Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

I was recently in Las Vegas at a convention and trade show and was sitting at a table and was speaking too a group of people when someone interrupted and asked where the first aid station was and where they could go to get someone looked at.  This is a bit disconcerting as I was one of the organizers of the event.  I had no idea where the attendee could get help. 

As it turned out the person was having some issues related to their blood pressure medicine and a scary moment was turned into a not so scary moment.  It did however teach me a lesson.  Everyone on your organizational staff must know all about emergency procedures, including fire escape plans and in this case, where the first aid station is located.  Had this person had a more serious problem, the difference between surviving a bad event and not could be the fact of getting help as soon as possible.  Before your event or show begins, sit down with everyone and go over a disaster preparedness plan and all other possible emergency procedures.

Tags: Conventions, Trade Shows, First Aid, Las Vegas

In case you haven’t heard, people love to watch television.  More and more people are beginning to watch television online.  With services like Hulu, Boxee and other online Internet companies providing services for people to use their computers as television sets, it is becoming commonplace that everyone knows about television alternatives.  This is not more proven than YouTube.  YouTube is actually the second most visited web site on the planet, right behind Google itself which just happens to own YouTube.

I wrote the title as such because everyone likes to research a show before attending.  Not only do they want to see a web site with all of the information and schedules, and listed speakers and other pages, but they love to see what it is like before putting their hard earned money towards a ticket.  Obviously, one way for them to do research is to find out if anyone has done any interviews, any video essays, or any other information on YouTube and other video sharing sites.  This gives them an idea of what to expect at the show or event. 

The other thing that is being done is live streaming the event for non-attendees to get a taste of the action on the show floor and in the conference rooms.  This is being done more and more and I am continuing to hear from organizers and meeting planners and event planners that this is a scary proposition as it relates to giving away the cow for free.  This is a red herring.  Many know that there is nothing like a face-to-face meeting with businesses and customers and friends.  Showing the live stream only makes those that are not in attendance that much more likely to want to attend the event in the coming year.  Putting on your event and giving a taste through live streaming is a great way to give the non-attendee a melancholy feeling of wanting to attend as they see how much fun it is for all their friends and colleagues. Don’t be afraid of video.  It can make the difference and set you above your competition.

Photo via fotographix.ca

Tags: Video, Live Streaming, Photos, Conference, Conventions, Trade Shows

I was recently at an event in Hawaii where we were talking to some of the local businesses about social media and about how they can get into blogging, video, podcasting and other areas.  I was curious about the attendees and asked where they were from originally.  The funny thing I found was that most of them traveled to get there from out of state or from a long distance.

The target for that particular conference was the local businesses yet most of them never showed up.  Of the locals that were a part of the conference, I asked why they were not being joined by their other peers or other business owners in the area.  Their response was surprising.  It was not promoted locally.

Many attendees to events are from the local area or at least they should be and should be a target market for any event planner. The local attendees need not spend money on travel, can get to and from the event without a taxi, and has a free place to stay.  These are great benefits for events that are local to your town. I am always amazed when people tell me that they did not hear about the event locally.  That should be your first target market whenever planning an event or a conference.  Go after the close in and low hanging fruit first.

Tags: conventions, conferences, events, planners, meeting planners

From all of us at Convention Insider and from the people at Conventions.net, we want to thank all of our veterans and thank them for their service.  From the many men that have served in the past and those that are serving now, thank you and bless all of you!

If you have a veteran in your life thank them for their service, for the freedom they provide and for the sacrifices they have made.

Tags: Veteran’s Day, Conventions.net, Convention Insider

I was talking about BYOD and the attachment for the audio visual portion of a slide show, and it made me think of "BYOB" or "Bring Your Own Beer."  In the trade show and convention industry a corkage fee represents the fee paid to the facility where your event is held, for the money that they lose by not being able to sell their own goods. In other words, if you have a sponsor that is providing free beer to your attendees, you must pay a fee for each beer given out "free" to the event facility.  They would normally be able to sell that concession to your attendees and because you are giving away something for nothing that they would make money on, you must compensate them.

This can get pretty ridiculous in my opinion as you get a large number of giveaways.  If you have an event that has a number of exhibitors giving away bottled water or refreshments or samples of their products, you can have a very large corkage bill that is paid to the event facility. 

This is not just limited to drinks given away or bottled water, but free samples of food and snacks as well. If you wanted to give a cookie to each of your visitors at the booth you are working, you would have to pay a percentage of the value of that cookie to the facility.  Yes, the house must get their "cut".  I can certainly see both sides of this issue and it may be a controversial payment to the facility, but when you are stopped from bringing doughnuts to your speakers in the speaker ready room because you have not paid your corkage it can get a little crazy.  Be sure you check to see if a corkage fee is charged before you decide to have a cool giveaway.

Tags: corkage fee, BYOB, conventions, trade shows, giveaways, promotional products, free samples

Having a good floor manager is key in making all things work well for your trade show or convention. If someone is well versed in procedures and what can and cannot be done in any given situation you will be way ahead of the game.  I watched as someone recently had no idea how to accomplish a small task like adding chairs to a room, and also watched as an experienced floor manager operate a situation where a wheel chair ramp was needed and it wen smoothly and without any problems. 

The same goes for someone that works well with the facility and if applicable a third party vendor that does things like registration, lead tracking etc.  Having an experienced floor manager can make your trade show work like a well oiled machine or make it a crazy nightmare for everyone.  There are plenty of freelance managers that do nothing but this for any show in their town, and their are those that do that as their sole responsibility for a big show. Getting a great floor manager is key whether your show is 10 exhibitors or 1000.

Tags: Floor Manager, Conventions, Trade Shows, Exhibitors, Freelance

Guest Post by Peter LoCascio

The old saying “Lead, follow, or get out of the way” resounds dramatically at trade show exhibits more than almost any other business environment when it comes to top management getting positively involved in the daily action of booth duty. There is no better way for management to invigorate, motivate and demonstrate their individual commitment and dedication to fellow employees, prospects and customers then by taking an active role in pulling booth duty at a trade show. Whatever the task, top management should meet the challenges of exhibiting by setting the example in the booth and being available to support every business issue that might develop during the course of the entire trade show.

The appointed “A” team on booth duty should include top management who will dramatically and effectively add to the overall horse power of the exhibit presentation to out distance the competition and provide new prospects and existing customers with a greater sense of security and confidence in doing business with your company. A simple hand shake and agreement between your company President and a new prospect might be all that’s needed to close a new piece of business emanating right there from your trade show exhibit.

The trade show exhibit floor should be viewed by top management as a live proving ground where their leadership, knowledge and corporate culture is on display for all to experience, emulate and support especially , prospects, customers and fellow company team members.

There is also no better business environment than a trade show exhibit for top management to be on the ground with fellow employees learning the finer points of presenting, demonstrating and selling products.

www.tradeshowconsultants.com

Tags: Conventions, trade shows, exhibitors, sales, advertising, marketing, customer development, Trade Show Exhibit

I can’t stress enough the importance of keeping your exhibit booth clean. I have seen the exhibit floor empty and how it looks without thousands of people walking around and on the floor, and I can tell those that care about how their booth looks and those that do not.  Keeping your area free from debris and clutter can make the difference between a good contact and lead that can be a sale or an attendee walking past to someone that looks more professional.

As an organizer I think it is important to budget if needed for housekeeping.  We recently had our event at the Las Vegas Convention Center and once the show floor had been set up ad ready for attendees, you could tell that we needed to have a little clean up.  A person or two with a vacuum was brought in for carpet clean up which made all the difference in the world.  Keep it clean.  It helps your exhibitors and makes for a better experience for the attendees.

Tags: Exhibit Booths, Cleaning, Conventions, Trade Shows

As a convention organizer and the one in charge of speakers of an event that is pretty large with more than 350 speakers, it was enlightening to find out how many people are Mac vs. PC.  What I mean by that is the computer of choice for the speakers more in line with the corporate world and Microsoft’s PC community, or are they cutting edge and more of a Mac community. This was the question that came across my mind recently when asking how the audio visual vendors would be helping our speakers ready for the presentation of their sessions.

What is BYOD you might ask?  I am planning on making up some t-shirts for sale to organizers that have this problem.  It is the little wire that goes from a Mac to a PC version of a slide projector or the projector that allows presenters to you their power points.  It is called a "dongle".  I could make a fortune selling these at large events that have both PC presenters, but especially Mac presenters.  Most if not all audio/visual projectors have a hook up for a PC but not for a Mac. 

I myself do a lot of presenting and I make sure that I prepare for all facets.  I put my presentation on a thumb drive, I put it on my desktop, and I also make sure I have brought my own dongle.  I make sure my presentation works both in a PPT and in Keynote, which is the slide show of those that use a Mac.  Are you a mac or a PC?  Did you bring your own dongle?

Tags: Mac vs. PC, technology, Trade Shows, Conventions, Speakers, Audio/Visuals

I am in Hawaii this week and have been helping organize another event that we held at the Marriott Waikiki.  The event I was putting on had to do with business and social media. One of the themes that keeps coming up here in Hawaii is "sustainability". This is the word of the hour here and it stands to reason when you think of the limits that the islands have in products and energy.

Today I am at the Hawaii Convention Center here in Honolulu and it is a beautiful facility. I highly recommend you put it in your short list for venues to consider when planning a get away for attendees.  With an all glass front and palm trees in its lobby there is no mistake that you are attending a conference and convention in paradise.  I took this picture as I was standing on the hallway looking at a table of fresh fruit.  Something that is always in abundance here.  I commend the Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau for having a great facility.  More to come from Hawaii and a look at what I saw as I headed to the conference and the event I was being a part of today.

Tags: Hawaii, HCVB, Conventions, Trade Shows, Conferences, Honolulu