Paying to get solicited.

As someone who’s been practicing Hispanic marketing for many years, I’ve always been a huge advocate of educational programs and tools that advance the cause of multicultural marketing, especially conferences for marketing professionals interested in learning more about marketing to Hispanics.

But I’ve also been troubled by the seemingly endless presentation of Hispanic marketing conference “factories.” A case in point is this month’s January’s annual Strategic Research Institute Hispanic marketing & Latin American conference.

I’ve actually attended this conference in the past, both as a speaker and a participant. I’ve also attended similar conferences organized by other companies but the one common thread is the ridiculous conference fee (thoughts of collusion are hard to avoid). For two days of panel presentations and speakers, these conferences typically charge anywhere from $1,400 to $1,600.

Now $1,400 doesn’t sound like a lot, especially if you expect to learn from successful Hispanic marketing experts. But therein is the problem. More often than not, what you get at these conferences are “paid” commercials from marketing vendors pitching their wares. Even $1,600 wouldn’t feel so painful if you knew you were going to get some quality time with a corporate brand manager or ad agency creative director.

Of course, no corporate marketing VP or advertising executive should be expected to divulge their trade secrets or every one of their marketing strategies, but this is why Hispanic marketing conferences should be priced accordingly. The price should be commensurate with the information provided. I’ve even spoken with the organizers of these conferences about these hefty fees and the usual response I’ve gotten is that “production expenses” can get “pretty high.” So I guess if they actually PAID the speakers and panelists, the fees would be “astronomical.”

One of the best Hispanic marketing conferences I ever attended was one back in 2002 in New York, and organized by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). Now, of course, it was no secret why SBS organized this conference; after all, like any good media company, they were just looking for an innovative way to promote their company and help generate ad sales. But they also were smart enough to recruit a diverse group of Hispanic academics, marketing practitioners, and corporate executives. And more importantly, they didn’t charge an arm-and-a-leg.

Even though I thought, back in 2002, that I knew everything there was to know about Hispanic marketing, I still walked away from the SBS conference liked I had actually LEARNED something NEW. For about $300 I felt like I had hit the jackpot. They had a full house, unlike the dwindling audiences the conference factories have been experiencing these last few years. I think folks have begun to catch on.

By Manny Gonzalez
mg*******@******sa.com