Does anybody LOVE going to a convention?

The overwhelming presence of promotional material and sales pitches can be gross. Attendees often endure tedious, formulaic presentations that lack innovation or depth, contributing to a sense of monotony - bottoming out with a monotone speaker just reading the words on their Power Point presentation.

The sterile atmosphere within convention centers, coupled with the often-prohibitive costs of attendance, can make these events feel more like obligatory rituals than dynamic hubs of inspiration and collaboration. That said, there IS a point to going to industry events.


Trade Shows Vs. Conventions

While trade shows and conventions are often used interchangeably, there are distinct differences between the two in terms of their focus, format, and objectives.

Trade Show: A trade show is primarily focused on showcasing products and services within a specific industry. Trade shows typically feature booths or exhibition spaces where companies set up displays to attract visitors. Attendees, who are often professionals within the industry, can explore different exhibits, learn about new products, and engage in networking opportunities. So, by their nature, trade shows feature industry professionals trying to pitch other bored industry professionals.

Convention: A convention, on the other hand, is a broader gathering that encompasses various aspects of an industry or a particular field. Conventions often include a mix of activities such as panel discussions, seminars, workshops, keynote speeches, and social events. While there may be an exhibition component similar to a trade show, the emphasis is supposed to be on education, knowledge sharing, and networking on a broader scale.

In summary, trade shows are more focused on showcasing products and facilitating business transactions, while conventions have a broader scope, incorporating educational and networking elements along with the exhibition aspect.


My History With Conventions

I think anybody with particularly bad memories of attending a convention was once responsible for manning a booth. The. Worst. Job. Period.

Strangely enough, I've attended more conventions for the classes and educational content instead of sales-y purposes. Since I've done a lot of work in the electric utility industry, Autodesk University was a regular event for me. And I historically attended more to see my out of state clients and contacts in person since the convention is in Las Vegas and I'm a 5-hour drive away in San Diego. And even though I've worked with AutoCAD for over 25 years, there is ALWAYS more to learn so actual conference sessions have been great.

The other thing I remember about conventions are some hangovers. I'll elaborate more about this in the last section of this article but whether reconnecting with existing work contacts or trying to land new customers there is one lubricant: alcohol. I've played craps in Vegas til 6am with some wonderful work colleagues and my friends/clients at Idaho Power and I had a legendary night on the with an oddball producer from Pawn Stars. I had an odd and fun conversation with Gregory Hines at an Apple Convention. I've made a big sale over shots in Denver. Let's just face facts, conventions are weird and personal relationships / alcohol fuel business.

Additionally, one might feel that industry events can be a waste of time. But you have to be patient. I remember one event from Kansas City that was particularly bleak in the late 2000s. Lo and behold, years later in 2011 I got a call seemingly out of the blue from somebody I had a 10-minute conversation at that Kansas City convention which directly led to a 5-month job for our team. You are planting seeds at these gathering and you really can't judge whether a trip was successful until years later.


Why I'm Writing This

In the past two weeks, I've attended two wildly different conventions - the first for the American Sheep Association and the second for advertisers, agencies and services for the online affiliate marketing industry.

I won't detail everything that happened and try not to give too many specific details to spook anybody I talked to who may be reading this. That said, I thought it would be a little interesting to share my experiences of what a software developer does at a event in two different industries.


American Sheep Association

Our friends at Backyard Green Films have a lot of business with different agricultural organizations, and one of our clients has a presence there so there was plenty of various small reasons to be there. Here's another reason to go to a convention - I would have been on the fence about how much I had to gain from this event (especially mostly geared towards farmers) but when the lines between work and pleasure get blurry, it was going to be fun to be out there with Rick and Elara of Backyard Green Films.

And the event was in Denver which meant a dinner with a couple who live there whom I'm close friends with. A conference's location can be a boondoggle if it's a fun city (i.e. Las Vegas or New York City) but also for bringing you close to friends. That said, Denver in January is f-ing freezing and I don't recommend it.

Here's what I wanted to relay about all of the farmers and ranchers whom I met that week: You may think of farming as some variety of the "simple life" but after an up-close look I actually think that ranching is one of the most complex jobs you can be involved with. Every rancher has to be willing to do manual labor, run a complex property, have complex go-to-market strategies and pricing, subject to a myriad of issues outside of their control and have to be somewhat of a genetics expert. It's the most wide-ranging gig I can think of.

So What Was There For Me: As a software developer, I'm talking with a group about interfaces and improving software for recording sheep data and also doing social media, marketing and website for a lamb cooking road show. Yes, that last sentence was not a Mad-Lib.


Affiliate Summit West

Get ready for the bends moving from a sheep convention to an affiliate marketing event. For those of you unfamiliar with this world, affiliate marketing can be defined as "the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products." So at this convention you have companies that advertise, agencies who specialize in affiliate or influencer ads, and a ton of various businesses that feed into this like advertiser-to-affiliate matchmaking networks, verification services, reporting agencies, specialists, payment processors, all kinds of folks.

This convention was a little more uptown, meaning more wining-and-dining meaning that I got to eat at Momofuko (I'm still full), a steakhouse and met some really great new friends in the field. Also, unlike the sheep event in Denver, there was a visit to a loud club at Caesar's with EDM music.

So What Was There For Me: We've been working on an app in the affiliate marketing space and got to show it off and gauge interest (it was good news!). We found some valuable potential beta testers and some possible first customers. On another front I may have found two companies who need us for API and app development.


The Takeaway

OK, here's the weird part about conventions and the whole point of this article. While attending both events as a software developer you think my job at an industry event is to demonstrate my services' worth with concrete, mathematical evidence. Nope.

Business, even a quantifiable numbers-driven business like affiliate marketing, is still the business of relationships. A fun evening of talk loosened up by a couple of drinks is still a more effective marketing tool than the best one-sheet or proof-of-concept you could ever come up with.