What’s In Store For Trade Show And Event Industry In 2008?
Topics: Trade shows, event planning, Trade Show Training, Event marketing, Joyce McKee, Lets Talk Trade Show
It is the beginning of a new year, and the trade show world is full of ideas and plans for achieving success.
There may be turmoil in the stock market, rising prices of consumer goods, politics in the news everyday and other economic factors beyond our control, however the buying and selling that takes place on a trade show floor will have a consistent formula for success.
The industry has been through many of these conditions in 2007 and the industry did very well.
Here is a quick look back at the industry statistics reported by CERI:
Exhibition industry revenue grows 5.8 percent in third quarter Exhibition revenue for the third quarter increased 5.8 percent over the same period in 2006, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). Year-to-date revenue rose 9.7 percent through the third quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in the previous year, and attendance grew 11.8 percent in the third quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006.
Several trade show industry veterans weighed in with their opinions and predictions.
The following quote is from John Galante Vice President EH Publishing/EH Events:
Attendee acquisition and retention will continue to be challenge #1 for event organizers in 2008. To address it, organizers will:
- expand their offering of experiential, infotainment type programming - fun stuff that engages the senses, the emotions and the imagination while conveying or complimenting substantive information
- increase use of new media like video and podcasts and interactive media like blogs and online forums for promotion purposes
- enhance VIP attendee programs to give power buyer attendees a more deluxe experience
- increase use of telesales and in-person presentation for attendee outreach, taking more of a CRM approach vs. the traditional direct marketing carpet bombing
Lew Hoff, President of Bartizan said:
“I think that we will see a significant increase in demand for audited trade show statistics by exhibitors. In the end, this will prove a good thing not only for exhibitors and the industry, but for the better show organizers, as well.”
Susan Hueg, CEM, CMP, the Faux Event; the Decorative Arts Show said:
“Here at NBM, we totally agree and believe that will be an increase in show participation. Some of our cities are already sold out for 2008. We’re ‘bullish’ on trade shows and to prove it, we acquired a new show in 2007.”
Now let’s hear from a respected supplier to the event industry.
Stephen Nold, President of Advon Technologies said:
“Given my focus on innovation, I can offer four compelling forces that I think will impact the design and implementation of technology in the tradeshow world in 2008:
More money
The last 3-4 years have been good years for the Meetings industry. Many associations and show producers are flush with cash. Positive balance sheets are yielding increased investment in innovation. Despite predictions for an economic downturn in 2008, many meeting planners and show organizers will spend in the first quarter of 2008.
Evolution of professional/business practices
True to many developing industries, the meetings profession is gaining more experts who bring know-how from the corporate world. The adoption of new best practices and the willingness to create knowledge resources will evolve industry benchmarks.
More ‘outside the box’ events
The TED conference is an annual event that brings together the some of the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers who believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. It is an excellent example of a show outside of the traditional show format that is impacting the world in which we operate and is challenging the standards for event audiences.
Web 2.0
Greatly over-hyped and much misunderstood, the greatest challenge with web 2.0 for show management is to NOT follow the herd and implement web 2.0 technology tools just for technology’s sake.”
That wraps up the forecast for what to expect in the trade show world in 2008.
It’s clear that the climate is great - as long as you are in tune with the trends.
For 25 years Joyce McKee has helped companies succeed in the trade show and event world. Keep up with the latest trends her new site at www.letstalktradeshows.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Fixing The Gap So That You And The Customer Wins! (1)
There is no money in us and them, sales and marketing. Get the sales folks, the marketing folks and a handful of ideal clients in a room for a day and figure out what really makes each one tick." This is the best first step to fix the gap.
Ebooks: The Easiest Way To Start Internet Marketing (2)
But I'm sure you have some trepidation. You are probably thinking that you don't have anything to sell. That's the easiest problem to solve. You can start with the easiest item to sell, ebooks.
How To Go About Selling Your Blog (3)
Either way, remember to only make small price adjustments because large ones will scare off potential buyers. You should also try to locate potential buyers of your blog through the use of networking.
Using Forum And Blogs To Generate Tons Of Laser Targeted Free Traffic (4)
What can and should do is include your website address in your signature tag. That is not considered advertisement. It is simply a part of your identity and is viewed as such by the administrators as well as the members of blogs and forums.
How To Find The Missing Links (5)
The good thing about backlinks is that it makes no difference whether or not the other site has similar content to your own; the link can still exist. The other kind of link, and the one that it is most useful for you to attempt to develop, is the reciprocal link, which implies that you and the other site, literally, exchange links, guiding visitors to each other's sites.
How To Be Successful With Viral Linking (6)
Make sure that the link is big enough for everyone to see and also workable so that Internet visitors do not have any frustrations with the icon. Highlight Popular Subjects There are quite a few ways for you to create an attractive viral link, but probably the most effective method is by advertising popular or current topics that a lot of people might be interested in.
How To Get People To Cite Your Posts On Their Blogs (7)
If you include special images in your blog posts that relate to the specific articles, then your chances of being cited by other bloggers will grow tremendously. You can also use special one-liners or memorable stories in your articles that will enhance a persons reading and understanding.
Amazing Linkbuilding Strategies For The Beginner (8)
Networking Try to talk to everyone that you know through email, instant messaging, and even face to face in order to increase your sites popularity. Court helps people to learn about internet marketing.
The Smart Way To Start A Blog (9)
The following are a few tips on taking an intelligent approach to starting a blog. Planning And Organization The very first thing that you must do even before you actually start to create your blog is to carefully plan what your blog is going to include and not include.
Disbelief Is Leading Your Potential Customers Astray (10)
-What weaknesses in your marketing encourage these disbeliefs to continue? -How can your marketing eliminate these disbeliefs? Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist and The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution.
Make Your Resource Box Eye-Catching (11)
Matthew Meyer is an internet marketer who manages www.thefreeadforum.com where you can post your permanent free advertising to over 50,000 members daily. See www.thefreeadforum.com to visit The Free Ad Forum.
Increase Sales Page Conversion With Basic Graphic Elements (12)
The proper graphics through out the sales page will highlight each section, each stage of the selling process, so that your prospect follows the correct path. The closer you can get the prospect to follow your sales letter's path, the easier it will be to convert your prospect to a buyer.
Finding A Niche For Your Own Blog The Best Way (13)
If you select a niche that is not exciting or interesting, then naturally people will not want to visit your blog and will go somewhere else to read about much more exciting things on the Internet.
Use Public Domain ! (14)
With the public domain articles you can simply edit them to your own style and rewrite them as you please to make it suitable for your needs. All the ideas are there already and its just a matter of finding the write article with the topic or subject you need.
How Much Does An Online Business Really Cost? (15)
Yes, there are free options such as hosting a blog with Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. But these are limiting in so many ways. You have less control over them is perhaps wise for a business.
Opt-In List Building And The Challenges You'll Face (16)
In other words, when trying to join the general internet mainstream, you will find yourself competing with hordes of other businesses in any given sector and at any point in time and the only way to flourish in such a scenario is to distinguish yourself by choosing your own niche rather than trying to fight the already established business entities.
Outsourcing Your Articles (17)
Every website could use the extra traffic website visitors could invite. Then there are those who need papers to be done either for their school or office work. Top writers around the world are very knowledgeable and do extreme researching to get a job done right.
Learning About Internet Niche Marketing (18)
This article will provide useful information for those who are interested in learning more about this cutting edge market and beginning a potentially lucrative career in niche marketing. Researching Niche Marketing on the Internet It may come as a surprise to some, but one of the most obvious ways to research the subject of niche marketing is via the Internet.
Is Your Web Page Designer Hurting Your Business? (19)
If you let someone create it for you that does not know sales, it will produce poorly. Make sure you use a designer that knows how to create effective sales pages that follow the complete selling process.
Help Your Downline Succeed Using 3 Easy Steps (20)
It`s common practice but it`s lethal. Those marketing strategies don`t work because they are not targeting your specific market. That is, those who are looking for YOU! People who have been pre-sold, are red hot, and ready to buy, knowing exactly what you are SELLING.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
What To Do About Blog Criticism (1)
Topics: internet marketing, internet marketing tips, internet marketing strategies Every piece of writing that is published will almost always receive some sort of good or bad criticism from people who enjoy reading about new things.
Blog Posts - Coming Up With An Idea (2)
As a blog owner, you can use some of these topics as a starting point for your own blog post topics and start very interesting Internet discussions about each of them.
Web-Masters Tips For Absolute Beginners (3)
Tips and Advice Right now, you may be at the point of sitting down at your PC with a fantastic idea to set up a website, but have no idea where to start.
Free Articles: A Tasty Recipe For Building Your Business (4)
Stir in many short sentences and paragraphs of information that is really useful to clients. Explain unfamiliar terms using down-to-earth language. (Serving suggestion: iceberg lettuce works better than arugula.) Add information in a logical fashion throughout preparation.
The Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing With Linkshare (5)
If you have signed up for several affiliate programs, you can check all your statistics for each merchandiser you are affiliated with by logging in just once. LinkShare helps you manage and maintain all records of your visitors' click-throughs and sales transaction.
So Exactly What Is Affiliate Marketing? (6)
But this is not an easy task to accomplish. They need to have a better understanding with the merchant what the commission will be, expected payment method and time involved in the contract.
Find Dangerous Profit-Spilling Icebergs Before You Ram Them (7)
When I was new to the consulting business, I decided to look for a way to eliminate all the time involved in attracting new clients. Our clients liked what we did.
How To Become A Super Affiliate With Clickbank (8)
Again, just encompass patience, persistence and knowledge; then do above mentioned tactics. Before you recognize it, you will start gaining profits. Believe me, the fruits of all your efforts here in affiliate marketing will be way too sweet.
The S On My Shirt Is For Super Affiliate (9)
There is no boss to scream around putting pressure on everyone about the deadline at hand. There is no clutter of messy paperwork that needs to be completed the soonest possible time.
No Product, No Problem-Make More Selling Other People's Products (10)
In a typical affiliate marketing set up, the merchant provides his affiliates with banners and text ads that links to his site. The affiliates will then get these ads posted on their website and they get paid whenever traffic or sales is directed to the merchant's website.
The Best Way To Choose An Affiliate Marketing Program (11)
You can join affiliate forums and learn some tips and get suggestions from experienced affiliate marketers. However, be wise enough to weigh their ideas before you buy them. The Internet Affiliate marketing program networks are good places to look for choices.
Overcome Mistrust Of Your Motives And Performance To Gain Many More Customers (12)
. many of which clues may not really mean what we take them to mean. For instance, you go into a store that is decorated in horribly clashing colors.
Building Affiliate Websites The Right Way (13)
Continue to educate yourself on how to improve your website and soon you'll find yourself successful in affiliate marketing. Visit us as www.cliksource.com for information on just about any subject that piques your interest.
Real Estate Blues, My Friend Had Them And Found The Cure (14)
We have all tried it, and that doesn't work for more than a few weeks at best. Now the second is to Make More Money. Now don't we all wish it was that easy.
Improve Your Productivity And Your Website With Animated Characters (15)
make you seem to be extremely customer focused 5. really have a discussion with your customer 6. give you the ability to focus on a specialized market 7.
What's Important In Choosing Your Home Online Business? (16)
To start, there are numerous online home based businesses currently available that you can try. One important issue you should remember is that simply trying one type of online business after another will not do it for you.
A New Approach To Link Building (17)
Topics: link building, internet marketing Are paid links hurting the natural search engine rankings of your website? They may very well be. For those of you who haven't kept up with all the fanfare, Google has stated their position against paid links, discrediting the paid link industry and indicating that they will penalize sites that purchase inbound links.
Real Work-At-Home Jobs (18)
What sets him apart is his willingness to hold nothing back when it comes to secrets and strategies that work on the internet! Don Alexander is owner of leading-online-business.com and writes on a variety of subjects.
Top Twelve Ways To Use Voice Over Internet Protocol In Your Business (19)
To integrate with Microsoft Outlook and save time, money and energy As you can see from the list of Voice over internet protocol capabilities above, this voice technology has many beneficial capabilities.
Strategies For Reaching The Number One Google Ranking (20)
Keyword density should range between 2 and 8 percent. To determine your keyword density on a given page, divide the number of times your keyword appears by the total word count of the page.
Permalink to What’s In Store For Trade Show And Event Industry In 2008?