Exhibitors Seek Fewer Shows That Count More

Attention, show managers: Your exhibitors are wising up.

The 2007 Tradeshow Week survey of corporate exhibitors indicates that they are participating in fewer shows, cutting some from their schedules because of high costs, and finding ways to get more bang for their buck in the ones they keep.

It’s not that exhibitors are down on tradeshows – in fact, their results at them are great – it’s that they’re done wasting money that could be better-spent.

“I think it’s that we’re exhibiting smarter. We got rid of a lot of shows that were underperforming and increased the size of our exhibit at the ones that were performing well,” said Beth Weinstein, corporate event and tradeshow manager for photonics company Ocean Optics.

Asked how many shows they planned to exhibit in during 2007, the survey’s 123 respondents gave an average answer of 25, with a high of 400. Asked how many they exhibited in five years ago, they said 29, on average, with a high of 700.

High costs continue to cause stress. Among the 18 percent of respondents who said their total amount of exhibit space in 2007 would decrease, common write-in explanations were “budget cuts” and “high costs.”

What costs exceed the return exhibitors get from tradeshows? No surprises here, either: Materials handling (chosen by 55 percent of respondents) and exhibit space (39 percent) topped the list.

But exhibitors have gone beyond simply complaining about the price of exhibiting. The number of respondents who said high costs had caused them to stop exhibiting in any tradeshows approached the one-half mark, at 43 percent.

At the same time, 91 percent of respondents said their results from tradeshows in 2007 were better than or about the same as those of 2006. Only 9 percent said they were worse. In other words, exhibitors are happy with their results, even though they’re unhappy about costs and are participating in fewer shows.

How can this be? Simple, said Gary Survis: They’re much pickier about the shows they’re going to, so they’re getting better results.

As managing partner of Woodbridge, N.J.-based First Tradeshow, Survis is both an exhibitor and a provider of exhibit products and services, such as large-format digital printing.

He’s seeing his clients choose more niche and regional shows, but “even if it’s a large show, if what they’re selling is tightly linked to that show, they’re happy with the results,” he said.

Rather than “taking a slipshod approach and going to as many shows as they can, exhibitors are being more careful and deciding exactly what shows they want to be in,” Survis said.

Smart organizers will listen to both exhibitors and attendees and figure out how to restructure their shows to attract the kind of audience they want, he added, because their customers “have got to be able to go into any show knowing that they can connect with the people they want to, so whatever leads they get, they’re the highest quality possible.”

Weinstein agreed, adding that her tradeshow results are getting better all the time.

“In some cases show management has helped,” she said, “but also I’ve done a great deal of my own pre-show promotion, taking advantage of whatever award or paper presentation I can get my hands on.” She has actually lowered the amount of money she spends on sponsorships in favor of more cost-effective promotions.

As for costs, Weinstein and Survis said the price of drayage and exhibit space probably weren’t going down any time soon, but exhibitors are getting smarter about that, too.

Survis said, “Drayage is controllable if you design and plan for it up front,” keeping in mind the cost to ship and store an exhibit, as well as build it on site. Exhibitors also save money by buying, rather than repeatedly renting at inflated prices, items like electronics.

Weinstein added that they can use seniority and size to negotiate lower space and drayage rates. “We’re paying for (show management’s) signage,” she said. “They’re the ones negotiating with GES or Freeman,” so they have some wiggle room.