TSMI's Trade Show Marketing Report

TSMI.org is history

11 years ago I had an idea to develop an internet portal (portals were hot back then - remember VerticalNet?) for the trade show industry.  The site was called TSMI for Trade Show Marketing Institute and registered as an .org domain.  It was ahead of its time, built on an alpha version of an ASP-based CMS using exerpts of content from more than 60 different sites (this was before licensing online content was common). 

The reason for using an alpha product was, of course, cost.  Unfortunately relying on unproven software from a tiny company meant a lot of bugs, constant updates and, in the end, no product at all.  The developers went in a different direction and my beautiful ahead-of-its-time site was dead in the water by late 2002 - about the same time I started blogging about trade shows.

In the ensuing years I've given a lot of thought on how to use the domain for something else related to trade shows.  But I never came up with anything.

In a week I'll be letting it go.  No sorrows.  In fact, I wouldn't have even thought about tsmi.org had Network Solutions not sent me a dozen reminders to renew.

The small print...

You can tell I don't spend much time on this blog because it wasn't until this morning that I noticed when I open TSMR on Firefox, it only takes up about 1/2 of the screen and the font size looks like a GM leasing agreement.  Not a problem on Safari. 

Have to think this is something to do with the new Typepad system updates since we didn't change any design parameters on our end.  Will look into it.  Meantime, use your browser's zoom function and accept our apologies.

Had to check the calendar to make sure it was still 2009

Why are we still talking about social media as if it were something new and mysterious?

Social media applications are neither Godsends nor the coming apocalypse for face-to-face meetings.  They are simply tools. Figure them out, use the ones that make sense for your operational culture. And if transparency and high value attendee communications aren't part of your culture, just skip it.  Really, you'll only hurt yourself.

The rest of you will figure it out just like you did fax machines, email and salesforce.com.

Just in case they decide to pull it, here was the TSMR response:

July 19, 2009
In response to: Challenge for Traditional Events and Exhibitions in Embracing an Online Connected World
Rich Westerfield commented:

Re: "Most show producers had trouble understanding how a Twitter account could generate closed deals."

Jesus H. Christ. If that's what they're looking for, they'll never get it, just like they it took a dozen years to begin to understand database-driven websites.

1. Give the attendee an experience of value (and social media helps that).
2. They return next year (and tell their friends) and/or purchase/subscribe to exhibitor/speaker content.
3. Attendance grows organically with QUALIFIED people exhibitors want to meet.
4. Profit.

But no, the bastards want their money today. This industry can't die soon enough.

It's not as if there aren't hundreds of models on how to use this stuff.  But setting up a Twitter account on Monday and watching checks roll in on Thursday isn't one of them.

Friend or Blogger or Both?

Was just looking at this Mintel report on Word of Mouth (WoM).  Mintel's interpretation is that traditional WoM (using actual lips and voice) beats online WoM by a large margin.

But when I read it, I immediately wondered: For people under 30 (and some older folks), to what extent is there an actual difference between the two as it relates to the question being asked?  Does "friend" mean the same as it did to Boomers and many GenXers?  Or is everyone in one's network these days (including Tom) considered a "friend"?

And even if the definition is the same (which I doubt, the way many folks collect online friends), if you heard a product recommendation (or even a mention) online from somebody you trusted as much as a friend, would you consider that person "friend" or "blogger"?

Does Your Event Own Its Twitter ID?

I was exchanging tweets with an old colleague about using Twitter for her upcoming show.  I noticed that her show's name (and logical variants, like <showname year>) have not been claimed.

A Twitter ID may be meaningless to you today if you're not planning on using it right away.  And maybe it doesn't have and will never have the value of a URL.  But it has value.  And just like there were squatters holding URLs hostage, it's bound to happen with Twitter.

Grab your show name and open an account now.  Before I do.

Difference-Making

Let me get this out of the way first:  I lopped it off.  Turns out I really didn't even have to rationalize the haircut.  It's just one less complication in life.  Can't tell you how many times I've searched the house high and low for a small rubber band. No regrets and the staff thinks I look cuter.

So I went on an interview Friday.  Good company.  Owner is a very nice guy and knowledgeable about his product.  And I admire his conviction to sticking to specializing in one small corner of the exhibition world. I could sell it.

But at the end of the day, it's comes down to this being one of those product categories that doesn't really have much of a barrier to competition and isn't changing the playing field.  It's just your ability to sell vs. your competition's ability to sell basically the same thing.  That turns on some people.  And it's certainly why excellent salespeople are compensated excellently.

It may very well come down to working just for the money at some point.  But over the past decade, I've been fortunate enough to find myself in situations where it wasn't just the money.  It was making a difference and an impact, from both product and marketing perspectives.  No blowing smoke up anyone's butt.  That's not necessary when you're too busy changing the entire game for your market.  Did it at Passkey.  Did it with Aldo Coffee.  In some respects we even did it at Coverings.  And before that, the Internet World shows.

In each case, anyone else in that market had to react to what we were doing.  In each case we had many more customers who wouldn't think of going elsewhere because the falloff in value and benefits received was simply too great.  The product delivered.  Customers were allies, not adversaries to conquer.

It comes down to this.

Where's that gig?

Ponytail. Or not.

Conflicted at the moment.  The four years I've spent in coffee has helped produce a different guy.  One of  those old-hippie-ish balding dudes with a grey-brown six-inch ponytail.  Quite a difference from the shaved head look I was sporting at even my most recent speaking gigs.

So, without the promise of a job, but with interviews lined up, should I just lop it all off or take my chances?

Job Hunting

After four years of working full time at the coffeehouse, it's become apparent that there's less than a snowball's chance in hell that revenues from the shop will ever be enough to support both my wife and I. 

One of us needs to get back to work.  And since I'm the minority owner, it looks like that's me.

So, if anyone is looking for someone with a ton of experience in marketing trade shows, marketing and selling services (technology or otherwise) to exhibitors, or is looking for someone to handle research and/or due diligence for launches or acquisitions, drop me a line. 

Particulars are here.

When Amex Loses, So Do You

Just had an interesting experience with American Express that I think does not bode well for the meeting industry.

I'm doing a project for a conference using an online printer.  I went to charge a not-all-that-unusually high figure to cover print and postage. 

Declined. 

Say what?

I've been doing this for the same client for roughly the same amounts at the same time each of the past four years.  Because he's also a good friend, it's the only time I'll advance print/postage charges on my card.  Never had a problem before.

I call Amex to see what's up.  They tell me that because my monthly charge total has been averaging X for the past six months, this new charge, which is higher, was automatically declined as it does not reflect my "pattern" of spending.  That, and I had a Sign and Travel balance I'd been carrying.

And here I thought the whole purpose of the Sign and Travel feature was to allow for carrying a balance.  Silly me.

It didn't matter that I've had this pattern of major Q4 print and postage purchases for the past four years.  To Amex, it only matters what has happened in the past six months.

The representative (who was very nice) told me that if I pay my current Sign and Travel balance AND the charges I've incurred this month to date - which I haven't even received a statement for yet - then, with the approval of a supervisor, I can put through the print and postage purchase I'm trying to make.   

I pay.  My purchase goes through.  My conference can now be marketed.

Then I ask her a question.  I have an even bigger job that I need to print in three weeks.  It's 3x the amount I just charged.  I've also done that for four years running.  The rep tells me I have to call ahead to get that charge approved.  And that I may have to prepay some part of that charge in order to get it approved by Amex.

At that point, it simply makes more sense to pay by check, doesn't it?

Now, I've been a "member" with Amex since 1984.  I understand they're having some difficulties.  But this seems absurd.

And while I am willing to work around this because I have to get this print job out, how many potential attendees whom you're targeting for your next conference will find themselves in the same situation, trying to put through a big flight or hotel or registration fee that exceeds their six month spending "pattern", and when their purchase is declined, will just say, "Screw it," and not attend?

My guess is that it will be quite a few.  For two reasons.  First, it's a pain to deal with and even if it's Amex's fault and not yours... well, it rubs off.  And there's a decent chance many of those potential attendees won't have the funds handy to pay off their current balances. 

Second, and this is more critical, is that anything that in the way of completing the registration process is an opportunity for your potential customer to reconsider whether they really need to attend your event.  As many attendees use Amex to complete their purchase, many are going to be in for a rude surprise.  And my guess is, that once they're done fuming over the problem with Amex, they may discover it really wasn't as urgent to register for your event at that moment as they thought.

In other words, when Amex has a problem, it creates problems for others.  And you lose.

Be prepared for it.

Either You're With Us Or Against Us

Tim Bourquin bares his soul in this intriguing and sure-to-be-controversial post on whether he should continue in offering a tradeshow component to his New Media event.

He lists five areas of dealing with vendors and prospects where he's reached his wit's end:
- wireless internet
- drayage
- "pay for play" (prospect's refusal to exhibit w/o a speaking opportunity)
- attrition
- lack of control over how subcontractors treat customers

On first read, I think part of Tim's challenge on the cost issues is that his exhibitors are new school thinkers, possibly undercapitalized, and armed with deep and wide metrics from their online marketing activities - metrics difficult to duplicate with inexact media like tradeshows.

The experienced among us know that booth space is often only 20-25% of total exhibitor expense. But as show managers, we have to justify the other 75% too.  Despite advances in data capture, our industry's metrics remain too inexact for many customers and prospects.  For the show manager, there's simply no one spreadsheet factoid we can point at for a specific show and say, "This was your expense. This was your return. How can you say exhibiting at our show didn't work?"

That, plus, particularly with drayage, many of Tim's exhibitors may not be "used to" this type of extortion (or the soda example,  which truly sucks), whereas in traditional and mainstream industries the person responsible for managing the logistics just plugs that number into a spreadsheet because they know it's coming.  So it maybe the unanticipated surprise and shock as the actual figure.

I wanted to give Tim a wider audience for this post as it's a necessary discussion for our industry.

I'd write more about it, but I'm on my wife's Dell which has a broken space bar and uses XP, which I've all but forgotten how to deal with ;-)