One stop. One source. From pre-show registration, housing and travel to onsite Internet cafes, InfoComm’s quest for the Holy Grail of online services ended in a full-service

contract with ExpoExchange in Frederick, MD, not by choice but by chance.
Last year, the International Communications Industries Association (ICIA) in Fairfax, VA, used ExpoExchange Event to manage online content for InfoComm, the leading trade show for the professional A/V market. “They gave us a good initial experience working with their Internet division,” says Jason McGraw, ICIA’s Senior Vice President of Expositions. 

ICIA had already decided to use the product again when it sent a request for proposal for InfoComm 2002 registration and housing last summer. ExpoExchange won the contract over the previous supplier and other bidders. 

After Sept. 11, ICIA wanted to find a way to simplify travel to the show. “We added the travel services online so attendees could book discount airfares,” McGraw says. Enter ExpoExchange’s travel and housing division. “Financially, it was a savings for us, because we were able to package services,” he says. For example, ICIA earned complimentary airline tickets for hotel rooms booked through the housing service.

Onsite services — including lead management, session tracking and Internet cafes — were natural add-ons. “We got discounts off those services because we were an existing customer,” McGraw says. 

ExpoExchange (sister company to EXPO’s owner, Atwood Publishing) negotiated a three-year contract. Services previously supplied by a cadre of contractors now fall under one contract. “Instead of having four or five vendors, we were able to have one primary account manager for the company and different account managers for each product,” says McGraw. “There is ultimately one person to call who is responsible, vs. having multiple vendors who don’t even talk to each other.” The “buck stops here” organization meant better customer service.

Although there were separate phone numbers for attendee questions about registration, managed by ExpoExchange’s Frederick headquarters, and housing and travel services, managed by the Deerfield, IL office, McGraw says one-stop shopping on the InfoComm 2002 Web site was virtually trouble-free. Attendees could save online shopping carts with their chosen free and paid sessions, get total-cost quotes before committing, apply ICIA member credits called EduBucks to their registration fees, then make travel and housing arrangements without leaving the site. 

With a half day of training, ICIA staff learned how to use ExpoExchange’s content management system to administer the Web site, change pull-down menus, post new content and update information. Exhibitors contributed content for the new Virtual Trade Show by uploading product brochures, press releases and contact information. They could even enhance listings with photos and graphics, for a nominal fee paid online, without contacting show management.

ICIA looks forward to enhancing next year’s Web site with opt-in e-mail marketing to shopping cart owners who haven’t registered and a schedule-at-a-glance that lets visitors see everything on one page — just one more one-stop feature.

Cathy Chatfield-Taylor covers meeting technology as a freelance writer/editor. E-mail: cathy@cc-tunlimited.com.