Your Audience

You cannot know completely the make-up of your audience, but a good guide lies in the title—"adults, professionals, and savvy individuals." A good assumption is that most of your audience will be college store personnel or persons that are in college administrations that want to know more about college stores and their challenges.

Here are some things to remember which will help you reach your audience at CAMEX:

• Establish a non-threatening atmosphere during your session. Let your audience know you are sharing with them, not preaching at them.
• Plan your session around the needs of your audience.
• Capitalize on adult experiences.
• Involve your audience by speaking to and looking directly at them.
• Recognize the achievements of others in the industry, and those in your audience.
• Do not make excuses, don't apologize, and do not make a sales pitch. Audiences are forgiving, but they never accept excuses, hate apologies, and despise sales pitches.
• Stay within the time allotted to you. Your audience may indicate to you they'll stay with you "'til the cows come home", but if they find they're late for another important session, or for lunch, they'll not like it at all. In a tightly scheduled program, time used can never be recovered.

Professionalism
It is also important to make your presentation in a professional manner and to be sensitive to others' feelings. Condescending attitudes or phrases create a negative atmosphere. Refrain from any humor or language that may be offensive.

Generate enthusiasm
It is important for you to generate enthusiasm for both the session and for collegiate retail management in general.

CAMEX Attendee Demographics
Developing and presenting an outstanding session is easier to do when you know your audience. Demographic information for CAMEX 2011 attendees can be found here.