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Thanks for reading

TTSG

30–the percentage discrepancy in audience numbers between audited trade shows and unaudited events. Or the percentage revenue is down in the industry overall.

14–the minimum gauge of electrical cords or the average number of times a venue plan is redrawn by a show organizer before a show opens.

8–the number of square feet of your exhibit you should use as a standard for each hour of I&D time (on the up).

29–the average charge back by an exhibit supplier for a bottle of surface cleaner and roll of paper towels.

There are more, but this list is a start. Anybody ahve others?

TTSG

Networking, education and all things exhibits and events takes place this week. Today starts the formal classes (many started yesterday with some introductory classes) and events.

First up for me: Candy Adams (The Booth Mom) on Show Operations. Look for summaries and reports all week at this site and at my other portal, http://texastradeshowguy.blogspot.com/.

TTSG

I’ll be reporting from the classes and events via this blog and it’s brother (The Relentless Networker). Let’s compare notes and maybe share project ideas.

Lee Knight and his team from Exhibitor Magazine have done a great job on this meeting of industry minds since they turned it into an educational venue for TSMs just starting out or needing mid-career guidance.

The event is held annually at Mandalay Bay and includes continuing education classes and an exhibit floor. It is a quality interaction between suppliers and buyers.

Learn more at www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitorshow

See you there.

TTSG

While it is not a new idea, labeling your own bottle of wine is something a bit more memorable. The latest offering I’ve seen is from the folks at Synthetic Grass Pros.

There are several varieties in the branded series of wines, from white to red, Sauvignon Blanc to Merlot. The labels are customized to reflect the brand (typeface, color, logo treatment, graphic elements) as well as the ubiquitous web site reference.

But, you have to admit, it works. You are more likely to remember a gift of this magnitude than a notepad, simply because it is perceived to be more valuable and it is more of a personal gift.

It works on several levels and is very memorable.

TTSG

Thanks to Kimberly Van Buren of Synthetic Grass Pros

Does that mean we abandon trade shows? Quite the contrary.

From what I’ve learned about these new media, they are really great tools to help deliver clients to other media. think about it: if you could start a conversation with someone and have it culminate in a face-to-face meeting, how valuable would that be?

Sure, this is overstating the obvious, but is it? How many of us have thought past the tactic? “I blogged today” or “I tweeted” or “I used LinkedIn and Facebook this week” are all part of our vernacular these days. But how different are they really from letters and phone calls from an earlier time? Not much, except for the compressed time factor, as I see it.

Truth is, we all need to see these things for what they are: delivery tools. In our case, as trade show and events practitioners, to deliver prospects and clients to our venues so we can engage (talk to) them.

So as you develop your trade show lead capture strategies, be sure to remember the engagement possibilities of these tools. Where in the past you may have had a direct mail postcard as a pre-show device, consider pairing a Twitter campaign with it. Our audiences are more tuned in and discerning than ever before and we need to be sure they are directed to that landing pad know as your trade show with facts and information that will help them engage with us.

Your time is yours and these new, for now, tools will help use it more effectively.

TTSG

Many companies supplement or replace their trade show programs with internal marketing centers or demo rooms. Recently, I had the opportunity to tour the Hewlett-Packard (formerly EDS) marketing center in Plano, Texas. My host was Susie Tobin.

This is one great marketing/customer center.  Formally know as the HP Experience, the center is one of 33 around the world.  It gives clients, prospective clients and industry influencers and overview of the company’s capabilities. Because of security rules, I was unable to take and publish photos of the center.  However, I’ll do my best to give you a word tour of the facility.

As a guest, once you are brought in through security and badged, you are greeted by a company employee who guides you through the major stops.  Like a docent in a museum, these guides are veteran employees from all over the world who apply and meet stringent guidelines to be accepted into the program.  Our guide this day was from The Philippines.

The theme of the center is built around these five “P’s” (concepts) of the combined companies’ histories and culture: people, processes, partners, patents and proof.  Each major stop emphasizes one of these points.

The first major stop is at the foot of a long stairway leading to the heart of the center.  Here, the guide explains that the large (at least 30 inches square), black-framed, black-and-white) photos depict the people of the company around the world.

Traversing the stairway, we entered a modern lobby and were greeted by two other hosts and our names and company name featured on a large video monitor. Taken into a coffee bar area, the tour overview video is shown here.  There are several videos available, with each one highlighting a special employee and their committment to their client.  The video relates a story of success in a 2- to 3-minute format.

From here we moved to the next “P”: process.  We are seated in comfortable chairs in what appears to be a carpeted theatre fronted by a dark, heavy drape.  Once comfortable, our host draws back the drape to reveal floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook a NASA-like control room.  The rows of computer monitors below us are bright and the operators blended into the darkness surrounding them.  At eye level, well above the floor are at least seven large video monitors which relate key points to us as the guide/host rolls them out to us.  Included in the cneter video screen is a posting of our company website rotated with antoehr personalized greeting.

From here we move down a hallway and pass a glass wall emblazoned with vinyl logos of key partners of HP.  Behind the glass are examples of products that the partners provide or work with HP on to serve common clients.

Ushered into another simple theatre room (about 15 feet deep by 30 feet long), we are shown historical relics of patented products and processes from ATMs to radio-like devices from the combined companies’ past: this is the patent room.

Lastly, we move to a large industrial-like room with metal fixtures and monitors as furnishings.  Here we stop at a large (40-inch plus) monitor and hear a video testimonial from the company rep working with the Royal Air Force in the UK.  This is the “proof” area of the tour.

That concludes the tour.  We leave back through the lobby we entered and are each handed a gift. The whole experience takes less than an hour. From here, if we were customers, we would probably head for lunch and more meetings on our specific project.

Centers like this are not new.  But the complexity and how they are included in the sales and marketing process of companies continues to evolve.  While HP’s Plano facility is a fabulous example, a company need not be this elaborate to add to the story they need to relate to their customers.

TTSG

TTSG

From and exhibitor or exhibit house point of view list the TOP 5 MOST DIFFICULT cities to work in:

1. Philadelphia
2. Chicago
3. New York
4. Boston
5. Las Vegas

From and exhibitor or exhibit house point of view list the TOP 5 BEST cities to work in:

1. Atlanta
2. Dallas
3. Denver
4. Orlando
5. Ft. Lauderdale

An interesting discussion. Kind of parallels the cost and other issues I outlined. If it is easier to work with people and trades in a city plus the other factors (weather, cost, location), why stay in the Rust Belt?

Thanks to Marc Mousseau, Moose Exhibits, for starting and leading this discussion.

TTSG

With the northern and largest metro areas of the country either pricing or “ruding” themselves out of the business, Dallas gets a big chance this weekend to win over some of this moving business with the annual Professional Convention Management Association event.

Now, I admit I am a supporter of my adopted hometown.  But I must say that this metro area and those with similar attributes can’t help but gain from the changing exhibit and convention business. More and more, convention planners are looking for:

• Lower labor costs. Texas is a right-to-work state and benefits from having skilled, non-union labor and the rules that hamper their work.
• Central location. DFW, Hartsfield, Sky Harbor, Lindberg Field, Bergstrom, San Antonio International, George Bush are all large and accessible by direct flights. Major Interstate highways cross or pass through most of these cities making freight costs at least more affordable.
• Warm(er) weather.  No having to plug in your car, stand under a heater on a train platform or arrange for a heated bus or wait in cold cab lines. And there are outside activities to be had in these Sunnier climes.
• Manners and common courtesy. I think most of us can say without hesitation that when it comes to politeness, courtesy and cooperation, nothing beats Southern or Western people. While I know that the folks at Javits and in Philly have been working on this in recent years, when was the last time you weren’t yelled at or put off by a NYC cabbie or waiter? And Lord knows asking for directions on the street from a stranger is out.

Bottom line is that for cities to compete for these precious events, it has to be a whole package.  Yes, facilities like convention center hotels and manageable docks go a long way toward helping conventions choose locations.  But the whole experience has to be considered.  Good luck, Dallas.

To read the whole text of Steve’s story go to http://tinyurl.com/yfdm955

TTSG