or answering these issues.
I also approach individuals myself, if they have been recommended to me by respected people within the industry. WOM is definitely a great way to find good presenters, people who have really good knowledge, a good presentation style and understand what delegates expect from a presentation.
2. What are some common complaints about presenters?
The two complaints that worry me the most, but luckily aren’t the most common anymore are, that the presentation didn’t address what was promoted, it didn’t deliver on the ‘promise’ and that the presentation was a self promotion for the speaker and didn’t offer any value. We have a vetting process (I review all presentations prior to the event) which has ensured that feedback like this isn’t received as often anymore.
3. What are some of the most common in-presentation mishaps?
For me it’s sitting in the presentation and knowing instantly that the speaker isn’t comfortable presenting and/or that the content isn’t what I had ‘approved’.
I also hate when there are AV issues, but these can generally be fixed pretty quickly – not by me of course. I leave it to the professionals.
4. What were some of the most poignant and common themes to emerge this year from presenters as well as delegates?
- The growing importance of WOM marketing
- The consumer has increased control over their media consumption and marketers need to shift their way of marketing to this ‘new’ consumer
- The need for fluid marketing plans/strategies to move with the ‘new’ consumer
- The proliferation of marketing channels and how marketers can harness these to increase brand loyalty and ROI
- Consumer loyalty – brands needing to focus on this, especially in tough economic times
- Data is your friend – understand it and use it
- Multi-channel marketing, trying to achieve the perfect marketing mix
5. Name 5 things a presenter can do to get themselves invited back.
In order of priority, for me:
1. A great presentation style – engaging, passionate, energetic
2. Valuable content
3. Deliver on what was promised and even exceed expectations
4. Valuable content (have I said that?)
5. Understanding what delegates want and need out of a conference i.e., actionable learnings
6. What makes for a good stand at an event like ADMA Forum?
- Clear objectives, with an action plan on how these can be achieved
- It should have a story to tell to engage people
- Thorough lead up and follow up work
- Engaging staff – not talking at people, but finding out why they are at the event and what they need to improve their marketing function
- Visually appealing
7. How are you seeing conference dynamics and content changing given the current technology, financial trends?
- People have got less time, so you need to make content shorter and sharper
- People are really evaluating the level of usefulness of the content, because they are time poor and money is tight
- Lots of conferences in the market, so you need to stand out and either have a point of difference or do things better
- Like we are seeing in marketing, people want a more two-way conversation they don’t want to just be talked at and they want input and involvement via topic suggestions and networking
- Choice
- Digital has been a huge overarching topic for us, not because more traditional direct marketing channels aren’t being used or working, but because people need education on these channels. Obviously traditional direct marketing channels have a huge place in the marketing mix and we will be focusing on educating people on integrating all channels and creating an effective multi-channel marketing mix.
What do you think?
Did you attend ADMA Forum and get something different out of it? Have you been to a conference lately that did something really different – and it worked awesomely?
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