Spring is doing its best to spring (well, it is in the UK anyway!) which means one thing…it’s ‘lanyard season’! With the next few months full of trade shows, exhibitions and networking events, the calendar is jam-packed with opportunities to meet the Cerberus Tech team.
But what is the point of being at all these events?
In all honesty, this is a question we ask ourselves at the beginning of every year! We sit down and try to figure out what success looks like for us, what we’d like to achieve from being out and about and, ultimately, how we’re going to measure the ominous ROI performance indicator! Are these questions that most organisations answer behind closed doors? Probably. Are we blogging about it? Yes!
The What and The Why
Before diving headfirst into the hustle and bustle of event season, it’s essential to establish clear objectives. As technology vendors in probably one of the most vendor-saturated global markets, for Cerberus Tech it is essential that our objectives stretch beyond just showing up and shaking hands.
By defining our “what,” we can better tailor our approach and maximise our impact at each event. For us, the “what” in this scenario is “what are we selling?” or, better still, “what is our value proposition?” That bit is easy:
“Cerberus Tech addresses the complexity of global broadcasting workflows with adaptable live cloud solutions. We are experts in cloud video encoding, processing and transport and deliver this through a mix of multi-cloud and protocol agnostic software, self-serve platforms, managed services and white label solutions.”
While it may seem obvious on the surface, it’s worth delving deeper into the “why” behind our participation in these events. First and foremost, we recognize that face-to-face interactions remain invaluable in an increasingly digital world. The lack of trade shows, exhibitions, and networking events during the pandemic really highlighted the value that these events hold. They offer a unique opportunity to connect with prospects and existing customers, engage with industry peers, and showcase our latest innovations in a dynamic, interactive setting.
Success for us at these events isn’t represented by a full calendar of back-to-back meetings. Of course, we try to maximise our time by meeting people who have a genuine interest in the solutions we are there to market. But it is important for us to leave time for organic conversations to take place, and to walk the floor. A successful output is more intangible than that. Sadly for all the KPI enthusiasts out there, the ultimate measure of success is how we feel on the journey home!
The How
If we attempted to go to every industry event, then we would get very little else done. So how do we determine what events are worth an investment of time? And once we’ve figured that out, we have to choose whether to just attend or if there are exhibition or sponsorship opportunities worth considering.
Going back to that feeling on the journey home mentioned above, that is our first port of call when we are making our plans at the start of the year. We can’t go to every event so we choose to focus on the events that we’ve had success at in the past, or that have left us wanting to return. The next consideration, particularly for topic-specific or membership organisation events, is the audience. If there is no prospect of connecting with folks who might be interested in our solutions, the logical thing to do is favour the events where the opportunity is greater.
Where exhibiting and sponsoring is concerned, that is a far bigger investment and therefore needs more consideration. Our products and services will naturally only appeal to a small population within the industry and so a large stand with flashing lights, screens and free bottle openers is pointless. Some people think that in order to be taken seriously as an organisation, you have to take a stand at the big events – apparently having a different colour badge is a key differentiator! But we have had a lot of success over the years by carefully planning our events in advance and utilising the spaces provided by membership organisations, like the IABM Lounge at IBC and NAB for example.
But there are scenarios where having a proportionate and physical presence has delivered value. For example, we have had great success at the Media Production and Technology Show by utilising their pod-stand offering and we’re looking forward to doing the same again in 2024. And this year we are sharing a stand at NAB with our partners at Open Broadcast Systems which will be an interesting exploratory exercise, facilitated by Tradefair.
In terms of our approach, for us it helps that many of the events are fun. It’s a core part of our approach to always strike the balance between the business and leisure side of things. We like to fill the daytime at events talking to people about our offering and learning about theirs, but the media and broadcast industry is built on relationships and very often it’s at the end of the show/event day when the majority of business gets done.
That isn’t to say we’re out all night doing deals in bars and partying – alas, our clubbing days are over – but the opportunity to forge and strengthen relationships with customers, prospects, as well as suppliers and other vendors (and even competitors!) in the more informal post-event setting can often be of more value than the event itself. But of course, we must acknowledge that the post-event setting wouldn’t be there without the event in the first place! It’s up to the event curators to match this value during the day!
The When and The Where
So where are we going and when? As it stands, our event calendar for the next few months looks like this:
18-19th March – SportsPro New York – New York
20-21st March – DPP European Broadcast Summit – Munich
27th March – DTG Member Spring Drinks – London
14-17th April – NAB – Las Vegas
23-24th April – SportsPro Live – London
8th May – DTG Summit – London
15-16th May – Media Production & Technology Show – London
If you’re not already registered for these events, make sure you do! And of course, if you’re heading to one/some of these and want to meet with the team, make sure you get in touch with us and book a meeting!
A Note on Sustainability
Alongside the commercial and business development priorities associated with events, we also carefully consider attendance at events through the guise of our Environmental and Sustainability Policy. We make sure that only essential team members are required to travel – this addresses the missing “who” for anyone still following! Whilst air travel is unavoidable for many of these events, it is our policy to carbon offset all flights. In addition, we do not produce marketing collateral or other printed materials and attendees at events only take a small amount of recyclable business cards that are also made from recycled materials.
It is encouraging to see that sustainability remains a key topic on the agenda of many of these events. There is however further work to be done by all to make sure that sustainability of events is maximised. Sidenote – a good start would be not charging extortionate amounts of money for single-use plastic bottles of water and instead making water taps available so that attendees can refill their own!
Conclusion
In summary, we don’t go into an event expecting to sell anything. If we come away from the event having exchanged knowledge, connected with new and existing contacts, and with a clear follow-up plan to execute, then the event will have been a success. That is certainly our plan for all of the events listed above!
Obviously, we’d love to see you at any of the above events so if you’re going and want to organise a meeting, get in touch here: https://www.cerberus.tech/meet/
And don’t forget, to keep up to date with all the latest Cerberus Tech news, connect with us on LinkedIn.
