Eric Norlin: ‘The Zealous Conference Founder’ Tells His Story. Part 2/2
This is the 2nd part of the most extensive text interview I have ever done (if you missed Part 1, catch it here). Eric Norlin has been described as a zealous conference founder and a big tech thinker. He’s the founder of three separate conferences on technology: Defrag, Gluecon, and the brand new conference Blur. Eric is a seasoned technology entrepreneur who began organizing conferences in 1999. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine, CNet and NetworkWorld.
So, what kinds of lessons can be learned from someone who has been so deeply involved in organizing thousands of people around technology trends and seeing those trends first hand? Whether you are thinking of organizing your own event or conference, speaking at an upcoming conference – or if you just want to maximize your time and effort at the next event you attend – Eric has some insider tips for you.
Want to meet Eric at the new conference, Blur? You can find where to register at the end of the interview! I hope you enjoy it.
5. What are some of the best lessons you’ve learned from your own conferences over the years?
Hmmm…that’s a hard question (maybe the hardest you’re asking)….
1. You can’t replace face to face networking. I never worry about “virtual conferences” — there’s something to the physical meeting that matters. If you have a choice between pitching (sales, fundraising, whatever) face to face or over the phone, do it face to face.
2. If you’re a speaker at a conference, NEVER make your presentation about your company or product. Your presentation should be about a larger problem, or solution, or something. The idea that your product/company can solve it will be naturally inferred. Just leave it at that. Otherwise, you just end up with a pissed off audience.
3. Don’t always think that the “big shows” are where you’ll find the best connections. Often, the more targeted, intimate settings are what matter. Remember, it’s not about quantity, but quality.
4. Give more than you take. As you network, always look to make an intro, or help someone out. It’ll pay off so much in the long run that you’ll always wish you ended up giving more.
5. Relax and have fun. Yea, going to conferences to land deals or land funding is stressful. RELAX. Fear is the enemy.
6. Trust your gut. The tech industry is actually a pretty small world — one where, by and large, the “good guys” usually win in the long run. If you interact with someone and it just doesn’t feel “right” — trust that. Reputation is everything.
7. Keep failing until you succeed. (I don’t think I need to expand on that one).
8. Learn to sell. And learn to enjoy it. If you’re going to be in a startup, you need to learn to sell (even the engineers). Corollary: the closer you are to revenue, the more “secure” your job is.
9. Going to conferences is probably the *quickest* way to build a powerful network that can help you accomplish your business goals. Get out there.
6. What advice can you give to someone attempting to organize a conference?
Ha! That’s a 50 page response 
Okay, let me try….
First, know what you are trying to organize. A meet-up, or an unconference, is a much different animal from a “conference” — and a “conference” is a much different animal from an expo or trade show.
I always picture “events” on a spectrum. At left end of the spectrum is the expo, and at the right end of the spectrum is the word conference. The slider on the spectrum moves according to how much of your revenue comes from attendees versus vendors (exhibitors/sponsors).
Expos (trade shows) like MacWorld or the Web 2.0 Expo derive the great majority of their revenue from vendors. And they give away (or sell for extremely cheap) floor passes.
On the other hand, PC Forum (Esther Dyson’s 25 year running, famous, now-defunct conference) *refused* to accept any sponsors AT ALL — and ran (essentially) an invite only, extremely expensive (for attendees) gathering. (For the record: it was also my favorite conference of all time.)
Defrag is a “conference” not an expo because Defrag’s “customer” is the attendee NOT the vendor. This is a bit strange for the vendors (who assume that because they write substantial checks, they’re the primary customer) — but think of it this way: is it more important for me to focus on making the attendee happy or making the sponsor happy? If i have no attendees, or unhappy attendees, then I have no reason for sponsors anyway.
Okay – so you know what you’re running….
If you’re going to run a tech conference that takes place in a hotel (i.e., is a *national* level event that intends to have people travel to it, and not simply be a regional happening), then you need to plan for costs that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Now here’s the thing: you’ll sign contracts committing you to these costs before you have the revenue. If you’re comfortable you can cover them (i.e., sell), dig in
After you’ve pulled the trigger, organizing a conference is really an exercise in detail management combined with “big thinking” around the agenda (and, of course, selling). Three pretty diverse skill-sets.
…and that’s all there is to it
7. What’s your best tip for getting the most out of a conference as an attendee?
That’s actually pretty easy — get involved in the hallway conversations. Walk up to people you don’t know and introduce yourself. Start conversations around interesting things you heard in sessions. Put yourself out there. You’ll find that 90% of the people out there are really welcoming.
And if you know someone at the conference, ask for warm intros! The tiniest, weakest connection you make might end up being one of the most valuable business connections you have (2, 3, 5 years down the road).
8. Finally, can you tell me a little bit about the Blur conference you’re planning for next February and how to sign up?
Sure. We’ve actually got Defrag coming up in November (17th-18th at the Omni Interlocken in Colorado), and Blur in February (22-23 at the Omni Orlando at ChampionsGate).
Defrag is our most “summit-y”/high end, exec-level show. Lots of “strategic talks”; lots of “big think.” If you’re working in or around how to deal with data (individually, in groups, companies, etc. — so enterprise2.0, social media, social CRM, BI, analytics, semantic web), I think you’ll find Defrag to be unlike any other conference you can attend. Click here for what people have said about past Defrags.
Blur is the new conference we’re launching, and I’m REALLY excited about it. Blur is focused on the changing models of HCI (human computer interaction), so everything from motion capture to multi-touch to augmented reality to spatial operating environments (i.e., “Minority Report”). What’s going to make Blur so unique is that we’re very tightly limiting A) the number of vendors we let in and B) the number of attendees we let in. We’re doing that because the purpose of Blur isn’t to sit in sessions and listen, it’s to gather and actually USE (in depth) the technologies we gather there.
Blur won’t be like an expo floor where you hope to maybe get to touch something for 90 seconds. Blur will be real time to really interact with some of the most cutting edge HCI tech out there (some of which won’t even be commercially available yet). If you literally want to play with and touch what the computing models of tomorrow will be like, today — then you have to be at Blur.
The people that are at Blur are gonna have a brain-melting experience. The people that aren’t at Blur may never get the chance to get in (Blur will just get more invite-only and more tightly limited) – so get in on the ground floor!
Registration is open – and SUPER limited: so register here now if you want in!
***********The End************
Once again I’d like to thank Eric for taking the time to provide such detailed information in the interview, and also my friend Michael Benidt for the initial introduction to Eric! If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
What do you think about Eric’s advice? What conferences are you excited about?
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