ETE Makes First-year Splash at HSMAI Event

WASHINGTON, D.C.—It was the first year of the Event Technology Expo at the Hospitality Sales Management Assn. Intl.'s Affordable Meetings Natl., but, if it's up to exhibitors, it won't be the last.

“Definitely. Let's do it again,” Michael Hatch, senior vice president of marketing and sales for a2z, said he would tell show management when asked his opinion of the inaugural event.

Hatch said a2z, which offers Web-based event management and production software, had 11 “A” leads the first day of the show, held Sept. 10-11 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. He described “A” leads as those attendees who are ready to buy the company's products within the 90 days following the show.

HSMAI launched the technology expo because “event technology is on everyone's mind,” said Robert Weissman, president of Alliance Consulting Strategies, which co-produced ETE with HSMAI.

Its focus on technology for meeting planners and show managers may be the beginning of a trend. MeetingTechOnline will hold its inaugural MTO Summit 2008 Nov. 5-6 in Chicago, what its organizers are calling the first face-to-face conference to help tradeshow organizers learn about event-related technology.

“This show was better for us than ASAE,” Hatch added, referring to the American Society of Assn. Executives & The Center's Annual Meeting & Expo held Aug. 16-19 in San Diego.

Eric Hatch, account executive with a2z, said his company had no plans to exhibit at the Affordable Meetings show until the staff heard of the launch of the additional show focusing on event technology.

“Rob contacted us early,” Michael Hatch said, referring to Weissman. “He offered us a sweetheart deal.”

Show managers said this year's HSMAI show had the highest pre-registration, 2,750 attendees, of all its shows. (It holds three throughout the year in different regions of the country.) ETE had 32 exhibitors on 4,500 net square feet and drew about 650 dedicated attendees, according to show management. Overall, the HSMAI show had 466 exhibiting companies and 46,200 net sq. ft.

A half an hour after the exhibition opened the first day of the show, attendees buzzed around the booths in the ETE portion of the showfloor, located at the back of the exhibit hall.

Rick Borry, chief software architect with Certain Online Registration, said the company exhibited at HSMAI's three annual events for the past 10 years, but had felt like a “needle in the haystack” among the convention and visitors bureaus and hoteliers, which represent the overwhelming majority of exhibitors at the show. Attendees at the show tend to be meeting planners and event organizers looking for cost-efficient destinations for their meetings and events.

“Most of the people weren't really interested in software,” he added.

This year, however, those who were interested found their way to the ETE. The traffic was lighter than on the main floor, Borry said, but the attendees were there to see his company's technology.

“A show like this, it takes one new client to pay for the show,” he added.

By the second day of the show, Certain Online had set up 15 to 20 meetings with new clients, according to those manning the booth.

Attendee Katie Calabrese, vice president of events at the Career College Assn., said her main reason for attending the show was to take advantage of the ETE education sessions before and after the exhibition. She said she'd already seen some of the products exhibitors were displaying at ETE, but others “are new and very high-tech,” she added.

When asked if she thought ETE was an addition to the show that should be kept, Calabrese said, “I think we have to.”

Among the events that Calabrese organizes is the CCA Annual Convention & Exposition, scheduled June 14-16 at the Marriott Orlando World Center Resort in Orlando.

Rhonda Schaver, an event planner with The Arc of the United States, which holds The Arc's National Convention, said last year's event was the first to use a keypad voting system for audience response.

“We're looking for new ideas,” she added. Schaver said the exhibitors at ETE were very helpful.

Bill Johnson, with Arvada, Colo.-based Oswego Creative, said his company hadn't exhibited at any previous HSMAI events but probably will continue exhibiting at ETE in the future.

“From an audience perspective, it's exactly who we want to (reach),” he added.