Exhibitors: Keeping Them on the Floor

Earlier this year, when Apple and Avid both decided to skip exhibiting at NAB, held April 11-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the show's producer, the Natl. Assn. of Broadcasters, most likely wasn't the only entity shaken by the news.

Apple's spokesperson, Anuj Nayar, told TSW at the time, “Apple has been cutting back its participation at shows for the past few years because there are better ways to reach our customers.” He added that the company wanted to focus on its retail stores and Web sites, which are utilized by “100 million customers around the world.”

And, two weeks ago, rumors that Apple was pulling out of the Apple Expo in Paris as well, cited the exact same reasons.

Jeff Stewart, vice president for Avid's marketing division, also said its decision to drop NAB was based on surveys that indicated the company's customers were more interested in learning how Avid could “help them solve their day-to-day production challenges and less concerned with whether we have an exhibition presence at major tradeshows like NAB.”

NAB is not the only show that's lost flagship exhibitors in the past few years as they shifted their marketing dollars away from tradeshows. With tough economic times squeezing company's resources now more than ever, how can show managers keep their big exhibitors on the showfloor?

“We've gone through situations where we've had flagships pull out,” said Megan Tanel, the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers' vice president of exhibitions.

Tanel, who oversees two of the biggest tradeshows in the United States, the triennial CONEXPO-CON/AGG and ICUEE (Intl. Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition), works with nearly 3,000 exhibitors between both shows to try and make them happy.

“Years ago (at CONEXPO), the top four or five exhibitors wanted to have a show the way they wanted it, and they all left,” Tanel said. “It's a cliche, but the show went on, and they all came back.”

The exhibitors realized the show's value, she added, as well as the fact the show enhanced the industry and attracted a strong customer base.

Tanel emphasized that one reason the shows are successful is because each of them has an exhibitor management committee that has direct input into the running of the show. “We have the buy-in of exhibitors on the strategic direction of where to go,” she added.

Tanel also said she is well aware of the cost of exhibiting at a show and works with others to ensure the market isn't saturated. “CONEXPO is every three years for a reason,” she added. “We work with other countries so there's one major show a year. One in the U.S., one in Asia, one in Europe.”

Dennis Hill, show coordinator at Show Ways Unlimited, who works on the Midwest Manufactured Housing Show held annually at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., with 161 exhibitors, may not have even close to the number of exhibitors to placate as Tanel, but he works just as hard to keep his at the show and attract even more.

Hill said one step he took to draw in more exhibitors, which also led to more attendees, was identifying a group that wasn't being served at the show, “the community manager, owner, operator-type person.”

Those buyers had stopped coming to the show, he added, because they said the products in Louisville were too expensive for them. To solve the problem, Hill wooed exhibitors to the show to serve that buyer base and offered educational sessions geared specifically to them as well. With more people on the showfloor, Hill said, the other exhibitors also naturally were happier.

The show has maintained its exhibitor base through the recent tough economic times, he added, but he's noticed they are bringing fewer products and staff members to try and trim costs. “The cost factor is exceedingly high (to exhibit at the show),” Hill said. “It costs $50,000 for each home to ship and set up.”

Attendees also are a lot more discerning and don't tend to buy as much product on the spot as they may have in the past, he added. “We're working with exhibitors to get them to understand this,” Hill said. “I think everyone is struggling with what's the right answer today. If you don't understand that (as a show manager), then one day you'll wake up and the show won't be there.”

Sally O'Shea, who owns Comprehensive Show Management and runs the Mid-Atlantic Hardscaping Trade Show, said she keeps her shows' exhibitors coming back every year by offering the right kind of buyer. “If the show produces the quality, not quantity, of attendees, ... that exhibitor base will be loyal to (the show) in coming years,” O'Shea said.

Also, because she's a one-person shop when it comes to running the show, she added that she's found a personal touch with her exhibitors has played a big part in their loyalty to the show.

“I do have a good rapport with the exhibitor base,” O'Shea said. “I attend other shows just to say hi to them. I also call them before the show and ask them if they are all set, and if there's anything they need.”

O'Shea's one-on-one attention has definitely worked – since she took over the show eight years ago, the number of booths has gone from 14 to 300.