Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 36)

Trade Show > Goodbye, Booth Babes Report imate buyers and media than aisles that are so crowded that no one can get through to the exhibits.” ing,” he observes. And in response, show managers “are trying to focus on giving attendees the largest bang for the buck.” This means focusing on quality speakers, good breakout sessions, and spending more on food and beverage rather than splurging on live entertainment. Convention spending today is being driven by a keen awareness of return on investment and return on objective, says IAEE’s Hacker. “If you’re trying to build media presence, you can’t measure it in dollars—that’s return on objective. But if you’re trying to build sales, that’s easily measured in dollars,” he explains. “And whether it’s dollars, or something like building a brand, it can be measured. There’s a broad awareness today of the importance of returning value.” Convention theatrics are getting a more strategic treatment, and exhibitors and organizers are aligning entertainment with the messages they are trying to deliver, says Deborah Sexton, president and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association in Chicago. “People don’t want to attend boring sessions, but the entertainment is woven in as part of the messaging. Rather than being pure entertainment, it’s more info-tainment,” Sexton says. “Offering ‘edu-’ or ‘info-tainment’ aligned with meeting deliverables is another way to have meetings retain relevancy while also delighting the attendee. It makes the experience more authentic.” But there are still parts of the industry where theatrical, big-production conventions are the rule of thumb. Events that face a lot of competition for attendees continue to rely on theatrics and entertainment to set themselves apart, as is the case with certain vertical markets. For instance, says Ford, “the youth-geared meetings are always going to be theatrical, and military meetings always have a lot of pomp and circumstance that’s tied to the protocol.” Hacker agrees. In many markets, “it’s still a competitive space where you have to compete hard to get people to go to your event,” he says. “Theater is an element that has more or less importance, depending on what you need to do to attract attendees and exhibitors.” THE ROI IMPERATIVE E3’s an extreme example of a convention that lost its focus, in a time when businesses and associations are more concerned with return on investment from their exhibit spending. But across the convention industry, budget scrutiny has increased, says Norman Ford, president of the Association for Convention Operations Management, and director of business and operations for the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, MS. “Corporations are watching the bottom line a little more, and they’re looking for a little more justification for the conventions,” he says. “When it comes to attending events or exhibiting, they’re focusing on business rather than the whiz-bang of the events.” However, Ford says, it’s hardly the case that convention expenditure is drying up. “Corporate exhibit spending hasn’t dropped a whole lot, but they’re really scrutinizing what they’re spend- Cool It Down Controlling the growth of your show is an important part of maintaining its focus and delivering ROI. Sometimes you just need to cool things down. Here are a few hints for managing growth and maintaining the value of your event. Listen to exhibitors. To keep your show focused, you need to consider the needs of all your exhibitors— large, small, and mid-sized. All these constituencies must be maintained for a healthy event, so poll all your exhibitors on their satisfaction with the show, and make sure to emphasize variety in exhibitor advisory boards. Go regional. Breaking a show into smaller, regional pieces might be a good idea if the national event’s getting overheated. The smaller nature of local shows can provide participants with more face time and better return on investment. Segment the show. If a convention is drawing too many unwanted attendees from the general public (as E3 did) then it may pay to spin off a consumer event from the business-only trade show. Take more time. Lengthening an overcrowded convention will have the effect of spreading out the crowds. So try adding a day to the show’s schedule, to make an unruly event more orderly. mimegasite.com DECEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 36 http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - December 2007 Contents Editor's Note Special Report Research Industry Trends 2008 Meeting Events Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Mouth for Sale Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Goodbye, Booth Babes Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Events When Crime Pays Office for Hire More Miles for Your Money Places & Spaces South Florida Biloxi / Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth Monterey Beijing Gurus Special Supplement: Hawaii Island-by-Island Guide

Successful Meetings - December 2007

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