Your company spent big bucks on an elaborate tradeshow booth. Now the pressure is on to produce tangible results, despite the fact that many events have seen a decline in
attendance since the events of Sept. 11. We checked in with a passel of tradeshow-savvy PR professionals, who gave us the inside scoop on their techniques and strategies.
Following is a sampling of their best advice for mastering the art of tradeshows.
David Schull, SVP, Thorp & Company
No fireworks, says David Schull. No dancing girls. Keep it clean and lean and simple. "Contrasted with a year or two years ago, when many PR practitioners were trying to wow
people, we find that a return to the basics is working today. There is no need to spend considerable dollars on gimmicks to attract the attention of journalists, analysts and
other visitors."
Budgets are not what they used to be. But this trend is also a response to journalist fatigue. Many beleaguered reporters find they cannot stomach any more hype or hyperbole in
the wake of the dotcom debacle and national events.
Christopher Horner, Team Leader, The Vandiver Group
Christopher Horner has seen too many clients over-commit during tradeshows. "You need to pick your 'A' list [of players to meet at the show]," he says. "We might have 100
publications on the mailing list, but who do we really want to talk to in order to get to our main target? If you are talking about a two-day show, really just six publications is
probably realistic."
Once you sit them down, give them something substantial by way of news or insights, then send them home with something to remember you by. Media kit? Sure. But better still is
a multimedia kit. At a recent tradeshow, "we had everything on paper, but we also included a CD in the kit, with all the releases and the photos [on the disc], so that editors
could use whatever was best for them," Horner says. "People were very responsive to that. It is hard for me to imagine that companies are still doing all-paper media kits, but
based on the reactions I have gotten from editors, it seems that that is what most people are doing."
Steve Rubel, Manager, Client Services, CooperKatz & Co. Inc.
At this summer's PC Expo, Steve Rubel staged a novel competition on behalf of ExtremeTech, a Ziff Davis Web site. In a hugely successful promotion, computer-assemblers vied for
the title of "America's Fastest Geek."
"It was not just an event at a booth. It was something that engaged attendees, that invited their participation," Rubel explains. As a result, "the competition brought a lot of
people to the booth and that in turn brought media to the booth." At times the crowd at the booth was 15 people deep.
"It is not just flamboyance for its own sake. It is flamboyance that is tied to your message," Rubel says. Lesson learned: "You don't necessarily have to have the biggest
booth. We had a 20-by-30 foot booth and we did no other marketing other than sending out a press release about the competition."
That press release helped garner pre-show coverage from MSNBC.com and other sources, an invaluable asset to a small or mid-sized company. "At a tradeshow you need to get the
word out there about what you are doing before you do it, especially when you are competing with significant companies that have major booth presence," he said. In this case, "we
were next door to Microsoft, which had a booth the size of a football field."
Dan Janal, VP of Client Relations, ShowStoppers Media Receptions
When all else fails, ply 'em with booze. Reporters are so overburdened with appointments at tradeshows that after-hours events often are the only way to achieve coveted face-
time with media outlets.
"We found that reporters weren't making appointments to visit booths any more," says Dan Janal. "There was simply so much to do, the tradeshow floors were so crowded, it just
became a logistical nightmare."
Journalists will almost certainly take advantage of free food and drink - but don't think just because they drop by to schmooze you have a free ticket to coverage. A social
gathering gives writers and editors a chance to unwind, but it also provides an opportunity to go head-to-head with your key executives. "On the show floor the CEO is talking to
some big buyer, and probably doesn't want to be pulled away to talk to reporters. But at receptions they know the reporters are the only ones we let in, and so they can focus on
media for those three hours," Janal says.
Results? Janal says his parties typically draw anywhere from 250 to 500 reporters. A Showstoppers event drew the attention of more than 400 reporters to Compaq's new iPaq
product at the massive Comdex show. The computer maker was so pleased with the results, it followed up with a one-year iPaq anniversary reception the following year. (Contacts:
Steve Rubel, 212/455-8085; Christopher Horner, 314/991-4641 ext. 108; David Schull, 305/446-2700; Dan Janal, 952/380-1554)
Worth Your While?
Before you bust the bank on a tradeshow, you'll want to know just how many people you can hope to reach. Tradeshow Advisors of Sacramento, Calif., offers this easy formula for
calculating potential attendance at your booth:
How many attendees have high interest in the show as a whole? Multiply the net attendance (excluding media, spouses, etc.) by the show's Audience Interest Factor.
Show management should give you this number, which describes the percent of attendees who visit 20 percent of all booths. Otherwise, use the all-industries average of 44
percent.
How big is your potential audience? Multiply the number of high-interest attendees by the percentage who have indicated high interest in your particular type of product. If
show management can't give you a figure, the all-industries average is 16 percent.
(Jim Porterfield, President, 800/783-9766)