Tools

Hardware, software, media and architecture have come together.  Today’s event professionals have a full tool box at their disposal, and leveraging new and proven tools is helping elevate live experiences to the next level.  “Connecting the right tools with the right event program allows clients to generate strong strategies and stronger results,” says Gina McDuffie, GES’ senior vice president marketing.

1. Closed-loop wifi.

Cutting-edge exhibitors are offering attendees close-loop wifi inside their booths, a cool way to engage attendees by inviting them to join their network.  Closed-loop wifi is also a way to make the booth “sticky” because attendees tend to stay longer as they catch up on email and surf the web.

2. Personal messaging.

Badge and attendee recognition systems that are preprogrammed into a database are leading to more personalized messaging.  When attendees scan their badge at a booth the exhibitor knows who they are, if they are already customers, what they have bought in the past and the names of their sales reps.

3. Smartphone apps.

Customized smartphone apps that attendees can download and view later are a great way for companies to extend their reach beyond the event.  An exhibitor at a recent American Diabetes Association conference created an app that went viral after physicians downloaded it at the meeting, then mentioned it to patients who also downloaded it.  The app contained tips for a healthy diet, links to restaurants and menus and other helpful info.  Companies that produce similar apps win friends and widen their exposure.

4. iPads for attendees.

Exhibitors are ramping up the pathway experience through their events by lending iPads or other tablets to attendees who interact with its camera feature as they go through the exhibit.  After checking into the redemption counter and handing off a passport or other form of photo ID which is held under lock and key, attendees use the tablet to snap QR codes throughout the booth, which immediately downloads and allows them to view video content or other data.  By the time they leave the event they receive an email with an electronic link to what they just explored.

5. Physical Activity.

As an antidote to the plethora of technology at trade shows and meetings, companies are often leveraging physical activity as a way to engage attendees and make charitable contributions.  They may involve attendees in painting a large mural or constructing a small piece that will be used in a sculpture, then reward the effort by contributing to a local charity, or the activity may be as simple as a Saturday morning 5k fun run in which an exhibitor contributes to a cause in the name of a participant.  These may be low-tech but they are high-value alternatives to our plugged-in world.

6.  Power charging stations.

These have been around for some time as trade show producers have recognized the value of offering them near session rooms and in hall ways.  What is new is bringing power stations into the booth, a smart strategy on the part of exhibitors.  After all, attendees waiting for their phones or tablets to recharge will remain in the booth for five to 20 minutes, a perfect time for face-to-face engagement with sales reps.  It just makes sense.

7. Customized premiums.

People like anything personal, a trend that exhibitors in the health care realm have tapped into by offering digital posters, a hands-on activity in which a physician chooses from the library of existing images to create a poster based on a certain disease state or product.  It is printed in the booth with the physician’s name on it, along with great content and details that they can hang on their office wall.  An added bonus:  while waiting for the poster to print, booth reps have another opportunity to engage the physician.  And the poster goes into a tube printed with the company’s logo on it, giving exhibitors additional visibility on the trade show floor.

8. QR business cards.

These are another trendy custom giveaway in which attendees at an event have their picture taken, then receive ten to twelve custom made business cards printed on-site with a QR code that links to their personal web site or their company’s site.  Then they can pass them out to people who use their smartphone to link to that information, perhaps weeks or months after they’ve given them the card.  This is a low-carbon type of giveaway that rewards and engages attendees.

9. Incentives.

Exhibitors looking to draw people into their booths have found that attendees want giveaways that are unique and useful, not another rubber ball to give to their kids when they get home.  Another simple and elegant offering is a branded cellphone screen cleaner that attached to the back of a phone, then peels off to wipe the screen.  As one trade show attendee remarked, this is a low-tech adhesive, but it has worked for months and is really quite beautiful.  Imagine that.

10. Geo-location elements.

GPS is becoming a powerful weapon in the modern day event marketer’s toolkit.  Once we know “where” our target audiences are we can go to them…or bring them to us.  Event programs are leveraging GPS technology to drive attendance, lead attendees on personalized journeys through experiences and more.  Watch for Foursquare to get big play in trade show booths.

Excerpt from the GES white paper, “Trend Tracker:  The annual list of the top 50 trends impacting trade show and events this year.  For full report click here.

The Seven Deadly Sins of the New-Build Process

Veteran designers offer their commandments for getting one hell of an exhibit.

By Charles Pappas, Exhibitor Magazine

Every exhibit manager knows the design process is rife with more horror stories than the SyFy Channel on Halloween. There’s the booth that began looking like the swankiest mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, but ended up resembling the roughest shack in Appalachia. Or the exhibit that started off more unique than a unicorn but came out as run-of-the-mill as a chain store at a mall. Then there’s the booth whose modest budget spiraled out of control so badly, that it made the Greek government look like a model of fiscal restraint.

Debacles like these may all seem to have singular and unrelated causes. But according to exhibit designers, landing yourself in the seventh circle of exhibit-design hell — with a booth that weighs too much, portrays the wrong image, busts your budget, or is made from the wrong materials — is the result of sin. No, not the Old Testament transgressions of sloth, lust, wrath, and gluttony, et al., but the steps you didn’t take, questions you didn’t ask, and procedures you didn’t follow during the design/build process.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s a fall from grace you can redeem faster than you can verbalize a mea culpa. To find out how to sidestep those sins and make the new-build process more angelic than demonic, we asked veteran exhibit designers to explain the counterproductive attitudes, glaring mistakes, egregious errors, and poor preparation that clients make all the time. So with their help, here are the seven deadly sins that will absolutely, positively guarantee you will get the exhibit you don’t want.

1. Secrecy:  Withholding your design budget

Whose business is it if you have $50,000 to spend or $500,000? After all, why ground designers’ fertile flights of fancy with the sordid specifics of commerce? Better to let those creative angels soar with ideas of any expense before bringing them back down to earth, right?

Exhibit managers’ reasons for budget secrecy can be as copious as they are counterproductive. According to Mark Bendickson, principal and designer at Exhibitdesign, a Maple Grove, MN-based exhibit-design firm, they usually boil down to two erroneous beliefs. “Many exhibit managers think that if they keep their budget under wraps, designers will release their inner Frank Gehry, ultimately resulting in a more creative design,” he says. “Some clients instinctively feel if they give their designers a budget to work with, they’ll use up every penny, whether it’s necessary or not.”

But Bendickson suggests disclosing your budget as soon as possible. Eli B’s heart of EWI Worldwide goes a few steps further with her advice. The vice president of creative and innovations for the Livonia, MI-headquartered company encourages exhibitors to gather a history of what you spent on your booth for a particular show from the previous year, or how you allocated funds for a past exhibit of similar size, and pass on that info to your exhibit house. She also recommends asking designers to show you what they’ve done with budgets similar to yours. “Taking this approach will help guide the designers,” B’sheart says, “Plus, it will give you a more realistic idea of what you can expect for what you’re willing to pay.”

2. Procrastination:  Not allowing adequate time

It’s no secret that Rome wasn’t built in a day — in fact, the designers and builders of the Coliseum alone took nearly a decade to create the monument of stone and iron. While your exhibit may not be required to host gladiatorial smack downs or aquatic battles on artificial lakes, it’s still going to be a space that measures from perhaps 100 to 1,000 square feet or more where you’ll attempt to build traffic, generate leads, make sales, educate customers, demonstrate products, and more.

Any construction of that caliber requires extensive planning and therefore substantial time. In fact, according to Nancy McMillan, allowing insufficient time is a mortal design sin possibly worse than not supplying budget particulars. Calling it “the most common problem in the exhibit industry,” the co-founder of Westport, CT-based McMillan Group Inc., says “a compressed hurry-up-and-shove-it-out-the-door attitude absolutely guarantees predictable, conservative, and simplistic results no one will be satisfied with.”

It doesn’t take Stephen Hawking to explain why time is a crucial element in the exhibit-design process. Ideally, the procedure starts with designers

 acquiring a feel for what exhibit managers want, through a series of meetings, sketches, photographs, or other visual elements to shape and form their sometimes blurry or even bewildering notions. Then there’s the actual fabrication time needed to render those ideas into reality. Like baking a cake, this process can only go so fast if you want an outcome that’s more tasteful than tasteless.

The amount of time you should give your designers depends on a variety of factors, but mostly it hinges on the scale of booth you’ll need. Rob Majerowski, vice president of creative for MG Design Associates Corp., a Pleasant Prairie, WI-based firm, estimates that exhibits with budgets less than $100,000 need a bare minimum of two months to be designed and constructed, while anything more than $100,000 generally requires three to six months, depending on the scope of the project.

Budget is important to consider, agrees Russ Fowler, senior creative director at Derse Inc., based in Milwaukee. But he notes that the particular type of exhibit you’re planning holds equal importance when it comes to time frame. Fowler explains that fabric structures, for example, tend to require less time to design and fabricate, while custom exhibits and double decks — which sometimes come with fire-marshal-approved sprinkler systems — tend

to take longer. “Overall, however, you need to allow one month for the creative process alone, then at least two to three months to build the exhibit, because that provides enough time for you to review and make revisions as needed,” Fowler says.

While four months may sound as impractical to some exhibit managers as four decades, that amount of time is necessary to adequately account for key messaging, product displays, demonstrations, graphics, materials, lighting, and audiovisual equipment (such as flatscreen monitors and speakers) that need to be worked into the booth. What’s more, a compressed time frame means less time to fix inadvertent mistakes, make mid-course corrections to the design, and preview the exhibit before it’s shipped to the trade show and set up.

3. Ambiguity:  Refusing to define your brand

Want to see designers’ heads do an “Exorcist”-style, 360-degree pirouette? When they ask about your brand, tell them they can represent it with a Mardi Gras or a Hawaiian motif in your booth. It’s a curious but common detour many exhibit managers take. “Themes are for children’s birthday parties, not for trade show exhibits,” Bendickson says. “Renting some palm trees and dressing everyone in Hawaiian shirts doesn’t advance your brand, unless of course you’re a resort in Hawaii.”

If ill-defined brands are a sore point with designers, they’re dangerous quicksand for exhibit managers. According to marketing guru and author Seth Godin, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” Lacking a narrative from you that encompasses at least part of Godin’s definition, designers can’t create an exhibit that expresses your brand to attendees.

This need-to-know information should begin with what Fowler calls a “branding package.” It’s to your brand what DNA is to a person — a rich, detailed description of what makes you unique. “A branding package is an absolute must,” Fowler says. “The package should start with your logo, colors, typography, and marketing materials.” Provide the branding package to designers in both hard copy and electronic form, such as a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation. Designers can then add questions and remarks easily. “Once they have the package, offer a set amount of time for them to review it, and then come back to you with any questions or requests for clarifications,” Fowler says. “The more the designers understand your culture, the more on target the solutions will be.”

Certainly typography and fonts are helpful in conveying information about your brand, but they play more of a subordinate than a starring role. To dig down to your roots, Bendickson recommends you construct a kind of brand biography. Ideally, this background account should inform the designers about: how your company is perceived in the marketplace; what makes you different and similar to your competition; what messages you hope to communicate via your exhibit; and what attributes define your target audience. “This translates your brand into a set of tangibles the designers can build around,” he says.

4. Aimlessness:  Failing to set objectives

When designers ask their clients about goals, the answers they get back are often as vague and fuzzy as a stoners’ convention: “Management just wants us to fly the corporate colors.” Or, “We want the booth to have a ‘wow’ factor.” But those statements are the doublespeak of business jargon, not the appropriate goals of an exhibit that will generate results.

Giles Rickett knows what it’s like to work with clients who think along those contours. “Bringing your team together ahead of time to take ownership in setting goals before designers even look at the project means everyone will be pulling for the success of the event,” says the director of creative and marketing for Portland, OR-based Pinnacle Exhibits. “Designing a project without predetermined, shared metrics will likely result in very few people being satisfied with the end product.”

So what exactly should your objectives be? Essentially, they’re how you would answer if asked, “What would define a successful build for you?” The best answers, in Stephanie Recalde’s experience, are those that center on measurable goals with elegant design. “Design can be very emotional and ultimately subjective to individual tastes and preferences,” says Recalde, senior designer at Las Vegas-headquartered Global Experience Specialists Inc. (GES). “Make sure that everyone is basing the design execution on a set of measurable goals to help focus design needs on objective priorities.”

5. Apathy:  Ignoring designers’ backgrounds

It’s a warning sign when an exhibit manager doesn’t ask about his or her designers’ backgrounds. Think about it. That’s a little like going in for a nose job and neglecting to ask the plastic surgeon if he or she has had any experience in rhinoplasty.

Whether you’re in the medical-device or the home-construction industries, if you want someone who’s designed exhibits for your field, say so. If a particular designer has never designed for your industry, your next question should be, “How would you overcome that lack of familiarity with this market?”

“Assuming that you have reviewed the designer’s portfolio and found examples of work that you like, several questions still need to be asked,” Fowler says. “For example, which of the designers whose work you responded to are still with the company? Are they currently available for your project? If so, find out which other projects they’re working on and how much of their time will be taken up by them.”

Once you settle on a designer or designers, supply them with an explicit description of your brand, objectives, and daily operations of the booth staff. Ask the designers to visit your company and tour its physical plant. “After they’ve visited you, ask them specifically if what they saw jibes with the message you want their design to convey,” MG Design’s Majerowski says. “This will prove a good designer’s true value in showing you what you haven’t thought about, and how the booth design can address those unknowns.”

Ignore your designer’s background at your own peril — it’s about as dangerous as going into combat with no ammunition and no battle plan.

6. Disorganization:  Failing to provide clear direction

When it comes to a booth design that will represent their company and its goals, exhibit mangers typically have to deal with a soccer riot of conflicting demands and internal opinions. While executive management wants a monument that would be too garish even for Dubai’s skyline, your boss, the vice president of marketing, wants something that will configure to five different floor plans and operate 20 percent cheaper than the booth you had last year.

It’s imperative that you get all these stakeholders to commit their goals to paper early on, and then come to a consensus regarding which of those goals — an innovative design, decreased cost of operation, or perhaps a reduced environmental footprint — is the most important. What happens if you don’t get that agreement ahead of time? The short answer is creative chaos. “It’s like herding cats, but it’s got to be done,” McMillan says. “If there’s no consensus beforehand, it’s a safe bet that while the client battles internal politics, the design process will paradoxically slow to a halt — then finish in a hurry when everyone finally and begrudgingly agrees on what they want from the exhibit.”

When no one provides clear direction, the results can be costly. One of Fowler’s multinational high-tech clients, for example, couldn’t make up its mind about how its branding should be integrated into the exhibit. The domestic branch directed one approach while the international division demanded another. The exhibit was designed and built with just four weeks to spare, with an extra $100,000 cost to the client because too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen spoiled the broth — and almost ruined the booth.

7. Abandonment:  Deserting your designer

Getting the exhibit that fulfills your needs isn’t the same as ordering books on Amazon.com, where your participation concludes with the click of a mouse. The actual process of designing a booth from conceptual notion to concrete reality is more akin to a personal relationship than a commercial exchange. “It’s only mutually beneficial when there’s open communication and collaboration between the client and the exhibit house,” EWI’s B’sheart says.

Indeed, Fowler even has a motto when it comes to staying in touch: “The less you communicate, the more surprises you get.” He strongly advocates a schedule that includes weekly meetings in person, if possible, or at least by phone; a midpoint review date; and a presentation date. During the process, your designer should offer a continual flow of rough drafts, progress reports, etc. And you should answer promptly with any comments or corrections.

Additionally, meetings should focus on any changes — which might happen, for instance, if the client’s company adopts new branding or edits marketing materials — and how those changes will affect the schedule. If and when any such changes occur, ask the designers immediately for an updated estimate on the time and money the alterations are likely to cost you. “If designers are only talking about the architecture, ‘We’re going to use this laminate,’ or ‘It’s going to be this shape,’ that’s a big red flag,” Fowler says. “At this point, they should be talking about how they’re going to reach your strategic objectives — your pre-show efforts, your on-site events, and what your demos and displays communicate.”

By staying in touch on a scheduled and frequent basis, you avoid leaving the designers to guess what you want. Checking in frequently after your initial encounters with the designers also prevents the design from ever going too far down the wrong path, and gives you plenty of time to get back on the right one.

Here you have them, then: the seven deadly sins that, if committed, will result in a booth designed by your own demons instead of skilled designers. But if you follow the good word that industry experts preach here — that is, articulate exactly what your brand is, explain what your goals are, give your designers plenty of time, and more — your exhibit will feel like it was made in paradise, not manufactured in perdition.

For original article, click here

“Technology is allowing us to connect with our attendees long before the event or exhibit even happens and then continue that momentum through the live experience,” says GES executive vice president strategy and marketing David Saef. “Today’s wired footprint generates engagement, participation, reach and analytics”.

Top 10 Technology Trends

1. Digital collateral.

The biggest trend on the event circuit is the move toward digital collateral, retiring past efforts of shipping crates of printed order forms and sales materials. Marketers are pushing catalogues and project information to a web site or an attendee’s PDA. Sales reps are taking orders online. It’s all electronic, which makes for greener events and less sore arms from lugging all that paperwork around.

2. Digital Signage.

Say goodbye to poster board and hello to digital signage. Just as trade show and meeting content has gone digital, so have way-finding signs and general information and sponsor banners via digital delivery systems and projection systems. Digital signage is easier to edit, more convenient to update and is greener than printing on paper. People printing fewer signs that need to be discarded post-event.

3. Social media.

It’s not a trend; it’s a reality. Every event, conference and trade show is leveraging Twitter, Twitter walls, Facebook, YouTube and other social networks to engage and inform attendees. Social media is a great way to keep in touch before, during and after the event. It can be a great platform for content delivery, on-site interactives and remains the hub of true digital+live experiences.

4. Real-time interaction.

A direct result of social media, this trend leverages feedback from Twitter and Facebook followers and fans in-booth in real time. Product specialists, tablets in hand, can show attendees in real time what people like about a product, discuss their posts and address problems. The immediacy is energizing and lends credibility to the in-booth experience.

5. Smarter lead retrieval.

Lead retrieval systems are playing a bigger role in managing the experience for the attendee in the trade show booth. In the old days, attendees would scan their badge and the exhibitor would know their basic information. Now, smart lead retrieval systems reveal much more than that. They can tell if attendees are already customers and if so, how important they are, their buying history and who their sales rep is. If the attendee is a prospect, pre-show research tells the exhibitor why this attendee is a prospect, pre-show research tells the exhibitor why this attendee was targeted and who might be competing for his business. It’s all pre-loaded onto the attendee’s badge, ready for the booth personnel to interact with on screen. The end result is a more worthwhile experience for exhibitor and attendees.

6. Proximity to RFID.

The wireless technology recognizes and tracks attendees without having to physically scan their badges. An electronic chip embedded within the badge stores information that can be read from several yards away. Sound futuristic? It’s happening now. Say you’ve just landed at an airport on your way to a trade show or conference. You may be able to walk up to a plasma screen that “reads” your badge, welcomes you and, based on your pre-show registration, delivers a personal message in your language.

7. Social media as attendee driver.

Facebook and Twitter are getting a huge upgrade in terms of how event marketers use them. Social media is being used to connect with target audiences before an event and then convert those connections into live attendees. Translation: Social media is now becoming a feeder for live event attendance.

8. Real-time.

In a high-tech world, it all happens in real time. Events, trade shows, corporate meetings are embracing the concept of “real-time” as they stream sessions and allow virtual viewers to ask live keynoters questions, taking the art and science of audience interaction to new heights.

9. Leveraging Video.

It’s the trend of the decade, and bandwidth is driving exponential growth. Video is becoming the default format for online marketing, social media sharing, trade show social media activation and virtual events. The growth of tablets is also allowing booth and event personnel to generate more one-to-one video-based conversations.

10. Hub and spoke hybrids.

Technology is reinventing the “hybrid” online-offline event model, allowing marketers to combine virtual events and large “hub” events and localized “spoke” meetings that feed off both. The goal is to reach more people and unite them, and hub and spoke models allow marketers to give attendees the choice to attend digitally or via large or small.

Excerpt from the GES white paper, “Trend Tracker:  The annual listof the top 50 trends impacting trade show and events this year.  For full report click here.

“Today’s event designers are creating the entire customer experience, from online to offline, “ says Errol Ahearn, executive creative director at GES.  “Technology is allowing us to create ultra-integrated footprints and media is allowing us to bring to life a story.”

1.  Zone approach.

With marketers using more market research about attendees, they now know what attendees want and when.  As a result, they’re designing event and trade show footprints with a  zoned approach that draws attendees into different parts of the booth or experience and puts them on a “path” that informs, educates and entertains them.

2. Changeable environments.

In and effort to get more “efficient”, many event marketers and trade show managers are designing booths and event footprints hat can be changes on the fly.  Media, banners and changeable reconfigurable exhibits can be retrofitted for different event types, different booth sizes, etc.

3. Rent-to-perm.

Marketers are combining rentable exhibit properties with custom ones, thereby helping them achieve “more with less” at events and trade shows.  Mixing custom and rental allows for efficient properties linked to reconfigurable systems and layouts.

4. Media-driven architecture.

Media…is everything.  The latest trade show booths and event footprints are driven by media walls, Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, apps and animation.  Why?  Because media tells the story and a truly wired, integrated media story takes a passive footprint and brings it to life.

5. Fabric remains.

Much of the big fixed graphics on the trade show floor just aren’t there any more, or when they are, they are often smaller in size and lighter in weight.  Hanging thread walls, simple sheers and fabric headers are easier to transport and cost less to ship, an advantage for exhibitors doing multiple shows.

6. LED Lighting and screens.

As LED technology creates lighting and screens that are cheaper, lighter and higher resolution, they’re being used more often in product presentations and theater settings.  Although they may cost more initially than traditional lighting systems, they are generally more energy efficient and longer lasting.

7. High-tech lounges.

Hospitality areas are going high-tech with iPads and other tablets along with their comfortable couches and latte machines.  The tablets are built into customized, modern-looking stands next to loveseats or large chairs and attached with a retractable cord so guests can hold them as they would a book or magazine and flip through the data.  These lounges are a great way to increase engagement with attendees.

8. Hybrid Structures.

In this tough economy, smaller- and medium-sized exhibitors are still bringing their custom elements to trade shows, but supplementing them by renting big items like tower structures or conference rooms.  It’s a trend that doesn’t make sense for exhibitors who travel to 10-pllus shows each year, but for those who attend one big show and just a few smaller ones, these turn-key rentals give them the presence they need without the expense.

9. AV systems and lighting.

What some exhibitors may be downsizing in structure they are making up by renting 103-inch monitors, projection screens and dynamic lighting systems for booths that are well-lit, dynamic and offer some “wow” factor.

10. Going green.

More event marketers are highlighting the fact that their events were designed with the lowest impact on the environment in mind.  These events make sure of recycled materials or materials that will be recycled after the show.  Sustainability is a core practice for some companies.  That’s a good thing.

Excerpt from the GES white paper, “Trend Tracker:  The annual listof the top 50 trends impacting trade show and events this year.  For full report click here.

Making Connections

The way we connect with attendees of events and trade shows is getting an upgrade as companies try to generate reach before events and drive deeper (and longer) engagements onsite and post-program.

“Research is showing that the more relevant a connection you make at an event or trade show, the longer that person will stay and engage,” says Doug Shockley, VP Corporate Events at GES.  “Marketers are using new trends and tools to extend that engagement.”

1. Personal engagement.

In this age of “have it your way”, event producers recognize the value of creating a more personal experience for attendees.  Rather than just handing out information, they’re pushing it to attendees’ smartphones and other devices where they can interact with it, perhaps to order literature after a presentation or buy the speaker’s book.  Likewise, plasma screens on the show floor make it easy for attendees to find sessions they want to attend.  It’s all about the attendee

2. Pre-event scheduling.

The days of bombarding attendees with a huge event program book once they hit the show floor are all but gone.  Nowadays, thanks to online pre-event scheduling gives attendees more control over their time, so they spend less effort walking up and down and aisle looking for someone to talk to.  Attendees are more focused and enjoy a better experience thanks to pre-event planning.

3. Attendees on a mission.

Few buyers are attending trade shows or conferences just to kick the proverbial tires.  They may be retail buyers seeking a new product to stock in their store or computer aficionados looking to network.  Whatever the case, they have a reason for registering and have an objective to achieve to justify attending the event.

4. Edutainment.

Attendees are looking for a big takeaway – something relevant and compelling – in return for showing up at events or trade shows.  The best events offer experiences that are entertaining or educational, like a behind-the-scenes tour of a manufacturing facility, a motivational speaker, skill-building sessions or a top notch performance, whatever it takes to give them a robust return on their investment of time and energy.

5. Generating participation.

If attendees are “edutained”, research shows they will stay longer and engage deeper, thereby generating participation, a key driver to experience in 2012.  Passive interactives are getting replaced by activities designed to drive participation.  These days, it’s about energizing, inspiring and wowing the crowd.

6. Big is back.

Big companies are still looking to make a splash on the trade show floor.  There’s no shortage of products to launch and companies continue to pull out the stops to promote them.  They may have smaller budgets and are leaning more on vendors to do more with less, but the big, bustling exhibit booth is alive and well, as anyone who attended this year’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas can attest where major exhibitors like LG, Samsung, Panasonic looked as big as ever.

7. Better equipped sales people.

Event personnel are better educated and equipped with personal demonstration systems.  Most are carrying electronic tablets to identify clients and push out the demos and literature.  They’re confident, capable and comfortable doing it all with iPad in hand.  They’re also receiving more training from the event department and being held to more stringent post-program follow-up and reporting.  And at the center of many of these upgraded sales folks?  Professional trainers brought in to train anybody and everybody that will be in that booth about the goals and objectives, the products and services on display and the best way to interact with attendees.

8. Customer paths.

In many cases, experience designers are building event footprints around the “paths” that different types of attendees or buyers will take.  And they’re targeting content, product and messaging around those paths, thereby preventing attendees from being exposed to anything that’s not relevant to them.

9. Rewarding pre-registration.

A new trend, but one that is catching, capitalizes on attendee’s desire for information and education.  These days, savvy event producers are rewarding those who pre-register for events or set up meetings in advance with content, prizes, discounts and other bonuses.  The real goal is to drive attendance and early participation is being generated using incentives.

10. Post-show follow up.

The “post-event” timeline has become a rather strategic path to purchase, with marketers preparing and deploying lead follow up, secondary marketing outreach and additional events to push qualified buyers down the purchase funnel towards the ultimate sales goal line.

Excerpt from the GES white paper, “Trend Tracker:  The annual listof the top 50 trends impacting trade show and events this year.  For full report click here.

1.  Connective planning.

More marketers are planning events and trade shows as a “group” of activities connected to one single portfolio.  Treating the programs as part of the sum of all things is helping create smarter, more integrated programs that are oftentimes more efficient and more effective than the disconnected programs of several years ago.

2.  Spending on “pre” and “post”.

Marketers are finding that they can amplify program results by investing in pre- and post-event activities.  From targeted promotions and branding campaigns that start weeks or months in advance.  An experience goes live to post-program engagements that keep the momentum going, the before and after of brand experiences is helping elevate it.

3.  More for less.

Budgets are still challenged, amid a changing economy, hence “getting more for less” remains the battle cry of the 2012 event and trade show department.  Over the last few years, some marketers have cut too much, essentially reducing results when they reduced the spend.  As such, the goal of 2012 efficient spending is “cut the fat, not the bone.”

4.  Global portfolios.

The experiential marketing industry is going global, and 2012 is looking like the year many event departments begin to roll out global brand standards platforms that drop a consistent net across portfolios.  The days of disparate voices around the world are coming to an end as tactical teams begin to give their programs strategic upgrades.

5.  Vendor consolidation.

Centralizing business with fewer vendors is a trend that in today’s economy makes good business sense, and the agencies that can handle global work are offering more self-contained services and economy-of-scale pricing, as they spread costs over more line items, which leads to better pricing all around.  For the right portfolio, it makes perfect sense.  A trend guaranteed to continue to expand.

6.  Fixed pricing.

The days of the open checkbook have given way to fixed budgets and change fees associated with getting a job done, forcing agencies to get creative when it comes to stretching dollars.  Having less money to throw around means agencies and clients are spending less but spending smarter based on pre-event planning and production planning.

7.  C-location logistics.

Pre-planning is essential to making budgets go further.  When possible, event producers are scheduling trade shows and conferences back-to-back in hotels and convention halls to capitalize on infrastructure and equipment costs.  Renting tactical equipment such as forklifts for a month instead of four days, and re-using items when possible, such as trade show carpeting, also keeps costs down.

8.  Self-funding programs.

A trend on the rise involves event departments receiving a portion of direct sales from events and trade shows back to their budget lines.  And in some cases entire programs are getting funded and continued when the ROI skyrockets.  Most common is growing b-to-b programs but in some cases expanding into consumer work.

9.  Dedicated to post-program analysis.

Having a goal, then setting objectives to accomplish that goal is hardly a new trend, but one practiced by the most successful exhibitors and meeting producers.  The final step is measuring post mortem to determine whether they accomplished their mission or not.  Those that do this consistently show better results.  It’s that simple.

10.  Leveraging research.

The more you know, the better you’ll be able to connect.  Event and trade show teams are leveraging market research, focus groups, audience segmentation reports and even deep analysis of competitor booths and events.  The insights are providing real-time, relevant data that is used to create better, stronger experiential programs.

Excerpt from the GES white paper, “Trend Tracker:  The annual listof the top 50 trends impacting trade show and events this year.  For full report click here.

Sure, his or her badge color isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but don’t let that negligible turnoff cloud your judgment. Journalists, though perhaps not as glamorous as buyers or distributors, have the potential to catapult your company from Plain Jane mundane to Press Princess. And all you have to do is primp and preen your exhibit program a bit to confidently court those members of the media. To help you get started, we’ve compiled 12 steps that require little more than your time and some thoughtful planning.

1 Find your audience

The first step in informing the media about your company’s presence at an upcoming trade show is not as simple as crafting a generic “come visit us at booth 555” e-mail and hitting “send.” Before you blast out a press release announcing show-related news to every journalist in your Rolodex, you have to do some legwork. According to Karen Thomas, president of Thomas Public Relations Inc. based in Melville,NY, requesting a list of preregistered press attendees from show management is a good place to start. “Research the people on the press list and visit the publications’ and media outlets’ websites to determine your key press targets,” she says. Look for titles such as “editor in chief,” “editor,” or “writer.” Then search for those people’s bylines (using a search engine such as Google) to find past articles and published works and figure out if their beat aligns with your company’s products or services.

It might seem like a lot of work on the front end just to get a handful of press contacts, but by taking the time to learn more about the publications and media companies sending journalists and photographers to a particular show, you can ultimately gain insight into what their readers are interested in — and those readers could be potential customers.

Keep in mind that not all show-management companies will release the list of registered press representatives. If that’s the case with one of your shows, you’ll have to do some research on your own to find out which publications are attending the show — and begin the process several weeks before the show starts. This can be as simple as entering the show name into Google to see what magazines, websites, blogs, etc. covered last year’s event, and creating a short list of those media outlets. If you are familiar with the trade publications serving your industry, visit their websites and reach out to
the editors and writers directly.

Another way to build your media list — and compile background information on the publications you know are attending the show — is to take advantage of media directories. Linda Musgrove, president of TradeShow Teacher in Aventura, FL, recommends thinking of such directoriesas the Yellow Pages for journalists. “I like Vocus (www.vocus.com), which allows you to look up individual media contacts,” she says. “It also allows the user to create a ‘briefing book,’ which includes information like editorial needs, pitching preferences, contact methods, and even pet peeves. That knowledge can then be used to develop more effective, targeted pitches.”

2 Craft your message

With your streamlined press list in hand, the next step is to figure out what you want to say to members of the media, as your messages will likely differ from those to current clients and prospects. “You must entice journalists, and you need to do it concisely because they don’t have the time to dig through a pile of information to understand how it applies to their readership,” says Marilyn Kroner, principal of Kroner Communications, a marketing-communications firm based in Boulder, CO. “The right messaging is critical to successful interviews before, during, and after the show. It should
include clear positioning, product differentiation, and something of compelling interest to that publication’s readership.”

If your company doesn’t have a key announcement such as a product launch, focus on any conference sessions at which someone from your company is speaking, any promotional giveaways or drawings you’re hosting, and so on. Compose a media advisory with this information and distribute it to each journalist on your list prior to the show.

3 Notify the masses

Any press releases you send via e-mail or in a press kit should also be distributed through newswire services such as www.prnewswire.com or www.businesswire.com. “There are paid options and free options,” Musgrove says. “The paid options tend to have a better chance of making it to the editor’s desk, whereas the free press-release-distribution sites are better for the company’s search-engine optimization efforts. They tend to have ‘sticking power’ online, and appear often in keyword-search results.”

Although newswires will likely have the best reach, if the cost of newswire distribution is not in your budget (costs range from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the geographical distribution, number of words in the release, etc.), consider inexpensive or free distribution sites such as www.freepressrelease.com or www.webwire.com. These sites will at least result in some online postings and potential pickups. Place links in the release to an appropriate place on your website, such as a white paper or a show-specific micro-site. And keep in mind that most news-release distribution methods include search-engine optimization, so use keyword-rich copy in press releases and media. Doing so will help your release appear on top of search-engine results.

You can also enhance your distribution by using sites such as Pitch Engine (www.pitchengine.com) to get the word out. Pitch Engine allows users to create online press releases, media advisories, announcements, etc., and then share the information via a number of social-media sites, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and more, all for a nominal fee.

“Use social media to not only build relationships with your current clients and prospects, but also with journalists,” Thomas says. “By having a social-media presence, you are increasing your company’s exposure, thereby increasing the chance that members of the press will catch wind of your company’s plans for the show.” Though social media is an easy way to reach out to the masses, Thomas stresses the importance of communicating with your targeted list of journalists via personal e-mail correspondence as well.

4 Book interviews

Distributing press releases, maintaining e-mail contact with targeted journalists, and having a social-media presence are all part of a strategy to get members of the media to your exhibit. It’s unlikely that press will request interviews out of the blue— unless there is already a lot of buzz about your product or company. So be proactive, and start booking press appointments several weeks in advance of the show.

The sooner the better, according to Musgrove. “Start sending pitches as soon as you have your list of targeted press,” she says. Depending on the number of contacts you plan to pitch to, you may call or e-mail, but whatever communication method you choose, include a compelling reason for the media contact to meet with you. “Start by pointing out any company or product announcements you are making related to the show,” she says. “Next, suggest meeting over coffee or a even meal. Not only does it allow more one-on-one time without the distraction of the show floor, a meal or cup of coffee is also an added incentive to meet.”

But even if you offer coffee or lunch, be prepared for no-shows and rescheduling. “Missed meetings happen — and a lot of times, writers and editors will stop by the booth outside of their scheduled time,” Thomas says. “So, it’s important to be flexible from the get-go, and ask for cell-phone numbers so you can touch base with journalists during the show in case they don’t show up, or need to reschedule on the fly.”

Also familiarize yourself with the schedules of your company’s executives attending the show. “Determine which of your executives will be available for press meetings during the show, learn their schedules, and make sure they commit to keeping certain times open for interviews,” Kroner says. “And be sure you have the right executive for the publication. For
example, if you are in the technology industry and the publication is highly technical, you might want to include your VP of engineering. If it’s a business publication, you might want your CEO or CMO to participate in the interview.”

5 Assemble your kit

Press kits are a tool of the trade, and picking one up is
second nature for any editor or writer. Press-kit materials can be housed in
anything from a branded folder or USB drive to an online press room (if that’s
the case, include the URL in all press correspondence). Your kit should feature
the following: a brief company overview, two or three of your latest press
releases, product data sheets, and the contact info of the company
spokesperson. You will typically be given the opportunity to leave press kits
in the show’s press room, but also have plenty on hand to give to media members
that stop by your exhibit, and distribute them to writers and editors during
interviews.

“While at-show distribution is necessary, you may also want
to mail press kits to designated members of the media prior to the show,”
Musgrove says. “For example, if you’re announcing an important product at the
show that is likely to receive media attention, send out the kit to select
publications that are willing to agree to a temporary nondisclosure agreement.
As soon as the product announcement is made, the agreement expires, and the
media can release their coverage immediately, resulting in a scoop for them,
and quicker coverage for you.”

6 Set goals

Just as you would set goals for the number of leads you
collect, you should set media-related goals. For example, you can set out to
conduct five interviews on site with targeted press, or even track the number
of journalists who visit your exhibit. Other press-related goals include
increased website and social-media traffic, media coverage (such as the number
of product reviews or articles), media impressions, and the number of requests
for interviews.

Regardless of the goals you set, it’s important to keep
management’s expectations in check. So consult the press list to get an idea of
which publications are going to be at the show, and set objectives accordingly.
For example, let’s say your CEO gauges the success of a PR campaign at a show
based on whether it generates on-site interviews with and feature articles in
the top three trade publications in your industry. If, however, you scan the
press list and note that only one of those publications regularly attends the
show, you can proactively adjust your CEO’s expectations.

7 Get involved

Press relations at a
trade show aren’t just about what happens in the exhibit hall. For example, if
a show has a conference component, find out if your company can contribute to
the educational offerings. You might have the opportunity to submit content for
an educational conference session, or even participate in a panel discussion.
If your company is hosting a session, inviting the press is great outreach —
not only will it provide more exposure for your company, but it will also
demonstrate your involvement in industry education.

Another way to become involved in the show is to participate
in product- or service-specific awards programs, which are an often overlooked,
but valuable, exhibit-marketing opportunity. Check the show’s website for
information on any awards programs your company could enter, and if there isn’t
an awards program, or you don’t see any awards categories you could enter, talk
to show management about adding one. Kroner points out that, should you win,
your company will likely receive additional exposure during the show as well as
in post-show coverage on the show’s website and in some cases, in industry
publications. You can also distribute your own press release announcing the
award to your list of targeted journalists. “An award-winning product will be
award winning until the end of its life, so that award can be leveraged for
years,” Kroner says.

8 Train your staff

Well-meaning booth staff can unintentionally leak
information to the press that is not public, such as unannounced or delayed
products, employee-morale issues, merger rumors, etc., which can have
disastrous consequences. So, have a plan in place and share it with your booth
staffers. Should they zip their lips and direct the journalist to a company
spokesperson? Should they allow journalists to take photos of products or the
exhibit (and, if not, how should they communicate your no-photos policy)?
Should they answer questions from media reps? Should they provide tours of the
exhibit? Decide what action you want them to take, and make sure everyone’s on
the same page.

If your staffers will interact with journalists, Musgrove
outlines the following media-training basics to help facilitate a conversation
without accidentally oversharing:

Communicate and
practice a company or product elevator speech.

Anticipate questions
that may be asked by media reps and rehearse appropriate answers.

Prepare sound bites
(key messages that can be seamlessly woven into the answers given to the media
contact). A well-crafted sound bite with a statistic, key message, or clever
turn of phrase often means a direct quote in a resulting article that says
exactly what you want it to.

Speak in lay terms —
don’t get too technical or use industry jargon.

Don’t be afraid to
say “I will get back to you on that” if you don’t have the answer to a
question.

Be friendly, but not
too relaxed — and always assume that anything said can wind up in print.

Take notes and follow
up on any action items, such as requests for photos or product samples.

If asked a question
that implies negativity, never repeat that implication or statement as part of
the response. For example, if a reporter asks, “Didn’t the previous product
model have a lot of problems, leading to low customer satisfaction?” answer
with something along the lines of, “We at XYZ Corp. continuously strive to
achieve the highest quality possible, and our engineering team is working
really hard to make the new widget a clear leader in its class.” There is only
positive content in that answer, versus a response such as, “We didn’t have
that many problems and our new widget is greatly improved.” The latter response
could result in a story that focuses on the “many problems” part of your
response.

Of course, you can always stipulate that staffers direct
members of the media to a designated press liaison within your exhibit (perhaps
yourself or a company spokesperson, for example). This is especially helpful if
your staff comprises salespeople on the hunt for buyers, as a journalist’s
badge is likely going to garner the cold shoulder, and consequently, a missed
PR opportunity.

9 Prepare your
exhibit

Since it’s likely that some, if not all, of your interviews
with the press will take place in your exhibit, incorporating a few
journalist-friendly perks will go a long way. “A quiet, comfortable place to
talk is key,” Kroner says. “Also, refreshments are nice, as is a gift, but
neither are absolutely necessary — and check with show management, as some
industries don’t allow hospitality or gifts.” If you decide to offer a gift,
Thomas suggests picking something useful — and lightweight. “In my experience,
journalists appreciate pens and notepads, but absolutely love USB drives loaded
with all the company and product information they need,” she says. “They also
like free product samples, and although some vendors request the product back,
I say let the journalists keep it. You never know when they’ll have an
opportunity to write about your product.”

If you don’t have a quiet area in your exhibit, off-site
meetings (such as at a restaurant over breakfast or lunch) are often a welcome
alternative. Plus, they can be scheduled around the exhibit-hall hours,
reducing the risk of time conflicts and missed appointments. Another option is
to host meetings in the show’s pressroom, which most shows will allow.

Whether you conduct the interview in your exhibit, the
pressroom, or off site, be succinct in communicating your content, make it
applicable to that publication’s readers, and don’t keep anyone waiting.

10 Continue the
conversation

Just because the show is over, it doesn’t mean you should
discontinue your press-relations efforts. This is the time to take the action
items you noted during in-booth interviews with the media and, well, act on
them. “Follow up with each and every journalist who stopped by your booth at
the show, even if they didn’t do a sit-down interview with an executive,”
Kroner says. “You want to beat them to the punch, keep the conversation going,
and demonstrate that you’re accessible.” That said, she advises against
becoming a squeaky wheel. “There’s definitely a fine line between being helpful
and being obnoxious. You don’t want to smother them with your attentiveness,
but you do want to make yourself available in case they need information or
want to conduct a follow-up interview.”

Think of it like a phone call after a first date — you don’t
want to be the equivalent of a stage-five clinger. And though there’s no
“three-day rule,” there are definitely some dos and don’ts. Musgrove suggests
first identifying the press contacts with which you want to keep in touch and
how often you should contact them. After finding out their preferred method of
communication, call or e-mail to thank them for their time at the show, and ask
questions about the stories they’re working on. “This is a great opportunity to
offer up your company as a source for an article, or to connect the writer with
a source in the industry,” Musgrove says. “The key to continuing the
conversation with a journalist is to be more than just a company spokesperson
or media contact. Position yourself, your company, or one of your company’s
execs as an industry expert in a particular area and offer to serve as a
source. This often opens the door for more coverage.”

11 Measure the
results

Track media impressions and count the number of original
articles and repostings — whether the content is favorable, neutral, or
unfavorable. Also note who was quoted, and what product was mentioned. And be
diligent. “When it comes to looking at measurement in terms of the number of
articles written, the editor or writer likely won’t alert you about coverage,
so you’ll have to monitor it yourself,” Musgrove says. You can use a
press-clipping service, which costs money, or track online press coverage via
Google Alerts.

Also check web analytics to see how an announcement made at
a show (or an article written as a result of your presence at a show) affected
visits to your company’s website. Your web team should be able to tell you not
only how site traffic ebbed or flowed in the weeks before, during, and after a
show, but also where visitors to your site came from. For instance, if a
product review in an industry journal includes a URL to your home page, you
should be able to easily track exactly how many people clicked through.

Although hard metrics are important, also include a brief
overview of the media activity at the show. Your overview should include a
summary such as “The show provided us with the opportunity to connect with
several key editors and industry analysts,” as well as the names of the
journalists who conducted interviews and the names of their publications.

Collect that info and include it in the PR section of your
post-show report to prove to management that your efforts were worth the
investment.

12 Conduct a
postmortem

Finally, meet with
your booth staffers, the designated booth spokesperson (if you appointed one),
company executives, and anyone else who helped with press inquiries,
interviews, tracking, etc. Get everyone in a room and have a conversation about
what worked, and what didn’t. Then take any feedback you receive and make the
necessary adjustments to the PR component of your exhibit program before your
next show.

For example, if an executive had difficulty devoting an
entire hour to an interview on the show floor, consider blocking out
appointments for 20 minutes at a time instead. Or perhaps booth staffers
reported that members of the media were asking the same three or four questions
about your company or its products and services. Take that into account and
create a one-sheet of info that answers those common questions. Not only are
you improving your approach to the press; you’re also showing your colleagues
and execs that they’re an important piece of the press puzzle. That buy-in will
go a long way when it comes to their willingness to accommodate the needs of
journalists at future shows.

It may seem like considering the press takes an awful lot of
extra time and energy, but it will pay dividends in the end. “Press relations
is definitely effective — it can increase brand awareness, bolster
lead-generation efforts, and drive traffic to your exhibit and your company’s
website,” Kroner says. And who knows, making little tweaks to include the press
in your exhibit planning just might introduce you to a whole new group of
suitors.

by Lena Valenty, click here for original article

Build Trust Immediately
Developing a relationship with your prospects requires trust. Swift follow-up is the first step toward building trust. Your visitors have met with your staff, seen your products and services and asked to receive more information, pricing, and perhaps even a meeting.  Your prospects trust you will continue the dialogue that was started during the event – - so don’t disappoint them. Send a personalized email message confirming your next step during the show or within 24 hours of their visit.

Distribute Leads Quickly
Have a plan for processing your valuable trade show leads BEFORE you go to the show.  Appoint individual(s) to receive the leads, get them out to your sales team and into your database on a timely basis. Review how a surge in leads will be processed to prevent them from getting bogged down by internal bottle necks.

Follow Up Repeatedly
Over 90% of business gained from trade shows is the result of follow-up efforts.  According to a survey of business-to-business marketers, on average, 10-30% of leads are sales ready and another 50% will eventually purchase.

Research indicates the average sale happens after the 5th contact. The average sales person tends to give up too soon and doesn’t make a second attempt to connect with prospects. Work with your sales managers to establish accountability for, and monitor, follow-up.  Sales coaches suggest that the prime time for connecting with prospects is between meetings like early in the morning, during lunch and late in the afternoon.

As for the 50% of visitors that don’t have an immediate requirement, nurture them until they are ready.  Keep in touch with prospects over the longer term. Be persistent but not pushy.  Let your prospects know how you can help solve their business challenges so that when they are ready to buy they think of you.

-originally posted by Nomadic

by Erik Mintz of Constant Contact

You spend time and money promoting your events.

But are you sure which channels are actually driving attendance to those events?

Do you know how effective your online marketing efforts are in delivering traffic to your event site?

Now there’s a way to find out: We’ve added Google Analytics to our [Constant Contact's] Event Marketing product.

What is Google Analytics?

If you don’t know, Google Analytics is a free web-based analytics technology that can provide you with rich insights into who is visiting your website, event site, or blog. The data from Google Analytics can help you to evaluate what sources (search engines, Facebook/Twitter, other websites, etc.) are driving traffic your way so you know what’s working and not working. Your primary goal with Google Analytics will be to make sense of all of this inbound traffic in order to maximize your online marketing efforts.

How can you use the results?

When I host an event, I promote it using my email newsletter and by posting a link to my Facebook Page. From my email newsletter, I typically achieve very high open rates (30%–40%). Because email marketing does such a great job in terms of reporting, I just assumed that most of my traffic was coming from my emails. I was wrong! As it turns out, more than 50% of the traffic to my event site came from Facebook.

Based on my experience, here are some suggestions to help you turn your Google Analytics results into actionable intelligence.

• Where is your audience located? I had no idea that my audience is spread across 10 different states. Within my local state, the distribution is quite wide as well. You will see these results using the Google Analytics’ map overlay. If your audience is widely distributed geographically, and as a result, some of the invited guests will need to travel to your event, I would recommend promoting your events in advance by an additional few weeks.
• Are people taking action? Google Analytics provides you with a metric called Bounce Rates. Bounce rates help you determine the percentage of people who come to your site but never click through to the next step. You can think of this metric as a measure of visitor quality. For my first event using Google Analytics, the bounce rate was 60%. This means that 60% of all traffic would visit my event homepage, but would never take the next step to register. To solve the problem, I added a “Register Now” button to the top and bottom of my event homepage. This gave my audience an obvious visual clue about the next steps I wanted them to take, which increased registrations and decreased bounce rates.
• Where are your visitors coming from? Google Analytics also provides you with a metric called Referring Sites. If people are reaching your event site directly from your website, or via your email newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, or somewhere else, this metric will provide you with those details. I was stunned to see that more than 50% of my audience was reaching my event homepage from Facebook. Clearly, I needed to put more effort into my Facebook Page, because it’s an important asset when it comes to my event promotion.

Now you can make smarter decisions

As you start to look through your Google Analytics data, it’s important to be patient and give yourself time to play around with the various results. There will be many ways to view this data. Google Analytics is a robust tool that can provide you with invaluable information about how well your online marketing initiatives are impacting your events.

by Erik Mintz; original article can be found here