LCGC The Peak - June 2008 - (Page 12)

12 THE PEAK JUNE 2008 opportunity to speak face to face with not only the manufacturer of the product, but also with those who have already purchased the product, or are contemplating purchase as well,” he said. “In addition to actually seeing and handling equipment first-hand, the other benefits derived from attending the Pittcon conference, such as attending technical presentations and posters and participation in short courses, are superior to simply attending a virtual presentation or a webinar. Simply put, a virtual tradeshow is not the same as being in attendance and participating.” As the founder of a scientific training and consulting company, Dr. Merlin Bicking, of ACCTA, Inc. (St. Paul, Minnesota), offers a first-hand perspective on the value of online educational programs. His organization provides web-based training programs as well as on-site technical training. Dr. Bicking also regularly attends Pittcon as well as webinars presented by various vendors. “The training webinars we conduct are good for those people who are unable to attend a full-day session. For the short sessions, it is also more cost effective for our customers to attend. However, we still believe that our on-site training sessions are more effective as there is much more interaction in a faceto-face environment,” he said. “When I attend informational webinars from my own office, I find it challenging to stay focused with the many office distractions around me.” “I go to Pittcon to see the new products and technologies, pick up ideas in the technical sessions, network with my current clients, and meet potential new clients. I find great value in walking around the exposition and finding things that I didn’t know about. I enjoy meeting the people that I know and haven’t seen in a while and meeting new people. When I’m at Pittcon, I am there for these reasons and don’t have to worry about any distractions,” he added. On the surface, a virtual event has its attractions for exhibitors, particularly in the cost savings. Corporate exhibit managers need to focus on costs and return on investment to justify the expense of exhibiting at a conventional tradeshow. In the virtual world, exhibitors do not need to ship, install, and dismantle booths, setup expensive equipment, nor take their technical people out of the office. As the internet becomes more embedded into the marketing program mix, business-tobusiness marketers have more options to convey their message and generate sales leads. However, most sales and marketing executives would agree that direct, faceto-face contact with a prospect has more immediate value than attempting to contact someone who requested literature on their web site or via the telephone. Historically, tradeshows have been a great place for sales people to better qualify a prospect and speed up the sales cycle with an interested buyer. The CEIR study indicated that 87% of exhibitors rated face-to-face interactions as very impor-

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of LCGC The Peak - June 2008

LCGC The Peak - June 2008 The Value of Human Interaction Keeps Pittcon "Live" and Well Screening and Optimizing High-Speed, High Resoultion HPLC Methods in the "Lean Laboratory" The 56th Annual ASMS Conference: A Review Industry News Events Education

LCGC The Peak - June 2008

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