Re: Vendors flaking out
Re: Vendors flaking out
- Subject: Re: Vendors flaking out
- From: email@hidden
- Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 19:29:12 -0400
Well, one can't be really certain that anyone coming to make your UG
presentation will show up (vendors, members, or local business affiliates)
until they are shaking your hand right before the meeting. At least that has
been my experience for the last couple of months as I wait for them to show up
the eve of our Mug meets. So far, so good, but I've only been conducting
Program coordinator duties since November.
I tend to do a lot of communication before hand. I make the initial contacts
and arrangements, from one to three months (or more) in advance. Then I send a
monthly reminder, then when it gets to 30 days before the meeting, I send
confirmation; then one or two more reminders at two to three weeks away and
make final confirmation the week prior. I have also made reminder emails or
calls two to three days prior to the event in some cases. Overkill probably,
but if you're going to cancel on me, you can be sure that I've given enough
opportunity for you to do so! Haven't had to prove it yet, but its my hope
that should this happen (they cancel at the last minute) I can go back to the
company/person/whatever and ask for a little bit more of a donation than
planned, due to the hardship caused to the group.
I know that in prior years, our club has had several vendors cry off at the
last minute. Several biggies that got us great crowds which the club had to
disappoint. But we've also had good experiences too. Notable lasting
impressions: David Stillman of Stryder Software (makers of TypeStyler3) made a
personal jaunt to our meeting with only a 30 days notice and brought with him a
special user group pricing for our members in addition to two raffle copies of
the software. Canon also impressed us with their generosity by the original
donation of a printer for raffle, and even though our attendance was not quite
what it could have been for the extra incentive of the scanner due to tornado
warnings that evening, threw in the scanner as well. We weren't impressed with
their presentation which was a PowerPoint slideshow that any of our members
lacking enough brain material could have come up with.
Unfortunately all the planning in the world cannot help you in getting a good
or bad experience. What will, will come about. No matter how much effort you
put into it, it is in the hands of someone other than yourself (the vendor) and
as they don't have the personalized attention to detail that you have for your
MUG, it can be easy for them to shrug us off at their option.
Also the materials they bring can disappoint or be more than what you
expected. The proposition can sound like the best thing in the world coming at
you, but the reality can be disheartening. Then again the simplest offering of
someone just wanting to come to your mug to share something new, can be the
presentation of the year for your club members and you didn't even have a clue.
The only thing I can offer is that you have to expect and plan for the best
that you can. If someone else is going to bail out at their end, you can still
count on yourself having done everything you could to bring your plans to
fruition. Your word is your word, someone else's is just talk until it
happens.
Macbeth
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