Several weeks ago, we started a discussion on this blog about the proposed labor changes at Chicago’s McCormick Place  (see Change is Coming… Is It Time to Worry or  Celebrate?).   That post touched off a lively discussion of both positive and negative reactions to the proposal.    However, one thing seemed clear from both sides of that issue – that some kind of change is necessary in our industry to improve the exhibitor’s value proposition.

A Flurry of Discussions

While climate change discussions dominated the mainstream media as the snow piled higher on the eastern seaboard, the Chicago McPier proposal has dominated the discussions on the trade show blogosphere – here and elsewhere.     And yet the McPier proposal is only one of several active discussions on the trade show blogs.   There are at least a dozen discussions going on in LinkedIn in various trade show affinity groups – each exploring their own particular perspective on the issues that trouble our industry.

A rundown of some of the discussion topics, the groups generating them and the number of comments generated are:

Group            Discussion                                                                           Comments

IAEE •  Do you think the current trade show model is sustainable?            52

IAEE            •  Transparency in our industry – does it really exist?                         3

TSEA            •  Transparency in our industry – does it really exist?                         4

TSEA            •  What statements would you make to improve the industry?        13

EDPA            •  Why are exhibitors paying overtime and double time?                 34

EDPA            •  Why is the work of  the EIC so important?                                      33

What Kinds of Changes?

It is quite evident that many professionals in our industry don’t see the current “way of doing business” as sustainable for the long term.     And, while there are no simple answers to our complex issues, some of the more telling comments are:

Any business that has, essentially, been doing the same thing in the same way for the past 20 years needs revitalization.

Brian Slawin, President, Panameida Group & Busy Event

Show cost pricing is out of control and exhibitors struggle to get the ROI needed to continue to participate in shows.

Candy Adams, Trade Show Exhibit Guru a/k/a The Booth Mom

Because the global economic environment is now more unique than ever, the trade show industry will have to adapt or lose ground to other marketing media. Adapting means re-thinking how to add value and enhance the engagement level of the exhibitors, attendees, speakers, media – all touch points of face-to-face events.

John Mikstay, Manager, Events Audit – BPW Worldwide

What Do You Say?

As stated previously, it is pretty clear that our industry is starting to navigate its way through change. What other suggestions or ideas do you have for change that will improve the exhibitor’s experience at trade shows and events?

If you were King or Queen for a Day of the trade show industry what changes would you suggest?

Two weeks ago, I posted the following discussion topic on LinkedIn in an EDPA discussion group.    To date, we have received more  than a dozen comments on the question and  would invite you to add your thoughts here as well.

As you may have heard by now, the EDPA has joined 4 other associations  (CEMA, HCEA, TSEA and EACA) to form the Exhibit Industry Council (EIC), a new trade show advocacy group that’s “putting the exhibitor first.”

Our primary task is to draft and release a set of industry best practices that we will then help to promote.
The goal is to have the initial best practices released at a special press conference held at Exhibitor10 in March.

If you attended ACCESS 09 in Palm Springs last year, you might have heard EACA keynoter Jim Wurm speak about this during the Friday morning session. It was one of of most popular sessions during the 3-day conference.

What are your general feelings about this project?

If you’re a supporter, why is the EIC best practices project important to you?

This past Sunday provided a city with hope for the future, a chance for every resident to celebrate and beam with civic pride with the Saints victory.  The boost to New Orleans will be impossible to measure for years to come.  Another city also had a reason to celebrate: Miami.  Depending on which statistic you look at it, the game brought a boost of anywhere from $94 million to $400 million to the south Florida economy.  It was happy day in both cites.  That may sound like a huge windfall for the lucky city that gets picked to host the game each year but consider what one trade show can bring to a local economy.

The International Home + Housewares Show is estimated to bring a $75 million boost to Chicago each year.  According the Oxford Economics Study, sponsored in part by the Destination & Travel Foundation, among the preliminary findings of the study is that for each dollar invested in conventions and tradeshows it yields a return to $4 to $5.   Add the increase to the local community and the impact on each exhibiting company and that is why a healthy exhibition industry is a key to rebuilding the overall economy locally and globally.  A successful exhibit at a tradeshow can turn a small struggling company into a healthy one that can provide a boost to its local economy by providing jobs to residents and tax revenues to the city.

For the moment, let’s remove the exhibitor from the equation.  Every time a show organizer sends out a request for a proposal to a city, they know all these numbers and why they must do everything in their power to bring it to town or keep it from leaving.  Organizers know this and ask for as much as they can in return, such as free space at the convention center or discounted rates at local hotels.  If Chicago loses a show such as the International Home + Housewares Show, it becomes a huge blow to the local economy.  If the show decides another city should host the event, the locals should celebrate just as if they won the opportunity to host the Super Bowl.  Every town with a convention center knows that convention travel is an important economic driving force.

Now let’s bring the exhibitor back into the discussion.

At the end of the day the organizers needs to consider something else besides the proposal from the city.  How will the city impact the attendance and the exhibitors’ cost to exhibit?  Which city will bring attendees that the exhibitors want to see because, at the end of the day, exhibitors should determine where a show locates?  What city will allow exhibitors to maximize their budgets through budget friendly hotels and reasonable labor rates?  Exhibitors bring the biggest economic boost to the organizer.  I have seen many articles talking about how Chicago labor rates are driving shows away but exhibitors have complained about rates and policies for years.  Why the change?  Are organizers finally listening to their exhibitors?  I cannot answer that because I am not sitting in on those planning meetings.  But what I can say is that the exhibitor should celebrate every time an organizer does anything that helps the exhibitor.  If the cost to exhibit is less in one city than another, any new business generated provides a higher rate of return if the attendance is equal and they are going to keep that company as a customer.

One general contractor said to me recently that he loves exhibitors.  They provided him with the opportunity to buy a nice home, go on vacations, put his kids through college and pay for his daughter’s wedding.  With shrinking budgets, every stakeholder in the exhibition industry needs to help exhibitors by providing ways for these customers to accomplish their goals or they will not have the opportunity to do all those things in the future.