We want to help you make sure attending that $50 breakfast meeting will be worth it.

So we are sharing four tips to help you decide which events & meetings to attend.

Will adding a breakfast meeting or other event to your calendar be worth it for your business? These tips are to help you decide which events & meetings to attend. Here we will be sharing four tips. These tips will help guide you to make the decision. Should you attend that meeting or event? Or, on the other hand, are you better off skipping it? We are thinking of both you & your business.

We get it, there are only so many events one person can participate in during the week. Right? Networking events can be great. As an attendee you get to meet new people. You can also catch up with people you met at the last networking event. Many events may introduce you to new topics. Certainly, many people attend events to get new business leads. Sometimes attendees can be featured in the “Were You Seen” photo recap of the event. Getting this “free PR” benefits your business by introducing you and your company to the readers of the publication. As a result, some would say inclusion in a photo feature is worth the price of admission. It’s something, but it’s not everything for us.

Saying YES to a breakfast meeting can bring entrepreneurs the power needed to fuel business growth.

If you are like me, you most certainly get invited to many different events in a month. Some of them can be plain old networking. Others are celebrations, like a ribbon cutting or book signing. While others can be educational like a lunch & learn or a charity event. With so many different invites, it may be hard to juggle. Especially, if you schedule too many social events while also running a business.

When I have too many invites in a week or month, I find it helps to prioritize. This way I decide which events to attend. Some end up being a must go (as in must attend). If they don’t hit high on the priority list, as a result, I forgo (or skip). Doing this prioritizing helps me to decide.

Sometimes it is hard to determine if adding another event to a calendar will be worth it for business and life.

But, how do you decide which events and meetings to attend? We say use our 4 tips, of course!

In order to help determine the priority events, we came up with these 4 groupings of screening questions & criteria. These tips will help you (and me) to know if we should (or should not) attend the breakfast meeting, happy hour, book signing or ribbon cutting, etc… Use these tips to help you decide which events and meetings you should attend.

These 4 screening tips to help you decide which events & meetings to attend.

First Tip, who is the host organization?

Some hosts are better at attracting attendees. If you have attended a prior event and liked it, hmmm, that could be good. Alternately, if you haven’t been to a prior event by this host, this one might be worth checking out. If you have attended other events by this host and had a less than stellar experience, skip it. Could have been poorly organized, or low attendance, boring speakers or something else….. Time is money. You could be working and making revenue instead of attending an event hosted by hacks.

Second Tip, where is the event located? Have you been to the location or venue before?

We try to avoid the “rubber chicken luncheons”. During our networking and event circuit, we have discovered some great venues, like ballrooms and meeting rooms in nice hotels. We have also discovered some surprise venues we loved. We have attended events in certain conference rooms and/or auditoriums in corporate or academic settings that we never knew existed. One of the most interesting was actually a stadium seating auditorium at a bank location. Fantastic!

Third Tip, or as we like to say Tip number three… what is the agenda? Do the speakers pique your interest? Are there a bunch of different people featured? Does the topic seem dynamic or is it the same old thing?

Even when a topic may not seem to be 100% in your lane, it can be useful to attend. This is because of the connections you can make and the knowledge you can gain. There are many different kinds of events. One is a panel discussion. This is where a group of notable people are all asked questions by a moderator on a certain topic. Another, could be a 1:1 interview, a la Oprah and Prince Harry. Others have different companies offering consultations or selling products. Speed networking and small group networking can be fun. And who can resist the more casual “happy hour” type meet and mingle events.

Finally, the last of the tips to help decide which events & meetings to attend …

Tip number four …. do I really have the time or the money for this?

When all is said and done, if it is a busy week, then being selective with your time is key. When I have a lighter week of meetings and feel okay about investing the $50 fee, then I RSVP – YES!

Anyone who knows me, knows, I love to visit new places.

I love to learn. I love to meet new people. When an opportunity arises that allows me to do all three, I jump at the chance.

As a result of using the 4 tips, I ended up attending the ABR, Power Breakfast Economic Outlook 2023 event.

Leslie Preston, a TD Bank economist presented the 2023 Economic Outlook. She also reviewed results from a survey that was conducted with participant/readers who are Business Owners or Top decision makers.

You can view a full copy of the 2023 Economic Outlook presentation at this link.

The Power Breakfast, key note & panel discussion made the $50 entry fee well worth it. Because, I got a nugget & I networked! Yep. A nugget + networking, made it worth the investment.

During the survey review, the nugget was shared. It is a key takeaway from the survey that I can use. It is a great data point. The survey found that 59% of respondents plan to increase investments in marketing and/or advertising efforts.

As a result of hearing this nugget, I plan to use this statistic in my promotions. Certainly, this is a priceless gem for a marketing consultant.

I am now targeting business owners and top executives who are planning to increase marketing spend. If they are not sure how to proceed with bigger budgets, I am here to consult.

I’m letting them know, I’d love to have a conversation and see how I can help.

After these conversations, I will offer new clients some of the services below…

• Perform an audit of current marketing
• Build strategic marketing plans
• Offer new media tactics
• One of my specialties is media planning and buying so I can offer them my media services
• Another of my areas of expertise is creating company branding & promotions, pssstt …. these are both great ways to attract new customers
• In addition to those offerings, I often help clients to systemize and organize marketing operations. I have rarely met an excel spreadsheet I cannot improve!

All of my services will strive to meet the client goals. Usually the goals include some iteration of either attracting new customers or increasing future sales. Sometimes, clients expect both!

Sounds like there are going to be a lot of companies out there who need guidance on how to spend their marketing dollars.

Kirsten Voege, Kirated Communications

Enough about me, keep reading for more about the Albany Business Review, Power Breakfast….and why it was beneficial for me to attend this event.

There were fantastic panelists….

After the keynote presentation, there was a panel discussion. Who doesn’t love a good panel discussion? We especially love interesting topics and noteworthy moderators and speakers. This panel was moderated by the ABR editor and featured CEOs and Founders. There was a Q & A about their outlook on the economy and things impacting their businesses in 2023. The panel included Guha Bala, President of Velan Studios along with Bill Lia Jr, a co-owner at Lia Group Co. The last panelist was Andy Marsh, President and CEO at Plug Power. NASDAQ Ticker = PLUG. They talked revenue, growth, investments, hiring, training, and success and challenges facing their businesses.

After that, there was great networking…

After the panel discussion I was able to mingle and meet the panelists. I also took a few minutes to connect with some of the other power breakfast attendees. Below is a photo I took with Kathleen McLean, MBA, CSW. Kathleen is a management consultant and President at The McLean Group. We compared notes, as a result, we both felt like the panel discussion was informative. Most importantly, as business owners and entrepreneurs we both agreed the breakfast was a good use of our morning.

What’s coming up next on your calendar?

For example, will you have any trouble using our tips to help decide what events & meetings to attend?

Looking ahead….there is a book launch event that I am attending.

This event seems like a must do for me. To clarify that, I used the above 4 tips to help decide what upcoming events & meetings to attend or skip. This event passed my screening process. So I am planning to attend!

• #1 it is hosted by someone I admire
• #2 it is at a venue I have never been to
• #3 it is a book launch party
• and #4 it is free!

I hope that sharing these tips helps you to determine which events to attend & similarly, those to skip. Hopefully in practice they will help you to say “Yes” to the right meetings for you. Above all, attending the right events and meetings can bring entrepreneurs the power needed to fuel business growth.

We look forward to seeing you at an event in the 518 soon!

At KirCo we offer vCMO services to help our clients gain new customers. We specialize in brand building, strategic planning, traditional media buying, creating partnerships and delivering results. Above all, we strive to provide exceptional customer service. So, to get in touch you can call us at 518-KIR-ated or use the QR code to schedule a chat. We love helping our clients grow. To read more about when to work with a vCMO check out this article.

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