I have been doing quite a bit of research recently including interviewing industry experts in the area of the new economic situation and how it is touching us here in the convention and trade show industry.  I put out a call for experts to reach out and tell me about their ideas and opinions.  I have spoken with vendors and suppliers, those in the convention centers, and meeting planners and others all of which have an opinion on how their lives have been effected by the downturn in the economy.  I am finishing up the series of interviews and getting my notes finished up and will be providing a series of posts related to my findings and the results of my investigation.

If you are someone that I have spoken with and are here to see what I have posted, be patient.  As I indicated the response to my call for ideas and opinions was more than I expected.  If you are here as a regular reader, I think the information I have gathered will prove to be informational, inspiring and a little revealing.  If you have not already signed up for our RSS feed or have not signed up to get our posts via email you can do that on the sidebar.  If I have not talked to you yet and you want to add your opinion or ideas to the piece, feel free to email me or just leave a comment here.  I’ll add you to the already overwhelming response for people that have weighed in.

[photo via jenn_jenn]

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It was interesting to see the fallout at the Consumer Electronic Show, when an attendee at the event took into the event a remote control that shutoff exhibitor televisions during presentation at the event. The attendee happened to be from the popular blog Gizmodo. What is more interesting now is the fact that the event planners have decided to have a blog partner for the event.

Organizers have chosen Engadget to be their blogging partner for the event that will be taking place January 8-11, 2009, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event has 2700 exhibitors and a huge attendance. I’m glad to see a blog get the nod for the event.

Does your event have a blogging partner? Does your event need a blogging partner? I’m going to follow along with the CES and the idea of having a blogging partner. I’ll be speaking about this in December on why your company should be using social media to enhance your trade show or convention. Pay attention here and we may give you a sneak peek.

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I wrestled for a while about how to write that title, but I picked the best one I could muster given the fact that I wanted to get the info out as soon as I could. Reading through my news in the convention and trade show arena, I found out that Shelly Justice was named in the top 25 entrepreneurs in Catalyst Magazine!  A well deserved award I have no doubt. 

The reason I was most interested in Justice and her group at Convention Models and Talent (CMT) for their role in the social media world.  Justice has a company blog and you can even follow her and some of her talent on Twitter!  Many companies are adopting this type of marketing and of course Conventions.net has made blogging and other forms of social media a part of their own mission for its customers. 

Congratulations to Shelly and her award from the magazine, but I also want to personally thank them for using some of the tools available to them online. I am now following Shelly on Twitter and I hope to perhaps get a chance to chat with her about her business.  Perhaps I can give her a tip or two about this world of blogging and how they can use this blog to its best benefit.  My only advice now is to see what they have to offer!

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I get a newsletter from the folks over at Skyline Exhibits and one of their articles caught my eye recently. The article mentions that Tradeshow Week had done a survey about the drayage and labor costs so I went on over to check it out. I won’t recap the findings, but what Skyline indicates is that the labor costs as provided in the survey are not quite as steep a climb as those of 2007.

What was interesting was that the highest gain in costs were audio-visual costs and security. This is an obvious trend with the technology changing the way that it has and how people are using that technology, but I also wonder what the security issues are that warrant those higher costs? I guess people have to guard against theft of that technology!

We hear nothing but gloom and doom in many industries right now and apparently convention and trade shows are not impervious to those reports. The full report* by Skyline can be followed to their site.

*”Used by permission of Skyline Exhibits.”

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Let me be the first to say that those of you that are event planners, convention planners and trade show planners, my hat is off to you.  This is one of the most time consuming jobs I have ever been a part of, and I’m not even holding title to the word “planner”.  I am merely a tool in the large machine of what we know as a “planner”.  I have a small function in the upcoming Blog World and New Media Exposition coming up on November 7-9, 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  My job is to help promote the convention through a radio show.  It’s been a lot of fun talking with the speakers, the exhibitors and sponsors on the radio.  It has also been a lot of work behind the scenes for me to get guests lined up, the research necessary not to make more of a fool of myself than is possible, and the time the show takes in itself. 

It is but a single part of the overall promotion and planning involved with the convention.  I know this because I am always in complete contact with the planners of the event.  I am always able to reach them night or day, and recently it has been both.  They are always answering questions, directing traffic and being the overall manager of all things planning.  They are always dealing with the good, the bad and the ugly of making a large event a success, and handling anything that is thrown their way.  I commend those of you that are in this role.  There is only so many hours in the day, but I know that if you are a convention, trade show or event planner it is hard to see where the day ends and the day starts.  My hat is off to you because that is hard work.

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I was recently talking to a person involved as a professional exhibitor.  That is mostly my name for him, because he basically works as a professional working trade shows and conventions for companies that hire him.  He travels from show to show and basically acts as an evangelist for the companies he represents and works the crowd.  It especially interested me because I too was looking for someone to help me with my own convention coming up in the early part of November.  I spoke to him a little longer before I finally gathered up the courage to ask him how he could possibly make a living at this type of job, and his response was surprising.  He told me he really doesn’t make a good living.  Of course, after talking more, he doesn’t really need to make much at it.  He is single, has no car, is basically on the road all the time and most of his needs are fulfilled by the clients that use his services. 

I asked about the perks of the job, and he said something interesting. 

“I love it when organizers put together a really nice exhibitor lounge.”

He indicated that some of them have great meals, he gets to eat on their dime, they have all the comforts of home in some cases, and they make it nice to be on the road.  When asked what his favorite part of the lounges was, he was quick to answer. 

“I love getting a massage.”

I had to ask him again as I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly, and he said it all again.  He loved the last conference that offered him a massage.  I suppose if you are a conference organizer or planner, it does payoff to treat the exhibitors well, but I still had to chuckle a little when I thought about an exhibitor lounge and people standing around in towels waiting for that full body massage.  That might be a little much.   I guess we will have to have another category of vendors listed on Conventions.net for a masseuse!

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I was recently making a list of the things I wanted to get out of a convention my company is sponsoring and attending as an exhibitor.  The regular stuff showed up on my list such as new business, exposure, some advertising benefits, some leads and the rest of the things that we all hope for when we invest in a convention or trade show as an exhibitor.  One of the things I put down on the list that caused me to pause was the fact that I am also looking for market research.

Market research can be an invaluable tool for a business that provides a service.  I first thought of this in the trade show setting when I was interviewing Elaine Curl, the CEO of The Convention Store.  One of the services they provide that I did not get into the piece is market research for their clients and customers and it started me thinking about market research in the larger context.  How can you perform market research at a convention?  This question led me down many paths, and I came up with all kinds of ideas for myself and others, but the one that stuck out most was the market research that can be done by the convention center themselves.

Follow my thinking here if you will.  If the convention center themselves had a booth at each of the shows they hold, they could gather valuable information from attendees and exhibitors on how their experience was from both sides, one as attendee and the other as vendor or exhibitor.  This would also show some faith in the convention organizers that you are backing their trade show or convention as being an exhibitor yourself.  Go through the process of being on the end of having to deal with conference organizers and event planners.  Did the convention center make it easy for the exhibitor, and did the experience go smoothly?  These are only a few questions that would prove as valuable feedback of the convention center themselves.  Perhaps this is accomplished through other means like email surveys and hand out surveys for feedback, but I would think that being in the trenches and being a part of the event itself would be a great way to be a part of the experience.  How can market research play a role in your convention or trade show?  This is a question that I hope spurs some attention to this and other ideas on how to gather intelligence at an event or convention you attend.

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I was running through my inbox last night and as I scanned the content of a few emails at a time, something caught my eye as it related to some event planning opportunities.  There is a group that I follow and a terrific organization that puts on a convention  each year, and in fact has split the convention into two parts, one being business and the other its flagship event, BlogHer.  The convention I refer to is the folks at BlogHer.org.  I thought I would help them spread the word that there is a need for them to have some event planners nd perhaps if you are looking for an opportunity they have some work:

Speaking of having a full roster…

As you may have heard, in addition to our BlogHer Business event in New York (April) and our Annual Conference in San Francisco (July), we are embarking on our first BlogHer road show — the “Reach Out Tour” in October of 2008.

And we would like a little help from our community.

Specifically, we are looking to hire local event planners to help with some of the on-site conference elements in each of our Tour cities. So, if you have prior professional experience as an event planner and are local to one of our Reach Out Tour stops, please contact Kristy. Don’t forget to include your contact info., relevant background info., and resume.

As a reminder, our Reach Out Tour stops are:
Boston
DC
Greensboro
Nashville
Atlanta
New Orleans

Thanks in advance

I can remember when this group was a small handful of people thinking that it would be cool to put together a conference like this and I’m glad they have made it happen.  If you are an event planner and have a need to get your services noticed, this group is definitely the group to unite yourself with in being noticed.  If you live any any of the cities they are planning their events, give them a line and see if you can help them out.

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