From late spring through summer, the government contracting calendar fills with conferences, expos, agency vendor days and association meetings. For a small firm, each one competes for the same scarce resources: the time of the people who sell and deliver, the travel budget and the attention needed for proposals that are due in the same weeks. Choosing well matters more than attending often.
Know what kind of event it is
Events that look similar on a flyer can serve very different purposes:
- Agency outreach and vendor days. Often free, focused on one agency’s buying, and staffed by small business specialists and sometimes program staff.
- Matchmaking events. Built around short scheduled meetings with buyers or prime contractors, often organized by APEX Accelerators, SBA offices or agencies.
- Association conferences. Strong on policy updates and peer networking, with government speakers who may or may not stay for conversations.
- Large trade shows. Big exhibit halls and broad attendance, useful for visibility and finding partners but expensive to exhibit at.
- Training events. Workshops on proposals, pricing and compliance, valuable mainly for what your team learns.
Questions to ask before you register
- Which agencies, offices and primes will be represented, and will the people attending buy or influence purchases of what we sell?
- Is there a structured way to meet them, such as scheduled one-on-ones, or will we be competing for a few minutes in a crowded room?
- Does the timing let us act on what we learn before fourth-quarter requirements are finalized?
- What is the full cost, including travel, any booth fees and the proposal work that will be delayed while our people are away?
- Have we, or firms we trust, found past editions of this event productive?
Exhibit, attend or skip
Exhibiting makes sense when the audience matches your market closely and you can staff the booth with people who can hold a substantive conversation. For many small firms, attending is the better choice: it is cheaper, more flexible and frees you to seek out the specific people you came to meet. Skipping an event is a legitimate decision. A focused call with a small business specialist may do more than a week at a show where your customers are not present.
Mind the rules around government attendees
Federal employees operate under ethics rules that limit the gifts they can accept, including meals and items of value. Event organizers usually handle these issues for their own programs, but individual firms should not offer hospitality on the side. Keep giveaways modest and avoid putting a government attendee in the position of having to decline. If you are unsure, ask the event organizer or the agency’s small business office what is appropriate.
Plan to follow up, or do not go
An event’s value is realized afterward. Before you go, decide who you want to meet and what you want to learn. During the event, take notes immediately after each conversation. Within a few days, send short follow-ups that reference what was discussed, and record every contact in your pipeline. Then evaluate the event honestly against what it cost. Over a few seasons, those notes will tell you which events belong on next summer’s calendar and which do not.