By Stacey Anderson O’Brien

In today’s tightening environment, most industry segments won’t continue to support multiple shows. If your show isn’t one of the top two in your industry, experts say, it’s in trouble. Even mega shows aren’t immune. Many will shrink according to market demand.

Now is the time to take a hard look at your show, including strategically studying your exhibitors — which is sometimes called an exhibitor audit program. “We anticipate a right-sizing of the industry based on everything we’re hearing from exhibitors,” says Skip Cox, President of Exhibit Surveys Inc., which uses research to deliver qualitative intelligence and measurement programs to the show industry. “Exhibitors are narrowing their show lists, so this information is timely and important.”

Paulette Griffith, Account Supervisor at Inquiry Management Systems (IMS), a data management company, is optimistic about the economy but agrees now is the time to analyze exhibitors. “You can see trends in the types of categories or products that different exhibitors are showing and identify missing exhibitors,” she says. 

“Advertisers may be spending less money, but they still have to attend trade shows to see buyers, suppliers and the public.”

Exhibitor analysis consists of three steps, Cox says:

Look within
Use surveys or ask exhibitors questions during registration. At what other shows are your clients exhibiting? Those are competitive shows, even if you don’t think your show has any direct competition. “If I’m an exhibitor, ideally I’m looking for an exclusive audience,” says Cox. 

“If there’s high overlap, I’ve got to question and come to the conclusion as to which show is best.”

Look among your universe
Via a survey or representative sample focus groups (not during registration), ask your exhibitors: How does this show stack up — overall, by value, by audience, by number of attendees — relative to competitive shows. Talk to companies that don’t exhibit at your show. Ask: Where are we strong? Where are other shows strong? Where are we weak? What is the awareness and perception of our show? “In a survey, you can get into some very specific attri-
butes,” Cox says.

Look at secondary research
Visit competitors’ Web sites, get on their mailing lists, attend their shows and examine their directories. Use this information to:
• Match your exhibitor base
• Compare show statistics
• Examine the industry leaders
• Determine show sponsors
• Look at when the shows are held (relative to the buying cycle, if applicable)
• Determine revenue using total square footage
• Gauge attendance (This is some- times difficult to compare because of reporting differences. Consider hiring someone to calculate traffic density, a more accurate indicator.)
• Review reported demographics.

Stacey Anderson O’Brien is a writer, editor and corporate communications consultant in suburban Kansas City, MO. She has covered hundreds of shows as a writer for Atwood Publishing and served as EXPO’s editor in 1994.

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