Went out to a jam-packed event by MTI today in Reston. Over 75 customers there.

These guys really know how to turn registrants into attendees.

You know what they do?

1. Programmatically reach out to registrants in the weeks leading up to the event
2. Ask "involving" questions such as:
1. what size t-shirt do you wear?
2. would you prefer chicken or beef for lunch?
3. the event is overbooked, so please let us know if you can't make it so we can give it to another customer

The day after the event, they send personal follow ups (based on the questions/comments made the previous day) to each of the attendees.

And Ed Taylor did something that I would never do (and probably could never do). He started off-first thing-with a Who We Are slide (normally, I hate them), but you know what? He made it work. I saw people nodding their heads.

He said, "I am here to earn your trust. Here's how I am going to do it." That set the stage.

Very impressive performance. Shows me how much I have to learn.