The State of Retail Conferences & Staying Current in Ecommerce - Episode 207
INTERVIEW WITH AARON CONANT
DESCRIPTION
In today’s podcast, our guest is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, Aaron Conant. We talked about the ways of connecting in-person and online, as well as the value of conferences and smaller-scale gatherings especially in lieu of Covid restrictions.
Make sure to tune in to find out more!
Aaron is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge-sharing group of thousands of brands who collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Aaron talks to 1,200 brands a year and hosts 250 in-person and virtual events with industry professionals. Prior to this Aaron was Head of eCommerce Sales at Perrigo, where he helped launch their Amazon business as well as D2C and B2B websites. Aaron began his career doing synthetic organic chemistry at Pfizer.
“The small-format events allow you to get a more personal connection and then you feel a little bit more comfortable reaching out to individuals after it.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The RetailX event is an example of how large events have had to change.
Having a smaller venue and limiting the number of people attending may be alright for sponsors, but not for brands.
Brands need to connect and people are ready for new opportunities to do just that.
There is hesitation around big events like Groceryshop and a large pet show in Las Vegas.
Large events will probably be lightly attended by brands out of business necessity.
With low attendance, large events are difficult to justify from a sponsorship standpoint.
Breaking up large events into smaller ones could be a good solution.
Getting out of the office allows people to focus and to network in a different environment, which is something that webinars do not provide.
Large events like Shoptalk and IRCE provide opportunities for smaller gatherings, allowing networking and knowledge-sharing with other brands.
The formal presentations in large events are too educational but too polished. Informal knowledge-sharing is an important aspect of those events.
People are feeling isolated and are hesitant to share their pain points with others.
The best way to stay current is reaching out to other brands, listening to podcasts, and taking advantage of the contacts made while networking during events.
LinkedIn is a helpful platform for communicating with other professionals.
Be open to having conversations with people about the pain points, not just successes.
BWG plans to host almost 100 different events in the following year.
BWG has made a shortlist of top service providers that serves as a resource to the brands they work with.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Connect with Kiri Masters
Learn more about Bobsled Marketing
Connect with Aaron Conant
Learn more about BWG Connect on LinkedIn
