Thinking of speaking at or sponsoring an event?

Many of you reading this will have spoken at or sponsored events and conferences.? Some of you may be thinking about doing so.? This article was prompted by my concerns relating to the increasing number of individuals and organisations who are promoting events for little other reason than commercial gain.?

As many of you will know, my own firm, The Consilient Consultancy Limited , produces the now global International Health Insurance Forum series of events in 7 locations across 4 continents.? I began this journey 5 years ago in September 2018.? I also produce these events with the primary objective of supporting the development of universal healthcare.? Financial reward is subsidiary.? Indeed, in our three African locations we aim only to break even on the financials.

So, what are my concerns?

1. The lack of professionalism in the marketing of many events (poor websites, broken links, bad grammar, spelling and punctuation errors).?
2. The aim of many event organisers is simply to make money.? They have little or no interest in the purpose or content of the events they organize.? Indeed, many purport to organize multiple events across several commercial sectors.?
3. The quality of events is often poor with organisers aiming at quantity not quality in pursuit of maximizing ticket revenues.?
4. Many organisers will only accept speakers who will pay for the privilege of speaking.? This often results in events being stuffed with speakers whose only objective is to sell their products, services or company with no true academic or professional interest in educating or informing the audience.?
5. The lack of transparency of organisers who will not make public their program content, ticket prices or sponsorship rates unless you first provide your personal contact details (presumably for subsequent “spamming” exercises).?
6. The abuse by some event organisers of corporate logos which they place in their marketing collateral without the consent of the owner of the logo.? This they do to give an impression of authenticity or approval.?
7. Call for abstracts. This is a tactic used whereby unscrupulous event organisers will ask you to provide your ideas on the pretext of then allocating you a speaking slot (which you then have to pay for). This is a win for the organiser because they get to steal your ideas and, if you are drawn in, take your money.
8. Probably difficult to stop, is the practice of many event organisers to trawl through other event organisers’ programs and then “poach” speakers or simply “steal” event topics for their own events.

Why am I concerned?

My business and its events are run on a quality not quantity basis with the primary objective of improving people’s lives and educating and informing our audience.? These “charlatan” event organisers who have only a financial objective in mind debase the general reputation of professional event organisers.

My words of advice and caution

1. Do not pay to speak at events unless you are receiving some specific benefit in return such as a prominent speaking slot in the program.
2. Do not sponsor any event unless you are presented with a formal sponsor agreement in writing.? This agreement should specify what happens in the event of a cancellation, postponement or other changes as well as have termination clauses. Do not pay any money in advance without such an agreement.
3. Conduct due diligence on the event organizer relating to its business constitution, place of business and history of organizing events.
4. Analyse the organiser’s website.? Check for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and general appearance and layout.? Any poor quality in these areas will give a strong indicator that the event itself will also be poor quality.
5. Research claims in relation to past events in terms of number of attendees and speakers.? Importantly, ask the question “did this event really take place?”
6. Do not believe all that you see!? Some organisers will use images of a crowded hall to give the impression that their events are well attended.? More often than not, these are not images of their own events but those of other events.
7. Question any images of corporate logos used in the organiser’s online marketing.? Increasingly some organisers are using logos of brands without permission of the brand owner or, worse, where the brand owner has never had any relationship with the event organizer.
8. Question the promotion of future events.? Often, an organizer will claim that it has multiple events planned for the future but in fact has no venue booked or dates confirmed.
9. Beware of aggressive marketing, particularly when it comes from foreign based event organisers who have no track record in your part of the world.?
10. Do not be caught by the offer of a “free” speaking slot if you buy a certain number of tickets or undertake to promote the event through your network.? If you promote an event you should be paid!
11. Avoid the trap of being given an “award” in return for your company’s support for the event.? This practice has long been seen through where an award winner also just happens to be a sponsor.
12. Do not provide an "abstract" of your ideas. This is a clever trick to steal your ideas.
13. Finally, ask yourself “is this really the type of event that I wish to be associated with?”.? Your personal reputation or that of your company can be damaged by association with some event organisers.

I hope that all of the above helps. I am happy to discuss such matters directly with you.

Robin Ali