the registration is $195, plus hotel and air fare, it adds up quickly.. Are there any companies sponsoring this year?
Is the conference worth attending? Or maybe there is a different conference that is better ?
Thanks !

I wanted to go but I don't think it is worth it plus I can't afford to. And I doubt the trip will pay for itself for the jobs I will get from attending. Anyone has gone cared to share the experience?

Why not 3 days at IMSC shopper training conference for $79 registration fee, folks. Probably too late now.

Thanks for suggesting IMSC, and I just looked it up. The one in Atlanta is this week, so too late for that. There is also one Las Vegas in November, which I might go, as airfare will be a lot cheaper for me than to Dallas.

AND hotel rooms in Las Vegas are a lot less expensive. The host hotel there also has some modestly priced eateries on site and just out the side door there is a pedestrian way with tons more little eateries of all kinds. The November IMSC conference is usually the best attended of all of the shopper conferences. Tons of MSC sponsor tables, equipment vendors, schedulers, editors and shoppers, both new and seasoned. Some sessions are led my MSC owners and/or staff, others by shoppers, and many have panels of both. Unlike MSPA conferences these are not afraid to explain how to cut better deals with MSCs, lol. There is always a new shopper "track" of workshops, but, of course, anyone can go to any workshop. November is usually only 2 days BUT there are usually three things going on at once, so the sheer variety of workshops and full sessions is going to provide something for anyone, any hour of the day.

I am usually there but, because I have agreed to host a full day in Atlanta, I may have to skip the Nov conference. (No pay of travel expenses given to workshop leaders; all are volunteers dedicated to increasing shopper professional ism.)

The MSPA Shopperfest conference looks appealing. The location is central. The sponsors, and participating mystery shopping companies, are some of my mainstays. The agenda is mostly geared to traditional mystery shoppers, like me.

Whether any conference is worth fees and expenses, most likely, will net different answers.

It's as though they search for the one weekend every year that is inconvenient for me.....
I'm sorry that I am going to miss it.

altoid,
I saw recently that the fee for the IMSC conference in November is $79 (or something in that range) for a limited time for early responses.

ETA Mea culpa. That was the fee for the Atlanta Conference. The novemer conference is 2 very full days with a current price of $125. It will soon rise to $150. There was an even lower cost for November but that was for those who were in Atlanta and reserved right then and there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2018 08:43PM by walesmaven.

No, it is too expensive for the program they show.

I have been to several IMSC conferences now. My experience has been that the sessions tend to be the same at each conference. I will be going to Vegas in November because I will definitely need the tax write off for the year. I may attend some sessions, but most likely will just enjoy a few days in sin city.

I was just told by another shopper I am friends with on FB that there were four crashers at the conference in Atlanta for the imsc conference. Does anyone know anything about that? How do you crash a conference? Don't they have the names of the people who paid and check that?

They never attempted to enter the conference meeting rooms. They hung out in the halls and in the bar. Many new shoppers were mystified by their presence; a few knew the back stories. Two of then stated that they came on a last minute whim to see and visit with old friends. But the hotel showed that they had made their reservations months in advance. The other two were vendors who were not authorized to sell at the conference but showed up and did informal marketing in the hotel's public areas. Whether they sold anything is unknown. However, among the shoppers who bought video equipment and brought it to the hands-on video training, the AUTHORIZED vendor at the conference sold the majority of the equipment that showed up there. Of course, some who attended brought video rigs that they had bought in past years but had not learned how best to use.

If you attend Shopper Fest you may observe a similar thing because at least one of the vendors who is no longer authorized by IMSC has also, from what I hear, been banned by the MSPA. In Atlanta, most who knew about the situation went out of their way to smile and greet the "lingerers" (they lingered but did not "crash". Will the MSPA provide such a benign reaction? Inquiring minds want to know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2018 12:39PM by walesmaven.

He said something that two of them said they were talking about being on some committee or something for the mspa which must be the two who were not selling anything? So they did not crash the actual conference just the events outside of the conference room?

Correct. I believe that two are members of the MSPA committee that has a name like "shopper relations." Both had been regular attendees at IMSC conferences in the past and it mystifies me why they would not just register and attend as they have done many times before serving on that committee. After all, they are both shoppers and one is a scheduler. The charade seems pointless. Does anyone know whether or not MSPA committee members have to agree not to pay for IMSC events? I know that years ago MSPA tried to tell some of its active MSC members that they had to choose between their MSPA membership and attending/supporting IMSC events. A couple of prominent MSPA members, including a major video MSC president, promptly resigned from MSPA. And, more recently, a vendor who wanted to work both conferences was told by MSPA that if they worked the IMSC conference they could not work the MSPA conference.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2018 01:53PM by walesmaven.

Networking is a HUGE part of why I go to IMSC conferences.
I have both heard first-hand accounts from the Atlanta IMSC attendees - and seen photos - that demonstrate that the four "crashers" were networking extensively with the Atlanta attendees.
I think that is incredibly unprofessional, and as my great-aunt would have said, "just plain tacky." Plopping your butt into chairs just outside the conference room doors, hanging in the hallways and networking with the actual attendees and MSC owners without actually registering... ugh. Really, there's no excuse for such behavior.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2018 12:31AM by ColoKate63.

The conference cost $79. If your budget allows a trip to Atlanta and multiple nights of hotel, one would think it would also allow for $79.

... and therefore I am not going to Shopperfest.
For me, the unprofessional behavior that was demonstrated by the MSPA committee members in May at the Atlanta IMSC was just the straw on that particular camel's.

I also am factoring in the following:

* For many years, the MSPA did *NOT* welcome shoppers at their conferences; they were exclusionary and made a very clear point of keeping us away,

*When the MSPA finally did allow shoppers to their conferences, they placed their hotel rooms at a dingy, run-down hotel away from the company owners' lodgings. When asked, the MSPA replied that "they didn't think shoppers could afford" the same hotel as the owners.

I am happy to pay the reasonable fees to go to the IMSC, which has ALWAYS been about shoppers and not exclusionary in the least. Plus, Dallas in June on Father's Day weekend... not my idea of fun.
Give me Vegas, baby!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2018 07:19PM by ColoKate63.

What kind of workshop did you host? Do you own an agency or are you a seasoned shopper that hosted a workshop? You spoke of cutting deals with MSC's what does that mean?

In the past were the conferences worth before all of this confusion. I usually focus on hotels, fine dining and apartments (without video). What do you recommend?

I hosted the day long video training which was the third day of the conference and was included in the fee. I am not a seasonal shopper. I shop every month doing a lot of cash integrity shops, some hotels, a lot of video (apartments, new home, senor living. I do at least one workshop at most IMSC conferences, but had never hosted an entire day before this.

By the way, there was little confusion at the Atlanta conference. Those who knew about the lingerers went out of their way to be polite. Those who did not know interacted with them in the bar or hallways when they were approached. If the lingerers wanted confusion, or confrontation, they miscalculated quite badly.

I have been to at least 10 IMSC conferences and always learn something that will make more money for me than the trip cost.

One of the very best sessions was on high end shops and putting those together for great earnings and rewards points, presented by a couple who shop all over the US and internationally, doing very high end hotels and dining as well as resorts, plus a ton of other well paid shops. I think that they may repeat it in November in LV because it was such a bit hit. The LV conference is the largest annual shopper gather in North America and typically will have more than twice as many sessions as the smaller spring conferences. They do this by having workshops in 2-3 rooms all going at once. So, it actually takes a shopper several conferences to run out of workshops opportunities at all hours. And, they add new topics all the time.

And, no I do not run or work for an MSC. I am an IC shopper and I recruit and screen top shoppers for a small list of MSCs that prefer to use a small cadre of shoppers to do ALL of their assignments so that few or none ever end up on a job board anywhere. (These are not "referrals; I am tasked with looking for the best shoppers, not the most.)

As for "cutting deals with MSCs" that refers to shoppers learning how to effectively negotiate bonuses and large routes that can be very profitable. Learning better ways to get higher shops fees in not something that MSPA workshops are likely to teach shoppers about, when you think of it. Right?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2018 01:58PM by walesmaven.

To say that you are AMAZING is an understatement. Thank you for taking out time to provide me with a thorough explanation. If you are ever hosting a meetup, workshop, clinic or class I will be the FIRST one there. I am looking forward to sitting in or one of your sessions. Thank you again.

Do you remember the name of the couple who host the HIGH-END session?​ I want to make sure that I register and attend their shop.

They will be at the IMSC November conference, I hope. You can now register for that 2 day conference for just $79, for a limited time. If they are not doing that session I am sure that one of the other top route shoppers in the country will do a session, or even 2. And there is usually at least on other route shopping session. After all, it is not something where you start "at the top."

It is not about me. What actually IS amazing is that more than a dozen very active shoppers will host sessions of use to you, and do so as volunteers. No travel expenses, no pay. Do you want to become part of a big family dedicated to mutual support, professionalism and education? Because, as soon as you know more about a topic than someone asking a question, here on the forum or at IMSC, it is time for you to "pay it forward" and help with a thorough explanation of how best to succeed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2018 08:12PM by walesmaven.

@ALLFORtheSMONEY wrote:

To say that you are AMAZING is an understatement. Thank you for taking out time to provide me with a thorough explanation. If you are ever hosting a meetup, workshop, clinic or class I will be the FIRST one there. I am looking forward to sitting in or one of your sessions. Thank you again.

Just a note to say walesmaven is VERY, VERY amazing. If you get a chance to meet her at any of the conferences, you definitely should introduce yourself. She is an education in MSing. She is very free with her information and generous with her knowledge. She usually has both her real name and her forum name, walesmaven, on her conference name tag so she is easy to identify. I met her at the New Orleans IMSC Conference in July 2015 and it was one of the highlights of a lovely trip, along with meeting several other forum members.

Austin mom, I just unregistered for both the Dallas and the New Orleans conference to attend the Las Vegas conference, I PRAY that I will have the honor of taking one of her sessions.

What AM means is that I am a bit crazed about MS. She was part of the group that, at the New Orleans conference, provided my conference nickname, "Will Talk Video For Wine." We did have a grand old time there with quite a few forum members, didn't we?

Lordy, if I am there you will not be able to escape my session!

@walesmaven wrote:

Two of then stated that they came on a last minute whim to see and visit with old friends. But the hotel showed that they had made their reservations months in advance.

For some reason this stuck in my brain for awhile without me realizing why. I'm not in any way condoning what the referenced people did, but divulging this information was horribly unprofessional and possibly illegal on the hotel's part.

I think when someone is having an event somewhere they always get this information about their attendees. I know my friend had an event and he had the information for his records.

But these were not attendees.