Printed or Digital? If you’ve only produced a digital version of your convention materials, you will be competing against every single beep, chime and alert from every email, Facebook, LinkedIn or Pinterest notifications, or the latest tweet about something which probably doesn’t really matter anyway.
Many feel our culture has reached a tipping point; that older technology and output such as printed conference and convention materials should be replaced with purely digital solutions such as mobile applications and web 3.0 semantic event-specific social networking portals. While I can certainly appreciate the increasing confusion for those caught up in the distraction of today’s digital dilemma, allow me to make a few simple, yet profound, observations which may help clear up the confusion.
An ever deepening challenge with digital technology today hinges upon the paradigm of choice many professional conference and event planners find themselves in. Where you once had one or two potential choices to select on the path to an effective solution, today you may easily have thirty options to choose from. The issue tends to center around how you determine which of the twenty-eight new options are actually going to help, rather than hurt your objectives. Without a solid framework or checklist in place to determine that answer, you will find yourself trapped in a reactive swirl of ever deepening confusion.
Developing that elusive solution-based framework is also something even qualified and highly skilled digital technologists find daunting. Unless you have very qualified IOT (Internet of Things) digital technologist on staff to develop a trusted framework based on your own specific requirements and (just as importantly) to keep the framework updated with all the new developments, it is going to be a very bumpy and often bruising ride.
Your potential convention attendees, guest speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers face a similar situation. Digital printing solutionsare rarely an improvement for your audience or your messaging. Overwhelmed and confused by purely digital service, many people feel most comfortable defaulting back to what they know and trust.
Without fail, what they know and trust is hardcopy, printed conference materials!
Printed Event Publications Offer More to Attendees and Sponsors Than Purely Digital Media
Attendees always love their printed conference programs, guidebooks and training manuals. They always work as expected. There is no need to worry about poor quality Wi-Fi signals, cellular service or a drained battery. They are also the perfect medium for taking notes, which helps re-enforce the value and memory retention of your event.
From a purely business-centric viewpoint, allow me to enumerate some other critical benefits that come with the decision to provide your event attendees with high quality printing materials.
1. Less Competition: Your goals or convention objectives are often complicated, but for these goals to even stand a chance, you will need the focus and attention of your audience. If you’ve only produced a digital print project of your convention materials you will, without question, be competing against every single beep, chime and alert from their email, Facebook, LinkedIn or Pinterest notifications, or the latest tweet about something which probably doesn’t really matter anyway.
When you’re only on the screens of those you plan to engage with, it is important to remember you will be one of many – always fighting for the focus and attention of those often entirely distracted. This is rarely a benefit to your efforts and is probably a complete waste to your ever-important advertisers and or event sponsors.
The value of high quality printed convention materials is obvious in contrast – the audience is focused on a single item . . . your printed material. When they return home or to the office it is very likely that your printed manual, guidebook, program or educational training manual will sit proudly on their reference bookshelf. This helps keep your message, event and brand in the minds of your best prospects, customers and future brand evangelists.
2. Unauthorized Mass Distribution or Sharing is Much More Difficult: For many organizations their intellectual property, educational material, event content, training material, etc. are often direct revenue streams. When this material ends up online, and is only available in a digital format, it is only a matter of time before its unauthorized syndication starts to jeopardize your business model.
3. More Memorable: When people have a choice between physical paper or digital material, particularly specialized event or training materials, the physical version will always hold a higher level of perceived importance and value. Prospective attendees will have incentive to pay for and attend your event, interact with others and potentially create powerful business relationships that can last a lifetime. Conversely, your event app on the attendee’s mobile phone or tablet will probably be deleted immediately after they return home. In sharp contrast, a proudly displayed, printed training manual will stare right back at them every time they look up at their bookshelf.
4. Creation and Cultivation of Powerful and Mutually Beneficial Relationships with Event Sponsors and Advertisers: Advertising dollars matter to your conference’s or event’s ultimate success and the future success of your relationship with advertisers and sponsors that want to be positively associated with your brand or event.
When an advertiser understands that the average attendee is highly motivated to keep and revisit your event’s printed materialand review the hand-written notes they took during the week of seminars, keynote speeches. etc. it becomes a pretty easy decision to invest their advertising dollars towards your event. The flip side of that is far more difficult to sell – asking your potential sponsors to invest in materials that will be deleted only a day after the event just doesn’t evoke the same sense of tangible value.
When planning your next conference, convention or trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia contact Samco Printers for the best in commercial printing services.
Samco Printers have always been professionals’ choice for quality commercial printing for nearly 40 years. We’re just minutes from The Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre in the heart of Downtown Vancouver’s Financial District.
We provide you a seamless solution for any of your potential commercial printing needs, from graphic design, to offset printing and large format prints. And we will even deliver your print job directly to you when you arrive in Vancouver, either at your hotel or the Trade & Convention Centre itself.
Why ship a mountain of printed material across the country when we take care of all the details for you locally?
If you’re interested in partnering with one of the most respected commercial printers in British Columbia, while simultaneously eliminating all your print worries and saving thousands of dollars in expensive freight and shipping charges, we are here to help – it’s what we do best.
