Program Description: In any business, listening to your customers is a crucial step towards serving them better and, for exhibition organizers, your exhibitors are your customers. While there are many ways you can show you’re listening, creating an Exhibitor Advisory Council (EAC) is one of the most highly recommended. So, why do so many organizers disband their EACs (or put off setting them up)?
Program Description: When your exhibitors struggle… you struggle. Learn more about one of their biggest challenges (embracing the ways they’re “new”) and explore effective ways to address it from both their perspective and yours, as an exhibition organizer.
Program Description: As an exhibition organizer, there’s a lot you can do to support your exhibitors… but, ultimately, they have to be responsible for their own success. For example, you can provide logos, templates, and even attendee list rentals, but your exhibitors have to plan and prepare their own promotions before, during, and after your trade show.
Program Description: If you’re like many exhibition organizers, you may be finding that exhibitors have begun confirming their participation in trade shows later and later. This presents a number of challenges for your exhibitors – as they’ll need to do all of the same work, but in a much shorter time frame – as well as for you (for example, you’ll have to repeat yourself a lot more than you would otherwise). Fortunately, this intensive 3-hour workshop is designed to help you overcome those challenges, for your exhibitors and for you.
Today’s exhibition professional has more to do than simply manage an exhibition. In reality, an exhibition professional is responsible for several crucial service-related elements. Two of the service fundamentals inherent in most events are arranging for accommodations for guests (“housing”) and identifying which guests will be allowed access to which portion of an event (“registration”). Planning must begin early to ensure housing and registration are easily assessed and do not become a hindrance to attending the event. When managed well, housing and registration can enhance an event and create an incentive for future attendance.
Site selection is a crucial first step in producing a successful exhibition or event. This includes the process of choosing both a geographical location and a facility for an exhibition or event. Site selection consists of advanced detailed planning, including access for attendees of all populations, organizational goals and objectives, exhibitor/attendee needs, and transportation. Careful consideration should be given to all factors that could impact the success of the overall exhibition.
Exhibitors are a critical stakeholder in the exhibitions and events industry that are often misunderstood or overlooked. Understanding how to partner with exhibitors to ensure their success will help drive value for the show organizer, the exhibitor and the attendee. It is important for show organizers to understand the root causes of pain points for exhibitors and what systems, processes and solutions a show organizer can implement to address the needs of their exhibitors and create success for all stakeholders.
Housing and Registration Management
In order for organizations that plan, manage or own exhibitions and events to remain competitive, they must continually define and review their strategies. This includes measuring where an event falls within a particular market segment, developing plans to ensure business continuity, and positioning an exhibition or event for success.
Producing successful exhibitions often hinges upon the proper management of logistics. Every event contains thousands of details that must be processed logically, sequentially and precisely. While managing logistics well is essential, exhibitions are intended primarily to bring buyers and sellers together in an environment that is conducive to their respective objectives. All of the stakeholders of an exhibition must communicate effectively before, during and after the event to ensure its success. Event operations focuses on the unique role of the exhibition organizer and his/her team in orchestrating all of the elements.
Marketing is not an exact science. It includes a number of strategies and tactics that are constantly evolving so they can address changing social, cultural and economic circumstances effectively. The creation of a marketing plan that includes core practices as well as new ideas, innovations and unique points of view allows for the creation of an exhibition that may have begun as just a concept. The goal of an exhibition is to provide an appropriate environment in which buyers and sellers can come together face to face. Today’s technology increasingly permits the show organizer to extend the useful life of an exhibition by employing digital tools, thus further enriching the show experience.
Understanding the terminology and application of accounting, finance and budgeting fundamentals allows the exhibition organizer to make a greater contribution to the growth and financial success of the organization. It is essential to develop a budget and manage the financial strategies of the exhibition. A well-developed and well-administered budget is crucial to enabling the exhibition organizer to accurately project and monitor income and expenses, track cash flow and cost controls and ultimately measure the success of the event and the organization’s return on investment.
A successful exhibition or event is often produced by the efforts of multiple service providers. A substantial portion of the exhibition or event organizer’s responsibility is to evaluate, source, and contract for the services and products needed to produce a successful event.
A well-designed floor plan or layout is critical to the success of an exhibition or event. In a rapidly changing business environment, a floor plan must meet the logistical needs of exhibitors and sponsors and the shopping habits of attendees with sufficient flexibility to adjust for growth or consolidation.
