Meet our Members: HATCH Marketing & Consulting LLC

HATCH Marketing & Consulting provides sales and marketing technology solutions and services that generate more leads and sales at lower cost for exhibitors and events. Their three primary services include:

1. Automated lead follow-up programs like Pardot Marketing Automation, and sales-effective email marketing programs that generate more high-quality leads and increase lead to sales conversion rates.
2. HMC is a Salesforce.com CRM implementation partner. They customize, configure, deploy, and fully train sales and admin staff to use SF.co.
3. Build, and re-build Marketing-Smart©  websites designed to convert more visitors into customers for exhibitors and event organizers, and integrate with marketing automation and CRM programs.

Mike HatchHATCH can set-up and deploy these three programs individually, or in an integrated system with each other or other systems and applications like Quickbooks, AMS, EMS, lead capture, and attendee registration systems.

Their staff has over 50 years combined experience in exhibit marketing, event production, sales and marketing, and deploying marketing technologies for successful exhibitors and event organizers like AT&T, Marriott, National Restaurant Association, US Dept. of Commerce, and of course TSEA.

Now that everyone has a snapshot of HATCH Marketing & Consulting, I asked  Michael J. Hatch, their President (I call him Mike) a few questions about his company and some of the projects that they are working on together with TSEA.

Gordon: HATCH Marketing & Consulting is the principal sales and marketing technology consultant for TSEA's November 2011 Face-to-Face Connections.  So for some of our readers who have never attended one of our past events, what can you tell them about Face-to-Face Connections in San Francisco?

Mike: The most important aspect of F2F is that it pre-schedules appointments between our members that need and want to buy products and services; and the best, most innovative, and trusted pre-qualified vendors and suppliers in our industry. In other words, buyers and sellers that want to talk to each other. Second, F2F shortens and accelerates the buying cycle for both. In two days, our members (buyers) can meet with as many as 15 to 20 vendors that have been pre-screened and can provide the products and services they need to buy in the coming year. And F2F is perfectly timed for our members to get the numbers they need to prepare their 2012 budgets for their exhibit marketing and corporate event programs. 

Gordon: One of the great experiences that I have had in the past few weeks is working with you on TSEA's new Virtual Marketplace which we plan to launch early next year. Could you give our readers an overview of this innovative tool?

Mike: The Virtual Marketplace (TVM) is an answer to a long-standing need for our corporate exhibit and event managers. So many of our members are on the road constantly and often cannot always take advantage of and attend TSEA’s live meetings, networking events, chapter meetings, and other live resources. TVM will now make many of TSEA’s live event resources more available and affordable to all members – all the time! And because it is virtual and accessible, TVM will allow TSEA to expand its reach and enhance member benefits, education, advocacy, networking, buying and selling opportunities to the global exhibit and event marketing community. Presently, TSEA’s website attracts 5K to 10K visitors a month. TSEA’s goal is to triple that traffic, the dialogue, and online benefits for all members in the next twelve months.  TVM with its Virtual Exhibit Hall and Buyers Guide, Media Center, and Learning Center has the potential to do this.   

Gordon: One of the new programs that you have developed for both our Active and Allied members is the New Products Webinar Series. Could give us a little preview of this program?

Mike: Yes, here again, the program is a response to the longstanding challenge that our Active Members have for learning about, researching, and vetting new products and services for their programs and budgets. So TSEA will be spotlighting the latest and best new products and services to our members every month in free live, interactive webinar series starting later this year. Each webinar will feature new products (from around the globe) in at least four product and service categories in a quick 30-minute format. The program will feature product videos, live Q&A, chat among members, pricing, special discounts, and more. With the promotion to TSEA’s global database of over 55,000 exhibitors, we project the New Products Webinar Series will attract hundreds of exhibitors and event organizers every month.  

Gordon:  You have also recommended another new program in which we send out our Face-to-Face Allied Member Host Profiles to tens of thousands of trade show and exhibit managers who may need their services. Could you give us a few details on this program?

Mike: One of TSEA's responsibilities is to develop innovative programs that will help market our Allied Member products and services. One idea was start sending the Meet our Member profiles of our Face-to-Face hosts that you feature in ABOUTFACE to one of your industry mailing lists four at a time every month. Since ABOUTFACE has approximately 1600 subscribers, and our LinkedIn group has over 4000 members, this supplemental distribution program will not only help publicize your members, products, and services, but it will also introduce more people in the trade show and exhibit profession to a sampling of the prestigious members of TSEA.

Gordon:  Over the past few months, I have learned so much from working with you . One of the terms that we have used in the past to describe TSEA is "new."  In my opinion, HATCH Marketing & Consulting is helping us redefine the word "new" to truly represent the cutting edge in exhibiting and event marketing. And in the process, we are setting new standards for marketing our members, creating innovative virtual and live models in education, plus dynamic opportunities for advocacy in the US, and globally. Thank you for your guidance and help with these new programs and strategies that will benefit all of us.

About the Athour

Gordon Nary is Editor of ABOUTFACE
Trade Show Exhibitors Association