With the major stock market slide last Thursday, it didn’t take long for people to sound like Chicken Little. I’ve seen the same mentality with several show organizers over the past year when a major sponsor/exhibitor decides to pull out or dramatically reduce its presence at the show. They’ve asked me for advice on how to manage this key exhibitor relationship and prevent a ripple effect with other exhibitors.

Step 1 – Keep the major exhibitor involved (if you decide their participation is critical to your event). You really have to decide how important that exhibitor is to your event. At first glance, it may seem like a striking blow, but after careful analysis, many organizers determine the show can go on — and they can offer better exposure to other sponsors and exhibitors — without them.

If you deem an exhibitor critical, you have to do everything possible to maintain their presence. You must approach them with a strategy that demonstrates research reinforcing the importance of their presence with your audience. In other words, use data and anecdotes from their own customers/prospects to emphasize why they need to remain a part of the show. Then offer some value-adds that will make it easier for them to stay.

Here are some example elements of a “save” program:

• Absorb the cost of their pre-show mailing to your exhibitor list or their customer/prospect list.

• Allow them to reduce their exhibit space size and use funds paid or owed on other components of your integrated event program.

• Offer guaranteed tours of attendees to their booth three times a day.

• Provide additional leads from your attendee database (de-duped to their specification).

• Create a show floor (or just off-show floor) vendor presentation area.

• Provide post-event research to validate their investment in the event.

Step 2 – In response to questions from other exhibitors, ask these questions to help them see why their participation isn’t dependent on any one company’s decisions:

• If they (being the major sponsor/exhibitor) went out of business, would the entire market you’re in crash, burn and go away? Why not?

• What do you think our audience would say if we asked them whether you should stay in the event even though this major sponsor/exhibitor is pulling out?

These techniques will help you avoid a major sell-off and keep your show poised to benefit from the run-up that will happen when economic conditions improve.