Simple to Sophisticated: Matchmaking and Appointment-setting Programs That Boost Adoption and ROI

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Michelle Bruno

Writer, blogger, meetings & exhibition industry content developer. She blogs at Forkintheroadblog.com.

Matchmaking “software”—appointment-setting applications that facilitate attendee-to-attendee and attendee-to-exhibitor networking at meetings, conferences and trade shows—has come a long way in recent years.

From the simpler, attendee-centric offerings built on the open APIs of familiar social media platforms to those more sophisticated and full-featured apps developed with the distinctions between exhibitors and attendees in mind, there are more choices for event organizers than ever before. And, in cases where show managers put some of their own muscle behind the matchmaking process, the results are dramatic.

Connecting on LinkedIn

Presdo Match, a third-party app based on LinkedIn, appeared on the event matchmaking radar during the recent MTO Summit in Chicago. Attendees were invited by show management (via email) to click on a link and view all attendees, all exhibitors, people who “like” them and a tool called “People Genius” that creates matches based on the keywords in participants’ LinkedIn profiles.

Presdo worked with the event registration software to pull the list of attendees and exhibitors into the app. Before long, emails appeared informing participants that someone likes them or wants to set an appointment with them. Presdo Match is user-friendly, inexpensive and successful at jumpstarting basic networking at an event.  The LinkedIn connection, as well as LinkedIn co-founder and Presdo Match President Eric Ly’s pedigree, should help developers with recognition in the event space.

Moving Matchmaking to Mobile

With ZeristaPro from Denver, Colo.-based Zerista , matchmaking and appointment-setting capabilities are nestled in a social media suite that functions on any computer, tablet or browser-enabled phone (iPhone and Android native Smartphone apps are available with the enterprise version). Among other things, the ZeristaPro app suggests matches between attendees and exhibitors using interest tags that users enter into their individual profiles.

Users can integrate their event profile with existing social media accounts (such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and personal blog RSS feed), expanding the ability to connect with friends and business associates who are attending the same event. The system also allows users to set appointments with other participants using a simple interface that prompts them to enter the date, time and location for the proposed meeting plus a brief message. The app’s mobile capabilities help boost adoption rates.

Appointment-setting Software as a Workhorse

Many event organizers use matchmaking apps passively - they purchase the software, announce its existence to their participants and call it a day. In other words, they leave the actual matchmaking and appointment setting to the attendees and exhibitors who are busy, technically challenged (at times) or unfamiliar with the power and potential of these platforms. Hence, the apps languish. When event managers proactively enter the equation, the scenario changes - dramatically.

Reed Travel Exhibitions, organizers of EIBTM, CIBTM, GIBTM, and AIBTM (debuting in Baltimore this June), have progressed from chasing a flurry of faxes around the world to a tightly controlled process facilitated by Certain’s event management software. The “BTM” portfolio follows a hosted buyer format. In other words, show managers select qualified buyers (meeting planners) and pay their expenses to attend the exhibition in exchange for their attendance at pre-selected meetings with exhibitors and sponsors.

Although Certain’s platform takes care of travel arrangements, registration, qualification, matchmaking and appointment setting, Reed’s staff plays an integral role in the success of the hosted buyer program, which in turn contributes to the success of the exhibitions. For example, Certain’s app gives event managers the flexibility to “wrap the app” around different event scenarios. “Some shows are wholly buyer driven. They are in mature markets and buyers select the exhibitors they would like to meet with. For other shows, it is a combination of buyers knowing who they would like to meet with and exhibitors knowing which buyers to select for appointments,” says Mandy Torrens, head of marketing and buyer programs for the Meetings and Events Portfolio Reed Travel Exhibitions.  

Reed’s staff works diligently to facilitate the best matches using the software and their experience with hosted buyers. The system and Reed managers match buyers and sellers on three levels:

1.    Buyer requests an exhibitor and an exhibitor requests the same buyer
2.    Buyer requests an exhibitor, but the exhibitor did not request the same buyer
3.    Exhibitor requests a buyer but the buyer did not request the same exhibitor

The third scenario can be delicate, according to Torrens. “You have to be careful about matching buyers up with exhibitors they haven’t selected. On the other hand, it’s important to deliver ROI for the exhibitors,” she says. With 120,000 pre-scheduled meetings across four events annually, it would be an impossibility to manage the appointments manually. It would also be inefficient to let the software alone to qualify buyers and leave participants to set meetings strictly on their own. Reed’s intervention and customization of the app over the years has delivered a process that makes their events some of the most coveted in the industry.

True Integration of Matchmaking and Event Management

The “guaranteed appointment” scenario provided by the hosted buyer formula isn’t the only way to use matchmaking and appointment setting apps to their fullest potential. Hosted Buyer programs still are rare in U.S. exhibitions. J. Spargo & Associates, based in Fairfax, Va., manages the HSMAI Affordable Meetings National exhibition and conference (among many others).

In 2010, they took a more proactive approach to matchmaking and appointment setting using a “Concierge”  and A2Z, Inc.’s networkNow! platform. The Concierge (a human) for the event worked with buyers to explain how the software worked and explored some potential matches for them. He/she also worked with exhibitors to discuss potential buyer matches and how the software could be used to facilitate those interactions. J. Spargo took the process further with two additional steps:

1.    Show management emailed a list of the top 50 best buyer matches to every exhibitor.
2.    J. Spargo rewarded buyers who attended all of their pre-scheduled appointments with Starbucks gift certificates.

J. Spargo’s intervention brought them great results using networkNow!’s sophisticated algorithms to select matches between attendees and exhibitors. “Exhibitors and buyers loved it. Lots of times people come to a trade show, wander around, and hope for the best. With this approach, both sides had a full schedule they could log into to manage their appointments,” says Senior Vice President James Spargo. Even with powerful engines like networkNow!, the self-service model can only go so far. “People are so busy these days. There are so many things going on. They put [appointment setting] off and never get around to doing it. We get higher usage rates if we walk them through it. Our goal is 75% [usage],” Spargo explains.

Matchmaking and appointment-setting tools are not new. Adoption rates for the self-service models where buyers and sellers are left to their own devices and the app are typically lower and slower than in scenarios where show managers become heavily involved in the activation and implementation process. For the moment, there are many flavors of apps available and several different models for using them to their fullest potential. One thing for certain is that as powerful as these solutions are (and there is power in simplicity), the machines will never take over the world. In other words, show managers have to drive the solutions to achieve the kind of ROI they’re looking for.