By Jacob Wilson, Contributor
No matter if you’re running a family restaurant, café, bar, or bakery, attending industry conferences is immensely important for your business. For starters, you will learn about the latest trends in your niche and stay on top of your industry.
This is also an amazing opportunity for independent restaurant owners to network with and establish partnerships with vendors and other owners. Above all, conferences are a great opportunity to share your knowledge with both restaurant companies and customers, and position yourself as a credible player in the restaurant industry.
That’s why you need to be prepared.
What to Do Before the Event?
Before you board your bus or plane, you need to collect the right data and create a point-by-point plan. Here are a few simple steps to take.
Set Your Goals & Read the Conference Agenda Carefully
You first need to set clear goals and ask yourself what you expect from the conference. Sure, these goals depend on your specific needs. Some of them are:
Learning new skills
Meeting and listening to top restaurant industry experts
Building relationships with other relevant restaurants in the industry
Connecting with potential customers
Learning about industry trends
Getting your restaurant’s brand name noticed
Having any speaking opportunities
Once you know what your goals are, use the conference agenda to achieve these goals. Check it to see whether there are any breakout sessions over the event, so you can choose ones relevant to you. Pay attention to the subject matter of the session so you can prepare relevant questions.
And be sure to check who the speaker is. You can google their previous work and presentations so you can know what to expect.
Learn More about the Conference Space
Not knowing the conference space may distract you on so many levels. Just think about it. If you got lost, you would probably show up late, fail to introduce yourself, and miss some important parts of the presentation. Worse yet, you would seem unprofessional.
That’s something you want to avoid.
If the conference is small, take an hour to learn more about the venue. However, if a conference is large and popular, chances are it will be held across multiple places. Learn more about them and don’t forget to download the map so you can orient yourself easily.
Know What to Bring
To get the most out of the multi-day conference, you first need to bring the right stuff with you. Now, you already know that your tech -- especially your phone, laptop, and chargers -- are a must.
You should also bring lots of business cards. Restaurant conferences are a unique opportunity to spread the word about your restaurant and attract new guests and partners.
If you’ve created any interesting brochures, case studies, articles, achieved a major milestone, or appeared in the local media, prepare the links to this content.
Connect with Other Attendees
Most event organizers use social networks to promote the conference and reach wider audiences. There’s often a group page or social media event invite, where organizers share relevant information about the conference and encourage potential attendees to participate. This is a great way to find out who else will attend the session and connect with those people on time.
Leave relevant comments on the social media page to get yourself noticed. That way, you can build relationships with the likeminded professionals in the restaurant niche and even schedule a brief, eye-to-eye meeting with them during or after the conference.
What to Do During the Conference?
Now that you’ve finally at the restaurant conference and have everything planned, it’s time to relax, right? Well, there are a few additional steps to take.
Choose Sessions that Meet Your Goals
Don’t let anyone you meet during the conference impact your decisions and plans. Choose sessions that are relevant to your business and goals. This is an opportunity for you as an independent restaurant operator to learn more about your industry, meet both potential partners and competition, and see how your business fits into the wider market.
Nurture Relationships
In the previous section, I mentioned that you should connect with your prospects on social and schedule an in-person meeting. When networking with your potential partners, be patient. Listen to their concerns and explain how teaming with you may help them. Sure, don’t expect them to make any decisions right away. Be patient, keep the conversation engaging and targeted. Cultivating relationships results in stronger partnerships.
Take Part in Social Conversations
The majority of conferences create dedicated hashtags for their attendees to use. So, no matter if you’re writing a Facebook post or you’re publishing a photo on Instagram, always use the conference hashtag. That’s a great opportunity to scream “I’m there, too!” and put yourself in front of people that would like to meet you in person and follow you online.
What to Do after the Event?
Your work is still not finished. You need to document everything you learned.
For starters, reach out to the people you met via email or LinkedIn. Write a personalized message that will prove that you care about them and get them to remember you.
Inform your customers about the experiences you gained during the conference and share some fun, behind-the-scenes photos and videos. Your guests and social followers will appreciate your efforts to improve your business.
Finally, use the insights you gained during the conference to give your business a boost. For example, if you learned more about a new restaurant industry trend, why not apply it to your restaurant to improve its performance? There are numerous ways to educate the rest of your team, including sending an email with the most important information, scheduling meetings, and additional training.
Conclusions
The conference is a great place to meet new people in the restaurant industry, learn more about the trends and innovations that are driving it, and increase your industry authority. To make the most out of your time, you will need to build a thorough plan. Hope these tips will help.
About the Author
Jacob Wilson is a business consultant, and an organizational psychologist, based in Brisbane. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for Bizzmark blog.
