In November 2011 at IAEE’s Expo!Expo! I ran into Melissa Ooi and Arran Coole from ASP Events (love their websites) on the show floor. I mentioned I was hoping to see something new and exciting in the way of event apps and they asked me if I had been by GenieMobile’s booth yet? No I had not been there…but they told me I just had to go check it out, so off I went.

I loved what GenieMobile was doing. Their app was not just intuitive and easy to use for the attendees but also for the show organizer. I loved it so much that in early April I called them up and asked them if they had plans to hire a US based sales rep? As luck would have it they were and as luck would have it I wanted to be that person. Phone call, phone call, phone call, email, email, email and here we are today…I am now the North American Business Development Manager for GenieMobile and I could not possibly be happier!

So, just in case you are wondering…yes I am keeping my personal twitter account that’s just what it will be. A mix of all my passions whether that be conferences and trade shows, the Phillies or me trying to figure out the difference between a sparrow and a finch on my bird feeder. I will also still be updating this site from time to time with blog posts just the same as always with observations and ways to make events better. There are plans for me to take on the GenieMobile twitter account and I look forward to doing that…but for now I’m going to concentrate on getting up to speed on their technology.

This is me taking the oath of office for my new job...oh wait...no it's not...this is something different.

Last week I attended The Philadelphia CVB and Pennsylvania Convention Center’s Meeting Metropolis event. That event included a trade show of local businesses and venues that cater to meeting planners. As soon as I walked into the trade show I felt that something was different here. In my defense I was hungry and a bit tired so my brain was not firing on all cylinders. At first I just noticed I felt relaxed. It was not that normal…ok, here we go, let’s run the gauntlet feeling I often have. Instead of immediately heading left or right it was as if the trade show floor just absorbed me and I found myself wandering all around. Anxious to see what might be around the next corner. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was beautiful. And not in the way I find every show floor beautiful…this one had asthetic beauty.

Once I got some food into me I started to look at everything a bit closer. That’s when it suddenly struck me…there was no pipe and drape. I could basically stand anywhere on the show floor and see clear across to the other side. There were some blocks to my line of sight but not one right next to another. There were huge open spaces with ecclectic seating that said, “it’s ok, have a seat, do some people watching and figure out where you want to go next…let your mind wander…your feet will follow.”

my apologies for blurry photo

As planners we’ve been taught it’s better to cram 1000 people into a space that comfortably holds 750. It gives the allusion that the place is packed. And as trade show organizers we know that our exhibitors are happiest when the place is packed. It is the illusion that becomes reality. At this show turnout was poor. The place looked empty. Just a hundred or so people were wandering around in a room built to hold 2000 comfortably. They could have put all those vendors in a small space and perhaps the illusion would have been effective. Perhaps 100 people or so is never going to look like more. I’m not sure what the answer is. As an attendee I loved its elegance. The exhibitors loved its elegance too. At least the ones I spoke to did. But they didn’t like it’s emptiness. No one ever does.

What do you think? Should our show floors be beautiful and welcoming to our attendees or is it safer to go with the old standby of pipe and drape and crowd them in?

substitute for pipe and drape was stretched fabric on frames...very clean

How beautiful is this booth? No pipe and drape with edges set through the use of "sculpture"

Last weekend a friend of mine showed me a sponsorship request she received in the mail that day. She knows I sell a lot of sponsorships for my event and she thought I’d get a kick out of this one. What’s sad is that I’ve seen organizations and events publish letters just like this one. Let’s focus on just three things they did wrong and how to fix them.

The Opening – Dear Appreciated Business

Nothing says I couldn’t give a rat’s ass who I get money from like an opening like this one. The recipient knows right off the bat she is one of many receiving your form letter so it is highly unlikely the rest of the letter will contain any type of benefit whatsoever to her business.

What you should do: Take the time to research who the appropriate contact is at each company you are targeting for sponsorship. Start with the marketing department because sponsorship is a marketing activity…it’s not charity. Address the letter directly to them.

click to view full screen

Me me me me me…it’s all about me!

The focus of this letter is how the couple will benefit from the sponsorship. For some reason it appears they believe their nuptials are an event worthy of consideration for no other reason than they could use the cash/products/services.
What’s the demographic your sponsor would be reaching? In this case it is “ranging”, a highly coveted demographic for my friends business (sarcasm). Also I find offense with their wording “in exchange for free publicity.” It is not free. It is a business transaction in which my friend would exchange product for “tasteful advertisement.”
What you should do: Take the time to research your targeted sponsor. Read through their press releases, annual reports if a public company and articles featuring their CEO or Marketing VP to find out what they are selling and whom they are selling it to. Suggest a few ideas as to how their involvement in your event will help them achieve their marketing goals.  Make it about them…not you.

Typos and whiteout went out in the 80s.

How lazy do you have to be to not take the time to backspace over a typo and fix it? I can only assume this person printed out about 100 copies and didn’t want to go through the hassle of fixing the mistake and reprinting. It screams, “attention to detail in not my strength.”
 
 
What you should do: Carefully check, re-check and check again for any misspellings or punctuation and grammar problems. This is not a time to be lazy. Sending a sponsorship request with mistakes like these sets off a red flag. It says 1) you are a very unprofessional organization and can’t be trusted with a sponsor’s investment and 2) will you be so careless with the sponsor’s materials and promotions?

Now it’s your turn

Take a look at your sponsorship letters.  Are they addressed to the individual who is most appropriate? Are they free of any typos? Now take a highlighter and start highlighting everything that is about you, your event and the benefits you will receive. Now, go back and eliminate those and turn them into benefits your sponsor will receive.

I’m hardly a sponsorship expert but I’ve been very successful in selling sponsorships for my events. If you want to be successful I suggest you check out these two websites and buy the corresponding books. They are both within an arms reach when I’m working on event sponsorships.

Gail Bower
Website: http://www.gailbower.com
How to Jump Start Your Sponsorship Strategy in Tough Times

Kim Skildum-Reid
Website: http://www.powersponsorship.com
Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit Third Edition

I was at an event this week and found out first hand the effects of not giving your attendees a good solid start to their day.

This was basically a one day event. The evening before they had a networking reception for the 200 or so attendees. That was very well done and I really enjoyed myself. From there we went to an after party at one of the hotels. Still good conversation but I was out of there by 11pm. After all, the event had an 8am start time the next morning.

First, don’t have 8am start times. 8am start time means I, who was local, had to be up by 6 to get ready and then commute to the event. Even for those who stayed at the hotel the night before…they had to be up by at the latest 7am. There was no breakfast served at the event nor was there any coffee. They did indicate on the schedule that breakfast would not be served and hopefully everyone saw that small print. But no coffee???

I had to make a decision before leaving my house that morning at 7am. I could either eat some breakfast or I could dry my hair. I skipped the breakfast and opted for vanity. Bad idea…really bad idea. At 8am the keynote speaker went right into it. He was great. His topic was excellent and one that everyone in the room could relate to (we were down to about 75 in attendance). He was an engaging speaker. Giving bits of information then asking the audience a question or having us turn to the person sitting next to us. Sadly most the room was staring blankly at him. They had no breakfast (I surveyed the room after the break and most did not eat anything that morning) and they did not have enough coffee.

From there we split into two groups for a breakout session to apply concepts the speaker touched on and some new ones as well. by now we had added quite a few more people as it was about 9am. We worked in small groups for an hour and it was not going well.  I noticed that I and most of my table mates had difficulty putting our ideas into words. We struggled with basic tasks. Finally we had a break and I was dismayed to find they were serving danish and fruit. Still no protein…just sugar. I knew that was the last thing I needed so I head out in search of some protein.

I felt a bit better during the second hour of the workshop but not where I should have been. And I was still tired. Next up was lunch in the expo hall. Different vendors were giving out samples so we could eat and walk. Not ideal and I found myself hunting the floor for some red meat.

Half-way through the first of the afternoon sessions they lost me. It was a dull panel discussion with three monotone speakers talking at the audience but having no discussion. I still felt exhausted and a bit cranky. My body was physically aching a bit. There was one more session then a four hour break until the dinner reception. I went home because I knew there was no way I was going to make it until 7:30.

As conference designers we have to stop setting start times so early in an effort to cram everything into our event. 9am is plenty early. If you are going to start at 8am or earlier (gasp) then you MUST serve a healthy brain friendly breakfast. It must contain protein options and whole grains…not just plates of sugar. If you have an 8am or earlier (gasp) start time and you don’t serve coffee you should be taken out back and shot.

What do you think is unforgivable?

I’ve been hearing so much being said in the events industry about a need for change. I was one of those people and then I discovered something in the past couple of years. The change has already been taking place for a while. It’s mostly events in the events and association industry that they are sadly lacking. Apparently no one told the CMPs and CEMs that they’re stuck in the 80s.

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while and thanks to Allan Branch of LessConf for taking time out of his day to talk to me, it’s finally happening. I stumbled across this conference a couple weeks ago when I saw a tweet fly past with the hashtag #LessConf. It was something about people hugging one another on stage and my curiosity was piqued. What kind of conference has people hugging on stage? Sounded creepy but definitely unusual. I started following along on the hashtag and investigating the conference website. One thing was certain from the activity on the hashtag–their attendees were having a blast.

The conference website boasts having been called “summer camp for startups”, “the best time of my life,” and even “the world’s worst conference”. I also noticed the big button on the home page where a “Register” button normally appears shouted “Sold Out” – something every conference organizer would like to put on their home page!

Allan told me the first LessConf was in 2009, had 80 people attend and took just 7 weeks to plan. In 2010 that number was up to 125. In 2011 they were again growing with 180 attendees.  These guys are growing as I’m hearing my peers worry about huge declines in attendance. Jump ahead to 2012 and they had just under 300 attending and they promised, “this 4^th LessConf will be the best yet, so pack a diaper cause you’ll pee yourself.” They raised $60,000 in sponsorship which is very impressive. Especially since organizing conferences is not their full time gig.

Allan and his partner Steve Bristol are co-founders of Less Everything, Ruby on Rails developers and designers. Allan though is no stranger to events. His father owned car washes and was involved in the International Car Wash Association and their annual trade show and Allan used to tag along to that event. LessConf attendees are people who follow them in the software and web app community. Allan told me they “throw a conference that they would want to go to” and described his team as “curators of interesting things for their industry.” I found it interesting he said throw a conference…sounds more like a reference to a party…something that is, well, FUN!

And fun it certainly is. They refer to their attendees as Super Friends. That post I saw about hugging… DNSimple, a sponsor, was giving away an iPad to whomever could hug the longest. They never imagined it would go on for hours and hours with people coming in to feed the marathon huggers.  Speakers found themselves presenting on a stage with a marathon hug going on right there next to them. And lest you think this is some kumbaya huggie/kissy event, in 2010 they included a great little game that got one of their sponsors really involved. The sponsor was Manpacks, a subscription service that delivers men’s underwear, socks, razors and more every three months. To get a $100 gift certificate all you had to do was present yourself on stage to receive a wedgie.

Allan told me that the point of so many “dumb” games is to make it easier for people to network. I would love to go to a networking party at an event where I could break the ice with a, “so was that you I saw get a wedgie?” I also think all those games may have been a result of their sponsors donating thousands of dollars worth of gifts on top of their monetary sponsorship for LessConf to give away to attendees.

But it’s not all just fun and games. Allan told me, “you come to a conference to meet people and be inspired.” There is a big focus on the social aspect of the conference and that flows through to the educational portion where most the talks are actually workshops.

For LessConf 2012 they didn’t announce the speakers ahead of time. Allan told me, “we want people to trust us to find the interesting stories.” I remarked how impressed I was that their attendees do in fact trust them to deliver. Allan said, “We have their attention but not sure of trust…we build trust with every event.” It must be working because this year they had 60 people attending who were at that very first LessConf back in 2009 when there were just 80 people. They sold 35 tickets for next year’s conference at this years event and the date or location has not even been announced.

Allan told me that early on they focused on bringing in big name speakers like Groupon.  Now they focus on people who can deliver good stories. Many of their speakers have little to gain other than notoriety.  Most these speakers are not individuals who make their living selling products or services to those attending LessConf. They are people sharing their stories of success and struggle with others who are just like them. They don’t get paid to speak although some are compensated for travel.

I also love that LessConf is held in “spaces that provoke creativity.” The venue they used this year did not have in-house catering and each meal was paid for by sponsors.  One such meal of BBQ and Sushi was sponsored by GitHub and Projector. And, since no one told Allan and Steve they had to have the dessert break of standard cakes and pasties delivered, they had an ice cream truck come by the venue during the break and that only cost $2 per person. Take that $16 muffin!

Allan summed it all up so nicely when he said, “all we’re trying to do is facilitate connections.” That’s going up on a sticky note on my computer a reminder of why I’m doing what I’m doing.

I encourage you to check out their YouTube Channel to get a feel for the personality of this conference. Because it definitely has a personality. Something more conferences could use a bit of. I’ve showed you a few of their videos here but it’s worth looking through all of them as many feature their attendees as well.

I also encourage you to spend your conference budget this year on events outside our industry.  See what passionate people who are “just trying to facilitate connections” are doing. I’m going to make sure LessConf 2013 is on my schedule.

Do you have any conferences you could recommend? Something organizers should take a look at for innovative ideas? Please share them in the comments below.

Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of “The Social Trade Show” coming out in May

With EXHIBITOR 2012 just days away I’m been reaching out to many of my industry supplier friends to schedule some time to say hi and catch up.  They tell me that yes they will be there and I say, “if we don’t meet up before, I’ll see you in the exhibit hall…I’ll stop by your booth.” It’s at that point that some of these folks tell me they are going but they are not exhibiting.

WTF?

I am told that their company does not want to spend the money on booth space and shipping and all that goes along with having a booth on the show floor. They are going to just teach a couple classes and attend the sessions and events and connect with people that way.

WTF?

I’m not talking about little mom and pop businesses or solo-preneurs either.  The last couple people I spoke to were with exhibit houses or exhibit suppliers. Others, while not actual exhibit makers, were suppliers who made the majority of their income in the trade show industry through companies who exhibit at trade shows.

So, if you are attending EXHIBITOR 2012 and are an exhibit manager or brand manager looking for new products or services, please take note.  These suppliers who do not think trade shows and face-to-face marketing are worth spending their money on, are happy to make a hefty profit on “dumb saps like you” who think it is a good spend. Not my words…I don’t think you are dumb…but isn’t that really what they are saying by not exhibiting at the industry’s largest event of its kind in the US?

Take note in who IS exhibiting.  These are the suppliers who really believe in exhibit marketing.  These are the people who understand the industry and can best help you.

When you bump into suppliers in the hallways or in sessions ask them for their booth number.  When they don’t have one ask them why? Ask them why they think you should spend your company’s money with a vendor who doesn’t even believe in trade shows or expo halls?

What do you think? Especially at this particular show–do you think it’s okay not to exhibit if you are a supplier? I’m I just ranting again?

“The Social Trade Show: Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Events to Connect With Your Customers” is now available for pre-order.

When it comes to mobile I am anything but an early adopter. I actively resist the invasion of technology into what I consider my personal space. I had a mobile phone that did nothing more than make phone calls until 2010 and now I’m in love with Siri. I swore I’d never give up my paper books but now I never go anywhere without my iPad and Kindle app. Texting just annoyed the hell out of me. For the love of god just pick up the phone.

I now have an unlimited texting plan and here is the short version of how it happened…

"I felt like I had a personal assistant!"

I was lucky enough to participate in an MTO Signature Tour of the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2011 last October thanks to a tip off by Michelle Bruno (@MichelleBruno) and Stephanie Selesnick (@StephSelesnick) on #expochat.  I got to spend two days with several other expo producers taking a behind the scenes tour of a very well-run event produced by Gartner.  From the moment I landed in Orlando until my plane took off to return home I never once had to check a schedule or wonder where I needed to be or what time I needed to be there thanks to Adam Schaffer.

I got off the plane when I landed in Orlando and was heading down to baggage claim wishing I would have printed out the email that Adam sent to find where I was meeting for transportation to the hotel. My phone finished powering on and started buzzing. I apparently had received a text message (a function of the phone I almost never used.)  There was a text message from Adam telling me to head to baggage claim where he would be standing holding an MTO Summit sign and would sort out my ride. NICE! Didn’t even need the e-mail.

I joined a few other fellow Summit attendees and Adam got us in a van and sent us on our way to the hotel to check in.  That’s when I received the next text message.  It told me exactly where in the hotel I was to go for express check-in for our group.  An hour or so later and was digging through my emails to find our agenda because I could not remember what time the cocktail party started and where it was to be held.  Bzzzzzzzzzzzz…another text message.  It told me the cocktail party was starting in an hour and gave me directions on exactly where it was in the hotel from my elevator. I quickly realized, when the next morning I had another text reminding me when breakfast was and how exactly to get there, I would not need any agenda.  My every need would be anticipated. I felt like I had a personal assistant.

By the end of that two day event I was not just a convert but a zealot when it came to text messaging and conferences.  I had a small conference coming up in November, Event Camp East Coast, and could not wait to see if other event professionals were as excited about it as I was.

I reached out to Heidi Thorne who had told me months earlier about a text messaging service she was reselling – PWPMobile.com.  I was not ready to listen then but now I certainly was.  Heidi provided me with instructions to send to our attendees to opt-in to receive the text messages.  She included the standard “text xxx to ####” to register but also included a QR code which would automatically register the attendees phone in the system without them needing to text.  This is important because texting newbies have no idea what “text xxx to ####” means.

The promotion of the texting included exactly how many texts the attendees could expect to receive.  This way they did not worry about being inundated with way to many messages.  We clearly defined a start time and a date they would be automatically unsubscribed from the system.  This eased their minds that we would not be bugging them with texts for life.  You can see one of our promotions on the event website here.

Set-up was very simple. In this case Heidi did all the work of inputting the text messages, so very simple for me. She also helped brainstorm on ideas for texts.  Heidi is the one who figured out the clocks were going back on the second night of the event so we created a reminder about that. She had other great ideas like checking the weather a couple days before the event and texting packing suggestions for those flying in from around the country.  I simply put the texts into a spreadsheet and sent them off to Heidi to enter.

Note: I loved that every text contained opt out instructions. I’d much rather make it simple for attendees to opt out of something that is annoying them than making them put up with it all the way through the conference.  “Text STOP to unsubscribe” was added to the end of each of these messages. Sure they received the instructions when they signed up, but who’s going to remember? We didn’t get any complaints from those who opted in to participate and most the attendees absolutely loved it.

Tweets for Event Camp East Coast

We could have used the texting service to notify attendees of any changes to the schedule or additional activities but we didn’t have any.  Actually we did have one change but everyone was in the room when we made the decision so there was no need to text.

I can also see this as a very important piece of your risk plan. You could require everyone provide their mobile phone number as part of the registration process in case you needed to notify them in case of emergency. I could also see an advantage to offering different opt-in options.

I want to receive only emergency notifications – text xxx to ####

I want to receive only emergency notifications and changest o my schedule – text xxx to ####

I want to receive emergency notifications, schedule changes and event news (not to exceed five text per day – text XXX to ####

What do you think about including text messaging to your conference/expo communications?  Do you like the idea or hate it?  Do you have other ideas for how to use it?  Please include in the comments below.

Do you want more information on the text messaging service? Contact Heidi Thorne at 1-630-448-2PWP (2797).

The weekly chat on twitter that is all about trade shows, #ExpoChat, is just seven months old, yet I don’t know how I managed to live without it all the time before it started.

I have had the privilege of meeting weekly with some of the brightest, most innovative and passionate trade show producers, exhibitors, partners and thought leaders.  We do not always agree on how things should be done but it is always with respect and admiration of one another.  But there is one overwhelming common denominator that everyone on the chat shares.  A passion for creating something special that benefits exhibitors and sponsors and delivers true value to our attendees.  Especially the attendees.

I am overwhelmed by the extent of this passion.  These are not people who are “just doing their jobs”.  These are people who constantly go above and beyond to give attendees what they crave.  These are people who are constantly seeking out ways to improve.

To all of you I say thank you!  Thank you for teaching me.  Thank you for challenging me.  Thank you for making me laugh.  Thank you for getting me all fired up.  Thank you for reminding me what really matters.   Thank you for being #expochat-ers.

If you would like to be a part of this amazing group it’s very simple.  Just join us on Wednesdays at 3PM ET.  For more information check out the ExpoChat website where you can find all of our previous chat topics and archives of each chat.

I’m afraid I’m becoming a conference curmudgeon.  I often return home from event industry conferences disappointed.  I love seeing everyone face-to-face, but am disappointed in the education and the trade show content.

Expo! Expo! was no different for me.  I do not however regret going.  The reason being I got to meet so many “friends” I’ve made online over the past couple of years.  Social media has birthed several great friendships and professional relationships for me but it’s the face-to-face meeting that solidifies everything.  It’s actually quite odd when you meet people in real life that you’ve been conversing with for so long on social media and via email and phone.  You forget for a moment you are actually meeting them for the first time.  I have to say, the people I met last week in real life are even better in person than they are virtually.

But here is where I’m left lacking.  The show floor was eh.  There was nothing bad about it, but there was nothing great.  It was a bunch of rows of a bunch of booths.  Other than that, not much was going on.  Kudos to Expo! Expo! for providing several spots for attendees to sit and chill out and recharge their electronic devices.  It made meeting up with friends and colleagues very simple.  But quite frankly I expect this and think they should do more.

For example, I love The Expo Group’s concept of Continuing the Conversation on the show floor.  I encourage you to check this out.  Emilie Barta does an awesome job as host/virtual emcee for this event within an event.  It provides the audience that could not attend the show access to the exhibitors and speakers.  We need to be doing more things like this on our show floors.

The one session I really enjoyed with the joint IAEE/SISO session on Tuesday morning.  They had a panel of legal experts addressing several different topics important to the conference owners.  I’ll take two or three hours of free legal advice any time I can get it.  In this situation the panel worked for me because it was specific expertise being presented.  They did an excellent job and did take questions and comments from the audience.  Although I will say they did scare the bejesus out of me a bit.

But the rest of it just didn’t excite me.  I did not see any topics that were groundbreaking or that I could not learn more by reading some articles and books on the subject at my leisure.  Sessions covered topics such as social media, project management, exclusive contracts, goal setting, marketing strategies, mobile apps, etc.  The same stuff they talk about at every industry conference over and over again.  Sure social media is new to some folks but it’s just a communication tool, it’s not earth shattering.  In my car ride home from the airport I was listening to a BBC broadcast about the 2011 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting.  There they were talking about measuring the deepest part of the ocean and discovering a planet orbiting another sun that is much like Earth and could contain life.  This was pretty groundbreaking stuff.  I checked their schedule and they also had some social media workshops but that was just a blip amongst the vast amounts of new discoveries.  They also had a great mix of presentations that addressed different learning styles.

I will say that IAEE brought in an interesting keynote speaker, Dr. Michio Kaku who presented “A Lunar Expo – Fact or Fiction?” Sadly I missed it because it was not included on the mobile app.  It was also way too early at 9:15 am when the opening night party was the night before and everyone was hosting after parties.  Not the greatest of scheduling.

I’m not saying the education at Expo! Expo! was bad.  Clearly a lot of people got a lot out of it.  It just wasn’t my style.  When I’m at a conference with a couple thousand of my peers I want to talk to them and discuss topics and come up with creative solutions with them.  I don’t see a lot of value in sitting in a room with 20 or 100 of my peers and only hearing from one person at the front of the room or even a panel of people for 75 minutes.  But perhaps I’m in the minority or just one of the few who are committed to this style of learning and idea exchange.

Expo! Expo! did have a roundtable discussion session but it was competing with eight other more traditional sessions and some of those sessions had the same topic of the discussion groups.  We had just as many attendees as we had discussion leaders.  This was very disappointing to me because there were some great discussion topics and some great discussion leaders.  However, no skin off my nose because I had some great one-on-one time with Rick Calvert of BlogWorld where we talked about how to increase attendance at our events and event blogging and content.  Personally I was dumbfounded that his table was not packed with people.  Are we so ensconced in our industry tradition that conference organizers who’ve not come out of our industry don’t get any attention.  I love people like Rick.  They have an interest, they want to get together with like-minded people but their is no conference that exists, so they make one up. Apparently no one told Rick you have to be a CEM and/or a member of SISO, IAEE, PCMA, ASAE or NACS before you can think about doing something like that.  WAKE UP!  People who have never heard of these organizations are putting on very successful and interesting conferences.  They are doing new things and they are selling out of registrations.  And they are not CEMs.

I recently read a blog post by Phil at Think Brownstone and I think he’s on to something.  Maybe from now on I’ll go to a few of our industry events for the networking portion and stay away from the education sessions that don’t engage. For my education I’ll attend conferences outside our industry to get my creative juices flowing.  See what’s new and exciting that attendees are really loving.

What about you, do you find our industry events innovative?  Is it just me?

After reading John’s comment below I just could not help but adding this video on what happens when a woman has an opinion of her own.  Clearly it shows how she becomes unattractive or “unbecoming”

Credit: Nationaal Archief / Spaarnestad Photo, SFA001012566

There was a lot of tech on the show floor at Expo! Expo! yet not a lot that stood out to me as being new or innovative. I’m not saying the tech was not good or useful, just that I’ve seen it all before. But the following are a few exhibitors who really stood out for me.

GenieMobile

The Expo! Expo! show floor had several different app providers. Unfortunately for me, many excellent apps are out of my small conference budget. When I bemoaned this fact, the good folks at ASP suggested I check out GenieMobile. They knocked my socks off! While they do provide full service for their clients they also have the option for the conference organizer to build their own app. And boy is it simple to do. You simply drag and drop the modules you need, upload your content and submit to all the appropriate platforms through a simple click.

What really impressed me was, nothing was lacking in functionality (see what it can do) due to this simple usability. The conference organizer is able to fully brand their app so your conference app looks very different from someone else’s.  GenieMobile also makes it very easy to incorporate branding opportunities for sponsors which helps offset the cost.

Two highlights for me were the social media integration into the app and their show floor mapping feature. My exhibit space is easy to navigate but if your show is big, your attendees will love this map. You can tag favorite exhibitors which show up on the map highlighted. This makes it very easy to see where you need to go once you are on the show floor. But that’s not it! Let’s say your attendee is in the XYZ Co. booth and wants to go to the ABC Inc. booth. They click the navigation button and it maps their route…and highlights all their other “favorited” exhibitors on the way so they don’t miss anything and optimizes their time.

I honestly cannot say enough great things about these guys. Their app is fantastic and the reps I met at the show, Michael Douglas and Matt Glavin, were wonderful fun people. There’s a lot to be said about working with people you like.

ASP

Best event websites ever!  These guys make websites we all wish we had…so now you can and we have no more excuses!  (I wish that IAEE would have contracted with ASP for their event website. While there was a lot of information on the show website it was not easy to navigate. Nothing was very intuitive and features like the Deal Center were not even accessible via the website menu.)

I’ve been very impressed with ASPs websites since being introduced to them this year. It is clear from the start that ASP understands the event business. Their event sites are easy to navigate and they are very intuitive. They are made with the attendees’ needs at the forefront. This means the conference organizer’s needs are naturally satisfied. An easy to navigate site means less phone calls from frustrated attendees who are not able to find the information they need. Or worse, potential attendees who just give up in frustration.

Their sites also include beautifully designed ways to highlight exhibitors and sponsors. This is a huge benefit to the conference organizer because it provides valuable exhibitor and sponsorship benefits that we can monetize or pass along as part of our standard offerings. These are not just banner ads but a placeholder for quality content that our attendees will actually look at and find informative.

They also make it very easy for the conference organizers to accumulate and curate content which is crucial to us these days. These are websites that are not just made for a moment in time but something our attendees can go back to all throughout the year.  I really encourage you to check them out and see a demo.  You’ll be blown away by how beautifully designed an event site can be (and should be), how easy they are to update and of course fully optimized as well.

Again, these are great people who would be a joy to work with.

a2z Inc.

A theme emerges…more great people and I’ve actually worked with a2z on one of my conferences.  a2z announced several new features at the expo this year. One that I absolutely loved was their attendee acquisition widget. Studies have shown time and time again that we get our best attendee referrals from our exhibitors. a2z makes it simple for exhibitors to do that with their attendee acquisition widget. The widget is easy for the exhibiting company to incorporate into their website and allows the potential attendee to register for the conference directly through the widget. The widget also gives the organizer the ability to track exactly which attendee is coming through each exhibitor. We can then create rewards for exhibitors who bring these valuable attendees to our show like priority points.

You spend a lot of time working with your app provider and I can tell you, yes talent is very important but so are personalities.  These guys were a joy to work with.  There is a lot of information you need to provide to them with deadlines attached in order to get the app loaded on the platforms you need. With all the other deadlines you have to juggle, things could easily fall through the cracks. a2z makes sure that doesn’t happen. They gently nudge you along when you are coming close to missing your deadlines and go out of their way to make things easy for you.  They certainly did for me!

Long Beach Area Convention and Visitor Bureau

In the great people department, I’d also like to give a shoutout to the kind folks at Long Beach, CA. I bumped into one of their booth staff outside of the exhibit hall where we chatted a bit. Just small talk really and during that chat I mentioned I had to go find a place to get a charge on my phone. IAEE did provide several charging stations but I did not feel comfortable leaving my phone by itself while it charged. Long Beach offered an extra outlet to charge my phone while I wandered about. It also gave me an excellent excuse to hang out in their booth and hear all about Long Beach (very smart exhibitor).

Turns out they are an excellent location for the types of smaller conferences that I produce.

Those are just a few exhibitors I thought really stood out and had something that got me excited.  I’d be interested in hearing what others at the show thought stood out on the show floor.  Please add in the comments below.  But please, no product pitches here…just comments on what stood out…unless you are one of the above mentioned exhibitors…then I gladly welcome you to add a few nuggets!