Overheard on the Showfloor
-- Tradeshow Week, 8/4/2008
“Apparently we're recycling everything.”
–Master of Ceremonies Lou Santini, noting this year's theme, “Grad School for Marketers,” is the same as two years ago, during the Corporate Event Marketing Assn. Summit 2008, July 20-22 in Las Vegas
“Everybody's freaked out by the economy.”
–Exhibitor Aprille Krah, commenting on why she thought it was slow at the California Gift Show, July 18-21 in Los Angeles
“If people see what they like, they are willing to buy.”
–Buyer Daniel Bennett, explaining why he thought the California Gift Show was worthwhile
“The arrogant part is kind of annoying, but the perky part is cute.”
–Stanford University Professor Robert Sutton, commenting on the nature of most Google employees, during CEMA
“If I don't get this next sale, then I won't make my numbers. If I don't make my numbers, then I won't get a raise. If I don't get a raise, then I'll have to move in with my mother-in-law. If I move in with my mother-in-law, then I'll have to shoot myself. So, if I don't make this next sale, I'm going to shoot myself.”
–Speaker Helen Berman, explaining how salespeople's anxiety causes them to fail, during an event of the Southwest Chapter of the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events, July 22 in Long Beach
“If you don't know who Jamie Lynn Spears is, you're a baby boomer. If you lost in Little League and still got a trophy, you're a millennial.”
–Cultural anthropologist Matt Heller, speaking on marketing to different generations, during CEMA
“There's an old adage: 'When the U.S. sneezes, Europe gets a cold.' Have you heard this? Well, right now Europe has a cold, and so do we.”
–Bob Dallmeyer, on the U.S. and European economies, at SWIAEE
