Recently, Rick Calvert, CEO & Co-Founder of Blogworld & New Media Expo, wrote How Suitcasing and Outboarding Harm Events. The post attempts to tackle two very controversial challenges for our industry: suitcasing and outboarding. Go ahead and take a few minutes to read Rick’s entire blog post and leave a comment with your opinions or support. I’ll wait here while you read and comment. It’ll be worth it. Defining Suitcasing and Outboarding To make sure we are all on … [Read more...]
Nine Convention Center Trends For 2013
Recently I participated in the Convention Sales Professional International's Annual Conference "Tool Box For Success 2013." I moderated a panel called "Current And Future Trends" with three meeting professionals and two CSPI members. Don't worry! If you know me, you know it was not a traditional panel. I purposely included audience peer discussion on the key issues identified by the panelists. Nine Trends Meeting Planners Should Watch Here are nine trends that the panelists identified. 1. … [Read more...]
Five Symptoms That Your Expo Is About To Fail
I'd estimate that maybe 25 percent of those reading this post would do better to sunset your expo for either your annual or topical conference. Are you stunned by this statement? Hear me out. While most associations crave non-dues revenue, sometimes the expo portion of your program is a drag on profit speed. Perhaps it's not delivering the same bottom-line results as it did in years past. Perhaps it's not as highly valued by your paying attendees. Five Business Indicators To Analyze Here … [Read more...]
It Is Time To Reinvent The Meetings Industry And The Meeting Professional
I think the meetings and conference industry has reached a plateau. For years the industry has focused on the logistical side of the meeting including registration, food and beverage, contracts, venue space, room sets, schedules, SMMP and more. The industry has matured and many meeting professionals have become very good at the details. Yet, the improvements in those details have not taken the meetings industry to the next level. In fact, many conferences are still suffering because the … [Read more...]
Four Essential Elements To An Incomparable Face To Face Conference And Tradeshow Experience
What type of experiences do you crave? Have you ever had any of those types of experiences at a conference or tradeshow? Conferences and tradeshows have a long way to go to merge the experiences we crave and want with those that actually occur at the event. Four Critical Elements To Success The recent report, Scenarios For The Future: Convention Exhibits & Tradeshows of 2016 by The ASAE Foundation, Center for Exhibition Industry Research Foundation, Freeman, Gaylord Entertainment and PCMA … [Read more...]
What Associations And Meeting Professionals Want In Tradeshow Partnerships
Imagine this scenario. A nonprofit trade association decides it wants to add a tradeshow to its annual conference. It's never produced a tradeshow in the past and wants to secure a third-party planner to produce the show. Typically, an association tradeshow should have a potential of $150,000 or more in revenue to justify securing a third-party planner to provide full scope of services. Both the association and independent planner want to establish a partnership that will be profitable for … [Read more...]
Co-Locating Your Conference Can Be Risky And Rewarding
Co-locating your conference can be a high-risk, high-reward proposition. Before you decide to co-locate your conference with another conference, you need to view the decision through a strategic long-term lens. Defining Co-Location At the basic level, co-locating a conference is placing two or more conferences at the same location, at the same time. Some organizers blend both conference experiences together seamlessly. Others have two separate conference experiences allowing attendees to attend … [Read more...]
Would You Like Fries With That Booth?
Attendees are changing the way they plan and consume trade shows. If you’re still using static PDF floor plans and exhibitor listings, you’re missing out on the opportunity to upsell — and to connect buyers and sellers. According to research conducted by CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research), nearly 75 percent of young professionals (40 years old and under) create a must-see list of exhibitors before coming to a trade show. That staggering percentage has opportunity — and … [Read more...]
