Advocating for Your Exhibitors August 6, 2024 by Dave Lutz The Exhibitor Advocate recently released its 2023 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates. This report compares material handling, labor, and equipment costs across 24 major U.S. destinations. Here are two takeaways you should consider. Not only is the Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates a handy tool for comparing exhibitor costs in one city vs. another, it … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits
Time to Prune Your Sponsor Offerings February 1, 2024 by Dave Lutz A number of associations we work with have seen their annual convention exhibit space sales lag attendance, which has recovered since the pandemic. Conversely, sponsorship revenue is back to pre-pandemic levels and has upside potential. If your sponsorship menu and prospectus look similar to 2019, a refresh can help you seize this growth opportunity. Here’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits
Five Tips for Conference Sponsorship Pricing June 15, 2022 by Dave Lutz In my experience, most large conferences this year are realizing about 80 percent of their 2019 revenue performance. For some of the major annual meetings we’re tracking, sponsorship revenue has been a bright spot when compared to exhibit revenue performance. The textbook outcome of a successful sponsorship is improved attitudes and behavior for that brand. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , annual conference sponsorships, convention sponsorships, cost-plus pricing, event sponsorships, expense recovery, pricing, value-based pricing
Will Use-It-or-Lose-It Budgeting Negatively Impact Expo and Sponsor Revenue? October 14, 2021 by Dave Lutz Our crystal balls are pretty foggy when it comes to predicting the return of in-person expo and sponsor revenue. Three of the big questions are: With the advancement of digital demos, will exhibitors opt for smaller booth spaces? If marketing budgets intended for show participation in 2020 or 2021 were reallocated, or not spent, will … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Sponsorship & Exhibits
Expos Don’t Work Well in a Virtual Environment October 14, 2020 by Dave Lutz Virtual Expo Truths Nearly every conference and trade show professional is searching for that perfect virtual platform or pricing model for replacing lost expo revenue. I’ve got bad news for you. Virtual expos will never be able to come close to replacing the revenue generated from your face-to-face expo. Here’s some of our learnings: 1. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Hybrid & Virtual, Sponsorship & Exhibits
Teach Your Sponsors Well February 25, 2020 by Betsy Bair If you, as a conference organizer or meeting owner, think selling sponsorships at your event is just about those four to five days when thousands gather face-to-face, think again. You are worth so much more than that. It’s time to stop devaluing your events, said Kim Skildum-Reid, owner of Power Sponsorship, a firm that specializes … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , attendees as fans, selling sponsorship, sponsorship, sponsorship revenue
Sponsorship Needs to Be More Than Banners and Clings December 17, 2019 by Dave Lutz Sponsorship is the most powerful form of marketing. When done well, it can change participants’ attitudes and behaviors about a brand. Banners, ads, signs and enhanced listings shouldn’t be lumped into the same category — they don’t make that emotional connection. Recently I’ve received invitations to attend webinars and download industry research reports and articles … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , banners, booths, clings, emotional connection, exhibits, sponsorship
How to Turn Around Your Sponsorship Revenue December 11, 2019 by Dave Lutz If your conference is like most, sponsorship revenue is underperforming. There are two benchmarks we like to use to identify healthy conference revenue business models: Industry revenue — 30 percent or more of a conference’s total revenue should come from the combination of sponsor, exhibit and advertising revenue. Expo/sponsor revenue ratio — for every $3 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , education champion, packages, revenue, revenue ratio, sponsorship, tiers, VIP experience
Transform Your Expo into a Networking and Learning Destination August 28, 2019 by Sarah Michel Expos are the most disrupted element of association conferences today. If you’re still using “tradeshow,” “market place” or “exhibit hall” as names for the area where you feature solution providers—who are there to help your attendees deal with the problems and challenges they’re facing—it’s time for a rebrand. Attendees make buying decisions so differently now, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , exhibit hall, expo, market place, solutions center, solutions circles
Expo Decisions: Attendee Preferences over Exhibitors—Always August 6, 2019 by Dave Lutz For those of you who organize large annual conferences and trade shows, there undoubtedly is a chicken-vs.-egg debate. On the one hand, your organization might receive as much as 50 percent (or more) of your event’s revenue from supplier investments in exhibits, sponsorship and advertising categories, making it a priority. On the other hand, you … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , booth sales, exhibitor advisory, exhibitor advisory committee, exhibitor advisory council
