The tough economic times have hurt everyone’s shows. We all wish we had more exhibitors and attendees. Although things seem to be recovering for almost all shows and the consumer is investing once again, we still have a couple more years of lower revenues to endure.

The one thing I’m hearing that amazes me in the current situation is the fact that show producers are discounting booth space or giving exhibitors two-for-one deals. These kinds of discounts will be very hard to eliminate in future years. By discounting space off of your published pricing, companies are devaluing their product and hurting our industry.

We’re hearing from our exhibitors that other shows are offering “deals” to exhibit in order to sell more space. We actually had one exhibitor who called and offered us $5,000 “that day” for a $6,200 booth because other shows had given him similar deals. Needless to say, we told him that EVERYONE pays the same amount and our booth price is the same for all exhibitors. What happens to those shows in two years when those exhibitors want to keep the discounted pricing? How does that impact your image? What do the other exhibitors who have paid full price think about show management when they realize the company next to them got two booths for the price of one?

As show producers, we create and maintain our own level of integrity. Everybody pays the same published pricing. Our product is worth the exhibitors’ full investment and I hope yours is too.