June 2005
From the Editor: A need for nontraditional events?

Are you producing nontraditional events? If not, you’re probably losing out on an additional revenue stream. In addition to exhibitions, show organizers are planning more nontraditional events in 2005 compared with 2004, according to a recent survey conducted by EXPO Magazine and Exhibit Surveys Inc. (see Marketwatch: Nontraditional events, page 26).

This is probably not a surprise to most. The industry has been talking about nontraditional events since the economic recession and September 11th when exhibitor budgets declined. Today, exhibitor budgets are increasing, but exhibitors are looking for new and unique opportunities to connect with customers at events. The traditional trade show budget has morphed into an “event marketing” budget, which includes trade shows, sponsorships, corporate events, road shows, special events, etc.

But what does it mean for show organizers? Who’s producing nontraditional events and what are they producing? According to our Marketwatch survey, the most popular nontraditional event in 2005: sponsorship-only, including conferences, summits, etc. with no booths (produced by 28 percent of respondents).

For example, instead of launching a traditional trade show for the already crowded food industry, Reed Business Information’s Chain Leader magazine produced a sponsorship-only conference program based on an editorial table of contents in 2004 (see Best Practices, page 28). Management expects the conference to generate 15 percent of the brand’s gross revenue within five years.

Other popular nontraditional events: one-on-one private meetings between buyers and sellers at shows (21 percent); corporate events, including road shows, proprietary events, etc. that show organizers produce on behalf of exhibitors (15 percent); and Webinars (15 percent).

Will this trend continue? It appears it will in 2006. According to our Marketwatch survey, 64 percent of show organizers say they’ll produce more corporate events, 51 percent will produce more one-on-one meetings between buyers and sellers at their shows, 50 percent will produce more one-on-one meetings between buyers and sellers separately from their shows, and 41 percent will produce more sponsorship-only events.

Should you jump on the nontraditional event bandwagon? For many organizers, nontraditional events can provide the opportunity to drive new revenue and hold or increase market share — on both the exhibitor and attendee side. But it may not be for all show organizers.

To find out whether there’s a need for nontraditional events in your industry, ask your exhibitors and attendees, as well as prospects, what events they participate in. Besides trade shows, how and where else do buyers and sellers meet? Is there a new attendee you can reach?

In the end, our job is to bring together buyers and sellers in our industries — whatever the format. Because if there’s a void and you don’t fill it, someone else will.