Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

I just read on ENN the following statement which somewhat caught me off guard:

More than 13,000 trade shows and conventions are held in America each year. They range from the huge, glitzy Las Vegas events that draw tens of thousands and cost the exhibiting companies millions of dollars, to smaller regional affairs that cost thousands.

I guess what I am curious about is what constitutes a trade show or convention.  Does three people getting together for coffee a trade show make?  That is more than 35 trade shows or conventions a day in America.  All of the meeting facilities and planners out there should have more than enough customers to go around.  The opposite seems to be the case.  I just recently discussed the idea of Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority canceling 340 meetings and conventions. Perhaps we are in for a little correction as it relates to the number of meetings, conventions and trade shows.  I’m still trying to wrap my head around how that number fits into the overall picture.  Either way you look at it, that number is about to get smaller and we probably have seen the saturation point.  I hope it is over soon and we get back to the regular scheduled convention and trade sow programming.

Tags: Conventions, Trade Shows, Las Vegas, Meetings

I have been wondering recently about public perception about trade shows and conventions being a perk or a "bonus."  We see the public calling for the heads of companies that are giving huge bonuses to their employees, and watching as they go to lavish resorts, etc.

I like the take that Will Ng has at MISoapbox about the recent breaking news of meeting and events being a perk.  He discusses the fact that even a gossip site like TMZ has jumped in with their pitchforks and torches.  This is obviously what is on the mind of everyone these days.  What do yo think?  Is a convention in Miami or Las Vegas or some great destination a perk?  Would it make a difference if the destination was not like a resort?  Chicago in winter, or some other non-getaway destination?  Perceptions are that its a party and even gossip sites are in on the fun.

Tags: Trade Shows, Conventions, Economy

While I was in Austin recently I was fortunate to have some great BBQ and some wonderful company.  I had a chance to sit down also and talk with some new friends about social media and the meeting industry. 

Stephen Nold, an organizer for the recent MTO Summit in Washington DC paid for my brisket and root beer and also gave me some points to ponder as it relates to the meeting industry. We discussed the future of meetings, the past of events, and what the industry is doing and how it is fairing in the current economy.

I want to interview Stephen here and hopefully will get a chance.  Not only is he an influential in the business of meetings and events, but he also happens to be a blogger at Trade Show Week.  Stephen, next time I get to buy the BBQ and you get to win the argument!  Perhaps it will be at your event in London and we can discuss things over a pint and some bangers and mash!

Tags: Trade Shows, Meetings, Events, Social Media, London, Austin, MTO Summit, Washington DC, Stephen Nold

You can’t watch a television news show without hearing about the latest in bank bailouts or about car makers getting money to stay out of bankruptcy and of course we all know about other big companies that are suffering from the bad economy. 

What about trade shows and conventions?  According to Trade Show Week, the LVCCA is headed to DC to testify:

Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority officials are headed to Washington, D.C., for a series of meetings with congressional representatives after reporting 340 meetings and conventions have been canceled in Las Vegas. The cancellations resulted in a loss of 111,800 visitors and $131 million in revenues.

That is no small drop in the bucket for the conventions going on in Las Vegas.  Are we looking for some stimulus for the conventions and trade show industry?  I would say if it is good enough for banks and others, we might as well lump our industry into the mix.  I am hoping I get called to congress to testify about that utility bill I need to pay this month.  It might come in handy to get a few bucks from the government.

Tags: Bailout, Trade Shows, Conventions, Economy

Do you have a professional photographer hired for your event, convention or trade show?  It might be a good idea to get a professional to get some great shots of the crowd and of the people attending.  It is also a great idea to get pictures of the people that are speakers or presenters at your event.  They love to find pictures of themselves and post them on their own web sites and public relations propaganda ( a huge SEO benefit for your site as well).

Did you know that you could also have a whole corps of professional photographers and never have to pay a dime for it?  One of the things that is big now are online photography sites. Sites like Flickr can be used to pull in photographs of your shows and by pulling in those photographs your show gets all of the publicity and never do you pay a dime.  Just have the people tag the photos with your event, i.e. CES09.  As you can see from that tag alone, there are over 5700 photographs that have been tagged and can be pulled into your site. 

Tags: Photographers, Conventions, Trade Shows, Meetings, Events, Flickr

I have heard that the economy has frozen some of the plans for convention sites to upgrade and to expand.  This is apparently not the case for the Javits Center in New York.  This from Trade Show Week on the announcement:

The Empire State Development Corp. board of directors has approved the $463 million expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York. The 100,000 square foot expansion will include 40,000 net sq. ft. of exhibit space and will be funded with proceeds from Hotel Unit Fee-secure Revenue Bonds that were issued by the ESDC in 2005.

I had a debate with another person in the convention and trade show industry that many sites will scrap all plans for expansion and I guess my side of the argument is not coming to fruition.  I am holding to my idea that plans for expansion will hold until the economy gets a boost, this may be an anomaly.  Problem is I think I lost a bet and it is going to cost me a beer.

Tags: Jacob Javits Center, New York, Convention Centers

I often have wondered if I could put on my own event.  One that I am in charge of where I get the location and the agenda, the caterer, and everything else completely planned.  Then I wonder where I would even start?  What is the first step?

I would say my first step is to find a professional to plan my event for me.  I’m kind of lazy that way.  I know how to do that first step.  It is the first step that we all do when we want to try something new, want to find a way to get there, or want to order it buy it or see what it looks like.  We Google it.

It seems we cannot do anything without first going to Google to see how it is done.  I would do the same thing if I were going to plan my own event, conference or meeting.  I would probably want to find myself a meeting planner, or an event coordinator, or whatever expert it is I am looking for, even my parents now call me on the phone to "Google something" for them.  I guess the most important question for you as a meeting planner or event coordinator or as a conference person is–can I find you on Google?

If you cannot be found on Google how about the next best thing.  You can be found on Conventions.net.  Contact us to let us know how we can help you be found.  Are you someone that provides a service, or perhaps a product in the convention or trade show industry?  We can help you be found by your customer.  Perhaps you could start with us?  Your customers do.  They Google "conventions".  What did they find?  Us.

Tags: Google, Findability, Conferences, Meeting Planners, Conventions, Trade Shows, Meeting Planners

I come from a world of speakers. In fact I do a fair share of speaking around the country.  As a conference chair myself, I am in charge of putting together a large group, nearly 300 in number, of speakers for a convention and trade show in my industry.  It seems like there is in every industry, the rock stars that everyone want to be a keynote speaker at their event or conference.  In my industry, you can’t afford the huge names, but there are those that build a brand around the fact that they are on the "A-list".  They want to be seen as the top dog.  How do they do this?  They keynote for conferences.

We are fully into the conference season now and every week there is the "best conference" the "most important meeting" and the "must attend event."  The problem is that we tend to get the same echo chamber of speakers at each place.  Worse yet, there are only so many rock stars to go around.  This was the case recently with an event that was in New York.  They had a keynote speaker that had the very same discussion on stage that he did 2 weeks earlier in Las Vegas. 

Make sure that this does not happen to your event.  Make sure that you check out what is on the schedule and ask your keynote where they will be going before they speak at your event or conference.  Make sure if they are keynoting the week or so before your conference, they at least are changing the topic of discussion.  With the speed at which some conferences are reported, the echo chamber may still be ringing in the ears of the people that saw the same presentation online or in blogs or live streamed not long before.  You want your event to stand out so make sure you get a rock star that people want to see but make sure they are not just a talking head saying the same robotic speech to everyone.

Tags: keynotes, conference planning, event planning, speakers

I have been trying to put up with the fact that it is like the North Pole here in Denver today and all the world has come to a screeching halt due to the blizzard we are dealing with here. 

It is not a normal storm we are getting but the one that we call the Blizzard of [add year here].  I can remember the 32 or so inches we received in 1982, and the march storm we received in as close to now as 2006, and today we have 2009.  I yearn for a convention that I must attend in Orlando or perhaps Miami, or even Mexico.  Any takers out there?  Feel like meeting me at your venue for a quick interview?  No really you want to?

Tags: Denver, Blizzard, Conventions, Trade Shows, Miami, Orlando

I was just working on some presentations and I wanted to see something I had done quite some time ago in a Power Point presentation.  When I looked at the slides, I began to notice that Power Point is an art I never really mastered. In fact i was thinking of submitting it to the Poor Power Point Hall of Fame if I could find one.  I now have a Apple computer and their Keynote application is not any better.

  I really don’t like using slides to present or speak in front of an audience as I usually try to involve the audience or at least sit down in front of them and just have a conversation.  I often say I don’t use slides because it keeps me on track and on time which is way out of my game.  I know that they are nearly required of all speakers at events or meetings these days as people later go and download them and make notes and use them in that fashion.

I like to look at good presentation slides.  I wonder if I could take a class on that.  If you use slides in your speaking engagements, how do you think they are most effective?

Tags: Power Point, Presentations, Speaking, Public Speaking, Events, Conferences