This is one of Ark’s longest running events and for six years, senior managers from Field Service, Operations and other senior personnel from top UK enterprises attend to take part in a top class conference, network with peers and engage on a one to one basis with providers of services and solutions.
Our sole aim for solution providers at FSMW 2010 is to deliver direct access to delegates who are responsible for live projects with defined budgets at enterprise level. Typically they will be at Director or Senior Manager level with an implementation or upgrade deadline within the next 18 months.
Our delegates are looking for a solution that meets a key business requirement. This is likely to be an absolute imperative for their organisation and as such they will control a corresponding level of budget and occupy a senior management position. Over the two days they will have up to ten one-to-one consultations with solution providers, in addition they will hear case-studies and presentations around similar projects and network with their peers.
Because we know our delegates are sourcing solutions, an intensive two days of meetings is as of much value to them as the conference programme. They will expect these meetings to save them valuable time investigating the marketplace. Instead of sifting through marketing collateral, issuing RFI’s and engaging in sometimes mismatched meetings, our delegates will quickly evaluate and engage with the serious solution providers.
It is a very effective use of time as delegates can fast track their projects by meeting a range of solution providers in two intensive days, offering different solutions for their business challenges away from the distractions of a normal working day.
The result is that both sponsors and delegates are able to identify and shortlist companies with whom they wish to arrange follow up meetings and leave with a clearer understanding of who they might and do business with.
In order to qualify delegates have to be responsible for a live project in a 3-18 month timeframe, which will be for the management of over 100 non-office based employees. This will be classic field service/maintenance as well as other mobile workers, who have moved away or want to move away from paper based working, or are looking for next generation solutions.
There will be no more than 10% of delegates from the Public Sector, as most solution providers have told us that they have different sales teams responsible for Public Sector and we have a dedicated Public Sector ICT event at the end of the year for those.
Our commitment to sponsors is that we deliver at least the agreed amount of one to one meetings and that the delegates are there to engage to discuss their early stage projects.
Our commitment to the delegates is that we will bring solution providers who cover the issues on the programme and those solutions relevant to their projects.
Sponsors select who they would like to meet with based on the answers from a detailed survey of each delegate regarding their projects and challenges, enabling them to meet those who are most likely to be future clients.
We can be very targeted in the delegate acquisition process and can put more resource into industries or companies that sponsors have identified that you want to get in front of, or have lost traction with.
We aim to have two-three providers per solution to give the delegates choice and to maximise the ROI for solution providers.
There will also be networking opportunities and all attendees will be invited to a drinks reception and dinner.
How does it work in practice
