The trade show has changed dramatically over the past few years but sadly our exhibitors and even some organizers have not realized it yet. Attendees don’t see a show as a giant shopping mall anymore. They have done most their shopping prior to arrival and are heading to the show floor and into the booths to get answers to their questions that have come up as a result of that research. They have their “A” list of must see exhibitors. They have been to their websites seen what they have to offer and asked around about these companies and are interested enough to pay them a visit. They might also have a “B” list of companies that looked a bit interesting and if they have time they’ll stop by. The rest they leave to chance as they go from booth to booth in-between appointments.
Yes, most exhibitors are still yelling, “stop by my booth and find out what we do” in all their pre-show promotions. I know what you do, I want to know how you’ll do it for me. I don’t want to be qualified in your booth and followed up with later. I want to know what your purchase process is like, what are your billing terms, how easy are you to work with and can you accommodate my group. I don’t want to be rushed out of your booth so you can qualify the next guy, I want the answers to these questions now or you’re off my list.
Recently I decided I needed to adapt a more positive attitude…my posts are way to bitchy. But its really hard sometimes. Last week in particular.
Last week as I was getting ready to go to Expo! Expo! in Las Vegas (which I am very excited about and feeling very positive!) I started looking through the exhibitor list to create my “A” and “B” lists. Expo! Expo! provided a tool called the Deal Center (which I think is a great tool for exhibitors and attendees alike) where I could search by product category and then see a description of each exhibitor. Sadly this did not help very much. First, many of the categories were combined with products or services that were not relevant (websites,etc…look up). It became too difficult to find what I was looking for in this catchall category. It was made even more difficult by the terrible information that the exhibitors submitted. It looked like marketing threw up in the Deal Center. One company had a one paragraph description proclaiming themselves as “Best of breed solution…leading provider of enterprise solutions” It did not however tell me what they actually did.
This was just hopeless and was taking up too much of my time. A colleague told me the emails she was getting were much more descriptive and told more about what they did. I think I may not have expressed myself clearly because the e-mails were far worse. About the only thing they were telling me was what they would be doing in their booth during the show or more accurately what they would be giving away in their booth. It’s as if the only thing of value in this word is an iPad (I love my iPad!). It’s the only thing I saw most people promoting. Just to make sure I understand correctly…your product is “best of breed, etc. etc. etc…but in your pre-show promotion the only thing you highlight is a free iPad? When a company thinks an iPad is better and more interesting than their own product I begin to worry.
On the other hand, maybe I should be happy so many people are giving away really cool shit. Because it was so difficult to figure out what exhibitors actually do (aside from the venues and CVBs) my new plan is to wander up and down the aisles hoping I find what I’m looking for. Although, I don’t have very high hopes…I imagine the same person who writes their company description in the deal center is doing their booth graphics.
But to end on a positive note, I’m really excited about all the appointments I have with the folks I’ve met and gotten to know through Twitter. Also, I’m sure I’ll find what I’m looking for on the show floor…it’s just going to take some digging.
