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 Are You Throwing Money Away? by Susan Friedmann, The Tradeshow Coach Shopping for trade show giveaways can be an overwhelming experience. One catalog is jammed with custom printed pens, another showcases mouse pads. Your boss mentions that last year, everyone was giving away really nice tote bags. The sales rep really wants you to buy keychains that can play MP3’s of your marketing message set to popular tunes. But what happens to all this stuff after the show? Let’s follow one attendee, a buyer from a mid-size manufacturing firm. Tired after spending three days at the show, he’s returned to his office. He’s toting two bags jam-packed with trade show tschokes, which he upends on his desk. All those fancy pens? They get jammed in a cup on his desk. Mouse pads go into a general office supply cupboard, on the off chance one of his office staff wears their mouse pad out. That seems unlikely – two or three are still in there from last year’s show. His secretary snapped up the tote bag – it’ll be perfect for her daughter to carry her ballet clothes in. And the MP3 playing keychain? He’s giving it to his teenage son. But what’s this? A booklet slides out of his tote bag. It’s small – just 3 ½ x 8 ½, somewhere between 16-24 pages. It fits perfectly in his pocket – or in a purse, as he discovers when he hands it over to one of his co-workers. The information contained in the slender volume – tips, techniques, and strategies all related to your products and services -- is just too good to keep to himself. Of all the trade show giveaways, only the booklet has done its job. Without being overpowering, it has educated the buying public about your products and kept your company name and logo in view. When the buyer needs to make a purchase, he’ll think back to what he read in your booklet – and he’ll know exactly who to call. Giving out booklets heightens your company’s credibility as an expert in the industry. When prospects read your information, they perceive you as knowledgeable. Booklets also clearly signal that you’re interested in pursuing a business relationship. Giving away coffee mugs signals that you hope your prospect enjoys his morning joe. Booklets offer a lot of bang for the buck. Anyone in an industry who is selling or exhibiting at a trade show is a candidate for using booklets as a promotional tool. They are very cost effective. A company can create their own booklets, have someone else produce them, or purchase someone else’s booklet on a topic of interest for their audience and have their contact information printed on. No matter what method you choose, booklets simply don’t cost much to produce. They also don’t have an ‘expiration’ date. One print run can easily and effectively carry you through the show season and be integrated in other sales & marketing efforts. To get the most use out of your booklets, be sure to pack them full of common sense, grass roots, basic, practical, how-to information. Your customers won’t turn to a booklet for dry, theoretical information, so don’t waste time and money printing up journal articles. Keep it current, relevant, and important. Address everyday concerns in your industry. Sometimes the silver bullet answer everyone wants turns out to be information that is known but simply forgotten. The booklet serves as a reminder and reinforces your position as an expert in the field. Once you have produced your booklet, you can often find other organizations that can benefit from it. Selling booklets – to your distributors, for example – can not only help recoup your production costs, but actually generate new revenue while continually marketing your own company. Other ideas to consider include direct mail campaigns or licensing the rights to your booklet to another company. If you license the rights, you grant the client specific, limited production rights to the booklet manuscript that your company owns. Successful booklets often have to be translated into several languages to meet market demand. Prospects for your booklets include the vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers in your own industry. Each is a marketing niche, with individual, specialized needs. Approach them in a common sense way. These booklets provide solutions to many of their problems! Last and definitely not least, distributing booklets helps you garner a better ROI on your tradeshow participation Some industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, are now making a concerted effort to pull back on money spent on excessively expensive and inappropriate giveaways with educational value. A booklet is perfect in these situations because is helps you create better-qualified leads. This in turn leads to larger sales over a longer period of time with well-educated clients. When your company makes one more sale because someone reads the booklet you gave them, the investment of purchasing or creating the booklet pays off handsomely. Buyers are far more likely to make a purchase based upon information they’ve read than upon any number of fancy-printed pens – even if they write with sparkly, gel ink! Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY. Friedmann is an internationally-recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows. She has also authored: Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market and Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies. Find more information at www.richesinniches.com.