EdTech is more than a market sector. By the nature of its market, any successful EdTech company benefits from authentic engagement with the education community. Joyce Whitby, a veteran industry marketing consultant, sits down with Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, to talk about ground zero for market-to-community interface: education conferences and conventions.
Below you can find highlights of this chat around expectations and realities of successfully navigating these events, whether you work in EdTech or education.
Plan For The Booth – And Beyond The Booth.
As a consultant, Joyce helps her clients choose which events to attend with a set of go/no-go criteria.
"I've got a comprehensive list of EdTech shows, national, state-level, as well as subject content specialties. And we look to see which events target their ultimate decision-makers, whether it's influencers for ground-up or decision makers, which is top-down. I think that both sets of stakeholders really need to know about your amazing solution."
Joyce also encourages going in with a Beyond The Booth (BTB) plan, which might include attending sessions and meet-ups, making friends, and showing passionate interest in education beyond whatever product you're there to market.
"Are you going just to get leads, or are you going to build relationships to become part of the fabric of what people think about when they think about your area?"
For those who see themselves sitting behind their table catching up on email in an empty exo hall, she advises, "Stay home."
As we return to post-pandemic normal, Joyce sees the EdTech world still applying virtual-event strategies to in-person conferences.
"Some conferences are still doing an echo of virtual. They've got two days face-to-face, and then a week later a little virtual with some recordings, because not everybody is equipped to travel right now. So it's really helpful to broaden your audience and be able to bring in people virtually."
Be Ready To Learn As Well As Make A Sale.
Joyce advocates for EdTech companies to show an authentic presence at conferences. Her example of what not to do?
"If you're going to go to a conference and stand at a booth to hand out a pen, don't go. That's a real waste of money if that's all you can figure out as your event strategy."
She sometimes recommends that her clients not even buy a booth in the expo hall.
"Support the organization and buy a badge. Then look at the conference agenda and the schedule and choose which sessions you are going to go and sit in. When you sit with educators and you're learning from them and you're sharing, you're now a partner. I call that working the event in reverse."
In-the-moment connections can be golden, yet Joyce also encourages her clients to plan ahead, researching and communicating their subject matter interest with key people weeks or months before the event. She wants them to make sales through building relationships. As she sums it up:
"Planning and understanding that you're in teaching mode, not selling mode. It's a professional learning event."
Educators Can Learn From EdTech Marketers.
Even pre-COVID, conference expo halls served as learning centers for the educators who were attending, supplementing the sessions with practical examples and extra layers of information. This is where teachers can meet up with influencers and subject matter experts about all things EdTech. Joyce says that her BTB approach can also work for this (much larger) subset of conference attendees.
"If it's a national event, those exhibit halls are usually free. Bring another ten people, and let them learn on the show floor. Give them tasks to divide and conquer and bring back information. Because when you also go as a team from a school or from a district, then you can have a great debrief. And so educators should have a beyond the expo hall or beyond the session plan. What do we go to that show for? And debrief it as well. It's the same thing. Everybody's there as a learner."
What We Talked About
Use this to jump to parts of the conversation you want to listen to more closely.
[00:50] Introducing Joyce Whitby
"I'm an educator, I'm just not in the classroom. I look at all of the marketing and sales that I do, and the coaching that I do with companies now, as a lesson plan."
[06:21] EdTech conferences pre- and post-pandemic
[16:02] How EdTech brands should plan for conferences
[31:02] Building relationships in advance of the conference
"Get up and go to a session, and leave the session five minutes before the exhibit area opens up again. But go learn, even if it's just little snapshots here and there. They'll see you. "
[38:50] Conference expo halls as learning centers for educators
[40:41] Follow-up is just as important as pre-planning
[42:45] Joyce's advice for EdTech sales strategy
[48:09] What recharges Joyce's soul
[52:25] How people can get in touch with Joyce
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Organizations & Events
ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), Joyce and Elana are regular attendees of this annual conference of EdTech professionals
SIIA (Software and Information Industry Association), Joyce has been involved with this organization for years
NYSCATE (The New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education), Joyce is a regular attendee of this annual conference
EDTECH WEEK, Joyce has developed master classes for StartEd for the return of this annual conference to New York City
LRP Media Group, a professional development facilitator working across many industries, including EdTech; Joyce mentions their ability to manage enormous conferences
Terms
Universal Design for Learning, a framework that guides educators in designing learning experiences that meet all learners' needs; Joyce mentions this in an overview of EdTech's primary concerns
CRM (customer relationship management), Joyce and Elana mention this term as a best practice for successful marketing
Recommended Reading & Listening
InnovateHERs: Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top by Barbara Kurshan and Kathy Hurley, a book that Joyce finds inspiring
How to Make the Most of EdTech Conferences: A Conversation With Steven Anderson, a previous All Things Marketing and Education podcast that Elana suggests for additional perspective on the conference exhibit hall experience
Communities
DOLS Network, a professional organization that helps women who work in the business of education help one another; Joyce introduced Elana to this group
StartEd, a forum for startups, students, and advisors; Joyce has worked with them to develop master classes for EDTECH WEEK in New York City
All Things Joyce Whitby
Innovations4Education, Joyce is co-founder and CEO of this consultancy
Long Island University, Joyce was in the first cohort of this school's Master's program in Computers in Education, later spending ten years as a faculty member
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
Joyce Whitby, Guest
Joyce is a lifelong EdTechKnowLedgist who started off as a special ed educator in NYC, and went on to teach graduate-level EdTech courses at Long Island University. Since then, Joyce has been in the business of educational technology and has held key leadership roles in sales leadership, professional development, and marketing with organizations like Apple Computer, Scientific Learning, and SchoolMessenger. She also has extensive experience working with startup EdTech ventures. In 2017, Joyce and her husband (a.k.a. @tomwhitby, co-founder of #EdChat) launched their consulting business Innovations4Education, where Joyce serves as CEO, working with emerging and growing EdTech companies that are seeking growth in revenue and market share.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase reach, relationships, and revenue.
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