LINK CONNECT GUIDELINES:
SPONSOR ORGANIZATION ADMINS & MEETINGS REPS

8-minute read

LINK Connect is facilitating 2000+ lead gen meetings between Retailers & CPGs (Consumer Product Manufacturers) and Solution Providers, and your organization will be part of it!

Retailers & CPGs who buy or influence the purchase of technology or other solutions participate in our LINK Connect program and are incentivized to each join up to 8 15-minute Hosted Meetings with our participating sponsors. Your organization has purchased meetings in LINK Connect!

If you’re an Organization Admin, you can complete Hosted Program tasks for your organization.

If you’re a Meetings Rep, LINK Connect tasks start on Fri, Jan 30 with accepting calendar invites. You can read the full guidelines, or click here to jump to the details of the stages that apply to you.

Here’s what Org Admins and Meetings Reps need to do, and when. Don’t worry, we’ll help you each step of the way with reminders. If you don’t get an email, check spam (from donotreply.link2026@eventpt.com), then let us know at registration@rila.org.

 

TIMING OF HOSTED MEETINGS

All the action takes place on Monday, February 17 and Tuesday, February 18, and your organization will be in the room where it happens! You’ll assign meetings to individual Meetings Reps from your company beforehand. For now, please ensure your Meetings Reps will be available during all time slots.
 

Immediate Next Steps
Register Your Organization’s Attendees

1. Make sure you have enough registered attendees to join your Hosted Meetings (your Meetings Reps).

• The LINK team will have shared details on how to register your organization’s attendees. If you need assistance, please email registration@rila.org.
• There is no limit to how many Meetings Reps your organization can have. To calculate the minimum number of Meetings Reps you’ll need, divide the number of meetings you purchased by 14 and round up to the nearest whole number.
  • For example, if you purchased 30 meetings, 30 / 14 = 2.1, rounded up to 3 Meetings Reps required.

Dec 8 - Jan 8
Complete Your Organization’s Profile (takes 30-45 minutes)

You can do this on: Desktop ✅ 

1. Start Your Organization Profile on Mon, Dec 8, and complete it by Thu, Jan 8 at 6 pm ET. 

• Your Organization Profile will help Hosted Retailers & CPGs decide if they’re interested in meeting with you.
• Tell us how many Meeting Reps you'll have available to meet with Hosted Retailers & CPGs during each time slot.
  • The more meeting representatives you make available concurrently, the more likely we will be to schedule all of the meetings you have purchased.
  • You can change this at any time until Thu, Jan 29 at 6 pm ET.
• Consider making an Announcement: Tell Hosted Retailers & CPGs about your newly announced products, partnerships, funding, acquisitions, research and anything else!

2. You can also:

• Assign individuals from your organization as Meetings Reps (if you haven’t already), until Thu, Jan 29 at 6 pm ET.
• There is no limit to the number of Meetings Reps your organization can have. To calculate the minimum number of Meetings Reps you’ll need, divide the number of meetings you purchased by 14 and round up to the nearest whole number.
• We recommend you don’t leave assigning Meetings Reps to the last minute.

Jan 9 - Jan 14
Request Hosted Meetings with Hosted Retailers & CPGs (takes 60-90 minutes)

You can do this on: Desktop ✅  

1. It’s time to request Hosted Meetings for your organization (there are 350 qualified Retailers & CPGs to choose from!).

• Start requesting Hosted Meetings on Fri, Jan 9 and complete by Wed, Jan 14 at 6 pm ET.
• You should select ALL Retailers & CPGs you would like to meet. At a minimum, we recommend you request Hosted Meetings equal to 4x the number of Hosted Meetings your organization has purchased.
  • You can request to meet >1 individual from an organization, but you won’t have >1 Hosted Meeting scheduled with the same organization.
  • You should consult others in your company, we recommend consulting with your sales teams when requesting your meetings.
• Just click ‘Very Interested’ or ‘Interested’ to request a meeting. Meeting requests are saved automatically as you go.
  • ‘Very Interested' meeting requests get scheduled first, before 'Interested' ones.
  • You can provide a reason why your organization wants to meet a Retailer & CPG – they’ll be able to see this when they’re opting in to Hosted Meeting requests.
• You can view summary information about each Retailer & CPG, as well as a detailed Profile.
• Use Filters and Predefined Lists to zero in on the most interesting Retailers & CPGs for your company.
• Don’t wait til the last minute to request meetings! With tools like Bookmarks and Saved Lists, you can start requesting meetings and come back, if needed, to finish them.

2. You can also:

• Assign individuals from your organization as Meetings Reps (if you haven’t already), until Thu, Jan 29 at 6 pm ET.

Jan 15 - Jan 20
Opt In to Requests from Hosted Retailers & CPGs (takes up to 30 minutes)

You can do this on: Desktop ✅  

1. Opt In to Meeting Requests From Retailers & CPGs You Didn’t Previously Select:

• Opt in to Meeting Requests on Wed, Jan 21 and complete by Fri, Jan 23 at 6 pm ET.
• We facilitate meetings based only on the requests your organization opts in to (and your organization’s own requests if there is a mutual match), so you should opt in to every request from Retailers & CPGs your organization would meet with.
• Some of these requests may be from newly added individuals that joined the LINK Connect after you completed your initial meeting requests.
• The more requests you opt in to, the more likely we will be to schedule all of the meetings you’ve purchased.
• You won’t have >1 Hosted Meeting scheduled with the same organization.

10 Feb - 12 Feb
Assign Meetings Reps to Hosted Meetings (takes less than 15 minutes)

You can do this on: Desktop ✅  

• Assign Meetings Reps to your Hosted Meetings starting on Mon, Jan 26 but no later than Fri, Jan 23 at 6 pm ET.
• A Meetings Rep must be assigned to each Hosted Meeting, otherwise it won’t get scheduled.
• If you haven’t assigned Meetings Reps yet, you can do this until Thu, Jan 29 at 6 pm ET. As soon as you’ve assigned a Meetings Rep, you can assign meetings to them.
• You should assign the most appropriate Meetings Rep for each Retailer & CPG based on the characteristics of the Retailer & CPG, their (or your) reason for meeting, which products, solutions or services they’re interested in, Meetings Rep availability and other factors.
• As a reminder, you will not receive refunds for Hosted Meetings you don’t assign Meetings Reps to, since those meetings could have been scheduled.

Jan 30
Meetings Reps Accept Calendar Invites (takes them less than 5 minutes)

1. Accept Meetings Calendar Invites: On Fri, Jan 30, Meetings Reps will receive a calendar invite for each scheduled Hosted Meeting they have. THEY MUST ACCEPT all calendar invites THE SAME DAY by 6 pm ET. This is a quick turnaround, but it won’t take more than 5 minutes.

• Important note: If your Meetings Rep cannot attend the meeting, they must email us at registration@rila.org to let us know. Neither we nor the Buyer will be notified if your Meetings Rep declines a calendar invite!
• We can’t change any meeting times (fun fact: LINK Connect is enabling 2000 meetings!).
• If a Retailer & CPG who one of your Meetings Reps is scheduled to meet is no longer available, we’ll let your Meetings Rep know and you’ll be refunded for the meeting after the show. People have emergencies, so this does happen once in a while!
• We will communicate with Meetings Reps directly on accepting their Hosted Meetings.

Feb 2– Feb 3
LINK TIME! Meetings Reps Attend Hosted Meetings!

1. Meetings Reps Join Your Organization’s Hosted Meetings.

Your Meetings Reps must join all your scheduled Hosted Meetings. Here’s what you and they need to know:

• Where are the meetings? All meetings are held in a dedicated LINK Connect area and each meeting is assigned a table number.
• How do Meetings Reps know their meeting details? They should check the LINK mobile app or their calendar invites for times and details of each meeting they have.
• What happens if the person they’re meeting doesn’t show up? Meetings Reps should give them 5 minutes and if they’ve still not joined, click the “Mark as No Show” button in the LINK mobile app. If your Meetings Rep connects with them at a different time, you can always undo “Mark as No Show”
• What happens if the person they’re meeting doesn’t show up? Meetings Reps should give them 5 minutes and if they’ve still not joined, click the “Mark as No Show” button in the LINK 2025 mobile app.
• What other Do’s and Don’ts are there for Meetings Reps?
  • Meetings Reps should:
    • Join each meeting on time and don’t exceed the allotted 15 minutes for each scheduled meeting. There is a short transition time between each meeting.
    • Download the LINK mobile app ahead of meetings. Meetings Reps can take notes and request follow-ups in the app.
  • Meetings Reps should not:
    • Contact any individual Hosted Retailers & CPGs prior to Hosted Meetings in relation to Hosted Meetings, or use the confidential information we have provided at any stage of the program to reach out to participating individuals using nonprogram channels.
    • Assume the Hosted Retailers & CPGs they are meeting have prepared for the meeting. These individuals may have agreed to meet based solely on categories or search filters rather than any specific understanding of your organization or solutions. Meetings Reps must assume the Hosted Retailers & CPGs have no knowledge of your organization or your products, and should be prepared to give a complete sales pitch during their 15-minute meeting as well as leave time for any Q&A.
    • Bring any materials that cannot fit on the table (e.g., free standing structures and pop-up signage is not allowed) or leave any materials at the table after the meeting conclude.

Feb 5 - Feb 17
Provide Feedback

1. Help us to help you! On Thu, Feb 5, each Meetings Rep will receive an email to provide feedback on their Hosted Meetings, the meetings program and the event to help us improve LINK--please share your thoughts by Tue, Feb 17. 

• Once Meetings Reps provide feedback, they can download a summary of their meetings, including their notes and contact details of who they met.
• You’ll also be able to download your LINK 2026 Summary. In it you’ll find information about the programs you participated in and any agenda sessions, speakers or attendees you bookmarked or took notes on.

_{SOME FINE PRINT: Our participant list is confidential, and shouldn’t be (1) shared with anyone else, (2) downloaded or (3) used other than as described by us. Based on information you receive as part of the LINK Connect, you can’t solicit participants (including individuals you’re scheduled to meet prior to your meetings) outside of the event other than as we permit. If you breach this provision, you may be eliminated from further participation and barred from future programs. Do not assume that requests (or opt-ins) to meet with you as part of the LINK Connect indicate any interest in meeting with you outside of the LINK Connect.}