Post conference fulfillment involves order taking, mailings, literature, and the fulfillment of products handled after a conference has ended. By definition, fulfillment includes various duties such as the receipt, storage, assembly, and shipment of products or data for another party. Other services include inventory management, warehousing, and data management.
Post conference fulfillment is often customized to meet the customer's specific needs, but frequently includes the sales and service of items such as support documentation, trade show materials, advertising brochures, and consumer promotions. Related services can also include digital printing, mailing, and sometimes web development. Frequently, companies contract to have audio or video tapes made of a conference and then work with a fulfillment company to distribute these products.
Likewise, post conference fulfillment providers might produce binders, CD-ROMs, or DVDs and staff a sales booth for conference speakers. Literature fulfillment includes picking, packing, and shipping of conference or marketing-related literature. Post conference services also includes e-mail communication with attendees. Other services might include database management of conference details. Yet another related task is the follow-up correspondence necessary to provide continuing education units for conference participants.
In the event a company or organization offers mailings of information or pamphlets at a conference, post conference fulfillment might handle the details for the company or organization. As a branch of the direct marketing industry, a fulfillment service can maintain inventory and order new product following a conference. If the materials or literature are online, the service can also handle the Internet sales. A fulfillment service can also provide customer service and callback services in the event your association or business needs them.
The advantages to most companies who use post conference fulfillment services include single-day processing and shipping. Because most companies don't specialize in shipping and order taking, a fulfillment service can free up time and resources. A fulfillment service can handle all steps of the fulfillment cycle, including accepting orders and handling logistics, shipping, and invoicing either directly to a customer or to a selected distribution outlet. Through data management, a fulfillment service can provide geographic and demographic information about a company's members or customers.
As a perk, businesses that sponsor a conference are frequently allowed to include their promotional materials in pre and post-conference mailings. Many post conference fulfillment companies also contract to provide pre-conference mailings to promote attendance.