February 2005
From the Editor: Opportunity vs. cost

Last month, I heard a wonderful story on NPR about a table saw company that was exhibiting at the International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Fair (IWF). The company, SawStop LLC, sells a table saw that will automatically shut off when a finger comes in contact with it. Each year, about 40,000 people are injured from power tools, and more than 3,000 of those suffer amputations.

The company’s founder, Steve Gass, invented the technology but didn’t originally want to manufacture saws. He wanted to license the technology to major manufacturers, and he tried for several years to sell the technology — both domestically and internationally. When no one would license it, he launched his company and unveiled the SawStop system at IWF in August 2000, where the company was awarded the Challengers Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes the most innovative new products in the woodworking industry.

At the show, the company does product demos at its booth using a turkey frank to show how the technology works. Despite the fact that there are 1,300 exhibitors covering 700,000 square feet at IWF, attendees gather around the small booth to see the product in action. Last year, company sales reached $2.5 million, and the company is back-ordered for months.

This story exemplifies what trade shows are all about. The opportunity to bring new products to market. The opportunity to build a company. The opportunity to generate sales and revenue. The opportunity to garner media coverage. The opportunity to meet new customers and prospects. The opportunity to demonstrate a product. The opportunity for buyers to evaluate your product against your competitors’ products.

Of course, this opportunity does come at a cost. And it seems many exhibitors (and many show organizers) have become so focused on costs that they’ve forgotten about all of the opportunities that trade shows offer. Chris Meyer from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority calls it the “exhibit trap.”

Is the cost worth the opportunity? This is the question that we need to be asking ourselves and our exhibitors. Did you meet any new customers at our last show? Did you generate any media coverage? Did you increase sales? Did you enhance the image of your company by exhibiting?

Yes, it’s important that we keep costs in check and that we focus on making it easy to do business with us. But in essence, our real job on the exhibitor side is to provide the opportunity for companies to grow. It’s that simple.

Do you have any exhibitor stories like this one? I’m sure every show does. Share them with exhibitors and prospects. Use them to sell new exhibitors and smaller companies into your shows. Remind exhibitors that companies that focus on costs usually don’t get ahead. It’s time to focus on the opportunity.

Danica Tormohlen, Editor
dtormohlen@ascendmedia.com