Boarders in the Yard

Las Vegas¡ªAt its Jan. 22¨C25 SIA SnowSports Trade Show at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, owner and organizer Snow-Sports Industries America found an innovative, albeit somewhat risky, solution to a challenge typical of what tradeshow managers face week in and week out.

Two flagship exhibitors, Rossignol Ski Company and Quicksilver, merged. Rossignol decided to abandon its approximately 20,000 square foot exhibit at the end of Hall A and move to its new sister company's spot in the snowboard section of the market sector-categorized showfloor.

That created more than one problem. First, for the 2005 show, SIA had worked with then-flagging Rossignol on an exhibit program to anchor the company in the spot it has now abandoned. SIA went as far as hiring ExhibitGroup Giltspur and GES Exposition Services to devise an exhibit program for Rossignol that would save the company money while reviving its ¡ª and boosting the show's ¡ª image. The idea was not only to draw traffic to that section of the show, but to also prove to everyone that a large presence there was worth the investment.

It worked. Rossignol bought the exhibit program, and representatives told Tradeshow Week at the time they couldn't have been happier with the results. But then, two years later, the company pulled up stakes and moved to the snowboard section, already perceived as much more hip and fun than anywhere else on the showfloor.

That left a gaping wound in SIA's anchoring and traffic flow plans ¡ª but that's not all. The show's exhibitors are SIA members, who consider themselves owners of the show, and, thus, of their spots on the showfloor. That, along with management's desire to keep the show clearly categorized, meant filling the 10,000 sq. ft. hole wasn't as simple as just shuffling some people around.

So, what to do with the empty space?

"The Yard," said David Ingemie, SIA president.

The Yard would be a category unto itself. For first-time exhibitors, it would feature small 10¡ä¡Á10¡ä and 10¡ä¡Á20¡ä booths with affordable turnkey service packages. Because most of the 40 to 50 companies on the waiting list to get into the show are up-and-comers in the snowboarding market, SIA would make the Yard a "progressive exhibit section ... representing the lifestyle and experience of the snowboard" culture, as the show guide put it. Edgy Seattle design firm Utility created the concept, and SIA added music, art and special appearances to give the Yard a party atmosphere.

There was just one more problem: The existing snowboard section was still more fun ¡ª and a long way from the newest thing on the showfloor.

"The Yard is a great concept, but it's in the wrong place," said Scott Rickett of exhibitor Flowlab, which makes wheeled boards that snowboarders can ride when there's no snow. "Most of the people on the other side of the show don't even know we're here."

Other exhibitors agreed but, as a testament to SIA's strength in its industry, booth workers from only one of the companies Tradeshow Week spoke to, Shoeboard, said they wouldn't return to the show next year.

"We've been on the waiting list for a couple years," Rickett said. "We're just thrilled to be in the show. We'll come back next year. Hopefully, we'll get a better spot and a bigger booth."

Ingemie said SIA planned to include the Yard again next year, raising the question: If it's just for first-timers, what will organizers do with the companies that are there this year and want to return?

"We don't know that yet," Ingemie said. "We normally have about 20-percent turnover of exhibiting companies, so we don't know if they'll still be around, if they'll still want to exhibit."

The association was toying with expanding the area, he said, and maybe even applying similar concepts to other areas of the show.

"This was really kind of a test, and it went well," he added. "We can improve on it."

At least one exhibitor acknowledged that part of the responsibility for drawing traffic was hers. Snowboard Revolution's Susan Iceman thought the strength of the products and services her company exhibited and the guerilla marketing tactics it used to draw attention had a lot to do with its success.

"We are having a great time," Iceman said. "We'll come back. SIA did a pretty good job advertising for the Yard. It's not as busy as the rest of the show, but we're doing something new, so we've gotten a lot of positive feedback."

Elsewhere on the showfloor, the mood was equally upbeat. Ingemie said SIA expected a 5-percent increase in attendance over last year, based on preliminary registration numbers.