Grinding the Cold Calls at marcus evans

My job at marcus evans was my first big break after graduating. I was looking for a writing position in Chicago so I could move up there to be with my girlfriend (now wife!) I landed an interview with marcus evans one February morning and had a one-way flight lined up by the afternoon.

The conference content producer role at marcus evans caught my eye because it focused heavily on research-based content creation.

I was brought on to produce more general business strategy conferences, primarily concerning consumers or employees. The role revolved around completing production of an assigned conference in as little time as possible.

Here’s what this production cycle looked like:

Identify the top players within the conference’s theme—including practitioners in corporate roles and vendors operating in the space.
Pinpoint key trends within the conference’s discipline(s) through cold contacting and interviewing previously sourced professionals. Other research included staying up to date via industry publications and vendor blogs.
Compile research into a fresh and engaging two day conference agenda—featuring 18+ sessions and creating marketing materials for various sales teams to leverage.
Reach back out to mid-level executives at Fortune 500 businesses and get them to commit to speaking on a topic at the conference. These commitments were achieved not with financial compensation (there was none,) but by “simply” selling executives on the value of being seen as a thought leader on the topic in question.
Brief international sales teams on the key selling points of the agenda (session topics as well as high-profile speakers/companies.)
Handle the onsite delivery of the conference. Work as an MC, entertainer, and problem solver so that all speakers, sponsors, and attendees get value out of their experience.

It was quite the process getting each conference produced and out the door, but it was all worth it to see how happy, satisfied, and engaged attendees, speakers, and sponsors were throughout the conference.

And on a personal note, it was so enjoyable to go after some whales of companies, get their commitment to speak, and then getting hear them speak on their great processes and innovations.

Some of these great companies included: