1. Interesting partners
One mistake companies make is being blinkered in the belief that any submission from the company must pertain only to the company’s immediate products and services. However interesting a company is, a great submission, will almost always reach beyond the confines of your domain.
Collaborating with interesting partners, customers that you have blazed a trail with, or industry bodies you work closely with are excellent avenues to pursue.
If you are connected to an exciting brand that can help you tell a story, then seek to work with them – even if they’re not an official partner or customer.
2. Insightful content
The content of the submission is vital. What can we tell the industry that others cannot? What data do we have that can shed new light on an industry problem? What best practice can we bring to life at the show? What challenges have we helped overcome that others might learn from?
Most important it must answer the “Why” question.
Content must be new, insightful and exciting to have a chance of making the grade.
3. Impressive speaker(s)
The organisers have said – like last year – that the best person to speak is the subject matter expert, and not the most impressive-sounding job title.
Where possible, submissions should ensure the expert and senior executive are one and the same. While job titles don’t count for everything, they do count.
4. Engaging formats
Presentation, case study, fireside chat – these are the formats most people are familiar with.
Money20/20 wants to be first to offer new and engaging formats and is encouraging proposals to think outside the box.
In the past, we’ve put forward submissions with weird and wonderful formats – game shows, live experiments, mobile tutorials, etc. The format should be as much of a consideration as the topic.
5. Speed!
Speaker slots are incredibly competitive. The sooner a submission can be made, the better, even if it’s not perfect. And with the themes for this year not yet finalised this is challenging.
The team at Money20/20 are highly collaborative and the best submissions are those that are honed in partnership with the organisers.
We hope our tips help and wish you the best of luck securing your place on stage!
