Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

Today we are hearing about all of the trade shows and conventions having their troubles with attendance and sizes dwindling and many other doom and gloom type stories.  This is what makes it especially nice to hear about the cool stories and the good news that takes place in our world.  Trade Show Week has now published its list of hottest events and shows in its TSW Fastest 50 Winners.  The announcement was made today listing the top 50 fastest movers in the business.

Shows from the United States and Canada will be recognized during the TSW Fastest 50 event Nov. 13-15 in Houston, which also hosted the inaugural celebration in 2003.

This Fastest 50 event registration opens on August 10, 2009. To register and for more information, go to www.tswfastest50.com.

Conventions.net and we here at Convention Insider would like to offer our most heartfelt congratulations to the winners as they all deserve to be recognized as leaders given the difficulties they have faced in accomplishing this great honor.

Tags: Trade Show Week, TSW Fastest 50, Houston

I am not sure that all of you are aware but I too have been planning and having to go through all of the motions of being a trade show organizer.  I am the Social Media Director for Blog World & New Media Expo that is occurring on October 15-17, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I am just now getting to my final draft of nearly 200 speakers and many sessions.  We have 11 separate tracks and 4 sessions per track per day.  This is our third event and all eyes are upon us so the pressure is on.  Since I am in charge of the content of the conference it has been a very straight up and down learning curve for me in that regard. 

I am curious about how other planners do it.  I was just seeing how a large conference like SXSW had their speaker submissions completed and the deadline has passed and I know they eclipse our size as it relates to the number of speakers and sessions.  I was also wondering if there is a conference or convention or event or meeting that I might attend to give me some pointers on this as an organizer.  Do any of you offer a class or is their a how to book speaker’s coach?  I am curious as I don’t want this learning curve to continue on its current path or I might just have a nervous breakdown.  No really.

Tags: Blog World & New Media Expo, Social Media, Speakers, Conventions, SXSW, Trade Shows, Booking Speakers

I have been following along with a large amount of buzz about the CEA show in Las Vegas in 2010.  It seems that everyone is clamoring to be the main source of breaking news as to whether Apple will have a presence and whether Steve Jobs will be speaking at the event.  I spoke about MacWorld back in December and its own woes.  First it was reported that Steve Jobs would be involved which then was rebuffed and now a correction has been issued by the Wall Street Journal:

Correction: It is not clear whether Apple will attend the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. This post previously stated that Apple would attend.

I am not much concerned with the reporter getting the conversation at dinner wrong as much as how crazy it was when people thought Apple was going to be a part of CEA.  For one company to make that much of a splash in the headlines, you would think they would have more of presence at trade shows or conventions than they do at present.  I find it interesting that their statement has always been, that trade shows don’t help them marketing.  I will be at CES in January most likely and I suppose I might even take my Mac laptop. Nope, that is not even going to make the 11 o’clock news.

Tags: Apple, CES 2010, CEA, Las Vegas, Conventions, Trade Shows

Now I am going out on a limb here to make the offer just that much better.  If you sign up for the Annual Premium Listing before the deadline on Friday I will feature you and your company here on Convention Insider!  Shhh, don’t tell the boss, he doesn’t have a clue that I am offering this but if you read it here and sign up for the offer, just drop me a line and I will make sure you get included on the blog as an added bonus. Okay here endeth the pitch. Tags: Conventions.net, Online Marketing, Trade Shows, Conventions, Meetings, Events

by Guest Contributor – Barry Siskind

Think back to the people you feel comfortable with. It could be your spouse, other members of your family, colleagues, business associates, customers, and even the mail carrier. What is it about these people that make you feel comfortable?  Where does this comfort come from?

It may have been a common experience you had with a particular person—a movie you both appreciated, mutual friends and acquaintances, or a similar outlook on life. If you have the same experience with the people you do business with, the results can be the same. The people we like to do business with are people we like, respect, and trust – people we feel comfortable with. But where does this comfort come from?

In the 1960s, psychologist Albert Mehrabrian conducted a groundbreaking experiment. He found that people judge other people based on three observable clues: words, the para-verbal, and the nonverbal.

Words

Think about someone you met for the first time. You may have thought to your self, “What an interesting person. I really liked the way he or she answered that question. That is exactly what I would have said.” Or you may have thought, “This person is a real jerk. I never would have said that.” Either reaction would have been based on what the person said—the words—but words are only one part of the equation.

Para-verbal

Para-verbal is not what you say but how you say it. It is the tone, pace, tempo, speed, or volume of your voice. We all listen to people and create impressions of them based on how they use their voices. This is the second part of the equation. But there is one more element.

Nonverbal

Yes, we do judge a book by its cover. We are all guilty of judging people by how they present themselves.  We might say, “There is a successful person—she has that look of confidence in her eyes” or “He’s a loser—look at the way he is dressed.”

What do para-verbal and nonverbal clues have to do with face to face marketing – everything? Mehrabrian discovered that the relative importance of each in the equation is as follows:

• Words: 7 percent
• Para-verbal: 38 percent
• Nonverbal: 55 percent

These numbers tell us that 93 percent of a person’s impressions of another is not directly related to what they say but how they say it; an important lesson for anyone in business. Customers do not just look for the best price; they also need a comfort level with the people they plan to do business with and they can only achieve this goal through a face-to-face marketing experience.  Rapport will develop faster and last longer if you show your customer how much their business means to you rather than tell them.  Build rapport with actions rather than words.

While many of the differences may be cultural, they all give strong clues on how you should proceed. By reading the clues properly, you are taking the first important step toward building rapport.

While e-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, there are still many situations where customers want to know the people they are going to do business with. The best tool in your marketing arsenal is face-to-face opportunities like special events and trade shows. When you add well honed rapport building skills to your approach, you can expect a definite increase in your results.

In case you have not been paying attention, we have been seeing a few blog posts here in Convention Insider from some different authors.  The authors I am speaking of are guest contributors.  These contributors as some of the top experts in their fields as it relates to convention planning, event planning and trade shows. 

They are going to be providing us with their knowledge, their tips, and information that helped them become the best of the best. I am completing their introductions but you can see their bio and pictures all soon on the guest contributors in the navigational bar at the top of the blog.  Pay attention to these writers and the information that they provide. I can assure you as a convention insider myself, the nuggets of information they provide is worth your time.

The whole world is getting into the social networking business.  Yes, even the trade show and convention industry is not immune from being caught up in the idea.  This week we are featuring a company that makes networking for the convention, conference meeting or trade show and event business easy and affordable for organizers.  I had a chance to sit down with the a founder at Eventscope. Eventscope is a UK based company that has taken the networking we normally get when attending an event to the next level and beyond.  With the companies like Facebook, Twitter, NING and all the other social sites all taking off this company is offering up some groundbreaking technology all of us should be looking into for our next event.

I had a chance to talk a bit about this cool new application with one of its founders, Hetty Browne, (pictured right).  I loved that this concept was started while her and Ewan MacLeod were sitting eating pizza.  This is the perfect application to be born out of a situation such as chatting over pizza which is what the ultimate social experience.  After speaking to Hetty, they are working now to move their online application to the next level by offering it here in the United States as well.

In our industry of trade shows and conventions we always talk about the face to face experience and how we can get the most from the networking opportunities.  This new and exciting application let’s you network both prior to the event, during the event, and long after the event is done.  I always talk about how hard it is to handle all of those business cards I get, that messy pile of contacts I have on my office floor right now as a matter of fact, and this company eliminates that problem.  I could go on about how much more that is environmentally better than business cards.

This application can also take your branding to the next level as they have the ability to be flexible with your setup.  Think about your other marketing efforts when using this application and how it can help.  They can assist in that area as well.  You can sell branded spots in the system which will help you pay for their service which I think I told them was not nearly enough of a charge.  They are quick to get you set up and can make life easier for your networking needs.

I suggest that you check out their live online demo for a better understanding of how their system works.  They have a long list of clients and I recommend that you get added to list soon!  Don’t only take my word for it, others also have chimed in.

Tags: Eventscope, Hetty Browne, Ewan MacLeod, Social Netorking, Trade Shows, Convnetions, Events, Meetings, Meeting Planners, Event Organizers

by Guest Contributor – Peter LoCascio

The Trade Show Exhibits Manager at any corporation is most likely viewed and hopefully appreciated by fellow workers and management as a Jack or Jill of all trades and a wearer of many hats. While under the pressure and critical deadlines of the trade show opening day, this expert comes through and gets the job done every time.

The professionals who manage trade show exhibits are acutely aware of the skill and knowledge it takes to plan execute and manage a seamless trade show event. The position’s potential is rich with many additional opportunities to prosper, advance and, if desired, climb the corporate ladder.

Only by carefully considering and appreciating the uniqueness of the trade show environment can one begin to realize the many fantastic opportunities the medium offers the astute, motivated, and intelligent manager. Once realized, accepted and acted upon, today’s trade show exhibits manager may simply have to better promote the medium to reach his/her financial and career goals.

So be both encouraged and motivated to lead the trade show exhibit management function in your company.  Turn it into a spectator sport to be admired and respected by everyone who has the opportunity to work with you.

As a result, top management with whom you’ve spent countless hours working side by side at the trade show exhibit will endeavor to find ways to reward, acknowledge, and promote you. They’ll know that if you can make the trials and tribulations associated with trade show exhibiting look easy and successful, there are many more tasks in the company that could benefit from your management abilities.

Peter LoCascio
www.tradeshowconsultants.com

Staying with the Comic-Con thoughts this week, since they are having a 40th Anniversary Celebration, I thought I would just let everyone know that Google is helping them celebrate by changing up the Google logo a little.  They are also helping out the celebration by having some cool Google themes to choose from as stated on the Google Blog:

The themes showcase the amazingly diverse world of comics. Browse our gallery (www.google.com/comicsthemes) to choose from nostalgic comic strips like Peanuts, iconic heroes like Batman and Iron Man, or alternative comics greats like Dan Clowes, author of the graphic novel, "Ghost World." The dozens of themes represent talented artists from around the world including Rumiko Takahashi from Japan and Lewis Trondheim of France.

In addition to the Google themes, Google has also unveiled a new logo that has changed to reflect the cool super heroes of the comics.

Google had also this last week shown us a logo that was reflective of the moon with craters spelling out the Google name celebrating the Apollo 11 anniversary.  We have a Conventions.net anniversary coming up I wonder if the folks at Google will oblige us with a logo?  happy Anniversary to the people at Comic-Con.

Tags: Comic-Con, Google, San Diego, Super Heroes, Comics

This year when I met with the folks at the San Diego Convention Center and the Visitors Bureau I mentioned how intrigued I was about Comic-Con. This is clearly one of the premier events in San Diego and they enjoy great crowds every year. I have discussed this event before and I am always intrigued by how an event changes from year-to-year.  The facility has been given the green light for bigger expansion and this should help the size restrictions. 

Did they have better luck with accommodations?  I am not sure and I have not yet heard whether this year and the economy has changed their overall numbers.  I have been following along with the stories I am reading on blogs and across the Comic world.  I will have more info probably once it ends but for now it is in full swing with an opening party last night and the full on convention occurring now.  Stay tuned.

Tags: ComicCon, San Diego, San Diego Convention Center, Conventions