This week FPinfomart was a proud sponsor and exhibitor at the International Association of Business Communicators’ annual World Conference.  This year, the conference was held in San Diego, and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend.

Attending a conference as an exhibitor provides a double opportunity.  Not only do I get to meet current and potential customers while spending time demonstrating our products in the exhibit hall, but I also get to experience some of the conference sessions as an attendee.  I met people who’d traveled thousands of miles and up to 24 hours to get there – IABC is genuinely a WORLD conference – so you can be certain that the trip must be worth the effort.  I attended three excellent sessions, and thought I’d share one key take-away message from each session with you here.

1. People remember facts told as stories more than any other communication method.

Dealing with journalistic content day and and day out, it’s easy to forget that I’m not writing for a newspaper.  I hope to bring this lesson home to roost right here on the blog.  I plan to write more often from a first-person perspective (can you see that I’m starting already?) – and if not my own perspective, then by sharing others’ stories with you.  In fact, the value of spending time deliberately seeking those personal stories is another lesson I learned at the conference.

2. Consumers want to be emotionally cemented to the brands they buy.  This happens through “conversations” with the brands they love.

This idea impacted me so strongly that I tweeted it right from the session!  I’m asked fairly regularly how or why a company should be participating in social media.  I think this will be my new go-to answer.

3. We all know intuitively how to sell an idea – just watch a kid ask his parents for a puppy.

Convincing a decision maker to consider your idea is a sales pitch – whether it’s a purchase, a concept, a strategy, or simply where to go for dinner.  Even a child knows that the “ask” must take into account timing, facts, and emotional aspects – and all of these must be very attuned to the needs of the decision maker.  Know your decision maker well, and you’ll increase your chance of winning.

Thank you to all who stopped by our booth and entered to win our grand prize (an iPad 2) – and congratulations to our winner, L. Hachey!