CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE & EXPO

THE CHALLENGE

Channel Partners Conference & Expo was already the leading event for its industry. But Informa Tech needed to make sure it was continuing to reach a new audience to nurture into faithful yearly attendees.

THE SOLUTION

To ensure continued growth, Informa Tech used Feathr Invites to reach a net-new audience of over 15,000 people and their referral marketing campaign brought in 31 percent of total event registrations in 2021.

ABOUT

Informa Tech informs, educates and connects the technology community through world-class research, training, events, and media.

HEADQUARTERS

London

USE CASE

Attendee acquisition & referral marketing

PRODUCTS USED

Invites & Services

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Every year over 6,000 technology channel professionals — from agents to managed service providers, and system integrators to distributors and suppliers — meet in Las Vegas for the world’s largest independent channel technology event, Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

2021 was its 24^th consecutive year running, and part of the reason for its longevity and growth has been Informa’s focus on long-term marketing objectives. Staying on top in the event world requires expanding brand awareness and actively nurturing new customer relationships.

“Back in 2016, we were introduced to Feathr to learn about its dynamic invite page campaigns,” said Jessie Truscio, client marketing director at Informa Tech. “Channel Partners already had a referral program in place for its exhibitors and sponsors, but we didn’t provide custom invite pages to them, only a unique promo code. With Feathr, our exhibitors and sponsors loved how they could easily invite their customers to the event with their custom page that included details about their participation — and not their competitors’. And our team loved how all we needed to do was upload a list of our partners, and all their materials were instantly ready to share!”

Leveraging exhibitor and sponsor relationships to reach new audiences

For all the advances in marketing technologies, there’s still nothing better than word of mouth. And referral marketing (what Feathr calls Invites) is exactly that — except built for the digital era. 

And it’s not only about added exposure for the event itself. This is a value for exhibitors and speakers too. They get the word out about their participation, ensuring that those showing up meet them at their booth or listen in during their keynote speech. This is one of those situations that would best be described as a “win-win.”

Channel Partners makes sure to communicate this value starting day one. Truscio said, “The referral program was added as a deliverable in their contract at booth purchase. Our clients are making an investment to participate at the show, so if there is something listed in the contract that we owe them, they don’t want to miss out on it.” This is a great example of the marketing team assisting with booth renewals. An exhibitor who got their top prospects to the event through the campaign won’t miss the positive impact this had on their ROI, and it’s going to be an easy renewal. 

Example: custom promotional materials created for AT&T to help promote Channel Partners 2021. 

Some tips from the pros

Organic marketing initiatives, including referral or influencer campaigns, can feel nerve-wracking because so much depends on influencer activity. What strategies work to increase engagement? And how do campaigns make the turn from added awareness to attendee registrations?

There are best practices for increasing partner engagement, but there’s no magic bullet. And like most things, the most effective strategies to encourage participation often require hard work. Truscio offers three takeaways from running successful Invites campaigns year over year:

1. Repetition and investment make it worth the effort. “A referral program already existed for Channel Partners events, so it wasn’t difficult to introduce Feathr Invites to our clients. Since we’ve seen great ROI with it, we make it a priority,” said Truscio. The more comfortable they are and the more they come to expect it, the better the results.
   
2. Consistent and clear calls to action produce real results. “Communication is key. Before we started using Feathr’s Managed Services, our marketing team would email clients about the referral program almost weekly with information on the benefits of sharing their code or invite page.” Making sure partners have access to their co-branded materials and know how to share them is ultimately step one.
   
3. It’s important to get buy-in and support from other departments in the company. Relaying the benefits and encouraging sales to communicate often about initiatives can have a huge impact on partner engagement. And there’s no reason to stop with just the sales team. Collaborating with internal marketing and operations teams on incentives can even further enhance partner participation. 

By partnering with the Feathr Services team, Channel Partners was able to offload much of the work necessary in running a successful campaign. From leading internal webinars with sales teams to responding directly to partner inquiries, Feathr Services can assist any and every team, ensuring they get the highest ROI out of their Invites campaign.

“Services helped us save so much time particularly with help building personalized banners and email deployment,” said Truscio. One email at the beginning and near the end will most likely fail to maximize partner engagement. Designing a timeline that’s persistent but not burdensome is key. A nudge at the opportune moment can make all the difference.

“Our exhibitors and sponsors loved how they could easily invite their customers to the event with their custom page that included details about their participation — and not their competitors’.”

JESSIE TRUSCIO, CLIENT MARKETING DIRECTOR – INFORMA TECH

Results from the Channel Partners campaign

By harnessing the power of word of mouth, Channel Partners saw many registrations come in directly through their Invites campaigns. This was 31 percent of all registrations for the event! And that’s not including associated retargeting campaigns where those who were served ads were found through the Invites campaign.

When paired with retargeting ad campaigns, the sky is ultimately the limit. Once a user expresses interest through engagement with Invites but doesn’t complete registration, it’s the perfect time to follow up with a well-placed ad.

Business is essentially about relationships, and Channel Partners has continued to invest in the key connections that have made their event a success for 24 years and running. This focus on its exhibitors and sponsors has solidified its place as the go-to meeting point for channel partners.

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In Part One of this blog series, Janet Sperstad, CMP-Fellow, Faculty Director, Event Management Business Solutions at Madison College discusses the often-overlooked trust factor as it relates to exhibitions and events, and why it is so important. Here, she breaks down the brain on trust and offers tips for show organizers on applying this information to make future events more successful.

IAEE: In Part One, you explain how effective trade shows are in maximizing the trust factor to create lasting business relationships. What can show organizers do to foster this environment of trust that you’re describing?

Janet: If you don’t do your job as a show organizer on getting the right people, you’re done. Whether that refers to the attendee side, the exhibitor side or the stakeholder side – people want to be around those who are confronting the same issues and challenges, as well as sharing the same successes. They want to figure out how to do their job better, faster, cheaper, more efficiently and more successfully.

Through marketing you can convey messaging such as, “You are in the right place” or “You can trust us” – these are powerful words for attendees! They think, “They’re going to have the right vendors. I need to be there; I don’t want to miss out.” The experiences we create are consumable and ephemeral, but you want the desired effects to continue beyond the show. Using influential language to let attendees know you’re a source for trust reconfirms what they value in their business circles.

With speakers, highlight their credentials. To build trust it is important to show attendees that you seriously thought about their experience at your show. Choose quality over quantity and emphasize that you’re listening. Tell your audience how important they are, show respect, and recognize status in a meaningful way. For example, recognize the exhibitors who have been with the show a long time in a way that really makes sense to attendees rather than using vague buzz words that don’t communicate the significance of their status.

How the actual show floor opens up to the attendee is another avenue for building trust. Giving people a chance to pick and choose in a curated format says a lot. Choices throughout the experience are very important; people want choices.

IAEE: Your class delves into the mechanisms of the brain as it relates to the trade show environment – you’ve dubbed it “the brain on trust.” Can you provide a brief overview for readers?

Janet: Absolutely! In a nutshell, here’s the brain on trust:

• The pre-frontal cortex functions better – you can think better, more quickly, engage in good decision making.
• The limbic system serves as the emotional center. When trust is present, it is in a state of comfort and it feels good because dopamine is going through it. In that state, you take in more information and you tend to share more information.
• The reward region of the brain (the dopamine region) lights up like a Christmas tree when you feel trusted and trust those around you. Show organizers want to nurture that throughout the show cycle – for example, say “Thank you for trusting us” when people register to set the tone early on.
• The other thing that’s important – we want people to learn, remember, go back to their job and do something differently because they came to our trade show experience. What happens in the hippocampus is that it gets activated even more than other senses when trust is present. Trust involves more of our brain than just the individual senses. The whole brain gets connected through neuropathways at trade shows in ways that some of the other experiences don’t. Ultimately it really activates our working memory – our hippocampus – more than so many other activities do.

IAEE: You also focus on the effect of oxytocin being released. How does that work?

Janet: One neurochemical that is so powerful for us is oxytocin. As oxytocin goes up, so does trust. And oxytocin really increases when we see each other, touch each other, give each other handshakes, high fives, fist bumps, elbow bumps, hugs, etc. The trade show is a beautiful environment in which oxytocin is happening everywhere and trust is being built all along.

IAEE: With all this sensory and neurochemical activity happening, how do you help attendees stay focused?

Janet: At the end of the day, attention is a choice made by the brain. That’s where one of the challenges of trade shows can lie because it can feel overwhelming. It’s also where having a design person who understands how to use the parameters of the show floor to its greatest advantage helps. For example, creating moods through lighting and placing smart resting spots throughout the show can enhance focus.

Applying those elements changes our neurochemicals, which changes our behavior, which influences whether we lean in or lean out, and influences relationships and trust. Oxytocin is incredibly overwhelming and it accelerates relationship and trust. We have to be careful to bring attention and focus in on where we want it, when we want it.

One example that comes to mind is that, as show organizers, we need to think about the entrance point which can be a real pain point. Going back to the concepts of threat and reward, that door can appear as a big threat. How can we counteract that? We can make sure we have a very welcoming carpet; have a sign that communicates, “Yes, you are in the right place;” and place a prominent map to give people a clear picture of where they might want to go. Give attendees that reassurance. And let’s not forget the exit – don’t let it just be a fadeaway, make sure you reiterate the value they bring by attending (and tap into that reward center).

IAEE: These are excellent tips! Do you have any parting words for show organizers?

Janet: There are a lot of ways to infuse trust in your show – language, visuals, etc. We don’t trust objects, we trust people. We engage with people. People do business with people and, ultimately, we do business with people we trust. Whether it’s through consistency, quality, timing – but also, you are bringing the right people together to help me do my job and learn new things to do it better. So, it’s an important component.

I also think we should keep the conversation going! Do readers agree with these findings? What has been your experience? I would love to hear from others on the subject.

Click here to learn more about the course Janet teaches, Neuroscience of Exhibitions and Events, along with the other modules in IAEE’s CEM Learning Program.

The post Janet Sperstad on Trust, Trade Shows and How they Work Together: Part Two appeared first on IAEE.

Janet Sperstad, CMP-Fellow is Faculty Director, Event Management Business Solutions at Madison College. Her professional history reflects her lifelong vocation: driving excellence in meeting and event management execution and education. She has dedicated her career to defining the competencies and career pathways that articulate meeting planning as a design discipline – separate and distinct from hospitality – requiring skills in the social sciences, executive leadership, and the cognitive sciences.

Janet’s contributions are global in scope and rooted in more than 25 years as a meeting professional and executive leader in the corporate and non-profit sectors. She has been employed by a Fortune 500 global company, a statewide association, and owned a professional event management firm. Janet currently leads Madison College’s Meeting and Event Management Associate degree program, which she founded in 2002. This award-winning program is recognized for its stringent requirements that faculty demonstrate direct meeting planning experience and credentials. In addition, the program currently offers the greatest number of meeting and event management credits in the United States, and has served as a model for other programs at colleges and universities in North America and Europe.

Janet also serves on the faculty of IAEE’s Certified in Exhibition Management® designation program and facilitates the Neuroscience of Exhibitions and Events course module, which examines why our brains are wired to socially connect and ways to leverage that in our events and exhibitions; explores meeting room designs and exhibition floor layouts to create brain-friendly environments that drive the results you want; and teaches an overall approach in executing events using industry best practices and CEM standards through a neuroscience lens.

In Part One of this two-part blog series, Janet shares with readers how neuroscience relates to exhibition management, especially when it comes to the trust factor and how show organizers can incorporate this understanding to maximize their events.

IAEE: You have stated that we don’t talk enough about trust as it relates to trade shows. What do you mean by that?

Janet: One conversation that is often overlooked when people talk about exhibitions and events is how much these experiences foster trust. Trust is the operating system of our relationships. We often talk about how exhibitions and events help networking, meeting new people, bringing people together to do business, their design and engagement – all of which is the unspoken, underlying, and very important element of trust.

Ultimately, the one thing we create with these experiences that no other marketing channel can touch is that we build trust. You can have engagement without trust, but you can’t have trust without engagement. In other forms of business, that engagement with customers can be achieved through consistency, solid pricing, being on time, all of those things. But when it comes to our industry, we’re not just selling widgets and we certainly don’t engage with widgets, we have people at booths talking to other people.

Most of our information – 93 percent – comes from non-verbal cues. It’s a massive sensory filter that we use in live experiences in how take in information, how we listen and how we connect, because the brain is a social brain and the foundation we are building upon is based on trust. If we think about how to help people trust us, how we trust them and how we build trust, I think that’s not a conversation we often talk about in our space.

IAEE: What do you mean by “the brain is a social brain”?

Janet: The brain lights up when people connect and the neurons in their brains sync up. As such, our events form informal cultures and informal norms, which is really about connecting. We connect biorhythmically and cognitively when we are all together at these live experiences – it’s like we are synced as one. Which means we are taking in all this information that elicits trust, and your senses are helping you build that information.

I think trade shows, more than any other event, build trust because when you walk on to the floor you are already saying, “I have a need. I’m curious. I’m interested.” You’re already leaning into the moment and willing to let your guard down a bit which means your brain is receptive to the surrounding influence, engagement and sense of connectedness to one another.

IAEE: What is going on in attendees’ brains as they navigate the show floor?

Janet: It’s such a social atmosphere. It’s not about sitting and learning information like we have in our breakout sessions or general sessions. It’s this whole social experience where, as an attendee, I listen, I look, I feel, I smell and use all those things to build information, In turn, this builds a sense of reward because I’m happy – I can feel the energy, I can feel the excitement – and so it starts to build trust. When we walk down the aisle, we’re more willing to lean into a conversation than we would walking down a hallway.

Knowing that you’re with like-minded people, people that are in your industry/profession, knowing you’re going to be with people that will have solutions to problems you don’t know the answers to – it really matters to attendees. Show organizers must curate that need and focus in on the target markets so that we bring the right people together. This engagement cuts deep through all the filters and that’s when you start building relationships.

Part Two details what happens in the brain as trust is being created and how show organizers can apply this to their events. Stay tuned!

The post <strong>Janet Sperstad on Trust, Trade Shows and How they Work Together: Part One</strong> appeared first on IAEE.

But, what sticks in the mind of DS&L Vice President Rob Cohen and his team these days is the essential need to advocate for the small businesses that make up the exhibitions industry.

Spearheaded by Rob, DS&L first embraced the importance of advocacy when tariffs on products manufactured in China surfaced in 2019. DS&L knew the price impact that proposed tariffs would have on the company and its customers.

After hiring an attorney experienced in tariff laws, combing through executive orders, crafting position papers, and submitting comments on proposed tariff changes, Rob was invited to testify at an administrative hearing held by the U.S. Trade Office.

“Even though we weren’t successful in defeating tariffs, we learned the importance of participating in the process,” Rob says. “When the pandemic hit, I knew it was time for us to put action into our bark.”

As a past president of the Experiential Designers and Producers Association (EDPA is a member of Exhibitions Mean Business coalition), Rob was aware of Exhibitions Day. This year, he called EDPA board member Chris Griffin to say “we’re all in.”

Armed with contact information for legislative staff in Illinois and Massachusetts, the DS&L team began their outreach. Staffers for Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who sits on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, and Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, vice-chair of the House Democratic Caucus, responded.

“We were able to build awareness with key lawmakers, and their staff, that our industry even exists,” says Rob. “And, these conversations helped guide us in crafting a small business message that would resonate with decision-makers.”

But, perhaps, it was a post on LinkedIn that demonstrated to Rob and the DS&L team just how powerful advocacy could be.

“I didn’t really embrace the power of social media before,” Rob notes. “But, we issued a call to action and offered to help with the tools that both EMB provided from Exhibitions Day and we drafted from our efforts. The response floored me.”

With more than 5,000 views, roughly 80 colleagues contacted Rob to follow up and take action on their own. “That’s a powerful ripple effect,” says Rob.

His takeaway: “I feel like we’ve helped a little, but our efforts can’t end here. We have to continue reaching out, building awareness about our industry and the needs of small businesses, so that we have a voice at the tables where important decisions are made.”

Rob’s Top Advocacy Tips:

• Give back to the industry.
• Engage using different tactics (phone, email and text ).
• Amplify your voice using social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook).
• It’s a team effort … so be a part of the team at your company and within the professional organizations and coalitions you participate in.

The post Advocacy Puts Action Into Your Bark, says EMB Ambassador Rob Cohen appeared first on IAEE.

When COVID-19 brought his 26-member team to a standstill in March, he pivoted yet again. This time he was looking for financial life-lines to keep his small business afloat.

“We’ve been busy trying to keep the doors open for the past four months,” Taylor says. “We’ve provided PPE to local hospitals, which kept us busy for a little bit. But, since the live events industry has no revenue, we pivoted to corporate interiors, safety products other ways to ramp up business. We likely won’t see any notable events this year.”

But, Taylor pivoted to advocacy, too. Having attended his first ever Exhibitions Day in June, he had the tools to reach out to his elected officials. And he did just that.

“For me, it was borne out of desperation,” says Taylor. “When COVID first began in New York, I went to work on the options for working capital. There wasn’t anything yet. So, I went to work contacting local elected officials to try to get a Small Business Administration disaster declaration. I sent emails, made phone calls with no results. Finally, I sent faxes.”

That low tech tactic did the trick. Chris Zeltmann, a staffer in the local office of Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), called Taylor. A dialogue began.

“He provided guidance and contact information,” Taylor said. “When PPP was launched, we took advantage of it but knew it wouldn’t be enough to sustain the industry. Our dialogue continues, and hopefully influences the next steps Congress will take.”

In early July, Sen. Schumer’s office asked Taylor to appear at a press conference along with other small business owners in Rochester, NY, to talk about the importance of another round of economic stimulus for small business owners. Mark reached out to the EMB team for an assist with his talking points. He had 45 seconds to deliver his message, which was carried by local television.

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Taylor notes. “I don’t consider myself a very good public speaker. I’m not comfortable in the spotlight. But, it’s important to build awareness about this industry to our economy. When we’re idle so many others are idle, too. And, when the opportunity comes, you have to take it.”

Taylor says that advocacy “can be effective but it’s a long game. You can’t give up on it too soon, and you have to have a constant voice and consistent message.”

Pivoting to old school technology, like a fax machine, helps, too.

Mark’s Top Advocacy Tips

• Start local.
• Try different outreach tactics to (phone, email, fax, text, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).
• It’s a long game so keep at it. Once a door opens, keep the dialogue going.
• Motivate and inspire your team to get involved in advocacy; lead by example.

When the opportunity arises to tell the exhibitions and live events story, take it!

The post Low Tech and Persistence Yield Advocacy Results for EMB Ambassador Mark Taylor appeared first on IAEE.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think the first half of 2020 would turn out as it has. Advocacy has always been a pillar of IAEE’s strategic plan, but it has taken on a renewed focus and importance in the wake of COVID-19.

Leading up to the start of 2020, advocacy efforts focused on the Exhibitions Mean Business (EMB) Campaign’s annual legislative fly-in, Exhibitions Day; key communications throughout the year on general topics affecting the industry; promoting the value and importance of business-to-business exhibitions in local, state and national economies through various channels; and worldwide efforts on Global Exhibitions Day.

Once COVID-19 was truly being felt in the United States and around the world, the U.S. live events industry, along with the rest of the country, had come to a grinding halt. Toward the end of March, we began to realize the truly dire circumstances we were in. Daily conversations were happening with other heads of industry associations trying to gauge the impact of this pandemic with news coverage of COVID-19 changing hour over hour. Industry associations began sending out key communications summarizing and informing their members on ways to get involved while offering a platform to discuss their concerns and how to cope with the reality we are all living in now.

The role of advocacy has never been more important than it is now. Since March, industry associations have closely collaborated, combining resources and communications strategies to rally their members into action to support the CARES Act, Payroll Protection Program funding, the HEROES Act and now the Pandemic Risk Reinsurance Program that provides liability protections for businesses. IAEE along with the U.S. Travel Association, American Society of Association Executives, Destinations International, the Go LIVE Together Coalition, Meetings Mean Business Coalition, Events Industry Council and countless others, have sent out action alerts on various issues and used the power of our collective voice to contacts Congress for help. Has it always helped like we would want it to? No, but legislation doesn’t happen overnight.  We are all in this fight together and will come out ahead by beating the drum and calling on our elected officials in the U.S. and around the world, to let us get back to the business of live events.

I fondly remember my meeting with Paul Woodward in 2015, former Managing Director of UFi, where I came up with the idea to collaborate on launching a Global Exhibitions Day, which debuted in 2016. It somewhat mirrored the existing Exhibitions Day in the U.S. It is inspiring to be a part of a dedicated day to celebrate and promote our global exhibitions and events industry during the first week of June each year.

June 3, 2020 marked the seventh annual Exhibitions Day, but this year the event went virtual. More than 600 people from across all industry segments took part in the virtual day of action where attendees networked in breakout rooms, made their voices heard through social channels, and called and emailed Congressional offices. The power of our collective voice has never been stronger. On Twitter alone, our efforts reached close to 700,000 users.

It is important to note that being part of an advocacy movement is not a short game. It is very much a long game. We have to, as a unified voice in the exhibitions industry, keep beating the drum that exhibitions mean business. I will close by saying that it is important to lean on one another and lean on your industry association in times of crisis. We will come through this, albeit a bit beat up, but the appeal and human need for face-to-face interaction will never be extinguished.

David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA
President & CEO
IAEE

The post Advocacy in the Wake of COVID-19 appeared first on IAEE.

As we move into the summer months, our industry is still assessing the toll that COVID-19 has/is/will be taking on exhibitions and events. As reported by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) in late April, we are gaining a clearer picture from data fielded by an ongoing survey to business-to-business (B2B) exhibition executives. In addition to monitoring the economic impact, industry leaders have been proactive in finding solutions to the logistical challenges unique to trade shows when dealing with communicable diseases such as this novel coronavirus.

The effects of this pandemic have touched each and every one of us in varying degrees, and the desire to find our way back to the stability and growth that typically define our industry is palpable. We are examining many areas of how we conduct business, and advocating on behalf of our industry has quickly revealed itself as a viable resource in which we can expand upon our already established successes to propel our recovery process. Now, more than ever, it is incumbent upon each of us to take part in acting as the unified voice of our industry.

This year’s Exhibitions Day, which took place on June 3, was held via virtual format to allow participants to continue communicating to U.S. legislators the considerable contribution our industry makes to the overall U.S. economy and convey the ongoing value propositions presented by the Exhibitions Mean Business campaign. The latest figure from CEIR reflects that, in 2019, B2B exhibitions contributed $101 billion to the U.S. GDP (up from $97 billion in 2018).

Although we are bracing for the obvious downturn to come in the remainder of 2020, CEIR also expects a full recovery within eight quarters, with the GDP in 2021Q4 anticipated to exceed the previous peak in 2019Q4. With this in mind, top advocacy priorities have centered around making sure our industry is recognized in federal economic relief programs such as the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program, which did not include our industry in its first round.

We do this through collaborative efforts such as Exhibitions Day, which brings together organizations like the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Events Industry Council (EIC), International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), Meetings Mean Business Coalition and the U.S. Travel Association to deliver our industry’s stories to lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

Organization leaders representing every facet of the industry have come together to remedy this oversight and work to resolve other pressing issues we face, but we cannot do it alone and we cannot take our foot off the accelerator simply because Exhibitions Day has passed. For example, the Go LIVE Together Coalition is comprised of 80 founding partners that represent more than 4,000 companies with operations within the U.S. and 112 countries. Its initiatives include supporting the Trade Show & Event Recovery Act, which is rallying for stimulus funding pertaining to our industry as well. This initiative will also need your voice.

Each and every communication to U.S. lawmakers on behalf of these efforts makes a difference. By contacting your representative, you are directly contributing to the recovery of our industry. Visit www.exhibitionsmeanbusiness.org and www.golivetogether.com to find out more about how you can lend your voice to these initiatives. On the grassroots level, individual communities will have their own perspective on reinstating exhibitions and events. Reaching out to city and state government officials will also go a long way in moving our progress along the road to recovery.

By working together, we will prevail over the effects of COVID-19 to our industry. Through one voice united in advocacy, we will continue to spread the message that Exhibitions Mean Business!

David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA
President & CEO
IAEE

The post Advocacy’s Role in Our COVID-19 Recovery appeared first on IAEE.

For the first time since I began writing this column, I wish I wasn’t, because it is done with a heavy heart for my colleagues and friends, and our industry. I know I am well-accompanied in experiencing unwanted “firsts” due to COVID-19, as the entire world faces this particular health crisis for the first time. I also know I am not alone among industry executives tasked with navigating this treacherous pandemic on behalf of their organization.

Industry leaders are having to make painstaking decisions regarding their companies’ futures that feel very unfair to everyone involved. We are having to learn tough lessons quickly, yet these lessons possess valuable information that is incumbent upon us to note for future reference so we may exercise our best leadership through disruptions such as this.

While it will take considerable time to fully assess the toll this pandemic is taking on our industry, we do know that worldwide exhibitions and events have been devastated. We have watched the snowball effect to our industry since January, and it quickly became clear that we needed to operate from a facts-based foundation.

The fluidity of the situation has made this extremely challenging, however the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) quickly stepped in to collect data from show organizers that were having to cancel or postpone their events. By mid-March, CEIR was able to release a preliminary evaluation of the potential economic impact the pandemic will have on our industry. This process allows executive leaders to make the best possible decisions given the facts at hand, in addition to giving us the best possible advantage in dealing with such extreme uncertainty.

Another step in keeping within the realm of fact-based decision making is to team with industry partners. For example, IAEE was quick to exchange information with fellow organizations such as the U.S. Travel Association, Destinations International and the Events Industry Council. Collaboration is the strongest tool we have to minimize damage, and information sharing among the industry’s various representations benefits all members across the spectrum of our industry.

Executive leaders must also help their members/stakeholders brace for impact by identifying key resources. To address this, IAEE has released many webinars presenting a wide array of personal and business strategies. Our COVID-19 Resources microsite provides updates that are impacting our industry, as well as helpful links for members to access useful information from a single source.

This includes legislative action that affects our industry, which stresses the importance of advocacy and why industry leaders must maintain an advocacy regimen as part of their regular agendas. IAEE organized important legislative calls to action for members to make sure their voices were heard regarding Congressional decisions that affect them. These efforts will continue as part of our ongoing engagement in legislative initiatives within the Exhibitions Mean Business Campaign, in addition to lending our support to global partners as they continue to advocate for government economic impact funding and stimulation packages.

Despite certain unknowns, it is important that industry leaders start mapping their recovery efforts early on. Once again, collaboration is paramount in this process. Executives must work with key partners to find the most effective path to the road for recovery and apply due diligence in balancing optimism with realism.

Which leads me to the most important lesson of all: communication is key. One of my biggest takeaways from leading through this disruption has been the profound reinforcement of the knowledge that no man is an island. For industry leaders, that “man” encompasses our members, boards and staff. Our stakeholders count on us to keep them informed and act on their behalf. There is no such thing as too much information and guidance in situations like the one we are facing.

I feel confident that our industry will weather this storm, and I know I am well-accompanied in this outlook. Face-to-face interaction is the basis of the majority of business transactions. Trade shows reside within the heart and soul of business, and we will do our part in breathing life back into the economy around the world when circumstances allow. In the meantime, we must do what our industry has always done best and work together to support each other through this difficult learning experience.

David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA
President & CEO
IAEE

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An IAEE member since 1983, former chair of the Advocacy Committee, and IAEE’s first Exhibitions Mean Business Ambassador, Sue uses her love for advocacy as a platform to connect with people.

“There is a passionate group of people in our industry who care about the higher-level issues that impact us on a daily basis,” says Sue. “The industry colleagues, other members of IAEE I’ve met through this process, I’d probably not have met otherwise. They’ve helped me in other aspects of my business. I can call on someone I met because I connected with them in committees. It’s easy to learn and share our ideas because they are passionate about the same things.”

Sue credits IAEE President and CEO David Dubois with influencing her to join the advocacy committee and remembers how she felt during her first Exhibitions Day in Washington, D.C.

“I got channeled into advocacy and I loved it. I care about it. My first Exhibitions Day was eye opening to see how these senators and congresspeople really do want to hear from their constituents. They really listen. If they personally can’t meet with you, then you get their lead staffers.”

Sue is now a three-time Exhibitions Day participant. “The first time I didn’t know what to expect, so I showed up in D.C. and Roger Rickard leads a meeting where you sit at a table with your state. You talk about the issues and then go to appointments. During the first one, I was quiet so I could see the format. We talked about Georgia issues. Then I said, ‘I get this. I’ll take the lead next time. I’m not at a loss for words.’ I really enjoyed it and do believe that it has an impact.”

The frustrating part, says Sue, “is when we can’t move these bills along.” Issues at the forefront of her mind include list poaching, the Visa Waiver Program, and state/local issues such as bathroom bills.

“Advocacy addresses the issues that have a direct impact or effect on either the buyer or seller who attends an event in a city or the professional attendee or exhibitor,” says Sue. “There are issues as a trade show organizer and company owner – it’s in the forefront of my mind to do whatever it takes to be able to bring the best event experience. List poaching is becoming a critical point where these list poachers are out there hitting our exhibitors. We have the official list and they don’t. Our exhibitors come to us when they are scammed, and they are angry.”

Sue feels strongly that members also plug into issues and collaborate with peers at their state and local level. “Issues that impact the success of everyone’s business should be top of mind for our members, for planners, for suppliers. We all need to be critically interested in issues happening in our state capitols.” She recommends that chapters should find out what local or state area hospitality-related groups are already doing for advocacy. Instead of reinventing the wheel, contact them and talk about how to join forces.

“I feel we are making a difference,” says Sue. “I do feel that our voices are being heard and if someone cares about the issues that affect trade shows and events on a global, state and local levels, they should be involved.” And, Sue promises, “They will be rewarded through the people they meet and the impact they make.”

Exhibitions Day 2020 (June 2-3) registration is open!  Start using your voice now!

Sue’s Top Advocacy Tips:

• Join us for Exhibitions Day!
• Chapters should find out what local or state area hospitality-related groups are already doing for advocacy. Instead of reinventing the wheel, contact them and talk about how to join forces.
• Keep the momentum going after Exhibitions Day – get involved and help us advocate for issues that matter to the industry.
• Check out our Exhibitions Mean Business resources online to learn more about the issues.

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For industry executives responsible for formulating their organization’s strategic plans, the anticipation is building as we await the Spring release of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s 2020 CEIR Index Report. This annual breakdown of the U.S. exhibition industry’s performance in comparison to the overall U.S. economy across 14 sectors, and its predictive outlook for the next three years, has become a vital resource for many. Along with the annual CEIR Predict Conference, industry leaders can feel confident that their strategies align with the best forecasting information available to us.

The data leading up to this year’s CEIR Index Report reflects that trade shows remain a highly valued business channel, particularly among heads of marketing. According to CEIR’s Heads of Marketing Insights Series, executives who use trade shows to help meet their marketing and sales objectives noted that face-to-face interaction strengthens their abilities to engage with potential clients in ways that no other marketing medium can touch.

There is something about a potential client’s ability to have that personal interaction with a company representative; to see or use a product; ask their questions; and think through how they would use this product or apply this service to meet their business needs, that makes the trade show such a one-of-a-kind experience.

It is interesting that this perception is even higher among younger heads of marketing – those you might think would be more open to other, more digital and less face-to-face channels for doing business. This might be surprising until you consider the trust factor. You may recall that last year’s Edelman Trust Barometer revealed the general population’s erosion of trust in government entities and mainstream media outlets. This notion of trust has created a push toward seeking out information from organizations and organization leaders.

When you combine this realization with the current learning trends that lean toward a more community-based approach to professional development, and the trade show industry’s evolution toward highly personalized experiences for attendees, then the value of the face-to-face marketplace becomes irreplaceable. This perception is also reflected in CEIR’s Attendee ROI Study, in which respondents ranked business-to-business (B2B) exhibitions as their top source of information.

As I noted last month, we will undoubtedly be integrating more technology into our face-to-face interactions, and that is where the question marks arise. How much and in what ways? This is where progress comes in and things get interesting. However, there is no question about the strength, value and timelessness of the trade show.

Naturally, the economy does play its part in the bigger picture. This is where the CEIR Index Report becomes a crucial part of the strategic planner’s library. The past year has seen some slowing of growth within the industry, mirroring the overall U.S. economy, but the industry is still in growth mode. Although the trade wars of the past year have created some noise within the industry, the overall industry growth has remained fairly steady albeit on a smaller scale. According to the 2019Q3 CEIR Index results released in December, industry growth is poised to pick up the pace in the fourth quarter of 2019 and into the first quarter of this year.

Overall, the outlook is good and our industry continues to thrive. The state of the industry is strong and the best thing that industry leaders can do is continue to build upon the elements that drive its growth. Investing in our workforce, advocating on behalf of our industry to our government leaders and continuing to strengthen industry partnerships from within will keep us moving forward. Stay tuned to CEIR updates at www.ceir.org and other industry-related information at www.iaee.com.

David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA
President & CEO
IAEE

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The Feb. 12 cancellation of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona sent shock waves throughout the world of travel, meetings and exhibitions. MWC may be a quasi-competitor to our annual CES® in Las Vegas, but this Valentine’s Day our hearts were with the MWC show producers – they made the agonizing decision to cancel the show two weeks before it was set to take place.

Exhibitors had already arrived and started building booths. Chinese exhibitors had come to Barcelona early to follow a two-week, self-imposed quarantine. The MWC staff had worked year-round to plan the logistics, conferences and marketing necessary to bring some 110,000 people and thousands of exhibitors to Barcelona. Tens of thousands of people had registered, and millions were collected in registration fees.

Agreements with hotels, busses, decorators, AV providers and marketing had been contracted and spent. Tens of thousands of hours had gone into meetings and planning for the event. Companies exhibiting had created marketing plans and press announcements, set meetings and developed exhibits and product launches. Events and parties were planned and contracted. Flights were purchased. Hotel rooms were committed.

Deciding whether to cancel must have been agonizing. Major exhibitors were canceling every day, spurred by fear for their employees and perhaps eventually swayed by others canceling. If the show had continued, these exhibitors would not get refunds – neither would tens of thousands of the registrants who may have not decided to come. Thus, it might have made more economic sense to continue to hold the show.

Going forward may have not been so bad. The Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show held in the Netherlands from Feb. 11-14 had crowded exhibits, few visible cancellations and attendance only slightly down – with noticeably fewer attendees shaking hands, but many signs encouraging hygienic practices.

So, the MWC show, owned by the GSMA, had a tough decision. Going forward with the show would likely save GSMA millions of dollars. (Cancellation insurance, even if GSMA had it, would not likely cover all or even possibly any of the costs as disease and government action is typically excluded from coverage). Proceeding with the event would help the Barcelona economy and local hotels – and provide money to the booth spokespeople, taxi drivers, exhibit builders, hotel housekeepers, servers, bartenders and others who rely on conventions for income. Many of these people will simply make less or not get paid at all.

Despite all this, GSMA decided to cancel. Yet I believe they made the right decision.

Cancellation was undoubtedly the more expensive option for GSMA. But it was also the right decision. The safety of any show’s attendees and exhibitors must be a priority. Going forward also risked media stories with pictures of empty aisles. And the name MWC must mean something – a quality event, a great experience, new products, learning and relationships.

A trade show such as CES or MWC is not simply a place and a date – it is a promise. It is a commitment that those investing the time and resources to commit to exhibit or attend will receive in return the opportunity to grow, to learn and to do so in a full five-sense experiential and meaningful environment.

It is a commitment to exhibitors that they can efficiently meet customers, potential partners and media (attendees have an average of 33 meetings apiece at CES each year). It is a promise to startups that they can meet investors. And it is the opportunity to see trends, discover new ideas, benefit from serendipity and learn as only a face-to-face live experience allows.

And that trade show environment must be safe. With the fears of coronavirus and exhibitor cancellations growing each day, MWC couldn’t promise either the great experience or the healthy environment, so they swallowed hard, absorbed the huge loss and preserved the quality of their name and health of their attendees and exhibitors. If they had gone forward, the remaining exhibitors and committed attendees faced a potentially disappointing experience and, more significantly, a health risk.

GSMA did the right thing by canceling MWC 2020. As industry commentator Shelly Palmer said on his blog, “Many thanks to John Hoffman and the people of Barcelona for putting public safety first.”

In 2021, MWC will be back in Barcelona, and I believe it will and should be strong, healthy and successful. By putting their exhibitors and attendees first, GMSA strengthened their brand promise and the loyalty of their customers.

Doing the right thing often has risks and a price. Doing the right thing is hard. GSMA showed backbone and ethics by cancelling MWC 2020.

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