ShowSDRGuide
How do you book meetings before a conference?
Start three to eight weeks out, as soon as the event app opens its attendee list. Message the people who match what you sell while they are planning their schedules, ask softly for 15 minutes, answer every reply within hours in your own words, and propose two real times. In our 2026 data pre show messages produced 68 meeting requests and 15 agreed meetings from 543 people; the 54 people first messaged during the show produced 4 requests and none agreed.
When does the pre show window open?
When the conference app publishes the attendee directory, usually four to six weeks before the show. The list keeps growing until the doors open: at Contact.io 2026 it went from 371 to 818 people in eleven days, and 348 of the final 710 attendees were not in the first capture. Re-read the directory every day and message new arrivals as they appear.
Who should you message?
Only people who match a written description of who you want to meet: their side of the market (do they sell what you buy, or buy what you sell), their vertical, their role, their geography, and an exclusion list (competitors, service providers, existing partners). Messaging everyone is what triggers silent send failures and burns the account. In our data a written target list cut a 725 person directory to 261 targets.
What should the first message say?
One line on who you are and what you do, one line on why this person, and a soft ask. Wording that stated the ask ("happy to grab 15 minutes in Denver") replied at 31%; question form asks ("free for 15 minutes Monday or Tuesday?") at 20%. Openers made no difference. Keep it under 300 characters; iStack caps a connection request note at 100.
How should you handle replies?
| Time from their message to your reply | Conversation continued |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 hours | 67% |
| 6 to 24 hours | 33% |
| 1 to 3 days | 55% |
| Over 3 days | 39% |
Reply in your own words to what they actually said. Custom replies kept 52% of conversations alive; the template kept 24%. If they ask a question, answer it; a canned line after a question ended the thread every time we tried it. Then propose two concrete times in their timezone, with a booking link.
How many people can one account message?
Fewer than you think. Whova showed no warning but silently failed 20% of messages on the two days we sent more than 130. Keep to a human pace, spread sends across the pre show weeks, and read the thread after every send to confirm the message landed.
What happens during and after the show?
During the show, the job is speed: a reply within minutes gets a booth visit; a reply in two hours gets nothing. After the show, unmet warm leads convert to online calls for about two weeks, then go cold. Generic post show nudges did not work in our data (0 of 4); a personal note referencing what they said did.
Questions
How far in advance should I message conference attendees?
Three to eight weeks before the show, as soon as the app publishes the attendee list. Keep messaging new registrants daily; the list nearly doubled in the last eleven days before Contact.io 2026.
What reply rate is normal for a pre show message?
26% in our 2026 Whova campaign (139 of 543). On apps that require a connection request first, expect roughly 10% acceptance as the first gate.
Should I message attendees during the show?
Only to people who replied earlier or to fill open slots. Cold messages during the show replied at the same rate but produced no agreed meetings in our data.
Can ShowSDR run this for me?
Yes. ShowSDR works the attendee directory from your own event app account, drafts and sends the messages, handles replies, and books the meetings, for $2,500 per event.
Source: ShowSDR campaign ledgers, Contact.io 2026 (Whova, Denver, August 23 to 25) and Affiliate World Americas 2026 (iStack, Cancún, September 7 to 8), reconciled against the apps' own thread history after each campaign. Full tables and method: Conference outreach benchmarks 2026. Last reviewed 20 September 2026.