At the beginning of March, The Fletcher Group dispatched president Jennifer Tramontana and vice president Amanda Fiech to Las Vegas to attend one of the hottest events on the fintech conference circuit: Fintech Meetup. Fintech Meetup 2024, which ran March 3-6, boasted more than 4,000 attendees, spotlighted nearly 200 speakers and facilitated around 150,000 meetings.
We had the pleasure of supporting four TFG clients, including three executives delivering talks from the stage, while also reconnecting with longtime industry contacts and meeting new ones. Here are some of the highlights from our time in the desert (more accurately, in the very comfortable confines of The Venetian hotel):
Clients Onstage
Galileo Financial Technologies: Fintech Meetup turned to Derek White, CEO of our client Galileo, to deliver a keynote from the Mainstage on Monday March 4. The session, addressed to legacy FIs and digital-native fintechs alike, explained how they can both go “beyond the glass” to transform their digital journey. See a clip from the talk.
DataVisor: Our client DataVisor led a session on Wednesday, March 6, titled: Leveraging AI & Data for Real-Time Fraud Detection. CEO Yinglian Xie, who led the session, began with a simple premise: “Preventing financial crime is best done by accurately predicting it.” She went on to outline the ways in which banks and fintechs are harnessing AI and new sources of data to better predict and therefore prevent financial crime.
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
In three days, the TFG team took more than 30 meetings with longtime industry friends and new contacts. We were also thrilled to connect with smart minds at the Women in Fintech Breakfast, during coffee breaks and evening events.
Fintech Meetup knows how to facilitate meetings. With the help of an app that allows participants to request and book short, speed-dating style meetings and assists in matching potential partners, event goers can spend hours meeting scores of industry colleagues. This creates an exciting atmosphere. As TFG President Jennifer Tramontana put it, it’s “speed dating for busy businesspeople.”
This B2B speed dating model is a trend that more and more payments/fintech shows are beginning to adopt. Many of the sales and marketing professionals we spoke to embrace the format. It seems to be here to stay.
“There’s something powerful and inspiring about being with people in our industry who are all there with the intent to meet, build and forge connections with each other,” said Amanda Fiech.
Reconnecting with the fintech industry at large, comparing notes on recent industry news and hearing about the latest products and use cases are invaluable experiences for us. We frequently gather with clients and contacts as presenters at content-focused events.
Going Beyond the First Date
Like our colleagues and clients, we found the Fintech Meetup model of B2B speed dating energizing and informative. Taking numerous short meetings is a great way to meet a lot of new people and make initial connections. We even met folks who closed deals in 15 minutes. But that’s not the norm. The meetings themselves, which are too short to be deeply substantive, are frequently the middle step in a three-part approach to maximizing the value of these new connections.
At the outset, a little legwork is required in the planning stage to arrange meetings with the right people – potential collaborators or clients who fit your buyer persona. You should also have a firm sales/marketing strategy in place ahead of these meetings. On the front end, start by going beyond the conference app; leverage LinkedIn to initiate or deepen connections and create content relevant to your meeting targets.
Then, on the back end, savvy business people will leave the meeting with a reason to follow up with their new connections. Go beyond the obligatory LinkedIn follow and nurture those new connections over time.
Lastly, utilize your PR team to help nurture your warm meetings. PR pros can help provide content that offers a non-salesy touchpoint for you to share with leads. This media-approved content adds third-party credibility, boosts brand reputation and engenders trust with potential buyers.
Meeting-focused events are a wonderful way to expand your network, generate creative energy and take the pulse of the industry, but you will only reap the benefits of new contacts with some focused work on the front and back ends of the conference.
“We got to see many of our clients and friends and left with new ones. I love the fintech community – endlessly innovative and positive. It’s a joy to work in this industry!”
-Jennifer Tramontana
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