Home Sponsorship: A Key to Powerful Marketing 1 2007 Education Report 2008 Education Schedule 2008 Operating Council 3 Airlines Shut Down in One Week 3.15.06 Thoughts 3.15.06 TSEA Tips 5.1.07 News 4.15.08, Bits From Bob Become a Speaker at TS2 2008 – THE Industry Event for Exhibit & Event Professionals FREEMAN LAUNCHES CUSTOMER TRAINING PROGRAM FOR PART-TIME SHOW SITE STAFF Krisam Group Announces Ecomomic Stimulus Plan for Meeting Planners TSEA MEMBERS ONLY Aaron Bludworth Joins GES as Vice President of Corporate Events After The Show: Self-Analysis, A Critical Component to Improve Performance April 1 Bits From Bob April 1 Industry News April 1 New Members April 1 Thoughts from the Corner Office April 1 TSEA Tips April 2: TSEA Open House Are You Throwing Money Away? Begin at The Beginning: Three Secrets for Tradeshow Success Best Booth at Expo! Expo!: ARI Bits From Bob 5.1.07 Bits from Bob, Aug. 1, 2007 Bits from Bob, December 17, 2008 Bits from Bob, Feb. 1, 2008 Bits from Bob, Jan. 4, 2008 Bits From Bob, July 1, 2007 Bits From Bob, June 1, 2007 Bits from Bob, Mar. 3, 2008 Bits From Bob, November, 2007 Bits From Bob, October 1, 2007 Bits from Bob, September 1, 2007 Bits from Bob: May 1, 2008 Boothsmanship is Dead: "Preparedness" Reigns Supreme Canon Communications Acquires Pharmapack Carnival Refunds $40 Million Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau Unveils Online Video Marketing Tool for Customers Cleveland’s I-X Center Expansion Completed in Record Time; Fed Ex Kinko’s Opens Three Gigs in Vegas Creating Customer Evangelists Eight Effortless Exercises to Improve Trade show Performance Elaine Cohen Named Finalist in Stevie Awards for Women in Business Emap To Sell Events Division for $1.97 Billion ENK International to Acquire WSA Global Holdings LLC Exhibiting the Easy Way Exhibition Industry Revenue Grows 11.3 Percent in Second Quarter of 2007 Fairmont and WWF Join Forces to Address Climate Change Four Generations In the Marketplace: What This Means For You Freeman Announces Management Changes Freeman Recycles 25 Million Square Feet of Used Carpet Gaining Corporate Support GES® Acquires Ethnometrics Business Good Shows in Bad Times: Exhibiting When Your Industry is in Crisis Great Connection Weekend: The Master's Retreat Greenhill SAVP Completes Investment in BDMetrics, Inc. Help Wanted! Hey, You - Exhibitor Manners at a Trade Show Hortec 2008 Postponed; Food Tec Middle East and Food + Hospitality Middle East Rescheduled Hot Button Exhibiting How to Avoid Eating Your Words: 10 Essentials for Networking at Tradeshows and Events How to Avoid Eating Your Words: Ten Essentials for Networking at Tradeshows and Events How to Stand Out on the Job and in the Booth Hyatt Meetings Take Two Offer Ian Twentey Named Experient Eastern Region Senior Vice President iBAHN and IAEE Services, Inc. Launch World-Class Converged Network Industry Expert Harris Schanhaut is Available for Hire Industry News, August 15, 2007 Industry News, July 7, 2007 Industry News, June 15, 2007 Industry News, Mar. 3, 2007 It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It: Body Language at Tradeshows ITN International Scores Judy Fairbanks as Vice President of Marketing JetBlue Now Offering Refundable Fares Jones Joins 3D Exhibits as Sr. VP, Client Results Strategist Las Vegas Sands Completes Initial Funding for Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Learn More About Your TSEAConnect Mack Brooks Exhibitions Announces the Acquisition of the International Converting Exhibition (ICE) Series Meeting Planners Rate Toronto Top Canadian City Member-of-the-Month, Bob Dallmeyer National Capitol Area Chapter Launched New Washington D.C. Chapter to Hold First Meeting January 28 News, April 16, 2007 News, May 15, 2007 Nick’s Cove & Cottages Announces Events Space October's Webinar: Your Booth Staff and the Four Levels Of Proficiency Open Skies: Deal is Sealed Between United States and EU PCMA Names Mark Holmes New Chief Financial Officer Penton Media Reorganizes Reed Exhibitions in the News Remaining Relevant: Tracking Trends for More Effective Exhibiting Revenues Projected to Rise Sandra Pizzarusso Joins Impact Unlimited as Director of Meetings and Events Secrets to Increasing Off-Site Meeting Productivity Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton Hotels Go Smoke-Free Strategic Acquisition in Fast-growing Dubai Market The Six "P"s of Marketing?! The A-Zs of Exhibiting Overseas The Nielsen Company Names Greg Farrar President of Nielsen Business Media The Power of Asking Questions: 7 Strategies to Discovering what Your Prospects Really Want The Tradeshow Curse The Virtual Trade Show: The Top Four Things You Need To Know The Wearing of the Green: Exhibiting for the Environmentally-Conscious Audience Thoughts From the Corner Office Thoughts from the Corner Office 5.1.07 Thoughts From the Corner Office, April 1, 2008 Thoughts from the Corner Office, April 15, 2008 Thoughts from the Corner Office, April 16, 2007 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Aug. 1, 2007 Thoughts From the Corner Office, August 15, 2007 Thoughts From the Corner Office, Dec. 3, 2007 Thoughts from the Corner Office, December 18, 2007 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Feb. 1, 2008 Thoughts From the Corner Office, Feb. 20, 2008 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Jan. 16, 2008 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Jan. 4, 2007 Thoughts From the Corner Office, July 16, 2007 Thoughts From the Corner Office, June 1, 2006 Thoughts From the Corner Office, June 15, 2007 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Mar. 3, 2008 Thoughts From the Corner Office, May 1, 2008 Thoughts From the Corner Office, May 15, 2007 Thoughts From the Corner Office, Nov. 1, 2007 Thoughts from the Corner Office, Nov. 16, 2007 Torch Passed to Next Generation at Hargrove, Inc. Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago Debuted January 30 TSEA at Expo! Expo! Dec. 10-12 TSEA Connect Book Club: Stimulating Conversation Underway! TSEA Members: New Discount Affiliation with FCm Travel Solutions TSEA New Members, Aug.1, 2007 TSEA Tips 5.1.07 TSEA Tips, April 16, 2007 TSEA Tips: The Scent of a Show TSEA to Exhibit at Exhibitor 2008 TSEA's Career Center TSEAConnect: the ONLY Online Community of Its Kind TSNN.com Reports Dramatic Increase in Event Interest in 2008's First Quarter Turn Your Team Around: Seven Strategies to Transform Trade Show Performance Valera Global Joins Chicago Climate Exchange, Commits to Offset 100 Percent of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Windy City Chapter Events for 2008 Windy City Logo Contest Windy City News Gaining Corporate Support Too often, the exhibit manager operates without authority or accountability. They get little, if any, support from management, can’t require staff attendance, or have the final say-so on what happens with the booth. This article was written in response to this dilemma. Many exhibit managers were handed the job with little training and less background experience. This is a way to modify the corporate perception to make the job viable. Gaining Corporate Support One of the anathemas of exhibit marketing is that senior management rarely understands or supports trade show participation. The reasons given for this lack vary; the reality is that it’s not understood - or worse - in the past there was a bad experience that soured them. Getting past the negatives and onto the positives is a matter of internal education. Other marketing communications are more visible, or produce quantifiable results. In the case of trade shows, traceable outcome can take years, with actual sales occurring only through combined efforts. For an exhibit manager, gaining corporate support takes a lot of time and a lot more effort. The primary job is making an invisible task visible, both in terms of expenditures and accomplishments. The answer lies in communication. In researching this article, I spoke with several exhibit managers who enjoy total support for their programs, and in all cases that support evolved because of a constant barrage of information provided to management before, during and after all shows in which they participated. Management was kept informed of pre-show planning and expectations, what actually happened at the shows, and, then, what resulted. No one was ever kept in the dark about this aspect of marketing communications. Taking Steps For this to come about, there are specific steps you, the exhibit manager, need to take. In a nutshell, you need to know where you are, where you’re going and then figure out how to get there. The first is to do an internal study to find out where you stand. The easiest version is to provide multiple choice answers that let co-ordinates and managers define their perceptions. Questions should be included along the lines of: 1. What is the purpose of our trade show exhibit? 2. Rank objectives in order of importance. 3. Who makes the buying decision amongst our customers and prospects? While this study is taking place, examine those shows in which you participate, to verify that the message you are sending is one audiences you are trying to reach want (or need) to hear. Combine the results and present this information to top management. This final report, which incorporates co-ordinate desires as well as the realities of shows, will preclude future dissension. No one will be able to say they didn’t have a finger in the end result. Now the burden is back on you. For all future shows information needs to be provided to managers about what to expect as well as what they need to submit - all with deadlines. Mission statements and objectives need to be defined in advance, and then, post-show, evaluated. You also need to develop strategies that reflect audience needs and audience objectives. Given that the trend is to provide more technical expertise at shows, appropriate personnel must be present, with the blessing of that manager. Once they understand this, based on information you have provided, there should now be a shift toward providing support rather than maintaining opposition. You’re probably asking where you find the time to do all this work. A small part of it is available from show management and internal tracking. But the majority will come from you being a manager - not a minion. Your job is to manage the shows, not run errands. It is far more cost effective to investigate outsourcing. With the growth of the trade show industry, there are many excellent