By: Jason Smith & Fran Brasseux, HSMAI

The importance of face-to-face interaction…and the value of trade show participation has never been higher. In this age of social media and online marketing, wise businesses are not overlooking the tried-and-true trade show as a way to break through the clutter and have face time with their prospective clients, members, and partners.

And, as the economy starts to rebound, so it seems are meetings and conventions. According to Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) data, the exhibition industry experienced a 4 percent decline in the first quarter of 2010, compared to the first quarter of 2009. Although it's not growth, the decline is "much smaller" than the 11.6 percent decline between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009, CEIR pointed out. Also shrinking, it indicated, is the decline in exhibition attendance.

Coulter associate Kathy Tindell, editor of HSMAI’s Marketing Review magazine recently took a look at the value of exhibiting for HSMAI members, in an article titled “Fueling Sales on the Show Floor.” A few notes from her article:

• Henry H. Harteveldt, travel analyst for Forrester Research, writes that, “We are social beings. There are emotional as well as rational benefits of face-to-face meetings. Nothing replaces two business people building a professional relationship in person.”

• An Oxford Economics USA study sponsored by U.S. Travel Association and Destination & Travel Foundation showed that corporate executives reported that trade shows and conferences offer the second highest ROI for business travel, second only to customer meetings. In the same study executives gave the following reasons for continuing to exhibit and attend shows: industry education, vendor networking, competitor insights, networking with prospects, and, of course, seeing customers. And according to a Simmons Market Research Bureau study, 91 percent of respondents ranked trade show participation as “extremely useful, higher than any other source.”

• A big part of your potential success at shows, and your final ROI, depends on you, not the show itself. Mark Thompson, vice president of marketing for Irving, Texas CVB, talked about preshow and post-show strategy when he exhibited at HSMAI Affordable Meetings®. “Before the show, we pushed messages to planners about our new convention center in development—to those planners who had registered for this show as well as to all of our own planner contacts in the D.C. and Chicago markets, encouraging them to register and attend the show. Post-show, we largely utilized direct sales efforts for targeted follow-up. We did follow-up with some digital outreach, but the key,

And a few “Staggering Stats” from CEIR:

• 77% of qualified attendees at events are potential new customers for exhibiting companies.
• 82% of visitors to trade shows have buying authority.
• 54% of visitors travel more than 400 miles to attend an exhibition.

But the days of the traditional trade show may be numbered. Today, the trend is toward shows that give attendees and exhibitors the opportunity to pre-schedule appointments, rather than just rely on casual meetings on the show floor. Based on the results of surveys HSMAI conducted of meeting planners who attend HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings shows, and feedback from the show’s advisory boards, HSMAI has introduced a new “Affordable Meetings® One-to-One Meeting Concierge” service to arrange pre-scheduled face-to-face meetings with exhibitors. HSMAI’s One-to-One Meeting Concierge will work individually with planners to schedule appointments with exhibitors they are most interested in meeting with during the show. This personal approach will help to maximize the time and return for both planners and exhibitors.

So, as organizations evaluate whether to continue producing a trade show, the answer seems to be yes, and no… The value of face-to-face as never been greater, but the trade show needs to change with the times to meet the needs of exhibitors and attendees.

Scenes from HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings Mid-America 2010, Chicago’s Navy Pier