I had a series of meetings with some old colleagues and clients last week to talk through a business proposition I”m building.  It was fascinating meeting back up with people and exploring ideas and challenging expectations.  My proposal involves exhibitions and helping clients make the most of their attendance.  Interestingly, three of the meetings I’d set up were with people who no longer exhibited.  Was I crazy?  Why was I talking through a proposal around exhibitions with people who didn’t value them?  Essentially, I trust them all as business people with valuable opinions and I needed to question and explore this idea from all angles. It was time well spent although to hear the strong ‘anti-exhibition’ beliefs of one client was a little disconcerting.  However, my equally strong belief that there is a place for exhibitions held sway but led to some more interesting angles.

My colleague's position was essentially that exhibitions are dead - they no longer have a place in today’s social media connected society.  I do agree that people are connecting in ways we’d never have thought possible only 5-10 years ago and that this ability to see/hear people and products across continents has changed the need for one space where everyone gathers.  However, is there any other forum where you can really touch, see, hear, smell and taste?  You can’t do all of that over the internet.

I did hear a story of a company who gave private and personalised viewings of their stand at NAB for those that couldn’t make the actual show.  That’s a great way to add to your audience but I don’t see how it could replace the benefits you get from visiting.  Yes, travel is getting much more expensive (and more complex with all the security issues) but how much more valuable is it to look someone/something in the ‘eye’ and build a relationship?  How much more valuable is it to touch and play with a product the same day that you touch and play with it’s competitor?

I’ll keep revisiting this topic as it’s one that fascinates me and one that I think needs exploration - exhibitions can’t stay as they are, they do need to evolve but I still maintain that there is a need and a value in having and attending them.  

My clients value the service I provide and in general sign back up year after year.  It’s a great endorsement that I’ve been working for some of them for 14 years and there are only 3% of clients who only use us for one event.  I love building relationships with clients as I really feel that you get better value the more we know about the company, it’s brand and it’s internal style.  By learning about these things we can tweak the services, save even more time preparing designs and documentation and advise on new areas that might expand their offering.

At Nutmeg, we’re specialists in business to business events and exhibitions.  This knowledge enables us to support and advise clients to the best of our ability.  Hence we bring on board other partners as and when we need them so that we can stay focused on the jobs we do really well.  Hence, I’m always a little disappointed when I see Event Agencies that profess to do everything - to my mind they’re the jack of all trades.  They may do a good job and cover off all the areas you require but are they really fine tuned to your event needs?  

Over the years, I’ve seen PR agencies, stand designers, venue finders and marketing agencies all take on event and exhibition management.  Some events have been fantastic but I know that others could really be enhanced by working with some event specialists.  After all, I’m not a PR specialist and my business is not driven in the same way so why should I start to do that?  I was trained in marketing and worked in the field for years, so in theory I could turn my hand to most elements and do a fair job but it’s not my niche, it’s not the job that I do standing on my head.

For example, venue finders are great for, guess what, finding venues.  They have knowledge of hotels and conference centres that surpasses my own - I’m not spending day in day out talking to hotels and researching new spaces.  Hence, I use them myself for that extra expertise.  What I do though is go through their results and make sure that they fit the requirements of my clients.  I can brief them all I like but I’ll know when going through the results, if they’ve found a gem or if they’ve struggled to find any venues that fit the last minute, tight deadlines of the client and then I’ll be able to evaluate if the compromise is worth it.

It’s by combining your specialists that you get the best services.  You don’t compromise on your product so don’t compromise on your suppliers.

I’m just preparing a presentation for a local group of businesses.  The nub of the presentation is about exhibiting - so far, so good, it’s my specialist subject afterall.  The showman in me has no problem standing in front of the audience and talking about things I’m passionate about.  The question is - how to I present a topic on exhibiting to companies who probably aren’t considering exhibiting?

I could regale them with tales of ghastly, ridiculously expensive designs that just didn’t work or I could take them through the proven benefits of exhibiting (if done correctly!).  Great topics but how I can get to the heart of this and engage my, largely non-exhibiting, audience.  Furthermore I’d really like them to go out and have a go at exhibiting - a table top display is all you need to present your company at a local event.  The same principles apply whether you’re designing a presence at a local exhibition or if you’re going to an international tradeshow.

Those of you who read my blog on Mindmaps may be amused that despite my dislike of them I actually found it useful in this case!  I shan’t regale you with the process but suffice to say that I did feel that it gave me the freedom to explore ideas and then bring them into some order.

Three areas came out at the end of this, subjects that I think appeal to anyone in business.  So in May come on down to Bournemouth and watch me present on the importance of exhibitions to all businesses, how to set objectives to monitor your ROI on your events and how to use your exhibition presence to promote your brand and your products effectively.

Any experienced event professional will have a magic box of goodies to pull out for any situation. Maybe I was a magpie in a previous life but I never like to be short of a piece of stationery or a tool.  This can get a bit ridiculous as my stationery boxes got larger and larger as I virtually included the kitchen sink.  Actually that was a dream I had.  I always wanted a virtual kitchen with me -something which had a kettle, tea/coffee, small fridge and all the stationery/tools I could ever need.  However, with the airlines charging so much for luggage I have to be careful what I take. So the mobile printer is out, as is the bundle of USB, Firewire, Ethernet and other cables and PSUs.

Each venue is different on what you can do, what you can attach to the walls but this list should get you started.

Pre-Event

• • Basic toolkit or at the least a Multi-tool with knife, screwdrivers etc.
• • Knife/scissors
• • Blutak and/or removable tape
• • Cycling gloves (handy for keeping your hands protected whilst moving boxes)
• • Sticky stuff remover
• • Clear Nail Polish (great for emergency mends on tights or worktops!)
• • Glass cleaner & cloth
• • Furrniture cleaner & cloth

• At the Event
• • Pens
• • Pencils
• • Sticky notes
• • Letterhead & Logos (soft copy is fine)
• • Sellotape
• • Stapler
• • Spare staples
• • Notebook (for clipping business cards to)
• • Sharpies (for marking up bottles of water/cups and of course for packing up)
• • Ruler
• • Handwipes (good for hands but also good on leather furniture)
• • Headache tablets (do not hand these out to staff as you could break the law)
• • Tissues
• • Mints (let’s keep that breathe fresh)
• 
  
• Post-event
• • Tape and tape gun for packing up
• • Pre-printed labels with your return address and space for box numbers (1 of x)

Once again it was a real pleasure to work at ISE. It's the 3rd year I've been to this AV and Systems Integration tradeshow and I'm interested in the way it's growing, the quality of the exhibitors and the sheer number of visitors.  This year they surpassed expectations and increased visitor numbers by 17% to 40,869.  Pretty impressive figures for a very cold week at the end of January.

This year I was working with a client in the Residential systems area in Hall 1. They had a good presence and made full use of their space and surrounding areas.  But more of that in the next post, for now I want to concentrate on the positive ways that ISE attracted visitors to their show. 

Organisers can no longer assume that they’ll automatically get the footfall they, and their exhibitors need.  They need to engage their audience and really work to pull them in - not just to register but to actually turn up.

Encouraging exhibitors to market the event for them

The organisers engaged with the exhibitors on a personal level.  Even with 825 exhibitors at the event, every time I phoned to speak to sales or admin I was treated like a friend and colleague. I accept that my client has been part of the association and exhibited at ISE for years but they're not a major exhibitor, so it was good to know that I had the organiser’s ear when I needed it.  This was just the start of building a relationship that engaged the exhibitors and really them become part of the exhibition.  I really think this is key to how exhibitions should move forward - it’s about working together to promote your investments.

Marketing Plan

I’m sure the organisers had a comprehensive marketing plan to draw in visitors, both directly and via their exhibitors.  However, this is my take on the elements that I saw and felt were effective.

Exhibitor Newsletters: regular information to exhibitors outlining key information and deadlines.  It’s easy to forget deadlines when you’re caught up in many events or marketing projects so these newsletters were a bonus for many exhibitors.

Visitor Newsletters: this one was sent to registered visitors and previous attendees.  These newsletters built in frequency as the show approached but didn’t seem to push the “TOO MUCH” button.  Exhibitors could sign up for advertising slots on the newsletter and submit their press releases for inclusion.

Pre-show Magazine:  another opportunity for exhibitors to promote themselves via PR and advertising as the organisers produced and sent out this valuable and informative magazine.

Show Daily:  I’m never sure how useful these are as I see so many littering the bins but they’re always popular with exhibitors keen to get their latest information in and encourage people to visit their stand on the day.

Partners: A series of key partners built a good sponsorship marketing campaign enabling the partners to promote the event, their presence at it and show how important they feel the event is.

Customer Tickets: exhibitors could download free branded entrance tickets for their customers.  The exhibitors show goodwill by sharing these, help save the client some effort and money as well as using them as the basis for their own marketing campaign.

Banners and Logos: These were readily available, again enabling the client to incorporate the exhibition into all their current marketing plans.

Mark your Diary:  How simple!  A button on the home page of the show website which automatically put the dates into your diary - with one click the date is marked.

Connecting on LinkedIn: some of the key staff connected with their exhibitor contacts enabling them to be visible on their contacts profiles.

Show guide app:  This app was downloadable onto Smart Phones and enabled visitors (and exhibitors) to get basic info, find exhibitors and plan meetings.

Twitter: if there was one weak area then it might be Twitter.  I had to work hard to find their Twitter feed and they only had around 800 followers.  Twitter is a great way to communicate with your fans.

On the last blog we discussed why you’d want to change a stand designer when you’ve already got one.  Now we’ll expand the conversation to look at how you find someone to meet your needs.  You may want to use someone with experience of the suppliers but equally you may want to manage this yourself.  As ever with marketing, I recommend you start with some questions to make sure that you know what you want out of the designer.

Where are you based?  Do you want a stand designer that you can meet regularly?  Do you want a stand designer in the country that you’re exhibiting in?

Where is the exhibition?  Check the exchange rates to see if it’s advantageous to use local or foreign designers - obviously this changes day by day but it’s worth consideration. I’ve found it can be worthwhile taking a large simple stand over to the US to install there but it’s not often cost effective to bring a US stand over to Europe.

If the exhibition is in the US don’t forget that you need to use local labour and pay drayage (movement of the goods from your vehicle to the stand) both of these can add considerably to your costs.

How much are you willing to pay?  Think about your brand and the quality level you want.  As with any supplier you can pay a lot for a highly spec’d, top quality build but are you just paying for the stand designer’s brand and reputation?  You can also pay the bare minimum but end up with rough painted wood which doesn’t reflect the clean lines and profile of your brand.

Who do you know?  Can any of your partners or suppliers recommend any stand designers? Are you still in contact with old colleagues or companies within your industry - ask them who they use.  I do find that it’s good to use designers who have experience of the industry I’m working in.  It’s much more challenging to use a designer who builds fantastically creative backdrops when you need a high tech ergonomic design.

Are you connected on LinkedIn?  Join some exhibition based groups and ask them for recommendations. 

Even with all my contacts and industry knowledge I’m always interested in meeting new suppliers and building relationships.  As such I did all of this recently and found some new suppliers in the US and across Europe, all of whom came recommended and were worth starting a conversation with. 

So when should you start your event and which day is best? Over the years I’ve heard many different event managers comment on this, all with gusto and most with experience to back up their decision.  At the end of the day it depends on your audience and your topic - are you aiming for business or consumer and is it something that people want to make time for in their busy days or would they rather team it up with some drinks and make an evening of it?  The questions (as ever) are never ending but here’s some thoughts to help you decide.

- I’ve found that people like Monday mornings to decompress from the weekend and get their thoughts in order for the week.  Hence Monday’s may not get the best attendance.

- Similarly, Fridays are either frantically full of the work that hasn’t yet been finished or is the wind down day.  Catching up on emails and work in the office so you can leave for the weekend with a clean conscience.  

- So let’s aim for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Being a pragmatist these may already be booked up for travel and meetings so get your invites out early to book these slots.

Should we now go for morning, afternoon or evening?  

- Evenings are great if you want people to network or be sociable - I concede that some are happy to do this on company time but a lot of people will be focused purely on their job during the day and so evenings, give them the option of a learning/networking opportunity with the possibility of a a free drink or canapé thrown in.

- Afternoons have never been particularly successful for my clients.  The audience fills up the morning with work and then it’s hard to justify/find the time to leave for an event.  Something always seems to come up be it traffic, bad weather, another meeting, a shortened deadline - small things can tip the scales to prevent attendance.  Do you want to risk it?

- Mornings are often the best option as people go into automatic pilot, check their diary and head to the first appointment - your event!  OK, traffic can affect timings but you can plan around that.  The crucial thing is that something else hasn’t managed to squeeze it’s way into the diary that day.

And don’t forget to look up bank holidays, any strike action due, election days, school holidays and annual national holidays ie some European companies effectively shutting down in August. It’s a complex business working out the best time and date to hold your event.  The best advice is to research your potential audience and find out how they plan their week.  Fit that research into knowledge about the local calendar and you should be able to make a rational and effective decision which gives you the best chance to get your audience to attend.

Technology is moving on fast nowadays.  After all we can now talk to our phones and ask them to find a suitable meeting time, then email or text the people to invite them.  The only trouble is, we now seem happy to talk to a phone but not to actually contact the person and talk to them about the meeting.  OK, that’s taking it to extremes but I’ve had a few instances recently where I’ve been invited to meetings and yet not one person has tried to speak to me.  Hence - I haven’t gone along.

As a person I want to be engaged, encouraged and spoken to - emails just don’t always fit the bill.  So here’s 3 circumstances that may just make people think about how they invite people to events and meetings.

Case 1: I was invited to meet up with a new employee at a supplier.  I don’t use the supplier regularly but am willing to stay in touch.  However, I have now been sent 3 group emails inviting myself and other clients to contact them to set up a meeting.  This seems so lazy to me and as I’m not valuable enough to the supplier to warrant a phone call I’m just not going to use them any more.  

Case 2: A venue finding client wanted to host a small seminar in London and they had met a collection of potential attendees.  This seminar did incur a small cost but the Return on Investment on attending was huge - so it should have been an easy sell.  However, the client refused to call the interested parties and get them to sign up.  They were trying to be more subtle and didn’t want to appear to pressurise people. Emails are great but they can be ignored (see Case 1!).  If you really want to get people to sign up you need to do more than just blast them with social media.  Try the old-fashioned picking up of the phone - especially for a small event where you have already got agreement of interest.  It may take more time but I am sure it will get you the sign ups you need.

Case 3: I was invited to visit a local venue recently - the emailed flyer was once again sent to a large group of recipients. Emails such as these are almost junk to me - with so many arriving they have to stand out to get my attention.  So I didn’t pick up on the first email but was surprised to receive another mail, marked urgent, which asked why I hadn’t responded and was I attending.  Again, it’s not a venue that was essential to my business so I put the email to one side to consider and a few days received another mail, once again demanding I let them know if I was attending.  I can’t believe that this small venue had invited more than 100 people so wouldn’t it have been so much more impressive to call me and invite me personally.  I’m not someone who goes to the opening of an envelope but I am someone who has serious business clients who might use the venue.  Group emails may get you some numbers but do they actually get you the quality atttendees that you need?So this may all seem like a rant but hopefully  you can all see that each scenario would have been so much better by the organiser knowing their mailing list, what motivates and engages them and then making sure that they use a variety of communication, especially a phone call to encourage attendance.  Please PICK UP THE PHONE!

I’m considering launching my own events and thought I’d share some of the questions that have been running through my head.  It’s not an exhaustive list of things to consider but a broad sweep just for starters and it may help trigger some inspiration or encourage you to put aside some time to work on these issues.

• • Who’s your audience?
• • No, really.  Who is your audience?  What do they look like?  How do they behave?  What inspires and motivates them?
• •  Is this a paid for event?  Will this encourage attendance or put people off?
• •  If it’s paid for, how can you create real value for the audience.  It’s not just about telling people about your product but about inspiring them.
• •  Why would your audience attend?  Education, personal growth, fun?
• •  What does your audience want to leave with?  Inspiration/ideas/news/products?
• •  How can you get them to turn up, even if they pre-register?
• •  What experience can you give them?
• •  How long will they stay at the event?  How can you extend this?
• •  How can you build a relationship with your audience before, during and after the event?