Economics Drive Improvements

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

Ah, the ever-changing showfloor. The product-oriented displays and grid-like floorplans of the late 1980s gave way to labyrinths of large, elaborate environments in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the economic doldrums of the last few years caused many show and exhibit managers to cut back on frills, attracting interested buyers became more important than ever. Many turned their attention to content – both off and on the showfloor.

"Booths have gotten more serious in the last few years, and I think that's a trend that's welcome by attendees," said Steve Wylie, content director for NetWorld+Interop. The MediaLive Intl. show grew its May 11-13 exhibition by about 25 percent and expects a BPA audit of attendance to reflect an increase in buyers. "These days, people want to come and get down to business."

N+I show management has responded to this attitude with a series of programs that integrate content into the showfloor. N+I installs its own information network in the Las Vegas Convention Center, with 50 to 60 volunteer engineers spending months to design and implement a system that demonstrates the latest equipment and capabilities of their field. Called the Interop Net, the system has served as a springboard for a number of related projects, the most successful of which is the I-Lab. Begun as online conversations about current events and topics important to networking gurus, I-Lab culminates at the exhibition. In a large space filled with workstations, adjacent to some of the show's largest exhibits, vendors gather to present their findings and continue hashing out issues.

"This is a real showfloor destination," said Wylie, indicating the bustling I-Lab. "People can come here and get a lot of straight information from engineers. Between this and the Interop Net, that's the heart of the show."

Like many show managers, MediaLive also has learned that offering a taste of the conference program on the showfloor – via the Interop Theater – keeps visitors there longer and motivates them to try out the paid seminars upstairs.

Why go to all this trouble? "We have 25 percent more exhibitors this year, but the show is the same size," Wylie explained. In other words, companies are still being conservative in their tradeshow spending. So managers like Wylie have encouraged the exchange of ideas, rather than a tower of speakers or wall of plasma screens, to generate energy at their shows.

But N+I is very fancy compared to a variety of targeted events that have gained popularity in recent years. For its Symposium/ITExpo series, the archetype of these events, Gartner charges exhibitors a large flat fee for a turnkey booth and the chance to meet buyers who are carefully screened upper management with big buying power. A similar concept in the health care field is M|C Communications' Pri-Med Conference & Exhibitions. Both concentrate on developing indispensable content as a means to draw buyers of such a high quality that exhibitors will pay top dollar for access and sponsorships – without complaining that they're in the same 10'x20' as their neighbor.

Freeman Decorating's Mike Bruley, vice president of sales administration, and Steve Hagstette, vice president of exhibitor sales, said such turnkey services have given rise to the most remarkable recent changes in tradeshow floors.

"Take NATPE for example," Hagstette said. "Those exhibitors used to spend hundreds of thousands on the larger exhibits, but they couldn't afford to do that anymore because of what was going on in their business." So, working with Freeman, the Natl. Assn. of Television Program Executives developed a suite-like exhibit with a menu of services for a comprehensive fee. Companies can customize the booths with graphics, furniture and other options, but the standardized structure allows show management and the general contractor to provide a large presence on the showfloor at a more reasonable rate.

A related trend, Hagstette point-ed out, is the increased use of pavilions. In an attempt to reach out to as many companies as possible – including small upstarts and overseas exhibitors – shows increasingly are putting together themed areas by product category or country, and dividing them into spaces as small as 6'x6' that can be affordable to companies with small budgets.

The style of contact between buyer and seller is evolving as well. ExpoLogic CEO Jeff Cooper said the most interesting thing he's noticed lately is what he called "reverse tradeshows." A portion of the showfloor is reserved for small meeting areas – usually just 10'x10's with hardwalls, a table and some chairs. Buyers rather than sellers occupy these "exhibits." Within this environment, participants engage in what Cooper described as a game of musical chairs: "The suppliers sit down in front of the buyers they want to talk to, they have seven minutes to pitch them, then they get up and go talk to the next one."

He cited the Natl. Tour Assn., and the Natl. Marine Manufacturers Assn. as clients that have used this model lately. Another example is the Controlled Marketing Conferences that take place as part of the Natl. Lawn & Garden Show each year.

Cooper said the concept is effective because it limits the amount of time buyers have to put up with product pitches while giving suppliers the chance to talk one-on-one with people who might just walk by their exhibit without stopping. "I have a friend who does a merchandise show like this and it's the best one he does, because he gets time with major buyers like Wal-Mart and Kmart that he wouldn't get to speak to normally," said Cooper.