TSMI's Trade Show Marketing Report

Are Echo Boomers Really Lazy Slobs?

I got a kick out of reading this writeup on the recent Int'l Housewares Show.  Midway through the article was this gem of analysis:

Younger customers, say marketers, are decidedly less fussy about cleaning, and looking for ways to make the whole process faster and easier. George Foreman Jr., the 30-year-old son of the boxing champion turned grillmaster, was at the show promoting the new George Foreman grill-cleaning spray. "I have a lot of friends who aren't married yet, and they grill something quick when they get home," Foreman says. "Some of the guys are lazy and might not clean their grills right away. This new spray cleaner will help them."

I've owned a GF grill for several years.  There is nothing easier to clean in the world.  How lazy can one get?

However, you don't have to be lazy to appreciate products like the Roomba.  Ms. TSMR and I bought one for her sister this past Christmas.  And while it requires little effort to operate, the real appeal to her family is that it's fun to watch.  And it's apparently hysterical to watch pets interact with it.

Putting together what we know (or assume) to be the characteristics of the Echo Boomer market (kids of Boomers), is it time for some enterprising entreprenuer to launch "The Lazy Show"?  Of course, if you market to lazy consumers, you run the risk of them being too lazy to show up.

NB - One unrelated complaint about the article - and it's pervasive throughout media.  That is the use of "Starbucks-quality coffee" or the use of Starbucks as universal code for coffee shop.  In the opening paragraph of the article it appears the author's use of "Starbucks-quality" means "good", when much of the coffee-drinking universe would consider that "average".  Starbucks is not a synonym or meme for coffee.  Starbucks is only a synonym for the over-roasted beans and $4 milkshakes they serve at Starbucks.  Let's please stop this lazy journalism.

Wanted: Gaming Show. Reply to: United Kingdom

Last year a number of shows that targeted UK video gamers were extra competitive, challenging each other's dates and venues, while muddling the landscape and confusing gamers as to which event they should attend.

As a result, there were many losers and no clear winners.  And now in 2005, UK gamers don't know where to go to for their fix.

Looks like there's an opportunity for someone out there who can put together a decent gaming show.  With CMP pulling out the gaming market, there doesn't seem to be a multinational publisher/organizer capable of making a run in what appears to be a opening in a solid market.

Any takers?

When a 52% Increase in Attendance Isn't Enough - Any Ideas?

Usually, a show manager would be ecstatic with a 52% increase in attendance in one year. 

But for one of my clients, that's not enough.  And with two weeks to go until the event, I'm at a loss for coming up with a miracle.

Here's the scenario:  The client had a small conference and exhibit in an industrial niche that had drawn about 400 paid attendees the past two years.  This year they had a goal of nearly doubling their exhibitor participation (done) with a corresponding doubling of their attendance (only 52% of the way there).

Part of their strategy was to launch a second co-located conference in a vertical that has a bigger attendee universe than the original show.  There would be no real distinction between exhibits for the two events but the number of sessions would double. 

The original event was backed by two client-owned publications which contributed most of the advertising and mailing lists.  The new event is backed only by a new e-newsletter.  About 1/2 the budget for this year's event went for purchasing 3rd party lists and fractional ads in other publications.

While registrations have increased by 52%, the average sale is down - from $895 to $671, resulting in only a 14% year-to-year increase in revenues.

I've done everything I can think of.  I created a viral early in the cycle that brought in twice as many inquiries as last year's total attendance.  I created a free exhibit pass program (it's $50 to see exhibits without the free pass) that has tripled exhibit-only registration.  I had them change up from two mailings of the same brochure to doing an earlier pre-con and two mailings of the full brochure with different covers. 

Everything appeared to be working according to plan until the pre-registration discounts ended a couple of weeks ago.  Then registrations almost stopped cold.  It's just been a trickle since then.

For April we're doing weekly emails, and have bought/bartered banners and text ads and enewsletter sponsorships with several leading publications.  We've also contacted relevant local association chapters to have them publicize the event to their members.

For the final push I've created editorial for them to go in regional business press this week.  We're firing away email blasts to large companies to encourage them to send teams.  We're also targeted every plant within 200 miles of the venue.

Yet it all looks like it won't be enough.  I need to come up with a couple hundred attendees this week and next, even if it's just for the exhibit hall.  The new conference doesn't seem to be pulling its weight and the original event may well have maxed out its drawing potential.

If you've got some wild-ass idea on how to fill the exhibit hall (with qualified attendees, natch) at the 11th hour, I'm listening.  Drop me an email, rich at westerfieldgroup-dot-com.

The conference opens in 13 days.

HITEC Gets Tough On Outboarders

HITEC, the hotel technology event, has had significant issues with outboarders in the past.  As it's an event in which hotels have a vested interest, it seems a bit odd that the hotels themselves would be willing accomplices in booking demo rooms for non-exhibitors during the event dates.  But, that's apparently been the case.

HITEC has announced it is getting more aggressive in hopes of eliminating outboarding.  This from a release posted on the HITEC site last week:

Among the techniques HFTP will use are attendee volunteers who provide show organizers with copies of product demonstration invitations, increased security, attendee awareness of the issue, aggressive defense of HITEC and HFTP service marks, vigorous promotion of the official HITEC exhibitor list and allied meetings located on the HITEC web site and increased cooperation from our partner conference hotels who notify HFTP of attempts by non-exhibiting companies to gain meeting space.

While HITEC might have success in eliminating outboarding in hotels in its blocks, can it really eliminate outboarding in non-block properties or in restaurants or other venues with meeting space?  I would think not.  Those types of properties likely have no idea about the relationship between the outboarder and the show, and the outboarder's dollar is just as green as anyone else's.

Having faced this same issue several times with tech shows, a savvy outboarder can get around most roadblocks, although good show managers make it as difficult as possible, as HITEC seems to be doing.   

First, outboarders should never be dumb enough to use the show  inlogo or the event name in their promos.  That eliminates trademark issues that one of these parasites might get caught up in. A solid trademark defense is a show manager's best friend for prosecuting any outboarders they catch. 

Second, outboarders shouldn't promote inside the hall.  While there may be no legal grounds for an arrest, you may find yourself being rudely escorted elsewhere by security.  You may even find yourself photographed in the hands of security and effectively pilloried in your community as the leech that you are.

One thing that works in favor of outboarders is that in most cases show management and venue officials are powerless to do anything about outboarders who use the public areas outside convention centers and hotels to distribute invitations to events not associated with the show/conference they're leeching off of.  At this time there's not much show managers can do other than make attendees aware that exhibitors are the white hats and outboarders are black hats.

Some would argue that outboarders only do so because they don't believe that exhibiting offers necessary ROI.  That's simply untrue.  Outboarders outboard because they are cheap.  Even if the event was a huge success for every single exhibitor, outboarders would still not participate because it's simply their philosophie and how they operate. 

Many outboarders like to rationalize that they are effective guerilla marketers.  I wouldn't call it that.  I'd call it for what it is: parasitic, cheap, petty behavior.

WiFi In a Pinch

There are some blogs I read just to get smarter.  Ross Mayfield's is one of those.  His vision of the world just makes a lot of sense and he's in the forefront of providing the technology to get there.

Anyway, if Ross is at your event, you will have wifi, even if it's not offered by the hotel.  Why?  Because he carries an AirportExpress with him. 

(OK, it might not work if you're miles away from civilization, but in most urban and suburban environs, it should work).

While I won't pretend to have a clue on how to do what Ross suggests, some of you might.  Ross's solution won't likely solve wifi issues at a big convention center, it might be just the thing for hotel conferences and seminars where Plan B is necessary. 

And you have to love that he actually got credit for "sponsoring" wifi at an event for $100.

If I ever figure this out, I'll add it to my own toolkit.

One Week Old, Tradeshow Startup Is Already Compelling

I have to mention it again - the Tradeshow Startup blog is worth following.

It's only a week old, but Tim Bourquin has got me hooked.  He's bringing up great issues and being very open with details on how he's making decisions for his new Podcast and Portable Media Expo.

It's a bit like watching a reality show.  Except this really is real.  It's his money.

Are Blogs the New PR? The Lines Are Blurring.

This post doesn't deal directly with trade shows, but you can certainly connect the dots.

If you had any doubt about how blogs are changing the face of public relations, I suggest you take a look at GM's FastLane blog, written by Bob Lutz, GM's Vice Chairman.

This, friends, is where public relations is headed. 

It's one thing to discount the success of Bob Scoble's blog because he's over at Microsoft and conversing mostly with techs and wired marketers who were early adopters of blogging. 

But you can no longer ignore blogs when a senior executive at the nation's largest manufacturer throws open the curtain and starts talking with you, not at you. 

He's not talking to leading edge techies.  He's addressing concerns of the automotive press, investors and most importantly, car buyers.

And that's the difference.  PR talks at you.  Lutz is trying to have a conversation.  And it's a conversation that he admits is, at times, trying, because there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions on GM products and strategies, many of which are not exactly positive endorsements.

So what we have is a scenario where anytime GM issues a traditional press release, those in-the-know are going to see what Lutz has to say.  He has, willingly or unwillingly, become a key part of GM's public face through his blog - and more than that, his online presence makes him a far more trusted public face than the company's PR department.  His willingness to address (or not address) specific issues is the starting point for all future conversation.

What Lutz is doing is also another endorsement for having your key executives participate in blogging instead of outsourcing to some anonymous author who cannot speak with the authoritative voice (or inside knowledge) of your own executives.

Blogs are here to stay people.  Having one (a good one, that is) has just become an important asset, if not a distinct competitive advantage.

Thanks to AdRants for the pointer.

Article With Tony Maiorino in April's Successful Meetings

It's called "Give Your Attendance Numbers a Boost".  In it, Tony and I talk about the value of content and why it's ultimately content, not marketing that drives your event's success.

Not that marketing is a bad thing in the right hands, of course.

Although I'm wondering why the online version has that weird subhead... "Keep 'em clean, Serenity now"?  Very strange.

What to Do When Your Google Rank Plummets

Nothing.

That's right, nothing.  So says Barry Schwartz of SearchEngineJournal and Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld (no link, subscriber site).

Their point is that the algorithms used by the major search engines change frequently, so if your site has an established history of high rankings, it will have one again if you just wait out the new algorithms until they have a chance to work properly.

You'll probably face this problem at some point, so now you know what to do and why.

Of course if you attained your high rank by gimmickry and trying to cheat the search engines, well, you're the reason why the algorithms change in the first place.   

VoIP = Flat Earth = Telemarketing from Bangalore?

Awhile ago I mentioned being surprised at how many small graphic design shops from every corner of the world can be found on Elance.

Thankfully graphic design is much easier to offshore than copywriting, otherwise I'd be in big trouble.

But copywriting may be an exception.  In his new tome, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman makes a compelling case that just about anything can be offshored to India or Pakistan or some other place that will do the job as well as Americans, but for a lot less money.

While copywriting may be difficult to offshore, there are other components of developing a show that you may find being outsourced before long.

Telemarketing,  to be specific.

Taking Friedman's case to heart, you can make the argument that there are only two things thing standing in the way of big show producers offshoring their sales departments:

1) the cost of international telephone calls.  Whatever you'd save in personnel, you lose back in telephone costs. 

2) they haven't thought of it yet.

Well the cat's out of the bag on #2.  As for #1, adopt VoIP phone service and voila! - you have savings. 

As Joe Loggia, CEO of Advanstar, noted in the March issue of EXPO magazine, sales is mostly about numbers.  It's a math problem.  To maximize effiencies, you use field reps for larger accounts and telemarketers for smaller ones.

It doesn't take a genius to know that a telemarketer in Bangalore may be just as skilled - and perhaps more driven - as his/her US counterpart.  But at half the cost or less.

Obviously offshoring isn't a solution that makes sense for every company.  But I feeling a few organizers may be exploring this option sooner than later. 

Which means that we should all be thinking a bit more about what it is that we really do.  In the Flat Globe scenario, commodities will be offshored while specialized services will be kept here - and rewarded handsomely.

So are you offering a commodity service or specialization?  (Hint: if you use a script, you're not offering specialization.)