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 April 1 TSEA Tips Betting on your Future? Not a Good Plan Recently, the lottery in NY -- the state I call home -- reached a record jackpot, larger than ever before. When I penned these words, the grand total of funds just waiting to be won was over 340 million dollars. As you can imagine, this got people talking. Almost every local newscast covered the huge jackpot. People were lining up at convenience stores across the state, hoping against hope to cash in and win big. This got me thinking about the two types of people: gamblers and planners. Both would like to have the big bag of cash, but they take different routes to achieve it. A gambler might plunk down a dollar -- or two, or twenty, or two hundred -- in hopes of winning big in a lottery, while the planner follows a less exciting route of saving and investing. At the end of the day, who’s more likely to have the big bucks? Chances are, it’d be the planner. Tradeshow exhibiting works the same way. You can gamble on having a good show, approaching it in a frenzy because ‘everybody’s doing it’ and you’ve heard there’s big money to be had, or you can approach it methodically, making a plan, doing your research, and making those actions that are prudent and improve your bottom line. Some gamblers win. That’s what keeps lotteries going, after all. Some exhibitors show up with only half an idea of what they’re doing, a horrible exhibit and only fledgling show skills, and yet still have a triumphant show. But the odds are against most gamblers. For every winner, there are thousands of losers. For every successful ‘We just wing it’ exhibitor, there are hundreds who look at the time and effort expended and realize they could have done much, much better -- if only they’d taken the time to learn what they were doing. Are you willing to take that chance? I’m not much of a gambler myself, but even I know you should never lay money on the table without knowing what’s at stake. Ask yourself, what could happen if I leave my tradeshow performance to chance? You could luck out and have a fabulous show. You could also: - Miss out on great sales opportunities because your booth staffers didn’t ask the right questions. - Alienate would be buyers with pushy sales tactics, off color humor, or crass booth behavior. - Make any of a dozen common mistakes that cost companies customers. - Ruin your standing in the industry by appearing inept and poorly prepared next to your peers. - Discourage would-be partners from considering doing business with you: after all, you obviously don’t have your act together! - And even more! Losing this wager doesn’t appear so inconsequential anymore, does it? When the real life cost of poor show performance is spelled out, the planning route suddenly becomes far more attractive. Ideally, tradeshow planning begins twelve to eighteen months before the event. This is the best way to ensure your staffers know what’s expected of them, and have time to develop and practice the skills they need to do the best job possible. What happens if you’re within that window? Do you just throw the dice and hope for the best? You can: or you can choose to do the best you can in the time you have. Any preparation, even a few hurried hours before the event, is better than none at all. Obviously, the more you have, the better off you are. Priority items to cover include goals and objectives: Why are you at the show and what do you want to accomplish? Go over qualifying questions: what type of attendees should your staffers be spending time with, and what type of information do you want them to collect. Establish a lead collection and follow up procedure to maximize your return on the show. All of this is obviously a lot of work -- which is why the planner types start well in advance of the show. However, when you consider the alternative -- winging it through one of the highest profile marketing exercises you’ll engage in all year -- you’ve just got to ask yourself one question: Do you feel lucky? Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, N.Y. Friedmann is an internationally-recognized expert who works with companies to increase their profitability at trade shows. She is also the author of Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” and “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market” (May 2007). Visit www.thetradeshowcoach.com for more information.