The Hidden ROI Of Industry Events: Why Conversations Still Matter
Bankim Chandra is Director & CEO of Dotsquares. Always committed to innovative solutions and mentoring the next generation in the industry.
gettyThe days are gone when, before participating in any event, businesses had to undergo intensive research to present their perception of any subject. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has dynamically changed the way businesses find, test and use information.
With the abundance of information provided by AI, it has become difficult to decide whether that info is valuable or whether one-to-one discussion with a person based on their experience is more important.
The answer may be things that AI alone cannot provide, including experience, business context, trusted relationships, focused attention and conversations that help people make decisions.
AI can help a business understand what a technology does and how it compares with other options. Knowing what a solution does is not always enough to decide if it is right for a particular business.
An important question to consider is that an investment made by a business is practical or not. What happened during implementation? Which unexpected costs appeared? What problems emerged after deployment? Which assumptions proved wrong?
An industry event creates an environment where participants can discuss these matters. A technology provider can explain a product. Another business that has already implemented it may explain what the implementation actually involved. A specialist may highlight a risk that was not obvious during research. A peer may explain why an approach worked or failed.
The value is therefore not in getting more information. It is in making existing information more useful for a business decision.
As AI makes basic information easier to access, businesses may need to rethink what they search for when attending an event.
One scarce resource is experience. Another is trusted access to people. A company can research hundreds of technology providers online. Finding which one understands its specific challenge may need a conversation where questions can be asked and assumptions tested.
The useful conversation may not be with the person an attendee planned to meet. It may happen during a coffee break after a session or while discussing a challenge.
Events have focused on speakers, exhibitions, product demonstrations and lead generation. These functions remain relevant. Attendees can increasingly research products, companies and technologies before arriving. This opens an opportunity for events to move further into the decision making process.
Instead of spending most of an event explaining what a product does, exhibitors can use conversations to see if it solves a particular business problem. By simply collecting contact details, they can find potential customers, partners and advisers whose needs match what they offer.
An event can therefore become less about transferring information and more about creating the conditions where useful decisions and relationships develop.
This shift is especially important when businesses consider emerging technologies such as AI. Many companies no longer ask only, βWhat can this technology do?β They also want to know what happens after implementation. Which use cases produced results? How much effort was required? What organizational changes were necessary? Where did implementation become difficult?
Industry events can help answer these questions by bringing perspectives together. A provider can explain the solution. An experienced user can discuss implementation. Another business can share lessons from a challenge.
An event can therefore influence ROI when it does not immediately generate a sale. A conversation that stops a technology choice, clarifies an investment decision or finds a more suitable approach can bring meaningful business value.
Businesses should keep measuring registrations, attendance, leads, meetings and sessions attended. These numbers show participation. Activity is not the same as value.
β’ Learning ROI: What knowledge or insight did attendees gain?
β’ Relationship ROI: Which new relationships were established and which continued after the event?
β’ Decision ROI: Did a conversation make a technology or business decision?
β’ Risk ROI: Did the event help identify a potential problem or costly mistake before resources were committed?
β’ Action ROI: Did a conversation lead to a meeting, partnership, pilot project, investment or change in strategy?
These questions give a complete picture of value.
An event that creates one hundred contacts may have small long-term impact if none of those contacts develops further. An event that creates contacts but produces very relevant conversations can influence a major decision or create a partnership.
The goal is not to abandon metrics. The goal is to understand what happens beyond those metrics.
The rise of AI does not make industry events less relevant. It gives businesses a reason to rethink what those events are designed to accomplish.
If you are an attendee, you can get information before arriving so events can place more emphasis on experiences that are hard to replicate digitally: peer-to-peer learning, practical discussions, trusted introductions, problem solving and meaningful conversations.
If you are a business, you can prepare differently, too. Instead of simply collecting brochures or contacts, you can arrive with specific questions and identify people whose experience matches those questions.
If you are an organizer, you can look beyond footfall. Lead volume by measuring engagement, follow-up conversations, partnerships and actions generated after the event.
I see industry events as having a chance to build around those resources. Their hidden ROI can be found not in attendance or business cards but in the decision that became clearer, the risk that was identified, the mistake that was avoided, the relationship that developed or the action that followed.
In the age of AI, I feel the value of an industry event may increasingly be measured not by how much information attendees receive, but by the better decisions, relationships and actions that follow.
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