How to evaluate a business conference before paying for it
Most people waste time and money on networking events because they commit before securing any concrete meetings. Without a strict rule — such as requiring three confirmed meetings before the deadline — attendees end up surrounded by random service providers instead of potential clients or deals.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Setting a strict rule requiring a minimum number of pre-booked meetings before committing to travel
- 2Filtering out events that do not publish exhibitor lists
- 3Doing account management calls instead of traveling for existing clients
- 4Asking the event organizer for the attendee mix from the last event instead of relying on the target audience on the flyer
- 5Looking for groups built around a specific trade or local industry rather than generic business networking
- 6Attending smaller recurring breakfasts instead of big expos
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The rule we came up with is pretty simple. We only go if we have 3 confirmed meetings before the deadline.”source ↗
“For those of you who actually get B2B deals from conferences, where do they usually come from? Meetings you booked before the event or random conversations you couldn’t have planned?”source ↗
“I recently spent a day tabling at a Chamber of Commerce expo and realized almost everyone there was another service provider.”source ↗
“I’d really like to get better at choosing which networking events are worth the time and money.”source ↗
“For those who’ve had success with in-person networking, how do you evaluate an event before committing to it?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Is it rude to skip a distant wedding when travel and money are tight?
- 4Should I register a business before making any money?
- 8Should I keep going with my stagnating business or quit?
- 2Are professional society memberships worth paying for out of pocket?
- 5How do I know if I should sell my business?
- 2Why are industry conferences so overcrowded and useless?