Sunday, September 25, 2005

Wrong way to attract people to attend a seminar

I attended a seminar recently on investment-linked product. It was organised by a few important organisations.

There was no charge for the seminar. More than 500 people attended.

The organiser gave an attractive goodie bag (worth $15) and a sumptious meal (worth another $15). Some of the attendees appear to be regular attendees at these seminars.

Do we need to spend so much money to organise the seminar? Are we attracting the wrong people who attend for the wrong reason?
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6 comments:

JD said...

It really depends on the aim of the organizers, whether they want more people to turn up (that might please their higher-ups later) or if they just want to educate interested members of the public. It appears to be the former for your case. Otherwise, they could charge a nominal fee (~$10) to dissuade people with too much time on their hands to join. Or, they can just do away with the gifts and see how it affects the turn-out.

September 26, 2005 10:24 AM
abc789 said...

Basically I would say the end justifies the mean. Organisers of the seminar would naturally want a good turn-out. If the free gifts does contribute to a better attendance, then I do not see any wrong in it.

September 26, 2005 7:07 PM
sharon tay said...

I’d like to chip in my 2 cents worth. Statistics: $15x2x500 = $15,000 => just for getting people to attend a seminar. Door gifts are necessary as a form of a welcome.

If I am an organizer interested in educating the public, I hope my attendee is (1) genuinely interested in learning about the product (2) likes the fact that attendance is free (3) think that the door gift’s an additional bonus (ranked in terms of priority).

abc789,
In my view, organizers of the seminar will want a good attendance record of people who are genuinely interested. Does $15K worth of gifts justify their aims? Perhaps not. Good attendance doesn’t necessarily reflect a higher probability of people interested in the product.

Jd,
If their aim is just to please the management, they will have to give a good reason for the expenses.

Mr Tan is very astute to have pinpointed the cause for concern. At the end of the day, seminars have to attract the right crowd. There is a need to achieve a balance between educating the public and entertaining the public. It’s a fine line.

September 29, 2005 12:04 PM
abc789 said...

sharontay,

Its just my personal opinion here. I believe we have no reasons to doubt the genuine interest the people had in the seminar. Not many people would really sacrifice the time and effort just for a gift pack worth not even more than $20.

On the same basis, could we actually assume that people who buys investment plans in the market are attracted by the free gifts too? To qoute an example, would U buy the investment policy from Income just because you are enticed by the MP3 player they are giving?

If that's the case, then should we not doubt the intention of this promotion as well?

October 10, 2005 2:52 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...

Here is my reply to abc789.

There are a fairly large group of people who attend seminars regularly to enjoy the freebies.

You can recognise them. They have the time.

The real target of the seminar are too busy. So, the organiser is happy to get people to attend (by giving freebies) just to make up the number.

We have to be result oriented. We hae to spend the money wisely.

October 10, 2005 8:12 AM
sharon tay said...

Abc78,

“To qoute an example, would U buy the investment policy from Income just because you are enticed by the MP3 player they are giving?”

I will not buy a plan (e.g. Ideal Plan) from NTUC Income simply because of a free MP3 player. It is a perk. However, it is not the main enticing factor.

Instead, I will base my decision mainly on the benefits that the Ideal Plan offers.

It is able to provide me with an insurance cover and has a well-diversified fund, which is able to offer me attractive returns. The benefits simply outweigh the disadvantages (if any).

To answer your question – it is wrong to assume that people who purchase investment products base their decisions solely on the free gifts. Investors are rational.

October 13, 2005 10:43 PM

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