Third-quarter Tradeshow Growth Remains Strong

Show statistics indicate slight increases in net square feet, attendance

By Jillian Dauer -- Tradeshow Week, 10/25/2004

Interest in tradeshows continued to grow across the board during the third quarter of 2004. According to Tradeshow Week's Quarterly Report of Tradeshow Statistics, compared to the same quarter of 2003, shows saw increases in both the number of exhibiting companies and professional attendees, while net square footage remained stable.

For these third-quarter shows, the number of exhibiting companies jumped 2.7 percent and professional attendance increased 1.4 percent, compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Net square footage improved by 0.1 percent.

Many managers who saw year-to-year improvement in their shows attributed the success to listening to their audiences and then responding.

For instance, Jennifer Cox, director of communications for the Southern Nursery Assn., said exhibitors noticed less traffic at last year's SNA 2003...The World's Showcase of Horticulture. As a result, "to get attendance up, we offered free pre-registration," Cox said.

And to get the word out about the offer, the association made pre-registration available online and sent out returnable postcards, in addition to placing advertisements in 27 trade magazines and mailing 60,000 brochures to past attendees and people who expressed interest in the show.

Cox said the efforts paid off, with attendance increasing 43.8 percent over last year. "We received a lot of good feedback from exhibitors who noticed more traffic this year," Cox said.

Show managers at ICAST, one of the fastest-growing shows during the third quarter, also listened to what its exhibitors and attendees said via surveys. The show, which has been growing steadily since 2001, handed out surveys on-site and followed up with mailings. In their responses, participants said they wanted a more focused show with more independent dealers, and the American Sportsfishing Assn. delivered.

"The show had a reputation that it was a wholesale show, but it's not," said Maria del Valle, trade-show director. "Attendees wanted more mom-and-pop dealers who make lures in their basement."

ICAST, which experienced an 18.5-percent jump in net square footage, an 18.9-percent increase in exhibiting companies and a 3-percent increase in attendance compared to last year's show, also had show specials and raffles. The grand prize was a fishing trip to Costa Rica.

Despite one storm after another in Florida, Premiere '04 Orlando, held six days after Hurricane Charlie, had its largest and most successful show to date, said Premiere Show Group President Howard Britt.

Britt attributed year-over-year increases of 22.8 percent in net square footage and 28.5 percent in exhibiting companies to listening to exhibitors who said they wanted lower space rates.

"There has been a three-year plan of trying to negotiate the best rates for everyone involved in the event," Britt said. "It's really starting to pay off."

He added that, as an independent company, the Premiere Show Group has the flexibility to make the necessary changes in the best interest of attendees.

"We'll pay our fair share and share it with everyone else," Britt said. "We're not greedy."

Another factor influencing the overall quarter-over-quarter improvement in tradeshow statistics was the health care sector, which saw a 3.3-percent increase in net square footage; 6-percent increase in exhibiting companies; and a 25.5-percent increase in professional attendance compared to 2003.

But for Tony Maiorino, expo director for AACC/ASCLS Annual Meetings and Clinical Lab Expo, it was all about location, location, location. Held in Los Angeles this year, the show's attendance increased 6.4 percent while exhibiting companies grew 3.5 percent. The show's net square footage improved 6.5 percent over the previous year.

"We haven't been to the West Coast since 2000," Maiorino said. "It is evolving into a high-tech and biotech show, and Southern California is a hotbed for that."

The location is also more convenient for the show's international visitors (from 100 different countries), many of which travel from Pacific Rim countries and prefer a West Coast location. "Thirty-five percent of the show's total attendees and exhibitors are international," Maiorino noted.

Las Vegas-based shows had some luck as the number of exhibiting companies for shows held there in the third quarter increased 8.8 percent and attendance increased 14.2 percent on average.

"Vegas is fairly inexpensive," said ICAST's del Valle. "You can stay at the Motel 6 or the Bellagio. It's easy to fly into and you get a slew of things to choose from in terms of housing and restaurants. And people like the gambling part of it too."

The average show in this report occupied 184,226 net sq. ft. of space with 697 exhibiting companies and 12,077 attendees.