However, it is not enough to participate in a trade show to get the most out of it. You must prepare well in advance to end the show successfully. Here are some common mistakes done by many new companies along with tips to avoid them for better result.

Open your booth to visitors: Do you really think setting up a great looking booth is enough if the visitors do not feel comfortable? Many trade show participants often sit tight behind a 6 ft table and wait for the visitors to get in. However,smart marketers remove the table and try to get the visitors inside. In this process, you are actually walking a few steps ahead your competitors. This makes your booth more approachable to a prospective customer. If you really need some tables,get some bar-height pedestal tables so that your representatives can communicate or demonstrate the product in a one to one environment.

Keep enough space for visitors: Many new trade show participants often keep the booth crowded with their own representatives. They keep them to tackle heave traffic in the booth. However, there is hardly any need to do so. There is no need to put as many representatives as you can. It is always great to put smart people who can easily identify prospective customers from a crowd and can attend the visitors accordingly. You must remember that you have a very limited period and thus, there is no need to entertain the whole crowd. If you find that a very particular time of the day, you will get huge traffic, you can arrange for more work force. However, once the situation is over, it is better to remove the excess.

Polite, smart and ready to solve problems: This subheading tells all about the quality of your representatives. If the visitors do not feel that the representatives are warm and approachable, there are high chances that your trade show will turn out to be a failure. So make sure that they greet visitors with a warm smile and ask your representatives to keep their cell phones switched-off. While selecting your representatives make sure that they are well dressed and have a good sense of decency.

Company and Product knowledge: We often see that companies hire people from different agencies to represent them in a trade show. These people often do not have enough information about the company or the product. If they are your first line for interaction with the visitors, this is not a problem. However, if they are the only people representing your company in the trade show, there is a problem. If you hire these people, make sure that they know whatever they are supposed to know and put a person of your company present there so that people can approach him or her for further information on anything.

Event marketing can be very profitable. It just needs some more attention from you.

Pre-qualification

Hosted buyer programs begin with the pre-qualification process. It’s likely that a senior executive is less likely to “apply” to be hosted at a virtual event. Instead, organizers will need to work with their internal sales teams or partner with trade publications to identify high quality prospects before inviting them to participate. It’s also worth a look in Twitter, LinkedIn, online forums, the blogosphere or other social media platforms to look for qualifying information on specific individuals. Plus, if they’re on Twitter and LinkedIn, they may be more receptive to a virtual event invitation.

Invitation

Once the buyers are identified, they should be formally invited. A (snail) mailed invitation could be interesting, followed up by a telephone call and an email reminder. Non-traditional invitations and reminders are especially important for those prospects new to the virtual event world (there are still some out there). Of course the benefits for attending should be emphasized at this stage such as high level, customized, exclusive content, peer-to-peer networking, incentives for attending, customized agenda, reminders, senior level exhibitor interaction and tremendous time savings.

Content

In addition to the trade show component, the ideal virtual event should contain a live-streamed keynote presentation from an exclusive speaker, followed by a live Q & A session where attendees can address specific questions to the presenter. The presentation would be limited to the hosted (VIP) attendees. Keeping the number of attendees low will guarantee that their questions are addressed.

Event organizers would contact the hosted buyers in advance to solicit ideas and information for the type of content that they would like to receive at the virtual event. Information in the form of research, white papers, financial analyses, keynote “cliff notes,” benchmarking data, etc. can be prepared in advance to meet their specific needs. Such content should be exclusive to hosted buyers, although summaries and abbreviated versions of the VIP content could be made available to non-hosted buyers.

Buyer Incentives

Standard features of hosted buyer programs for live events include airfare, hotel accommodations, meals and entertainment paid for by event sponsors. Incentives for attendance at a virtual event could include cash honorariums (paid via PayPal), transferable free registration at the annual face-to-face trade show, subscriptions to executive-level online information services or copies of exclusive research reports.

VIP Exclusives

Successful hosted buyer programs do a good job of providing premium content and experiences to a select group of attendees. Virtual trade shows are no different. Some exclusive features could include:

VIP chat rooms or virtual round tables that could only be accessed by hosted buyers to provide attendees with an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking and prevent virtual suitcasing (non-paying exhibitors poaching VIP attendees).

Personalized agenda to direct hosted buyers to exhibitor appointments and keynotes. Attendees can be automatically pinged on screen or via email when one meeting is about to end and another is scheduled to begin.

One-on-one virtual appointments with senior-level exhibitors. Discussion and offerings would be geared specifically toward the needs and interests of senior level buyers.

Ease of use. Attendees should not have to remember passwords to gain access to VIP areas. The virtual platform should recognize their names, restrict access to hosted buyers only and display the attendee’s name, company and title to enhance peer-to-peer networking.

On call tech support. Hosted buyers should be able to press a single button to access live chat tech support and customer service.

Other VIP attendees. Paying recognizable thought leaders, other high-profile executives, authors and recognizable industry buzz generators to engage in conversations with hosted buyers could be an attractive feature of the virtual event.

Attendee Requirements

Hosted buyers at live events are required to attend certain meetings and social events. Tracking the attendance can be cumbersome for event organizers. In a virtual environment, however, attendance tracking is easier as long as there are mechanisms in place to make sure that the virtual attendee is actually the person he/she purports to be. In addition to exhibitor meetings, hosted buyers could be required to enter chat rooms, attend keynotes and download white papers. Having a variety of tasks to perform would make it more difficult for busy executives to leave the computer on “auto-pilot” for extended periods of time. A post event survey/test sent to the hosted buyer’s email, could also help to verify completion of the various virtual tasks.

The Takeaway: There is no replacement for a face-to-face exhibition, however, a virtual trade show can be a valuable tool for engaging key buyers that would not normally attend the physical show. A hosted buyer scenario, like that employed in live events, could provide the appropriate level of incentives to key buyers, not the least of which is being able to attend in the comfort of their home or office. Add cash, research, exclusive content (not available to anyone or anywhere else) and an easy to navigate platform and, “on paper,” the idea has merit. Due diligence is required on the part of the organizer to identify key buyers. Exhibitors would be required to tailor offerings to a VIP audience and platform providers would need to make adjustments for recognizing, segregating and servicing high value attendees from the rest of the non-hosted audience.

I would love to hear from live event organizers, exhibitors, VIP attendees and virtual event platform providers. Could this work?

Internet Time and Interactions

In the old days, we’d see friends when we saw them. We’d write or call now and again as well. The frequency of touch was far less often than today. With social tools, we have far more opportunity for frequency of touch, and it’s amplified by the fact that a lot of that touch is broadcast-style. Let me explain.

Old days: I’d see you at a family event. We’d talk. I’d send a letter or call you some time after that. We’d not see each other for months.
New days: I post something on Facebook or Twitter. You see it. I don’t say something directly TO you, but you remember that I’m still out there. You realize that it’s been a while since we talked directly.

The difference in these two interactions is in how the unintentional brushing past of my digital self stirs up the realization that we haven’t connected directly lately. It’s a reminder. It’s a statement that we haven’t had meaningful contact of a one-to-one sense in a while.

In thinking about this, I started doing some math. It really sheds some light on the complexities of our new digital lives.

Human Math

If I talk to 100 people on twitter for 6 minutes each, that’s 10 hours.

If I respond personally to 120 of the 600 or so emails and contacts I get a day, that’s 2 hours.

If I call 10 people for six minutes each to “catch up,” that’s another hour.

100 small Twitter conversations.

120 emails.

10 phone calls.

13 hours.

That’s not work. That’s not necessarily business (though touch and networking aids business). That’s just contact.

13 hours a day on just that.

And that’s just 100 or so people. That’s not the 146,000 Twitter followers, the 58,000 RSS subscribers, the 11,000 LinkedIn connections, the 4550 Facebook friends, that I have right now.

That’s 100 or so people.

Is a Social Crash Coming?

We’re going to have to start contenting ourselves with more “ambient connectivity.” I think that lots of us already do understand and accept this. I believe that the frequency of touch requirements of the hyperconnected are much lower than the average human out there.

But that sure raises an issue, doesn’t it?

In a world where the hyperconnected accept and understand “ambient connectivity,” but where the rest of our connections and friends from the “real world” don’t, what will that do to relationships of all kinds? How will that translate?

Is there a much more painful crash before us? A social crash?

Edison Research’s February 2010 Twitter Usage In America: 2010 report shows that:

84% of Americans have access to the Internet from any location
Six in seven homes have broadband Internet access
Six in ten homes have a home Wi-Fi network
42% of Tweeps use Twitter to learn more about products and services.
41% provide opinions about products and services
31% ask for opinions about products and services 

As you can see from the above data, Twitter is being used for more than talking about what someone had for dinner or what they are currently doing. The conversations are often more substantial and provide value.

These statistics along with Flowtown’s infographic Still Think Social Networking Is Just A Trend present compelling cases for associations and organizations to use Social Media and even Twitter.

What statistics surprised you the most? How is social engagement impacting your organization or business?

In reviewing my tweets after the tweetchat, I realized that they composed a short guidebook to virtual events.
 
We started off by introducing ourselves:
Hi everyone! I’m Emilie Barta…host/emcee for live, virtual, & hybrid events. Looking forward to tweetchatting with you! #ts2show
 
The first question asked why virtual events are important:
Virtual #events allow you to expand your audience as well as reach an audience you didn’t even know existed. #ts2show
So will never replace…but are a wonderful compliment. #ts2show
 
Then TS2Show asked me a question about the benefit of combining a virtual event with a face-to-face event, i.e. a hybrid event:
ts2show : @EmilieBarta You host virtual events…how do you see them as fitting in with F2F? #ts2show
ts2show : How do you keep virtual events from turning would be attendees into virtual participants? #ts2show
 
My reply:
Virtual attendees are people who are not able to attend F2F, so you are not losing them…you are gaining them. #ts2show
F2F events will never go away because of the touch/feel aspect. #ts2show
But virtual in conjunction with F2F gives more attendees an opportunity to experience something, rather than nothing. #ts2show
Exhibitors who do ANYTHING virtual in addition to their exhibit on the show floor reach a greater audience. #ts2show
 
The conversation then turned to the best ways to promote virtual events:
apfick :What I would like to know is the different ways people attract new attendees to their Virtual Seminars (VS)? #ts2show
By using your existing database to invite peeps u know & social media to invite those u don’t. #ts2show
ts2show :@EmilieBarta Great idea to leverage social media to take your virtual opportunity viral #ts2show
Thanks @ts2show! #ts2show
apfick :@EmilieBarta What social media do you find most effective and for which industries? #ts2show
Twitter, Facbook, & LinkedIn are the 3 I recommend…work for all industries in my opinion. #ts2show
apfick :@EmilieBarta I am working on selling the idea to my supervisor. Do you find it hard to have people follow you on Twitter? #ts2show
Not if you have a “clear, concise, & consistent message” & tweet about your topic…tweeps will find you. #ts2show
And don’t forget to take advantage of hashtags! #ts2show
 
And it is always nice when a real world real-time example occurs:
RT @ts2show: @VisionExpo Agreed! Position yourself as a key player and knowledge source in the industry! ME: And then they will come! #ts2show
dwheeler11 : @EmilieBarta is an excellent example of how to best use social media to educate, interact and gain followers (I follow her!) #ts2show
@dwheeler11 Aw…thanks!! ;o) #ts2show
 
Of course we always want to avoid a disastrous virtual event:
VisionExpo : Seen a virtual event not do well & why? What are lessons learned? #ts2show
Virtual events that aren’t successful…why? Because they did not ENGAGE the virtual audience!!!!!!! #ts2show
dwheeler11 It all goes back to the ‘know your audience’ and ‘keep your content focused & relevant’. Plus, don’t overwhelm ppl with technology #ts2show
Always remember to keep it short, sweet, & simple! ;o) #ts2show
And never forget to educate your attendees on how to participate in the virtual events…quick demo video or virtual event emcee. #ts2show
If the attendees don’t know how to participate in the virtual event, they will get frustrated & walk away. #ts2show
“Some great leads, just shy!” No matter if virtual or F2F, u must have “staffers” who welcome attendees/make them feel comfortable. #ts2show
 
I love the way Danalynne wrapped up the chat:
ts2show : As we move to end this chat @dwheeler11: what is the key takeaway when planning virtual events? #ts2show
dwheeler11 :@ts2show – Know your audience and tailor content to them. Be engaging and informative. Promote in multiple channels including SM #ts2show
dwheeler11 :And remember people have short attention spans! #ts2show
 
So what do you think? Will face-to-face events be replaced by virtual events?  If you were a part of the TS2 Show tweetchat, what were your takeaways?

Well – to my surprise – there was a huge difference.  This new comb was awful – its ends spiked, the plastic was weak – bottom line – it was horrible.  So it go me wondering – how can you market a comb?  Most consumers think of them as all the same.  Sure – the features are different – but imagine saying – “buy my comb because we use better plastic and our ends do not spike!” – RIDICULOUS. 

But then what?

Think about it for a second…

How many products and services and brands are like this.  Events – how can you differentiate in a way that does not sound ridiculous and defensive?  Certain food products – again they all look alike and seem alike.  Lots of consumer brands face the same dilemma.  I recall speaking to a sole proprietor consultant whose biggest challenge was not differentiating himself but getting the message out about the differentiation.

Remember the Pepsi Challenge – this was a recognition that Pepsi and Coke were SO ALIKE that they needed to differentiate and ran this program as a way of differentiating.  I have found myself in many conversations with clients when they are challenged to simplfy their message to tell their potential clients how they differentiate, what makes them better, and why their potential clients should become clients.

So – what is the answer – I am not sure I know the formula.  I do know that it comes back to the basics – sell the benefits and not the features.  But defining that message and telling it – for a comb company that is difficult.  But maybe not if you think about the world of online and digital.  In that world, it is about having your customers sell your prospective customers.  In thinking of it that way, every customer is a spokesperson and it is the customer who can tell about their experience and the product differentiation.  Sound like a “Pepsi Challenge”?  Maybe.  Is that so bad?  I would say not.  Maybe if we always thought about that as a backdrop for marketing and messaging, there might be a clearer path.

So – is every marketing effort just another Pepsi Challenge in disguise?  Is that they key to marketing a comb?  And – is marketing my product any different?

“In the long run, the only reliable security for any company is the ability to innovate better and longer than competitors” states Marc J. Epstein, author of Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It.  To be a leader in your industry, you must be innovative. Companies thrive on innovation and even depend on innovation to succeed. Innovation can turn a mediocre company into a thriving one which gives the company potential to be an industry leader.

Innovation is more than innovating products. It also entails innovating processes within the company. An excellent example of process innovation is the auto industry in the early 1900s.  Automobiles were originally owned solely by people who had money because it was expensive to manufacture cars. Henry Ford took advantage of an innovation opportunity and renovated the auto manufacturing process for the entire auto industry. The innovation of the assembly line process not only reduced costs, it allowed more cars to be produced in less time. This, in turn, led to an explosion in the automobile industry sales.

Innovation stems from creativity, therefore, every person in the company can be an innovator. Try some brainstorming sessions with a group of people. This will allow people to feed off each other’s ideas. When creative juices are flowing, unusual ideas will come up. These odd ideas may lead to really good ideas. Be sure not to discount any ideas. When you have a list of ideas composed, research them to make sure they are new and fresh. A competitive advantage may be difficult to gain if the idea already exists.

There are many risks a company might find that can hinder innovation. Consciously analyze these risks and be proactive in fighting against them. Sometimes, the thing that drives a company’s success may very well be the thing that drives the company to failure.  Leading companies focus their innovation in areas that enhance their core competencies. Remember, HOW you innovate determines WHAT you innovate.

Fellow innovators, in order to maximize the value of innovation, never underestimate the power a good idea.  Believe in your ideas and make them work!

• Stay Connected – one thing I see a lot is that people do not check voice mail, email, etc as often in these times and let those connections build up and then get overwhelming.  Even worse, critical communications, be it client communications or vendor communications or internal communications, go ignored or un-responded to.  Instead, I would suggest that you be more diligent about staying connected and more focused on making sure you are checking your connection points.  Obviously you cannot respond to everything.  But categorize, file the items, and respond to the critical items right away.
• Prioritize - This is the key.  You need to prioritize your tasks and your commitments.  This does not mean to ignore the items that are on the bottom of the prioritization list – this is a common mistake.  Instead, prioritize, set expectations, communicate, and execute.
• Do not get caught in side conversations – This is something I see all too often.  During “normal” times, meetings can go longer.  Conversations can go longer, side conversations are a part of the normal work environment.  In hectic times, it is critical to keep communications focused, clear, black-and-white, bullets as much as possible, and to the point.  No need to be rude – but instead frame it in the realm of staying focused.
• Communicate – Whatever you do – never shut down or turn inside.  Communicate.  Keep people aware of your plans, mission, timeline, prioritization, and goals.  Seek help wherever necessary and over-communicate with the people most important.

Make sense?  Am I missing anything?

Want to use Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to get more leads in your trade show booth?  Here’s the long and the short of it. 

There are two key strategies exhibitors can leverage with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for pre-show promotions: Either they reach out to their own network they’ve already built up over the long-term on those social networks, or rapidly tap into groups that already exist for their trade show on these 3 huge social media sites.

Long Term: Build Your Own Social Media Following

The first strategy is a more long-term plan, because it takes time and effort to build up your own following, whether they are called fans and friends on Facebook, connections and followers on LinkedIn, or followers on Twitter.  (A nuclear bomb’s worth of electrons has already been consumed on how to best grow your army of social media followers, so I won’t go into that here.)  If you’ve already built up a following, then voila!  It’s a short-term plan for you.

When you have gained a group of followers, communicate to them before the show with a potent reason to meet you in your trade show booth, much like you would with other media.  Overall, if your clients, prospects, and influencers are into social media, then building your own following is the way to go anyhow, and using your home-grown network for pre-show promotion is a bonus.

Short Term: Leverage the Trade Show’s Followers on Social Media Sites

The second strategy can be achieved in a relatively short time.  It’s to tie into the people who have connected to your trade show’s presence on these big three social networks.

So for Facebook, it would be getting your comments, in-booth contests, or new product news seen on the show’s Facebook fan or group page.  For example, you can make a post asking people to come see you at your trade show exhibit, load up your product photos to the fan page, link to a YouTube video, or make comments to the news the show posts themselves.

For LinkedIn, within the trade show’s LinkedIn group, you can post news items about your new products, or join discussions about what will be happening at the trade show.  As an exhibitor, you will almost certainly be accepted to the show’s group.  If the show doesn’t have a LinkedIn group yet, then ask the show to start one, or search using your industry keywords and find the best groups for your industry, and start a discussion asking who is going to the show you are exhibiting at.

For Twitter, leveraging the show’s Twitter followers is achieved by sending tweets filled with great reasons to visit you at the trade show, and including in your message the hashtag for the show (like #CES for the CES show) and hoping you get read by attendees who are reading that hashtag Twitter stream.  If the show doesn’t retweet your message, you can direct message the show’s Twitter account, let them know you are an exhibitor, and ask them to retweet your message to share it with their followers.

Just remember that if you would consider a message to be spammy in email, it’s even more so via social media, so tread lightly in these arenas.

Get More Visitors to Your Trade Show Exhibit

My intuition says you will have greater interest from people in your own network (strategy 1), but fewer of them will be going to the show.  You will have greater opportunity for new connections leaning on the show’s network (strategy 2), but won’t always have the power of an existing relationship, and will have to have an even more potent message to stand out — just like all pre-show marketing.

And while I’ve focused on the pre-show promotion aspect of leveraging these social media sites, because so many attendees will carry and view their smart phones right on the show floor, it applies to at-show promotions, too.

In the short term, you can leverage the group of followers already congregating online for the show you will be exhibiting at.  In the long term, it’s best to build your own tribe on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and include your invitations to meet you at the trade show as just part of an ongoing conversation with them.

Sound like a good plan?  Are you doing some or all of this already?  By all means, please share with us in the comment box below how you’ve used Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter before the show to help generate more traffic in your trade show display during the show.

Little thought is given to seeing attendees as active participants in their own learning and experience.

Here are eight conference presentation myths that hamstring most attendees’ learning that conference organizers should avoid.

Myth 1: There is one single educational approach such as a lecture or panel discussion that best serves all conference attendees.
Reality: Homogenized conference presentations only serve a minority of attendees.

All attendees learn differently. Conference organizers must embrace different presentation techniques and active participation to reach the maximum number of attendees as possible.

Myth 2: Speaker skills are of primary importance.
Reality: Adult learner skills are of primary importance.

So often when planning conferences and events, the annual conference and education committees are focused on finding the right speaker with the right content for the right time. Little attention, if any, is given to how the audience learns, their preferences and what we know about how the brain recalls information. The conference organizers and committee members should make a subtle shift of focusing on how the attendees’ learn instead of on the presenters’ skills. Then secure speakers that provide a variety of presentation strategies including active attendee participation.

Myth 3: The focus of the conference presentation should be on how to present.
Reality: The focus of the conference presentation should be on how attendees’ learn.

Conference organizers should require potential presenters to identify in the speaker call for proposal the type of learning strategies they plan to use. Then meeting professionals can secure speakers that use a variety of instructional techniques in addition to lectures and panels.

Myth 4: Active attendee participation is not successful for technical fields (science, medical, technology).
Reality: Active participation in any presentation has been proven to increase attendees’ learning and retention, regardless of the subject matter or industry.

Spending time explaining to adults why active participation is being used and setting the stage managing attendees’ expectations will build success and buy-in. Research by Drs. Barb Licklider and Howard Shapiro at Iowa State University showed that active participation in engineering education increased learning, retention and cognitive thinking at a higher level.

Myth 5: Baby Boomers and other generations learn best with lectures and passive listening.
Reality: Research shows that adults learn best when they are actively involved regardless of their generation.

Generational differences are evident in culture and the workplace and do not translate to adult learning. Instead of worrying about whether Boomers, GenXers or Millennials will learn more from lectures or active participation, conference organizers should focus on designing the best learning environments and securing presenters that use a variety of instructional techniques.

Myth 6: Presenters are unlikely to make major changes to their presentations.
Reality: Educating industry presenters on why and how to make changes as well as giving preference to speakers that use a variety of presentation strategies influence all future presenters.

Myth 7: There isn’t enough time for active participation.
Reality: Covering material or content through lecture does not equate to attendee learning.

Many presenters try to cover too much material in a normal sixty- to ninety-minute presentation. Focusing on two to three core learning objectives help presenters remove unnecessary information that leads to kitchen sinking the presentation. Providing activities that link back to the core learning objectives help attendees learn.

Myth 8: Attendees don’t want to engage in participation.
Reality: To increase audience participation, presenters have to encourage interaction and make them rewarding and fun.

Asking specific “right answer” content questions put attendees on the spot. Asking questions that help attendees focus on common experiences, like “How many of you have had this happen?” creates a bridge between the presenter and the attendee. When attendees understand the benefits of active participation, they are more likely to participate. Creating an emotionally safe environment that excludes random death by embarrassment and emotionally threatening situations will increase interaction and trust.

In Conclusion
Most conference audiences of the past were satisfied with a good show and a few useful tips. Today’s audiences are more sophisticated. They want practical, relevant, immediately-useful information, customized to their needs, presented in a compelling and memorable way and time for discussion of implementation. And they still want to feel like they’ve been entertained.

How are you busting your conference myth’s using the realities of today’s learner?

Last week we talked about the sinister body language habits your booth staff may be exhibiting. This, as we mentioned may well add a negative to your company and brand image, however, a bad booth staffer can be the worst thing that ever happened to your trade show.

That being the case, here’s the top three things you need to do to avoid bringing them in the first place:

1.  Understand the Environment

Tradeshow exhibiting is not like selling, in the field or otherwise.  There is no single professional experience in the average salesperson’s day that compares with being ‘on’ for eight to ten hours at a go, dealing with thousands of people.  Be realistic when selecting staffers for this challenging environment: the shy technical type who hates to speak up in a sales meeting is NOT going to do well when confronted with herds of attendees.

2. Ask Questions

Many employers view tradeshow participation as a kind of perk — but for the employees who actually have to work the exhibit, they’re anything but.  Ask your potential staffers if they want to go to the show.  You might discover that they don’t want to go for personal or professional reasons.  If at all possible, you don’t want staffers at the show who don’t want to be there.

3. Expect Consistency

Be realistic when considering booth staffers. If you know Bob is a hard-core party animal with an eye for the ladies at home, he’s going to be a hard-core party animal with an eye for the ladies when he’s not home.  If Sheila has a short temper and doesn’t suffer fools gladly, she’s not going to magically transform into sweetness and light because you’re at the event.

In short, pick staffers who have a proven track record of handling high stress environments and remaining pleasant.  It’s an added bonus if they want to be at the show: enthusiasm and excitement are powerful selling tools.

When exhibiting at a tradeshow, you’re there to make sales, brand your business, brand your product, schmooze with industry partners, scout out competitors and okay, do a little partying (perhaps).

Are you using the time to do some specific research by using surveys? No? Too bad, it’s a great way to uncover useful information that you may not find elsewhere at ten times the price.

Since you’re already there at the tradeshow, you might as well take advantage of the opportunity. Here are seven ways you can use surveys at tradeshows to bring home more than just some sales and the memory of a great after-hours party.

1. Product comparison: put your product up against a top competitor, much like the old cola wars taste-tests. Take the labels off of your brand and a competitor’s (if you dare), and put them up against each other side by side. If the results come back in your favor, issue a press release, tweet it out.

2. Quickie 2 or 3-question survey: easy to put together and easy for your visitors to take 15 seconds to answer. You can hold a clipboard and pencil, and ask visitors if they can spare just 15 seconds to answer three questions. Be specific and don’t go past that time. Ask the questions, and then finish with a “Would you like to learn more about our product?” and if they say yes, direct them to an associate. If they say no, thank them for their valuable time and release ‘em back to the wild.

3. More in-depth survey: offer this only to people that have indicated a willingness to learn more about your products or services. If they seem like good prospects, ask if they mind if you can take just three minutes with them. The survey should be handed to them either in the form of a piece of paper on a clipboard or a laptop. Either way, invite them to leave their name and contact information at the end so you can follow up with the more interested folks.

3. “Live” visual feature or product comparison: set up a graphic and interactive exhibit that asks visitors to make a choice between various possible features or products you may be offering in the near future. Tell them that this research is part of the evaluation process your company is doing. Whether you’re showing 2 or 5 or 9 choices, make the graphics easy to understand and the choices easy to make (hopefully!). Have baskets or jars set up so that visitors can drop something (tennis balls, marbles, etc.) into a jar that echoes their sentiment. Over time each jar will slowly fill up with the choices. By doing this you are giving a visual accounting of how the ‘voting’ or surveying is going.

4. Brand effectiveness: depending on your company and brand, you may want to survey your visitors on how they perceive your brand in comparison to your competitors. While this may take a little more thought to set up, the survey can yield some very worthwhile results in how you are perceived in the marketplace.

5. Measure effectiveness of pre-event marketing: if you do extensive pre-event marketing within your industry in trade magazines or other media, you can survey the effectiveness. If you do a lot of social media promotion you can also judge its effectiveness. Set up a survey that asks visitors IF they heard of you, WHERE they heard of you and if the MESSAGE they saw inspired them to visit your booth (or if they just stumbled across it…).

6. Get input for future events: take some time to ask visitors what impacted them the most at the show. The feedback can be used to help craft your booth, marketing, graphics and promotional slant for the following year’s show.

7. Get feedback on a new product: if you have a product that’s been on the market a short time, the survey can be used to get feedback on how that product is perceived, used or consumed by visitors.

Take a few moments and ask yourself ‘what can I learn from all of those thousands of tradeshow visitors that will help the company?’ Then come up with a great way to elicit that information via a survey. Feel free to share any ideas you may have in the comment section!

HAVE COMPASSION AND PATIENCE Gang-Gang (what I named my grandma as a child), my parents, and I were at a very fragile state of mind while planning Papa’s funeral…we were in shock, we were heartbroken, we felt lost and confused, we were exhausted, and we felt like we were in a fog.  Scott recognized our grief, and took the time to figure out how we needed him to “handle us” with all of the decisions we had to make during the funeral preparations.  He knew when we were able to proceed with the next decision; he knew when he needed to give us space to discuss and come to a conclusion; and he knew when we just needed to take a moment to ourselves.  He did not get exasperated if we took a longer than usual amount of time, nor did he act uncomfortable if we had tears in our eyes.  He recognized our emotions and allowed us to feel them, and he never made us feel rushed or as if we were wasting his time.

READ THE PERSONALITY OF YOUR CLIENT  Gang-Gang, my parents, and I all have different personalities and different experiences with death, but we were working as a unified group to plan Papa’s funeral.  Because we were all in such shock, we all had different moments of strength and weakness and Scott recognized who was most appropriate in any given moment to be able to understand what he was saying.  He instinctively knew how to address us individually and what he could or could not say to each of us.  And because of this, we were able to make decisions very calmly and plan a day that would make Papa proud.

USE EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND WORDS  Although all 4 of us are intelligent people, we were working in a medium that was brand new to us.  Scott was working with something that he does every day.  However, he recognized that we were unfamiliar with some terminology and consequently used words that were easy for us to understand.  He took the time to explain anything that we did not understand, and he never once made us feel stupid for asking a question or for needing additional clarification.

EXPLAIN THE CONTRACT LINE BY LINE  Little did I realize how many options one has while planning a funeral, and a contract was the last thing I expected to see.  But it makes perfect sense as a funeral is an event with a contractor (the funeral parlor) and several sub-contractors (the church, coffin manufacturer, cemetery, organist, soloist, guest book manufacturer, prayer card printer, etc.).  Bopp Chapel’s contract was a sort of check-list, and Scott took us through it line by line.  He explained each and every one of our options, and never pressured us into something that we did not want or need.  If we did not have a decision right away about a particular line item, he helped us weigh the pros and cons to come to the best decision.  And he always told us the price of a line item before we agreed to it.  When we got to the bottom line, he made sure that we understood what we had “ordered” and the total price we would be billed.  We never felt taken advantage of and we confident that Papa would be so proud of the decisions we made for him.

OFFER TO BE THERE FOR QUESTIONS / CONCERNS  Scott recognized how overwhelmed we were and that this was a new experience for each of us.  He made sure that we felt comfortable calling him at any time with any questions or concerns, no matter how trivial they seemed.  When we did call, he did not become exasperated with us no matter how ridiculous our question sounded to him, nor did he mock us if we asked for clarification on something multiple times.  Our #1 priority was planning an event that would pay tribute to Papa and be representative of him…Scott had never met Papa, yet his priority was the same as ours and he made sure that all of our requests were satisfied.  In turn, we counted on his expertise to guide us through decisions that were unfamiliar to us.

ANTICIPATE YOUR CLIENT’S REQUESTS  There were many times that I thought of something “after the fact,” approached Scott, and was so happy to hear that he had already taken care of it.  This took pressure off of me and allowed me to concentrate my efforts on my family and on the celebration of Papa’s life.  Scott got to know each of us very quickly in a condensed amount of time and found things he could do for us that were representative of our personalities and our wishes for Papa’s funeral.  And the best thing was that he did them before we even thought about them, or he did them for us with the knowledge that we would never have thought of them in the first place since this was such an unfamiliar situation for us.

TAKE CARE OF DETAILS WITHOUT BEING ASKED  My #1 priority on the day of Papa’s funeral was taking care of Gang-Gang and my mom, so the last thing I wanted to do was worry about the details of the day.  Scott “ran the show” and allowed me to focus my time and attention on my family…not worrying about the details put my mind at ease and gave me confidence in his ability to do what we wanted and needed to be done. 

Even though many of these traits seem like common sense, I was surprised at how much of an impression they made on me, especially during such a difficult time.  We put together Papa’s funeral in 2 days yet a trade show, meeting, or event takes months to plan.  If it made such an impression on me that Scott was able to do all of this for us in such a condensed amount of time, imagine the impression we can make on our clients while working together for months, if not years!!

Meeting professionals spend countless hours on the room setup, F&B, hotel negotiations, speaker selection, AV and other conference logistics. Yet little time is spent on crafting the best session titles, descriptions and learner objectives.

A lot rests on conference session descriptions. How well you convey what — and how — content will be available to attendees may be the deciding factor in whether they register in the first place. We can do better.

Here are four simple best practices to get you started.

1. Come up with a good, intriguing session title.
It’s the first and perhaps only impression you’ll make on a potential attendee. The primary purpose of a title is to get the attendee to read the first sentence of the description. Which of the following two session titles makes you want to read more?

Plenary Session — The State of the [fill in the blank] Industry
or
What Everyone Ought to Know About the Macro Trends Affecting the [fill in the blank] Industry.

The second title does a better job of piquing the reader’s interest.

2. Liven up your session description.
Most conference session descriptions are dull, leading attendees to believe that the presentation will be the same. A session description should get the reader to say, “Hmm, that sounds interesting. What do the Learner Objectives [LOs] look like?”

Focus on the reader. Make a promise and address the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) benefits of the presentation. The word limits imposed on most session descriptions is not the challenge. It’s choosing the right words to accurately describe the session, pull readers in and get them to commit to attending the session.

3. Craft strong Learner Objectives.
These statements that follow the session description describe what the participant is expected to achieve (outcomes) as result of attending. To move attendees up the pyramid of cognitive skills, Bloom’s Taxonomy should be factored into session development and description.

Strong LOs have three distinguishing characteristics: They are

• observable
• measurable (you can evaluate them immediately upon leaving the session) and
• actively done by the participant.

Which of these two LOs do you think is better?

After attending the session, participants will be able to:

• Increase their sales by 50 percent and maintain critical partnerships.
• Identify seven ways to improve their sales and maintain critical partnerships.

The first LO has sex appeal, but it is misleading and not measurable. Have you ever walked out of a conference session and automatically improved your skills by 50 percent? Of course not. The second meets all three LO characteristics.

Including two or three LOs with session descriptions will help participants choose the presentation that’s right for them.

4. Spell out who should attend both by group and experience level
This is a critical component that should be included in conference marketing materials. Many attendees have walked out of a session and said, “That workshop was not for me. I wish the session description had been more specific.”

Event professionals should also label the appropriate audience for each session in terms of experience level — novice, intermediate, veteran — and niche area (as well as other categories specific to each industry). This simple addition won’t take much space and can reap great attendee benefits.

Take Away
The primary purpose of a session title is to get the reader to read the first sentence of the session description. The primary purpose of the first sentence is to get the reader to the second sentence. And so on, through to the learner objectives.

By the time the reader has read the title, description, and learner objectives, the goal is to get the reader to attend the session. Ultimately, the goal of the conference organizer is for the session titles, descriptions and learner objectives to accurately match the presentation that is delivered.

On the Web: Learn more about writing solid Learner Objectives from the American Association of Law Libraries.

This post was reprinted with permission of Convene, the magazine of the Professional Convention Management Association. © 2010 www.pcma.org

So what do you look for in conference event descriptions? What whet’s your appetite in conference session descriptions and makes you want to attend a session?

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How can TS² help you be a better exhibit and event marketer? We’ll help you:

• Sharpen your skills, expand your expertise and update your knowledge—TS² provides great in-depth programming for beginners and think-tank workshops for experienced exhibiting professionals.
• Speed up your learning curve, productivity and career advancement.
• Broaden your understanding of exhibit and event marketing—get up-to-date on key issues and principles of planning, measurement, budgeting, marketing and execution of exhibit and event programs with an emphasis on technology and social media.

With limited budgets and resources at a premium, you need this program now more than ever. And, with a 100% money-back guarantee, we promise that you’ll walk away with ideas and strategies worth more than the cost of attending!

Our conference program is focusing on what matters most to you:

• How can I exhibit more efficiently and cost-effectively?
• How can I adopt eco-friendly practices for my exhibits and events without breaking the bank?
• How can I really measure the results of my exhibits and events?
• How do I integrate social media into my exhibits and events?
• What’s the right marketing mix to guarantee success in today’s economy?

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Marc Goldberg, author of Successful Exhibiting Strategies in Uncertain Times

Marc’s reply?  That trade shows are definitely worth doing.  And that there are many proven methods to boost your trade show results, even in a recession.  Marc shared his justification for trade shows and his top exhibiting ideas in the White Paper we published, Successful Exhibiting Strategies in Uncertain Times.

Now, two years later, taking in account the toll the harsh economy has taken, and the opportunity for turnaround, Marc has updated the report.  You can click here to request a new copy.  Here’s the short form on what’s in it:

17 Strategies For Getting The Most Out Of Trade Shows

The first place to turn to is your exhibit house.  Most exhibit houses have relationships with trade show presenters and/or trade show talent agencies.  After all, you trust your exhibit house to design and build your booth, so why not trust them to help you find your presenter?  They can contact the agency or presenter on your behalf and get the selection process started based on your wants and needs.  They can also facilitate the interviewing and negotiating for you.  Or they can just do everything and surprise you with their selection if you prefer. 

A Trade Show Talent Agency

If you do not work with an exhibit house, you could turn to a trade show talent agency.  If you do an internet search, you will find many types of agencies that say they have experience in booking talent on trade shows.  Therefore you will have to do some research to ensure that you find the type of third party vendor that best suits your needs.  Make sure that the agency you choose has been in business for awhile and represents presenters who have trade show experience.  Take an in-depth look at the agency’s website and see if you like the image that they are portraying.  Do an internet search to see about the reputation of the agency and if you feel comfortable with the way that they are portrayed online.  Once you contact them, do they provide you the level of service that you expect, and do you like the way you connect over the phone?  Finally do they listen to your description of your perfect presenter and help you narrow down the field, or do they send you everybody they represent because they do not care who you select as long as you select someone from them? 

Your Personal and Professional Networks

If you do not want to work with a third party, ask for referrals from your network.  Look to your network of colleagues, friends, and professional associates and ask them if they can recommend someone for you.  Chances are they have run into a presenter in their trade show history and have their contact information on file.  If not, they might know of another colleague who could recommend a presenter.  Just as important is a recommendation of a presenter who you should NOT hire.  Unfortunately there are more mediocre presenters out there than results-oriented presenters, so knowing who to avoid is a valuable piece of information as well. 

An Internet Search

If you want to go at it alone, try an internet search.  Search phrases like Trade Show Presenter, Corporate Spokesperson, and Trade Show Narrator to see who you find.  After you weed out the trade show agencies and articles about trade shows, you will have a manageable amount of websites to view.  When you look at their website, do you like the image of the materials they use to promote themselves?  Do you like their look, their client list, and their demo?  Does their image match the image of your company?  Do you feel comfortable with the presentation style they portray in their demo?  Do you like what their clients have to say about them?  Do they have a long list of repeat clients, or are they never asked back for a repeat performance?  Once you have decided this presenter is a possibility, do an internet search of their name in quotes and see what you find.  Are you impressed with the amount and type of coverage they have on the internet, or are you finding things that tarnish their reputation?  If you do not like what you see online, you will not like what you see in person. 

Social Networking

And the newest way to find a Presenter?  Social Networking!  Many presenters have a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, YouTube, and other social networking sites. So again, search for terms like Trade Show Presenter, Corporate Spokesperson, and Trade Show Narrator to see who you find.  You can also take a look at who your connections are connected to and ask for an introduction.  Or you can post a message stating that you are looking for a presenter, and see what response you receive.  Social networking is a great way to access people you otherwise may never have met, and a wonderful way to get into a conversation with a presenter to see if you like their personality.  Since social networking is somewhat less formal and more conversational than other online resources, you can get to know a presenter by how they conduct themselves on the site.  If they are pushy, unprofessional, rude, or not interactive online, imagine how they will be in person! 

So with just a little bit of research in a variety of different methods, you can feel confident that you will find the right Professional Trade Show Presenter for your company.  Good luck!!


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The conference was to start on Wednesday with exhibitor move-in and pre-conference workshops, but DC was still under nearly two feet of snow from the weekend’s storm and was due to get one foot more in blizzard conditions on Wednesday. Airlines were already canceling flights. Some attendees and exhibitors got to town on Tuesday before everything shut down but many were still stuck at home. Even many of those based in DC were still snowbound due to impassable roads and no Metro or train service above ground.

On Tuesday morning ASAE announced via Twitter that it would make a decision by 3:00 p.m. as to whether the conference would be canceled. That’s when the member community started working on Plan B. Later ASAE announced their decision to cancel, the right thing to do considering the conditions. Immediately after, Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer of Socialfish blogged about UnTech10, Plan B, an unconference that a team of members had quickly started organizing.

On Thursday, 75 attended UnTech10 in person and 425 attended virtually via a live stream (live webcast) of the programming. I didn’t have the time or budget to go to ASAE’s Technology Conference, but now I was able to “attend” UnTech10 for several hours on Thursday. It was an intellectually stimulating afternoon, time well spent. On Friday, although there wasn’t an on-site component, a full day of webinars was scheduled for the virtual audience.

What do you need to pull off something like this? Here’s what I learned from Maddie and Lindy’s post about organizing it.

You need word of mouth (or mouse) marketing. Most of the marketing for UnTech10 was done via Twitter. A hashtag for the conference was created (#UnTech10) so members could follow that stream of tweets to keep updated. Keep your tweets short enough so that others can retweet them. Vendors also notified clients via email.

Create a Facebook fan page. Although UnTech10 didn’t do this, I saw several references to UnTech10 in my Facebook News Feed as friends shared the original Socialfish blog post.

Create a buzz-worthy email and ask your members to forward it to those they know in the industry or profession. Give clear instructions on how to register and compelling reasons on why they will want to participate. Don’t scare them off by using only technical lingo. This is user-friendly technology, like watching TV!

Contact affiliated or friendly organizations for help in spreading the word. Provide copy and links that they can use to share the news. If you create a sense of buzz and excitement about something, it will go viral if you make it easy for others to help you.

Create a central hub for handouts, schedule, instructions on how to participate and an archive of webcast segments. Content experts were asked to submit program ideas to a wiki. The organizers created a full day of on-site programming (that was live streamed) for Thursday and a full day of webinars for Friday.

Most importantly, you need a community – good relationships with vendors who can help you pull it all together – vendors that will contribute staff to work with you and free services and/or funding for other expenses. This organizing team will take charge and make it happen. According to Maddie, each company on the UnTech10 team had an area to oversee:

• Leadership, marketing and programming (content and schedule) was handled by Socialfish.
• Hotel logistics (conference room), sponsor management and AV/video hardware by The Port.
• Live streaming video by Peach New Media.
• Conference web site and community hub by Omnipress.
• Happy hour reception and travel reimbursement for local association staff taking the metro or cabs by NFI Studios.
• Webinar backup, food, signage and all kinds of random stuff by Avectra.
• And many other sponsors helped with all day coffee, morning and afternoon breaks, lunch and wifi – Balance Interactive, HighRoad Solution, NimbleUser, DAXCO Connect, Distilled Logic, and MemberClicks.

You can do this. You can do this if your event is threatened by weather or other unforeseen circumstances. You can certainly do this if you have more time than the UnTech10 team had. They were able to pull it off because they had relationships based on existing trust. Trust that everyone would work together and do their best for the right reasons. The team stepped up and made something excellent out of an unfortunate situation and provided a meaningful experience for our community — an experience that many of us would not have had otherwise.  Because of the generosity and hard work of my fellow members, now I had a chance to grab several hours of education and online networking with other members. This is what a real community does. Does your association have that kind of community?

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Interpretive Exhibits has been an environmentally conscious company since its inception. As more and more materials become available for exhibit fabrication, we discuss them with clients and make them available whenever appropriate.

Some of the materials that we consider during fabrication:

• Bamboo – produces 35% more oxygen than average trees, matures quickly, and does not require re-planting
• FSC Certified wood
• Metals – recycled aluminum when possible
• Paint – low VOC, organic paint, recycled latex paint
• Tension Fabric – low weight and small shipping and storage space

Other considerations for creating sustainable exhibits:

Re-use: what possibility does the material have to be re-used in the future? In many cases old exhibit elements can be incorporated by non-profit organizations.

Re-claimed materials and local sourcing: the Northwest is a good source for re-claimed material. Using locally sourced re-claimed materials is environmentally friendly for a number of reasons: if it’s local, it requires less shipping costs. Also, it’s documented that for each dollar spent locally, three dollars stay in the community, so spending locally reduces carbon usage and helps sustain the local economy.

Weight: many materials such as plastic recycled faux wood are denser and therefore heavier than typical fabrication materials, which will impact the cost of shipping. In many instances, this is a trade-off between heavier construction and shipping costs vs. a more environmentally friendly fabrication approach.

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