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.

Two things that I do regularly get bad press - networking and exhibiting.  People complain about them both, saying that they’re a waste of time, they can be expensive and not worth the effort.  I agree - they can be.  If you go into them with a negative attitude it’s self-fulfilling.

Let’s take networking.  You’re basically walking into a room full of people, many of whom you don’t know, some of whom you really wouldn’t want to know and some who frankly look a little scary. What’s the point?  No, really, what’s the point?  What did you plan to do at the meeting?  If you say that you just like a chat over coffee I’m really disappointed.  If you say you want immediate sales I’m still disappointed.  I know, I’m hard to please but networking is expensive as it takes key people out of the business for hours at a time so you need to have a plan.  Spending time looking in on your job or your business is useful but networking may not be the best place to do that.  So what do you want?  Make a list of what you expect to achieve and set out to realise those objectives.  Don’t forget that a really important aspect of networking is to build relationships for future objectives - you never know who might know someone who can help you in the future.

What happens if you now remove references to networking and replace them with exhibiting.  I think they’re similar - exhibitions can be big, scary and expensive.  If you go to an exhibition without a plan it’s just a waste of time and money.  I often think that people spend less time looking at exhibiting in it’s entirety than they do with other marketing mediums. Would you send out a press release on plain paper or with typos?  Would you place an ad and not think about what your message is and how best to get it over?  So many people seem to exhibit without those basic considerations.  They  use paper posters stuck on a wall at the last minute with old Blutak. They have a meeting area which is covered with equipment and trailing cables.  Why do it?  What does it say about your brand and the way you care about your company?

Two really important questions to ask yourself before you network or exhibit:

What do I want to get out of this activity?

How do I make this activity fit into my marketing plan?

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)

Technology is moving so fast nowadays it's interesting to see how it impacts on the way you deal with your trade show leads. You do deal with your trades how leads don't you? A few companies I've known simply put them in a drawer or leave them as a single excel spreadsheet with NO actions.  OK, so leads may not be your primary objective for attending but surely you recognise that they could still be a gold mine.  Add these to your CRM system and you begin to build a better a picture of your clients from interest to purchase, and you are able to contact them with suitable offers in the future.

Bar Code Scanners

So do you invest in a bar code scanner at the trade show?  On the positive side, they allow you to do a quick scan to get key data which can be beneficial when you're overloaded with visitors or when you simply want to log everyone in and out of a theatre or demo session.  On the downside they're not cheap, and you’re reliant on the visitor entering correct data. How many times have you opened up the database to find a batch of half filled information and a tick in the box saying - do not contact.? 

Most standard exhibition lead scanning systems aren’t tailored to your needs.  Some will allow a simple adjustment to log answers to a few questions but they're not ideal.  How many times have you been to a tradeshow where you have to wait whilst the staff repeatedly try to scan and edit your data?  It’s not the best way to build a rapport with your visitors.

So could you develop your own system?  I've worked with companies who have had proprietary systems developed - these allowed immediate synchronization with their own CRM system and of course, personalised and specific questions.  A great solution but it’s not a cheap option for everyone.  With so many CRM systems in the Cloud  nowadays I’m sure there are solutions out there to allow you to use your iPad or iPhone to import directly.  Any system has to be quick and allow good sales staff to hone in on the key data they need and record this seamlessly.  I’m not sure we’re there yet.  Pen and Paper/Business Cards still have their role.

Quality vs Quantity

You do also have to think about how much time you want your sales staff entering leads.  Are you after quality leads or just a quantity of new contacts to deal with later?  Tradeshows are a big investment so it’s up to you to plan your objectives and analyse whether or not your team can divide and conquer - having a couple of people filtering visitors and passing on promising ones to other sales people. 

An alternative is to get bar code scanner data sent back to base each night for review and adding on to the CRM system.  Good office staff can refer back and make sure that immediate follow up is sent out.

Inbound Marketing

A more promising solution for new leads/contacts is to get them to log onto your website and enter their own data.  You may have to develop your Social Media systems around this but with a dedicated landing page on your website with an unrepeatable offer you could have a QR code on your stand literature or even the stand itself.  This way you’re starting a relationship and not just gathering data.

There are many solutions but as long as you have a plan which you follow through, exhibitions are a goldmine of contacts.

When you sign up for exhibition space the question always is - how much do you book and where do you book it?  It’s difficult to work out how much space you should book at an exhibition - well, it’s hard if you don’t know what you want to do on that space.  Often my role is to work with clients on the background to their events, as well as the actual planning.  This is where I really feel I can add value.  It’s so easy to book the same amount of space as last year or to just pick a nice looking space. Why waste your money if you don’t need so much or why push your design beyond it’s limits if you book a space too small?

As you often book space a year or more in advance it can be really hard to know what products/services you’ll have online at that time, and more crucially, how you want to demonstrate them.  However, we have to make some decisions so lets start with the basics.

Why are you exhibiting?

Are you there to promote your brand, to meet new clients/dealers or to sign deals and sell product off the stand?Each element requires a very different presence, and so a different space.  I urge you not to book space just to look good  - it’s easy to sign up for more space and create a very open, airy booth but is it really worth it?  Could you spend your marketing money better if you had a smaller space and had sponsorship or a secondary offsite meeting room?

There are so many considerations and each company is different - I’ll try and outline some questions in a future blog but for now, here’s a case study of what my client did at ISE 2012 this year.

ISE 2012

My client had a relatively small space on the show floor so we didn’t have too much flexibility.  They were at the exhibition to meet old and new dealers and distributors - to build relationships and show their latest products.  We all know that trade show floors are not the best places to show off video and audio so we have to compromise but that doesn’t mean we can’t give a good overview of products.

Traditionally, they had several small demonstration areas where sales staff could bring their visitors and explain how the products worked, we also had a table and chairs where we could hold informal (but often planned meetings). Lastly, we had a reception which enabled us to monitor the booth activity, act as a focus for meeting visitors, have a small demo area and track visitor presence.

This year they wanted to try something new to demonstrate their latest product.  This would involve putting a theatre onto the booth - not easy on the space we had.  In fact some designers we discussed this with, said it couldn’t be done. So we had to maximise our space.  To do this we took up much of the stand with an enclosed theatre. We then moved a product rack to an outside wall, allowing us to utilise aisle space effectively (and within regulations).  The reception was positioned to allow us to welcome oncoming visitors but also to manage entrance to the theatre (scanning every badge as they entered) and be a last resort demo station.  We then had a single product demo area and a separate museum case which gave us two more spaces to discuss products.  Lastly, we managed to squeeze in a table and chairs.

The design wasn’t roomy but it was effective, we gave sales people 3 areas to discuss products.  We had space for the development teams to sit informally for their pre-planned meetings and we had an enclosed theatre which demonstrated the latest product.  What’s more - as we had a booth by the aisle and catering concessions we could use their tables and chairs for further meetings when we were overrun.

All in all it worked really well - there were some things we’d change for next year but stands should evolve and we should always review how each aspect worked for sales, marketing and top management.  By adding in this feedback we will know how to amend the design for next year - whatever products we have at the event at that point!

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.

Looking back to last year's blogs on briefing a new stand designer I thought we should look how you choose between them and pick your new partner.

Hopefully by now you’ve had in at least three different stand designs from different companies.  They all look great but how do you judge them and decide who to go with?  Here’s a few thoughts on the way I’d make a decision:

Stand / Brand Interpretation

It’s very easy to look at a stand design and rule it out because your logo has been placed in a way you don’t like.  I agree that it’d be great if any designer could view your website and any branding guidelines you have and be able to interpret them correctly.  However,  designers are designers because they’re good at extrapolating ideas and taking them further than you could.  Hence, I say don’t look at the design as fixed, look at it as a complex set of elements that can showcase what you want and be changed to fit your ideals better.  So look at the designs with an open mind.  View the overall impression, the way the tall elements bring attention to your brand from afar, the way the demonstration requirements have been designed and the way the look and feel of the quality fits your brand.

It’s easy to score points for design but make sure that you’ve given them the right information to start with.

Experience

What experience have you had whilst dealing with the designers?  Were they open to ideas?  Did you speak to the designer directly or were your briefs/opinions interpreted and past on by a sales (sorry, Business Development) Manager? Did their values sync with yours?  If you were able to visit their offices/view their website etc - how does that make you feel?  Do those feelings suit you and your brand?  ie don’t expect a basic pre-packed grated cheese if you are a cheese aficionado and hunt out specialist cheeses.

Response Time

Be honest now - are you a demanding customer?  Do you expect answers immediately and to speak to the manager whenever you want?  We all should expect that level of service so think back to how quickly and in detail you got responses to your questions?  If they can’t be bothered to respond quickly when they’re trying to win your business, how are they going to be when it’s contracted?

Price

Last but not least - price.  Do check the quote in details - what does it include and what is excluded?  How many graphics are shown?  What lighting is included?  Is it sufficient for your needs?  Be very careful here - you may change your mind and need more items afterwards and these could come in very expensive so let’s hope you know what you’re comparing.Can you re-use the stand for less cost next time?  What is the cost of storage?  How easy will it be to change for the next show?

As I scan the web and keep up to date with news and information on events and exhibition I occasionally find interesting articles that are worth forwarding.

In these days of budget control I thought this was worth a mention.

How to Reduce Your Exhibiting Costs by 30% in a Recession

For the full article click on:

www.accessdisplays.co.uk