Value is a loaded word.
The worth of something is subjective, depending who’s doing the evaluating and how. When it comes to trade shows, does the organizer’s investment determine their value? What about the attendee experience? Or is exhibitor satisfaction more important?
There’s no easy answer, but whether statisticians or show organizers examine ROI, ROO or even the buzz in a convention center’s halls, by any measure they’ll find trade shows offer great value.
"We have all sorts of technological solutions today that can connect people, but the retro solution that has remained is trade shows, and it’s the most valuable solution," said Steven Hacker, an industry consultant who served as the president and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) for the last 20 years until this past September.
Research conducted by The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) in 2012 supports Hacker’s assertion. According to The Role of and Value of Face-to-Face Interaction, a 2012 CEIR study, 48 percent of trade show attendees said face-to-face interactions at exhibits during exhibitions, conventions and annual meetings are more valuable today than two years ago, and 43 percent anticipate this setting will be more valuable over the next two years.
Buyer Beware
Qualified buyers use trade shows for a wide variety of purposes.
"We have a buyer who comes to see new products, but he also comes to find out what’s happening with existing suppliers, make new contacts and even get a sense of how quickly they’ll respond to him in the future," said Mary Larkin, group vice president of Diversified Business Communications.
CEIR data also suggests buyers get value from a trade show in many different ways.
"Attendees place high importance on face-to-face interactions at all pre-purchase stages, with two-thirds or more ranking these interactions important for investigating, evaluating and narrowing down choices before buying," according to the CEIR study. "Post-purchase, 71 percent of attendees place high importance on face-to-face interactions to maintain relationships with vendors."
And buyers haven’t stopped coming in the wake of the recession. They’re just being more strategic about it, Larkin notes. Quality over quantity.
"Instead of a company sending 10 employees, maybe they send six—but those are the true buyers, so the value to exhibitors has been greater," she said.
Customer Satisfaction
Show managers have another constituency to appease: exhibitors.
In the interest of doing just that, about eight years ago the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) brought in Exhibit Surveys Inc.—a firm specializing in measuring trade show results—and has continued the relationship.
"Exhibit Surveys is able to get information on buying intentions specifically as a result of the show six and 12 months after the event, and even asks, ‘How much of that business will be with companies you weren’t aware of before the show?’" said Chris Brown, executive vice president of conventions and business operations at NAB.
The association also gets from Exhibit Surveys a post-show study, six months later, detailing the buying that was actually done.
This powerful data is offered as a value-added benefit to exhibiting for the show’s large exhibitors, but it could represent a revenue opportunity in the future, Brown notes.
So strong data such as that pulled for NAB could help show managers monetarily in the future but, for now, it puts show management in a great position when talking to reluctant exhibitors.
"These tools are the gold standard for our sales team," Brown said.
Measure for Measure
When hired by either show management or by an exhibitor, Exhibit Surveys assesses how that customer stacks up against the competition across as many as 20 event marketing industry benchmarks. They are divided into areas that measure buyer influence, the amount of time they spend at the show, travel time, attendee demographics and more.
Exhibit Surveys also can measures attendees’ and exhibitors’ goals and objectives and compare them to see if they match up, as well as offer post-show surveys, according to Joe Federbush, the group’s vice president of sales and marketing.
In other words, there’s almost an infinite number of ways to measure value, Federbush says.
"If you talk to 50 different show managers, you could define ROI 50 different ways," he said. "It all depends on what keeps you up at night."
Exhibitors also can measure ROI, if they’re so inclined. They can hire a company such as Exhibit Surveys—usually through show management—or utilize the CEIR’s free exhibitor ROI calculator.
Available at roitoolkit.exhibitsurveys.net, the calculator includes pre- and post-show tools. Beforehand, users can click on a "potential audience estimator," and a similar tool to gauge necessary staff and space. After, they can evaluate matters such as, "How much of our potential audience did we reach?" as well as staff performance.
The NAB’s Brown appreciates the calculator and says it’s great for this group.
"It was developed by a third-party, so it’s an objective tool, and our exhibitors can punch in whatever data they want to use on their own but we also can help them," Brown said.
Another show manager finds that the best way to determine the value of his events is with some good old-fashioned watching, listening and asking questions.
"Something I love to do is to stand at the exit of a show and ask attendees if they had a good show, do they look forward to coming back, etc.," said David Audrain, president and CEO of Clarion Events North America Inc. "Nothing beats walking around a show floor and listening to the interaction between exhibitors and attendees to get a good idea of what’s going on."
That interaction may be the greatest value of all.
"A trade show puts all of a company’s customers under one roof simultaneously," Larkin said. "It’s really where the buzz of your industry is happening." One+
Virtual Evolution
Sometimes the bells and whistles of new technology are so enticing they can lead an industry astray. Such was the case with the idea of virtual trade shows—an online replication of the live face-to-face event—when the notion arose.
However, many users report that the concept has proven to be more trouble than it’s worth. Thus, the industry is looking toward new ways of using the Internet to supplement live events and, ultimately, redefining the virtual model.
More than a year ago, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) held two virtual events with a partner and launched one on its own before abandoning the effort.
"We learned that, for exhibitors, this is just like a live event, it requires staff training and a fair bit of coordinating; many of them aren’t resourced for that," said Chris Brown, executive vice president of conventions and business operations at NAB.
InfoComm International held a virtual show in 2010 but has no plans to repeat it, according to Jason McGraw, senior vice president of expositions at InfoComm International.
He declined to elaborate but shared a presentation on virtual shows he gave to show managers in which he cautioned, "Don’t expect to make a lot of money," and, "expect to do a fair amount of work."
Today, people are discovering the Internet’s potential in a broader way.
Land of Opportunity
Tony Lorenz, founder of bXb Online, is building a virtual platform called bob.tv where the focus is on the education rather than the buyer/seller exchange. The tool aggregates all content from the hundreds of online events in an industry into one central place.
With plans to develop the tool for 14 different fields, bXb will be monetizing the offering through deals with associations to provide the content for US$4 per member and for a premium to non-members. Lorenz also will take advertising, subscriptions and create pay-per-view options for the site, set to launch early this year.
For its part, the NAB is building a robust online community now that will feature Webinars and possibly custom events.
Wide-Angle View
"The mistake we all made was to assume we could transfer the live experience online," Brown said. "People have different expectations online than in person."
Jason Chudnofsky, CEO and president of Portfolio Media Group and a show industry veteran, added, "To get a revenue stream coming in now, you need to create an online-to-offline (or O2O) experience. It’s a hybrid model containing a live event augmented with a virtual piece. The Internet can connect us, but large deals are not going to be made there."
David Audrain, president and CEO of Clarion Events North America Inc., sums up the current state of affairs: "I don’t think the live model is going away in my lifetime, or anybody’s. But the Internet will continue to evolve to provide better tools."
