Technical, Industry, and Client Conferences

Technical, industry, and client conferences are extraordinary PR opportunities which many companies completely overlook. They often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on screens, video, sound, and even lighting, but neglect to spend time effectively preparing the people who will stand on the stages.

Example: One of the Fortune 500 companies used Center Stage as a strategy to have one of its product-development engineers present important new findings at a technical conference in Asia. The firm’s major customers were the audience. The directive from senior management was to make sure the company’s new products were the talk of the event. The young engineer had 20 minutes to present three innovations, create buzz, and procure understanding of the innovations.

After several months of work learning and applying Center Stage, the engineer became adept at a completely different approach to presenting than he had ever experienced. He was so successful at this meeting, he was asked to speak at other significant engineering events all over the world. His reputation grew as did the company’s. He became a “rock star” and was voted “Engineer of the Year” in his field.

Yet, this event is the exception more than the rule. Time after time, people pay serious money to travel and attend professional events and the speakers are boring, uninspiring, and confusing.

At a recent legal conference, the underwriting law firm’s employees, highly-esteemed legal minds, were so boring and dull that a Fourth of July fireworks couldn’t have lifted the stupor in the room. It was a wasted opportunity – in spite of the firm’s sophisticated technology and snazzy architecture.