September 2005
From the Editor: Who comes first?
It the SISO Executive Conference last month, I moderated a session, “Who comes first — exhibitors or attendees?” For the sake of a healthy debate, I asked Georgiann DeCenzo, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Advanstar, to represent the attendee side, and Dean Russo, Industry Vice President, Reed Exhibitions, to take the exhibitor side, though both agree that exhibitors and attendees are equally important.

It’s the classic chicken-or-the-egg question for our industry. Without the right exhibitors, attendees won’t come. But without the right attendees, exhibitors won’t come. So where do you focus your energies and resources?

At Advanstar, attendee programs include:
• Attendee sales teams — Attendee marketing is viewed as a sales function, and reps are dedicated to servicing attendees via telemarketing and personal visits. For some shows, there are more attendee marketing reps than exhibit sales reps.

• Post-show phone calls and research to find out what attendees want — Advanstar conducts post-show research for every show. They ask whether expectations were met, suggestions for next year’s show, etc.

• Tracking data about attendees — Top buyers are tracked in the database just like exhibitors. They track things such as product needs, attendance habits, exhibitors they want to see, etc. Attendees are then segmented so they receive targeted promotions.

• Loyalty programs — Express registration, special lounges and other rewards.

At Reed, exhibitors are served through:

• Face-to-face visits with the top 30 exhibitors — During these client visits, sales reps aren’t allowed to sell. They’re there to discuss the client’s marketing objectives and their experience at the prior show.

• Matchmaking — Reed tested matchmaking technology in 2005 and plans a complete roll-out at a number of shows in 2006. On site, Reed will provide a lounge to facilitate exhibitor and attendee meetings.

• Exhibitor University — A one-day exhibitor education program held in five cities around the country each year. Reed finds that educated exhibitors are much more likely to re-sign.

• Event planning — Reed launched a group to help exhibitors with event planning. Reed offers to send invitations to specific attendee groups or titles.

I’m sure we all agree that we need to allocate our resources evenly. Exhibitors and attendees are equally important. That said, however, this may shift from year to year and show to show, depending on a number of factors. For example, if mergers are shrinking your attendee base, you may need to focus more resources on attendance.

As an industry, we have traditionally dedicated more staffing to exhibitors since they generate more revenue, and focusing more resources on attendees may be hard for some managers to justify. But as competition for attendees’ time continues to increase, this added expense may soon become a necessity.