Food on the Floor

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 5/31/2004

Asking around about showfloor trends, we were surprised how many people brought up food. Using food as a traffic builder is not necessarily new, but the tactic itself is changing.

First, there's the Atkins craze. As more and more Americans become carbohydrate-cutting maniacs, piles of crackers, next to the cheese, and breaded finger-foods go untouched. It takes a pretty creative chef to design a three-course meal of starch-free vegetables, lean meat and no refined sugar!

And as more hotels get into the exhibition game, their culinary superstars have raised the bar to gourmet level. Tradeshow participants who have sampled fresh oyster bars and bruschetta with roasted artichoke may be reluctant to settle for rubber chicken satay and greasy crab cakes.

Then, there's the alcohol craze. Gone are open bars with three types of beer, one Merlot and one Chardonnay; if you know anything at all, you've got a mojito menu or, at the very least, a German beer garden.

At the recent N+I, buyers were even invited to a booth crawl – drinking their way from exhibit to exhibit, presumably with the purpose of seeing who'd be on all fours by the time they got to the exit.

So much for complex strategy using the latest marketing and content development techniques. When it comes to finding ways to keep attendees in the exhibit hall, if all else fails, show managers can still look to people's stomachs.