have you lobbyconned lately?

To continue our thread of low cost high impact visability for your startup I think we should review the lobbycon phenomenon.

Lobbycon: the practice of schmoozing in lobbies at expensive technology conferences, often without paying.  The term is inspired by the lingo of conference names, the titles of which sometimes end with ‘con’.

Verne Kopytoff, San Francisco Chronicle, “Lobbyconners” crash tech conference

Just like the water cooler at the office, or the ‘after meeting’ after the meeting, the discussions outside of the presentations at a conference hold as much value, if not more, as the presentations themselves.

Why do you attend conferences?  Is it to learn about a particular topic? or do you attend conferences to spend time in the lobby networking? getting business leads and meeting people you would not normally have access to?

There are now so many great technology conferences, each with high impact, there is no way a startup can afford to attend all of them - but the value of being able to access such a high calibre crowd cannot be ignored.  So, it is no surprise that the low cost alternative of hanging out in the lobby before and after a conference evolved.  Because, really, at most conferences there are actually two conferences going on: the actual conference and the lobbycon.

Kopytoff offers the following tips for successful lobbyconning:

• pick a conference with a lively lobby scene;
• because of their public areas, hotels tend to be better for hobnobbing (convention centers usually have tighter security);
• buy a drink or lunch at the venue to justify your presence;
• knowing some legitimate attendees is helpful for joining the social scene and scoring introductions (e.g. “hey, Bob, you going to the Web 2.0 Summit?  Do you want to meet up in the lobby after the keynote?”);
• don’t crash the speeches and panels, or cause a scene.

So, if you weren’t invited to attend the upcoming Web 2.0 Summit but you need to meet some influential people and want to be a part of the buzz maybe try lobbyconning until you can afford to get in the door.

And don’t forget this applies to tradeshows!  Can’t afford a booth?  Do the ‘hospitality suite’ in your hotel, set up meetings with those who are attending or do a crazy gimmick on the corner outside the convention center so that you are remembered.  All cheap alternatives to the steep price of admission.