Andy and I arrived in Chicago this morning to mix and mingle among the conference goers at the National Main Streets Conference happening now through Wednesday of next week. Notice, I didn't say that we came here to attend the conference. Because we really didn't.
Hopefully, that statement doesn't highly offend those of you reading this, but this is a key point to attending a conference, trade show, market, etc. where lots of folks you know or need to know are also attending. As we (Team HALO) live blog this event throughout the next few days, you'll hear us talk a bit about the content of the conference – mostly from interviews conducted from attendee viewpoints, some of our own application (it is our blog after all), and possibly some speaker interviews. However, most importantly – and of most value to you – our small business constituency – will be our play-by-play application of our success and failures as we seek to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves this week. It is our goal to do all we can to meet, greet, find follow-up opportunities, etc. so that we can most efficiently and effectively help you, the small businesses across America that call Main Street your home. Our live blogging will mostly consist of the steps we've taken to achieve our goals – and the steps you can also take to achieve yours in similar circumstances.
So, let's dive right in… what are our goals for this conference, after all? As with any business venture, great or small, we will never know if we've arrived or how best to get to our goals if we have no road map. Goals are specific and measurable and targeted – when accomplished, they add up to success. Let me put our strategic planning in perspective for you:
Context: For the first time in three years of attending this conference (I know, we're young tikes still at this Main Street stuff), we are not presenting. We originally had a scheduling conflict and were not planning to attend this year at all. Then, at the last minute, plans changed and opportunity availed itself. We had approximately two weeks to plan our trip and set our goals.
We could not set goals without admitting that for one year concluding about six months ago, our business suffered periods of inconsistency in service stemming from personal matters that are now resolved. Having taken steps to protect our business from these sorts of issues again, then restructuring our business entirely to meet the demands of a new economy and the budgets of small business owners, re-defining our mission with laser sharp precision and marking the past six months as evidence of the measurable results we provide (not to mention the other eight great years prior to the fumble), Andy and I confidently went about the business of setting goals and a budget for attending this conference. With no presentation to prepare and no scheduling limitations (I must admit this left me feeling quite liberated), we set a primary objective and five goals for our conference attendance.
Target objective (basically the same as our 2009 mission statement): Open doors that allow us to encourage and equip hundreds of Main Street businesses towards success and profitability in 2009-2010.
Here are a couple of our goals for achieving that outcome through conference attendance (we can't give away all our secrets, can we? Maybe later.):
1. Meet and secure follow-up opportunities for further discussion (relationships are all we are looking for – not business deals) with three targeted people of influence (we identified them and set a plan for meeting them).
2. Leverage our attendance at the conference to raise awareness for our work with Main Street businesses across social media networks and at the conference in general.
Small business tip: Both budget and goals should be well researched and
well defined prior to making any firm commitments like registration
fees, hotel reservations, etc. Wise business owners (and non-profit execs) test the waters as
much as possible PRIOR to spending any money. A target objective with 3-5 measurable goals sets the framework for success.
Stay Tuned: Next post will give you a sneak peak into our pre-conference planning.
P.S. For real live blogging of the actual conference sessions, etc. check out the official conference blog which is very well done so far at Main Street Live 09. You can get an insider's perspective as the staff of Michigan Main Street live blogs the conference on their blog (What can we say? They are our star student!). And you can follow the conference on Twitter at #MainStreet09.
