April 2007
Marketwatch: Conference content

Education continues to be an essential component for shows in 2007

By Danica Tormohlen

Twenty-two percent of show organizers plan to increase the number of educational sessions they offer in 2007 compared with 2006, according to the 116 show organizers who responded to an online survey conducted by EXPO Magazine and Exhibit Surveys Inc. in February 2007. Seventy-three percent plan to offer about the same number of sessions, while only 5 percent plan to offer fewer sessions.

On average, shows offer 69 educational sessions. Associations offer more sessions than for-profits. Associations average 86 sessions while for-profits average 52. Despite the number of sessions offered, only 29 percent of attendees go to conferences, while 71 percent of attendees are exhibit only.

Most shows (75 percent) have a speaker budget, which averages $57,100. More than half (60 percent) use celebrity/professional speakers. In addition, most shows (72 percent) have a call for presentations.

           

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Number of Attendees
Trade Shows
Conference – 2,666
Exhibit Only – 9,521

For-Profit Shows
Conference – 2,318
Exhibit Only – 8,038

Consumer Shows
Conference – 4,344
Exhibit Only – 7,402

Association Shows
Conference – 3,233
Exhibit Only – 1,0564

Space More Than 100,000 SF
Conference – 3,674
Exhibit Only – 1,5467

Space Less Than 100,000 SF
Conference – 1,927
Exhibit Only – 2,957

Revenue More Than $2,000,000
Conference – 3,069
Exhibit Only – 1,5674

Revenue Less Than $2,000,000
Conference – 2,431
Exhibit Only – 3,670

Number of Educational Sessions Offered
Trade - 72
For-Profit - 51.7
Consumer - 48.5
Association - 85.5
Space High - 76.0
Space Low - 63.7
Revenue High - 90.4
Revenue Low - 50


Number of Sessions in 2007 versus 2006
- Trade
More sessions - 21%
About the same number of sessions - 73%
Less sessions - 5%

- For-Profit
More sessions - 21%
About the same number of sessions - 74%
Less sessions - 5%

- Consumer
More sessions - 33%
About the same number of sessions - 67%
Less sessions - n/a

- Association
More sessions - 22%
About the same number of sessions - 74%
Less sessions - 4%

- Space High
More sessions - 25%
About the same number of sessions - 69%
Less sessions - 6%

- Space Low
More sessions - 19%
About the same number of sessions - 77%
Less sessions - 4%

- Revenue High
More sessions - 20%
About the same number of sessions - 74%
Less sessions - 6%

- Revenue Low
More sessions - 25%
About the same number of sessions - 71%
Less sessions - 4%

Average Session Length
- Trade
30 minutes - 6%
45 minutes - 16%
1 hour - 29%
1 hour 15 minutes -17%
1 hour 30 minutes - 28%
2 hours - 2%
More than 2 hours - 4%

- For-Profit
30 minutes - 12%
45 minutes - 16%
1 hour - 37%
1 hour 15 minutes - 12%
1 hour 30 minutes - 30%
2 hours - 2%
More than 2 hours - n/a

- Consumer
30 minutes - 25%
45 minutes - 17%
1 hour - 58%
1 hour 15 minutes - n/a
1 hour 30 minutes - 17%
2 hours  - n/a
More than 2 hours - n/a

- Association
30 minutes - 6%
45 minutes - 15%
1 hour - 26%
1 hour 15 minutes - 19%
1 hour 30 minutes - 26%
2 hours - 2%
More than 2 hours - 7%

- Space High
30 minutes - 6%
45 minutes - 20%
1 hour - 25%
1 hour 15 minutes - 16%
1 hour 30 minutes - 29%
2 hours - 4%
More than 2 hours - 6%

- Space Low
30 minutes - 8%
45 minutes - 13%
1 hour - 35%
1 hour 15 minutes - 17%
1 hour 30 minutes - 25%
2 hours  - n/a
More than 2 hours - 2%

- Revenue High
30 minutes - 4%
45 minutes - 14%
1 hour - 26%
1 hour 15 minutes - 20%
1 hour 30 minutes - 32%
2 hours - 4%
More than 2 hours - 4%

- Revenue Low
30 minutes - 13%
45 minutes - 17%
1 hour - 33%
1 hour 15 minutes - 13%
1 hour 30 minutes - 25%
2 hours  - n/a
More than 2 hours - 4%

Use Celebrity/Professional Speakers
- Trade
Yes - 59%
No - 41%

- For-Profit
Yes - 65%
No - 35%

- Consumer
Yes - 83%
No - 17%

- Association
Yes - 56%
No - 44%

- Space High
Yes - 59%
No - 41%

- Space Low
Yes - 63%
No - 38%

- Revenue High
Yes - 54%
No - 46%

- Revenue Low
Yes - 67%
No - 33%


Have Speaker Budget
- Trade
Yes - 74%
No - 26%

- For-Profit
Yes - 84%
No - 16%

- Consumer
Yes - 75%
No - 25%

- Association
Yes - 70%
No - 30%

- Space High
Yes - 76%
No - 24%

- Space Low
Yes - 75%
No - 25%

- Revenue High
Yes - 76%
No - 24%

- Revenue Low
Yes - 75%
No - 25%

Speaker Budget Amount
Trade - $59,391
For-Profit - $53,446
Consumer - $67,786
Association - $61,597
Space High - $78,850
Space Low - $35,350
Revenue High - $78,156
Revenue Low - $34,204

Have "Call for Presentations"
- Trade
Yes - 73%
No - 27%

- For-Profit
Yes - 67%
No - 33%

- Consumer
Yes - 64%
No - 36%

- Association
Yes - 74%
No - 26%

- Space High
Yes - 66%
No - 34%

- Space Low
Yes - 77%
No - 23%

- Revenue High
Yes - 81%
No - 19%

- Revenue Low
Yes - 63%
No - 37%

Deadline for Presentations
- Trade
Less than 3 months - 10%
3 to 6 months - 22%
6 to 9 months - 40%
More than 9 months - 29%

- For-Profit
Less than 3 months - 8%
3 to 6 months - 35%
6 to 9 months - 31%
More than 9 months - 27%

- Consumer
Less than 3 months - 14%
3 to 6 months - 57%
6 to 9 months - 14%
More than 9 months - 14%

- Association
Less than 3 months - 5%
3 to 6 months - 19%
6 to 9 months - 43%
More than 9 months - 32%

- Space High
Less than 3 months - n/a
3 to 6 months - 32%
6 to 9 months - 35%
More than 9 months - 32%

- Space Low
Less than 3 months - 18%
3 to 6 months - 15%
6 to 9 months - 41%
More than 9 months - 26%

- Revenue High
Less than 3 months - 3%
3 to 6 months - 26%
6 to 9 months - 34%
More than 9 months - 37%

- Revenue Low
Less than 3 months - 19%
3 to 6 months - 22%
6 to 9 months - 44%
More than 9 months - 15%

Biggest Challenge with Conference Programming
- Advertisement.
- Affording what we want.
- After booking a speaker, at the last minute a replacement is made by the company or the speaker just pulls out of the engagement all together leaving a hole in the program.
- All programming is organized by our volunteer groups (technical divisions that represent specialty sciences), so staff does not know how many authors or how many half-day sessions are being prepared until three months prior to meeting. Makes it impossible to promote topics (other than at a vague, high-level snapshot) and difficult to control space assignments & meeting logistics.
- Being inclusive of all disciplines in our field and making sure that sessions don't turn into infomercials.
- Collecting abstracts and getting speakers to write final technical papers.
- Competing for time of attendees with so many different content proposals.
- Competition from other events.
- Coordinating all of the speakers and selecting the topics in order to fully complete the content.
- Coordinating schedules.
- Coordinating speakers who will speak without honoraria, who are still solid platform performers.
- Creating a diverse program appealing to a wide range of attendees.
- Deciding which seminars to present.
- Defining senior level programming.
- Due to the volatility of our industry (housing market) it is a moving target of what we decide on for programs... It's not easy to please all our members.
- Ensuring quality and getting speakers to provide AV requirements on a timely basis.
- Finding good business speakers with some experience of my industry.
- Finding high-quality, unbiased speakers, particularly from the vendor community.
- Finding interesting and new speakers/topics.
- Finding more space.
- Finding new markets to promote attendance.
- Finding quality industry personnel who can discuss topics in-depth and speak well.
- Finding the member readers for the abstracts and the final papers: ours, our peer-reviewed and must have three reviews.
- Finding the right person to address specific women's issues.
- Fresh topics.
- Generating ideas.
- Getting attendees to leave the exhibit area to attend the seminars.
- Getting quality abstracts from the Call for Abstracts.
- Getting relevant topics of interest to our attendees.
- Getting responses from presenters/manufacturers.
- Getting sufficient space in convention centers.
- Getting the committee to make a decision on anything.
- Getting the right speakers for new topics.
- Getting the teachers to send in their information to put on our Web site.
- Getting volunteers to act.
- Handling demand for presentation slots and managing the peer review process.
- Having a well-rounded program that is fresh and new, while also having proven presenters who do a great job.
- Having people call after the Call has closed and still wanting to submit abstracts.
- Hitting the most relevant topics at the right time.
- Keep things fresh, new and current.
- Keeping content fresh and innovative.
- Making sure that the content is the right draw for your audience at that exact moment.
- Making sure the content speaks to the highest level of decision maker.
- Making sure we have the right conferences with content, speaker, etc. Also, making sure the speaker we contract for is committed to the conference and won't cancel at the last minute.
- Making sure we offer the most salient program for the attendees.
- Number of entries we receive (1300, more or less) for 150 sessions.
- Offering content and programs to attract C-level executives.
- Recruiting members (no honoraria and/or expenses reimbursed) to present.
- Recruiting speakers.
- Required meeting rooms in convention center, obtaining financial disclosures from all faculty.
- Securing users, rather than vendors, to speak.
- Selecting the best 400 sessions from 1,500 abstract submissions; trying to strategically schedule 400 sessions over six days.
- Selecting the proper education programs to fit attendees’ needs.
- Service contractor.
- Site managers' failure to honor all details of contracts.
- Space.
- Speaker fees.
- Time in the schedule and finding things that will really interest people.
- Timing of conference materials for promotion.
- Too many good choices.
- Too many topics to be presented concurrently.
- Topics and good speakers
- Turning away exhibitor presentations that are sales pitches. Getting quality sessions/speakers on new topics.
- Up-to-date solutions.
- Validating the quality of new speakers to meet our criteria and expectations.
- We rely mostly on our members to submit proposals and sometimes their descriptions don't accurately match what they actually talk about. It is hard when the majority of your program is based on volunteers.
- With so many sessions, the planning is being done so far out it becomes challenging to ensure the session topics are timely and adding sessions when hot topics arise because of limited meeting space at the convention centers
- Working with a committee.