Exhibitors: Work rules drive up McCormick costs

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

You've seen the signs at the airports welcoming people to Chicago: "We're glad you're here," they say. Some think truth in advertising demands an added line, like: "Now, pay up!"

The convention business in Chicago is reeling as big shows defect from McCormick Place, or threaten to, because of costs. An $8 billion engine of the Chicago economy is seizing up as exhibitors -- the businesses that set up booths at the conventions and literally pay the freight for the privilege -- push trade organizations to move shows to cheaper places, principally Las Vegas and Orlando.

Some exhibitors are bitter, such as the company president who wrote to the head of his trade association after its show wrapped up in 2009. "Having to deal with McCormick Place personnel is more than frustrating," the letter said. "The experience is like being dropped into a den of thieves that pick your pocket at every opportunity, and it hasn't gotten any better."

The letter's contents were shared with the Chicago Sun-Times on the promise of anonymity. Few in the business want to offend the five labor unions that work at McCormick Place, for fear of retaliation at their next show.

The exhibitors and their trade groups complain about expensive work rules, like a minimum of three Teamsters on a crew vs. one in other cities. They cite five-minute jobs that are billed for an hour. They gripe about restrictions about who can do what in setting up or dismantling the show, and about occasional threats and intimidation. Full Article.

The 7 People You Design Your Trade Show Exhibit for

Who do you design your trade show exhibit for? There may be more people than you realize.

As a trade show manager about to embark on marshalling the design of your company’s new trade show exhibit, you have to consider the interests of 7 distinct people: Link.

Using Tradeshow Incentives as an Effective Marketing Tool

What you Should Know about Tradeshow Premium Incentives Premium incentives can be an effective trade show or event marketing tool when successfully linked to your company or product There are thousands of choices in incentive items, and the choices change all the time Rely on your exhibit consultant for advice about creative opportunities to use incentives as part of your overall trade show exhibit marketing campaign Incentives Whether you use the term incentives, promotional products, or giveaways, the goal is the same. Exhibitors want to capture the interest and attention of attendees at the show AND be remembered after the show. Everyone loves a freebie, and giveaways are a tried and true method for attracting people to your booth at a trade show. A word of caution however; these items can quickly add up to a significant portion of your budget, so they should be distributed judiciously. Try to keep your expenses for promotional items within five to ten percent of your total budget. There will always be those people who simply case the exhibit halls in search of free stuff. In some cases it is your fellow staffers who will be hunting and gathering, so it is a good idea not to put your promo items out until right before the show is set to open. There are Four Primary Categories of Incentives Apparel (T-shirts, hats, golf shirts, etc. Office supplies (pens, calendars, clocks, mouse pads, mugs, etc. ) Fun stuff (toys, gag gifts, electronics, etc. ) Perishables (candy, mints, food and beverage, etc. ) Incentives are first a gift and secondly a marketing tool. If used effectively, the buyer will appreciate the gesture and will recall the seller’s marketing campaign and product. These are all positive benefits of incentives. More.

100 Reasons to Exhibit at a Trade Show

There are over one hundred reasons to exhibit in a trade show. Does your company fit into any of these reasons to exhibit?

1. Sell products and/or services.
2. Gather qualified leads for post-show company follow-up.
3. Introduce new products to a new or existing market.
4. Demonstrate new products to a new or existing market.
5. Demonstrate new uses of existing products.
6. Give your customers an opportunity to meet experts.
7. Give a CEO an opportunity to meet your CEO.
8. Meet buyers face-to-face.
9. Open new markets.
10. See buyers not usually accessible to sales personnel.

90 More.

52 Definitions Every Marketer Should Know

1. Marketing hipster or hipster marketing: The new bleeding-edge marketer. One of the first terms I’ve made up for this blog post but that I like a lot. If you’re doing some of the activities I’ve described below, you are a marketing hipster.

2. Lead qualification: People (with headsets), automation (CRM and marketing automation – yes, marketing automation) and process dedicated to contacting leads and qualifying them before passing them to sales. If you actually generate leads, you should do this. (See every other post on the Funnelholic.com). People can build this process for you like @bridgegroupinc or Stu Silverman (SalesRamp), or you can outsource qualification (numerous folks, I can’t even mention). Look, this is “old school” stuff, but it works. I sell leads, and what we’ve seen from our data is that companies with lead-qualification (and lead-nurturing) processes convert better than anyone else and, ultimately, buy more leads.

3. Conversion rate: The rate at which a prospect advances in your marketing process. I included this because everyone assumes conversion rate means landing page conversion. That is not true. Conversion rates happen across the life of a lead: Traffic to registration conversion, registration to lead conversion, lead to opportunity conversion, opportunity to sale conversion. Conversions happen all day in your process (I hope). Track them and watch them.

4. Lead scoring: Seriously, make it simple: the process of determining which leads are better than others. Don’t make it bigger than that. Use data you have now to start – this isn’t hard, then use marketing automation to implement, optimize and refine. Scoring seems so daunting, but it really isn’t when you finally tear down what it really is. The humans in your “conversion chain” score all the time in their head: They call certain leads more than others because they know they will convert.

5. Conversion chain: I just made that up in the previous definition, so I figured I would make a definition. The conversion chain is your series of conversion points you track from the top (e.g., Google, white paper syndication) to close. That’s a cool term. If it catches on, you heard it here first.

6. Metrics: Numbers generated via reporting that tell you something about your current processes. Yes, it can be called reporting or just “numbers,” but remember you want to be a b2b marketing hipster, so use the word: metrics. Here’s a tip: Choose three metrics to look at every day. Look at the rest once a week. More.

A Tradeshow Checklist, born of experience

It's easy to waste time and money at tradeshows. It's not just the booth ($2k-$20k) and travel expenses ($1000/day including airline, hotel, rent car, shipping, and buying an extension cable at an outrageously overpriced convention center office supply center), it's the week of time spent at the show (including travel days) plus weeks of time spent preparing your strategy, crafting your sales pitches, organizing the booth crap, and chewing out the stoned guy at the print shop counter who claims to not see that the "red" in the color swatch is not the same as the "red" in your 6' x 6' banner.

Tradeshows are a combination of high-level strategy and low-level minutiae, so a checklist comes in handy. Link.

How To Be Lean, Mean & Green At Your Next Event: Three Green Philosophies To Consider

by Jeff Hurt:

“In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences,” R.G. Ingersoll (1833-1899).

Environmental initiatives have been in vogue since the 25th Anniversary of Earth Day in 1995. Yet in the past five years, many environmental friendly programs have moved beyond fashion and fad to becoming socially acceptable and the norm. Even some large corporations are expanding their social responsibility programs by creating a triple bottom line focus on people, planet and profit. Full article.