January 2005
From the Editor: Delivering more in 2005

Last month, I had lunch with a marketing director at a major architectural design firm, and I was surprised by her future trade show plans. She told me the company attends 50 to 60 conferences and trade shows a year, but they don’t have a booth at any of the events. That wasn’t the case five years ago, when they exhibited in about half of those.

Her marketing budget hadn’t been drastically cut. In fact, it’s increased. But she and her team didn’t feel they were getting good value from the investment. Granted they’re a service, not product-oriented company. But they do need to reach buyers at these events. They sponsor golf tournaments, parties, luncheons — big-ticket sponsorships where they get maximum exposure. Or they host their own party in conjunction with the show instead. In addition, she spends time lining up speaking opportunities for the company’s top management. And they began producing their own corporate event two years ago. It’s small, but expensive. They fly in clients and prospects and put them up for a three-day brainstorming session on the future of the industry. They hire professional and industry speakers.

So what does this mean for us? How did we get to this point in just five years — from dozens of shows a year to none? And how do we get companies like these to come back to the show floor? Or is it enough that they just attend and participate and spend money on sponsorships?

It used to be enough for us to simply bring together buyers and sellers. But exhibitors and attendees can do that on their own now. We need to deliver more in 2005. We need to find out what these exhibitors want and need to market their products and services. Because without exhibitors like these, there will eventually be fewer and fewer buyers.

To get exhibitors to expand their participation in our shows, some show organizers, like Galen Poss, President, Hanley Wood Exhibitions, are meeting with marketing directors and high-level execs with major exhibitors and prospects (see our cover story, Best bets for growth in 2005, p. 30). Others are offering matchmaking services and preset appointments with buyers. Some are combining booth space with attached meeting rooms or hospitality suites. Others are helping exhibitors produce their own events in conjunction with shows. The opportunities for delivering more are endless — especially in 2005 with expected increases in exhibitor marketing budgets.

Danica Tormohlen, Editor
dtormohlen@ascendmedia.com

P.S. Take a look at our redesigned Show Business department on p. 16. We’ve moved breaking industry news online to make room for more in-depth analysis of the latest strategies and solutions in print. From sales tips and promotional pointers to proven attendance ideas and cost-saving techniques, you’ll find insight and intelligence to make your show more successful. To get the most complete coverage of breaking industry news, sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter at www.expoweb.com or sign up for RSS to get daily news headlines delivered to your desktop. And check out our new Marketwatch department on p. 24, featuring monthly research and analysis on show trends, conducted in partnership with Exhibit Surveys Inc.