Everyone has a conference strategy. You work out which are the most interesting, or least boring seminars and who you are going to speak to in the break. You may even work out the route you’ll take to get to their stand to avoid certain exhibitors, because you’ve only got 15 minutes before the next discussion and you can’t afford to get lynched. Then it’s an indigestion-inducing, network-cramming lunch, before you’re off again, leaving exhibitors to wander around forlornly, swapping free giveaways and waiting to pounce during the next mad rush for caffeine.
In a bid to swell numbers, conference organisers have long strayed from the heady days of Barbican trade shows, where purchasers and influencers of technology simply went window shopping and met suppliers, achieving in one day what would ordinarily take months of meetings.
Content-driven conferences have become the norm. There is nothing inherently wrong with that: good content can help drive the industry forward and promote thought leadership. But lost within that is the opportunity to properly interact with suppliers and test products in a relaxed and fun environment.
In a genuine attempt to strip the legal IT trade show format back to basics and revitalise it, TavistockMedia and the Legal IT Insider have created Inside Legal IT, a purist trade show on a par with the best technology shows in the US, where country music and line dancing are often taken more seriously than the latest bit of kit.
There is nothing like it in the UK. High quality street food, great coffee, something a little stronger and fun fair style activities such as a bucking bronco, rockaoke band and a bungee run or human table football will create a competitive spirit between exhibitors and delegates. Instead of tiptoeing round a stand politely declining a free teddy and trying to flee, you may be on the same football team building invaluable relationships.
Perhaps most importantly, Inside Legal IT isn’t just targeting IT directors. We in particular welcome IT managers and their teams, the purchasers and implementers of technology, the future chief information officers and the future decision makers who most need exposure to suppliers.
Inside Legal IT aims to be the best UK networking event you’ve ever been to. Yes, there is a place for content. But it’s not here.
Inside Legal IT is taking place on 12 May 2015 in Tobacco Dock. Visit the website to register your place, or call the Inside Legal IT team on 020 7993 8455.
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www.tavistockmedia.com/events/inside-legal-it