Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Exhibition Industry Decline


The Exhibition Industry Declined (5.7%) in the Fourth Quarter and (3.1%) for the Year.

This is the first decline since 2002. This is a report from CEIR.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Trade Show Budgets Fall to 17% This Year

The TSEA’s 2009 Exhibit Marketing Survey (pdf) shows that budgets will slip 17%, to $381,000, down from $459,100 last year, and the number of trade shows at which companies will exhibit will slip from 30 to 25. More.

10 Common Exhibit & Tradeshow Marketing Mistakes

The key to great exhibiting is marketing. But marketing is a very inexact science that leaves room for a multitude of errors to occur. The following are 10 of the most common marketing mistakes that exhibitors often make. Learn to avoid them and you will increase your chances for a successful tradeshow. More.

The ABC's of Tradeshow and Exhibit Marketing

Exhibit marketing is all about marketing your products or services to buyers at expositions, conferences, and trade shows. A successful program will be rewarded with increased revenues, referrals, and industry networking.

The goal is to understand how exhibit marketing differs from the other types of marketing.

Exhibit marketing is more than just selling from a booth space. For many industries, it's about bringing people and companies together to promote accomplishments, stimulate thought, share knowledge, build relationships, spur the competitive spirit, and reward entrepreneurial efforts.

Exhibit marketing not only introduces buyers to sellers, but also fuels the competitive spirit by filling a hall with competitors, partners, and suppliers, each with goals and dreams of success. Trade shows allow companies to showcase their achievements, build their business, and maintain their competitive edge.
More.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The (trade) show must go on

With Las Vegas in general and trade shows in particular bearing the brunt of a brutal recession, the Exhibitor Show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center is an unlikely venue for optimism.

But that was the mood Tuesday among many on the show floor, even though about 10 percent to 13 percent fewer attendees are expected compared to last year's event.


"If you don't go out and look at opportunities, they are not going to come to you," said Dee Silfies, chief learning strategist for Exhibitor Conferences, the organizer of the event. "Then competitors would have an opportunity to be in front of (your) customers, plus (you) wouldn't get any new business."

Link (more)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Exhibitors Plan to Spend, Exhibit Less in 2009

Another sign of the economic times, trade show exhibitors are planning to attend fewer shows and spend less money on their booths this year compared to last, according to the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA), which has released the results of its 2009 Exhibit Management Survey.

The survey, which TSEA conducted between December 2008 and January 2009, found that exhibitors—who attended an average of 30 trade shows in 2008—plan to attend just 25 shows in 2009.

Budgets for those shows are decreasing, as well, from an average of $459,100 in 2008 to $381,000 in 2009, which translates to a 17 percent decline in direct spending.

TSEA's outlook for private events is even more sober: According to its survey, budgets for corporate private events will decrease an estimated 30 percent this year, from $207,600 in 2008 to $145,500 in 2009.

All news is not bad, however. In fact, TSEA's survey respondents reported that although they'll be spending and exhibiting less this year, trade shows will still account for one-third of exhibitors' 2009 marketing budgets. What's more, in certain industries trade show spending will actually increase this year. In the medical/healthcare/pharmaceutical industry, for instance, TSEA expects trade show spending to increase by 5 percent in 2009.

For more information, or to download TSEA's complete 2009 Exhibit Management Survey, visit www.tsea.org.