Recap of the IIAR May 6th Teleconference on AR best practice at analyst-firm sponsored events

Last week, the IIAR hosted a teleconference about best AR practices at analyst sponsored events like Gartner Summits, Forrester IT Forums or IDC Directions.

Many thanks to the featured panelists for taking their time to share their insights and taking questions from the members.

• Gerry Van Zandt / HP, Worldwide Analyst Relations Manager (@gerryvz,LinkedIn)
• Kent Cook/ Microsoft, Director Corporate Analyst Relations
• Bill Reed / St. Cross Group, Managing Director (former IBM manager of industry analyst relations, EMEA) (LinkedIn)
• Sandeep Thawani / Mahindra Satyam, Head of Marketing and Communications, Europe (LinkedIn)

Here are some highlights from the discussion.

• AR must help identify the right events to focus on
• Invest in fewer events, and look closely at attendee list
• In general ROI for participating at events is difficult to ascertain
  – Short term ROI – measured in blog postings, published notes, twitter notes
  –   Long term ROI – shifted analyst perceptions(change in annual vendor rating report)
• In general ROI for participating at events is difficult to ascertain
• Do as much as you can as early as you can
• These events are not opportunities for briefings & knowledge transfer
• Follow-up after the event, generating conversations afterwards is what results in knowledge transfer

IIAR members will be able to access more detailed notes from the teleconference by logging into the members area at http://analystrelations.org/members-area.