One of the things that see a quite a bit is the fact that many exhibitors just show up and hope people will come to their booth and buy their products or services.  This is such a missed opportunity if you don’t take advantage of the fact that you are giving your customer a chance to meet face to face and experience your conversation first hand.

I try to make as many appointments wit all my contacts that I can. This helps me set a good schedule before the event and sets out my time.  I can stay on track that way and make sure I get the biggest bang for my buck.  There is also another underlying thing that happens, people talk about you and the fact that you will be at the event.  Many of the people that you make appointments with will talk about you to your friends, your competitors and others in your industry. You ge4t seen as the expert or as the person in the know about what is going on at the event.  You are seen as the person that they need to know and meet or compete with on the floor.  This increases your stock exponentially.  Make your contacts now and get your calendar set before the show and you will see great benefits.

I have been asking many of the event coordinators I know how they gather feedback from their attendees.  With all of the social media tools that we have that allow us to listen in online to conversations that others are having, we get a chance to hear first hand what many are saying.   We can see what they say on Twitter during the show and we can see what they say on their Facebook pages after they get home and finally blogs are a great source for reviews of how your event went or how the show was perceived by those in attendance.

Listening to that feedback can be invaluable when you are wanting to implement changes to your format, your exhibit space or other parts of a show to make sure you are keeping the sponsors happy, the attendees and the exhibitors.  I was reading recently that a convention that was taking place in Las Vegas is now moving due to the feedback received by the attendees.  This is a bit of a drastic move on the part of the organizers but it may provide to be the best move for their business. They listened to what was being said about the location and now are moving from Las Vegas to Anaheim.  Listening to your detractors is hard but you can make it a positive.

I talked about it becoming convention season in the last post and that means it is back to setting up and tearing down your exhibit booth space.  If you are a small business it means probably getting the most bang for your buck in the area of a display that is easy to set up can be done with only one person and can be checked in as luggage when you travel.  I have been looking around recently at some of the display companies because I too will be needing to get a display booth that is for people on the move.

I spend about one week a month in the first six month of the season going to a couple of large shows and then a few small events and then a final large one before going in to work mode.  I am always looking for ease of use.  There are many companies out there that offer a portable display that is easy to set up and can make your company look professional and certainly won’t break the bank.  In today’s economy, the latter part of that equation is a must.  You can’t spend a whole bank account of your marketing budget only to not be able to recover that cost on the road.  I am actually in the market for a portable display that will fit nicely and look professional in the 10 x 10 booth space or in the corner of a small event.  Portable displays are a great asset and if you find a company that provide this service let me know I would love to speak to them.

I have seen it a thousand times and experience it nearly everyday in my kids, video garners attention.  What I mean by that is when I tell my kids to do something they always say, “just one more second, I want to see this!”  It is that last minute piece of video or cartoon or what ever the case.  I see it at the local bar, with video in the background everyone gravitates to the movement and the sound or the flashy images going on the screen.  It can be a commercial for some obscure soap, the latest television show or the scores of the day and the weather channel.  It doesn’t matter what the images are, we always seem to gravitate to the television screen or video screen.

Your exhibit booth can be the same way and garner the attention of trade show attendees by using the same content.  If you have a short 3-5 minute video that can be looped about your product or service, make sure you put it in a place that is seen by the attendees as they pass by an then take note.  I would be willing to bet they like my kids or like that restaurant customer have to just watch that last bit before moving on to the next thing. The example in the photo here is an exhibit display offered by Skyline Exhibits showing a video in a display wall.  Many exhibit booth dealers can provide you with systems for video to be integrated into your display.  This will give you every opportunity to capture the attention of attendees.   It gives you every opportunity to strike up a conversation that might not otherwise have happened without a little video in their world.

Photo via Skyline Exhibits

It seems that everywhere I go online and where I read most o my news about the trade show industry, all I can see is the worst of times.  The business and industry of trade shows and conventions is filled with gloom and doom.  Attendance at shows or events is down, and sponsors are difficult to get, and exhibitors are tough to get commitments for the events.  This seems to be the flavor of the month for the last few months until I read recently of a study completed by UFI The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry and their Global Exhibition Barometer.

It appears that across the world in most regions profits are on the ride from this time last year and in most case by more than 10%.  This is good news compared to the losses of years past.  It appears that most of the respondents in the study indicate that in the Americas and in the Asia/Pacific regions that we are on the doorstep of economic recovery being it will take place in the second half of 2010.  Those surveyed in other parts of the world believe that the economic recovery will not yet be seen until 2011.  Either is good news being that the economic slide may be over.

This survey was conducted in December of 2009 by 176 companies in 54 different countries and provides an overall look at the exhibitions industry.  If you want to get a look at the survey and its conclusions you can read the report at the UFI site.  How about in your industry, are you seeing the economic turnaround we all are now hearing about or is it still time to knuckle under and tighten the belts for a long hot summer or a long cold winter?  I am beginning to see the writing on the wall that we may have hit bottom. Now if we can only head upward I would be thankful.

I was out in the garage last night cleaning up some things when I noticed that we are getting to the point of needing to take our aluminum cans in to be recycled.  We are a green family as much as one can be in this day and age, growing some of our own food and having a compost pile and all the other things that we can do to conserve and recycle and reuse some of the stuff we have.  We are really trying to reduce our carbon footprint as well.

I began to think about all the different companies out there that are buying new trade show booths as they gear up for their marketing season in the convention and trade show world.  There are those companies out there that use their trade show booth for a single campaign and then go on to the next big thing.  What happens to the booth they were using?  Do they throw it out or do they let is sit in a warehouse someplace gathering dust and not being used?

Many companies now are recycling their old trade show booths and reusing some of the booths to be in their next show.  I love to read about trade show companies that make it easy to go green.  I am really wanting to hear from some of the trade show booth exhibit companies out there that are using recycled materials or are designing booths that can be reused and recycled.  I also want to know if there are companies that are making it possible to return booths to be recycled or reused by others.  We can reduce our footprint in the world of trade shows and conventions too.  Let me know how your companies are doing just that.  Are you recycling your trade show booth?

This is the question that everyone should be able to answer in your organization when it comes time to prepare for your event.  If you have people from your organization working in your booth, they need to know why every attendee should show up to your booth.  Is your trade show booth standing out in the crowd? Do you have something new that everyone wants to see?  Perhaps you have the coolest giveaway?  These are just a few of the ideas that would make people want to show up to your trade show booth.

We are in some very competitive times as it relates to business.  There are only so many customers out there in each industry and all of them are looking to get the best product or service for the best deal.  So why should they be doing business with your company7.  That same thing spills over to your trade show booth.  Why should I be visiting your booth?

We have many experts here at Conventions.net in our marketplace that can help you stand out in the crowd, be it a cool exhibit booth, some great promotional products or perhaps it is as simple as getting the right personnel to handle the booth from the presentation side.  All of these can be found on our site.  The question you also need to ask yourself is whether you can afford for people NOT to show up to your booth at the next trade show or convention?

[photo courtesy of UOregon Conference Services]

In sales, confidence is a must have component to help you with your bottom line and how you close your customers. At a trade show the people that you have working in your booth have to have that confidence to engage your potential customer. I have seen it many times when working the floor at a convention, the booth staffer that is there taking up space and not getting engaged with the attendees.  It is a waste of time and effort, and most of all a waste of your money. The attendees are there to see you and your business. In many cases they have paid a ticket price just to get a chance to see your company and what you are selling. If you have a booth staffer that is confident and wants to talk to every single attendee on a face-to-face basis, your show will be a success.  You must give them that confidence.

The best way to increase the confidence of your booth staff is to have a dry run at the sales pitch and what your key points are about your company, what you are offering, and the overall pitch to the potential customer. If the person working in your exhibit booth has confidence in the script, it will be that much easier for them to close a deal. Of course, after that first lead walks up and you make a sale, that is the biggest boost to a staffer’s confidence. In addition, if other people working in your booth see how it was done, that too will provide them with a little confidence to pitch the next potential customer.

Exhibit booth sales for your company can be a very powerful lead generation tool. A little confidence in the process will go a long way to help the sales figures. Take some time before the show begins and practice with the team. If they have confidence going in, they will help your bottom line coming out.

As you can see from our last couple of months we have been showcasing many of the convention centers around the country and letting you know their offerings and how they might fit into your convention plan. No matter if you are planning a large event or a smaller conference, we want to be seen as the place to come for information. You can find all of the information on any city or center just by looking at the categories we have here, or perhaps making sure to visit Conventions.net for the latest information on any of our locations we have featured there.

I wanted to get back to some of the nuts and bolts of actually going through the planning of a convention, trade show or conference. I have been busy with a few of my own shows, one in Las Vegas in 2009 at BlogWorld & New Media Expo, followed very quickly by the Social Media Business Summit in Hawaii at the [re]Think Hawaii event, and most recently I have been working on the Modern Media Man Summit in Atlanta which will take place in September, 2010.  It seems I have a few plates in the air and have been doing many jobs over the last couple of years.  I am sure this will continue as I think it is a great way to gain experience doing a number of different jobs in different locations.

This week I am going to start talking about some of the things that go on behind the doors or events.  These are the things that might not be the glamorous things that occur and it might not be the things that we like to showcase as owners of events or conference directors or exhibit booth salespersons.  I have met a number of interesting people along the way and want to talk about a few of those as well so stay tuned while I start my brain dump of all the things that go into what I see as convention planning!

[photo via Retronaut]

Not all conferences, conventions, trade shows, corporate retreats, etc, are huge. Some are small-to-medium, and the Spring Mill Inn is the perfect spot for your not-so-huge gathering.

Located right in the middle of southern Indiana’s Spring Mill State Park, the Spring Mill Inn is quite well known for beauty: both its own and its surroundings!  Rustic on the outside and thoroughly modern on the inside, people are sometimes surprised to find every convenience, including high speed internet, at their disposal, for both personal and large group needs.

Contact information for the inn and the park are:
Spring Mill State Park
P.O. Box 68
Mitchell, IN, 47446
812-849-4081
Fax: 812-849-4647
Reservations:
877-LODGES-1
877-563-4371

For your group reservation, call 877 – 977 -7464 and ask for Group Sales.

The Spring Mill Inn is known for many things, all positive, and one of them is the view.  Every one of the group rooms has a spectacular view from windows that cover almost an entire wall.  The Inn is also known for its food; you’ll find none better anywhere you look.

Conferences are always better when the venue is also the hotel, and the Spring Mill Inn is both.  Conferences are also better when there is plenty to do in the evening or during free time.  Nobody is ever bored at Spring Mill State Park.  This is southern Indiana, remember, and the caves are everywhere.  Some caves here can be traveled on foot, but for others, you’ll have to use the boats.

The Pioneer Village isn’t merely a modern-fabricated imitation; each of the cabins, stores, workshops, barns, etc, is an authentic building.  You can walk around the Village for hours, going in and out of the homes, shops, etc, and learning while you gawk.

Need a swim?  The park pool is huge and inviting.  In fact, the entire venue and its surroundings are huge and inviting.  What your attendees will probably remember above everything, though is the Spring Mill itself.

It’s actually still run by spring water – see the big wheel? And I’d bet money, if I had any, that every single one of your conference attendees will go home with a sack of stone-ground cornmeal.  Yes.  They’ll watch it being ground and they’ll watch it being sacked and they’ll watch the man tie off the sacks and they’ll jostle to the front of the line and buy one.  Or two.  It makes the best corn bread they’ll ever taste.

People come to the Spring Mill Inn for all kinds of gathers, small to medium, every day, year-round, but if your conference, convention, trade show, retreat, etc, is in summer, be sure to make your arrangements as early as you can, in order to get exactly what you want.  You might not have heard of this venue today, but I guarantee that you’ll remember its name all the days of your lives.

It’s got everything.  Even blind prehistoric fish in the caves!