Digital Thoughts: The Evolution of an Expo
It’s not always intentional, but it seems that whenever I go to a tradeshow, despite my best efforts, I end up writing an article about it. That happened last month after a visit to
New York City for Advertising Week. The shows themselves were rather typical, if not lower key than some might have expected. So, instead of a write up on the details or the show, what immerged was a conceptual piece on four potential factors for determining a tradeshow’s value. (See Trade Show Valuation Parts 1 and Part 2) This week’s Digital Thoughts, too, is the result traveling to a show, two in fact. Only a handful from our industry attended them, but after reading I have a feeling more will to.
Unlike last month’s, Advertising Week, that these two tradeshows took place back to back and in the same state was purely coincidental. And, in a lot of ways, the timing is about the only thing they shared. The first show, for example, had fewer than 300 attendees, while the second had more than 6,000 confirmed. (I say confirmed because Hurricane Wilma led to a reduction in the number that actually went to the second.) Both shows had conference sessions and expo halls, but the first, covering the direct navigation industry, had fewer than fifteen booths and one session track, all of which fit in one smaller hall and one medium hall. The second show took up the amount of space expected of the popular video game conference, E3, not a bunch of mortgage bankers.
These two shows should be different. The direct navigation conference, which covers a particular aspect of search marketing, just celebrated its second year in existence. The mortgage banking show, on the other hand, also celebrated a second anniversary, its ninety-second. The direct navigation show looked more like a gathering of goodfellas than businessmen. But, that was part of the fun. The show’s dress matched its Southern Florida location, and it had an atmosphere alive with unmatched entrepreneurial spirit. The show skewed on the younger side and certainly on the freer side as this group knew how to enjoy not just the nights but early mornings as well. The mortgage banker attendees of the second show were, well, mortgage bankers. The group looked like a GOP convention, and their membership voting mirrored that. After 92 years had only now elected their first female chairwoman, and none of the other officers and board members had any minorities on them.
Looking beyond the demographic makeup, the mortgage banking conference offers a glimpse into how one of our industry conferences might evolve – its polish, scale, and maturity something to which any show should aspire. It was the same polish and scale that makes it an experience worth sharing. Imagine an opening session that had all attendees present and took place in a ballroom that could hold a 747, whose stage had behind it a theater sized movie screen, flanked on both sides by displays twenty feet high. Speakers stood behind a podium in the middle of this stage that featuring multiple teleprompters with overhead lighting capable of illuminating not just speakers but the Rolling Stones were they in town. Chances are our future shows would not bring out an accomplished opera singer to sing the national anthem at eight in the morning and/or display on the screens throughout the morning presentation, a professionally designed symbol of patriotism such as those found during segues on Fox News.
Political innuendos aside, the Mortgage Banking Association knew how to put on an event that people would feel good about paying to attend. While probably normal for this crowd, 8:30am mornings are not mine, but when the speakers include General Colin Powell (Ret.) and former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, getting there on time becomes a lot easier. Walking the floor felt more like taking a stroll through some isles not typical tradeshow aisles. They had several booths that looked more like architectural wonders than the 8×12 modules we normally see. As if having some booths with a second story weren’t enough, many companies topped off the experience by including props and prizes the likes of which we have yet to see. Citibank, for example, had on display a real NASCAR automobile. Not to be outdone, another large bank brought in its 200 mph professional motorcycle. Companies that didn’t sponsor testosterone producing sports stepped it up a notch by offering not the rote iPod but truly envy producing gadgets such as a new Harley and a Segway.
And, as though speeches by some of the most renowned people of our time and an exhibit hall experience seemingly inspired by the conference’s Disney World location weren’t enough, the show also knew what its attendees really wanted – plenty of food and drinks. The conference offered breakfast each morning, a full bar with hors d’oeuvres at 5pm and night time festivities such as a dessert buffet at a dueling piano bar. Even the sessions were appealing. Instead of looking for something else to do, theirs made it hard to choose between different sessions.
Both groups in their own way know how to put on a show, and while it might not seem so at first, their events makes going to ours more exciting. The mortgage bankers have shown what our shows can and will become as we go from being a multi-billion dollar industry to one with multi-trillion dollar implications. The direct navigation conference provides a glimpse back at how it all starts and what matters. In the end, I guess going to a show about internet real estate and one about A-Plus Papers and Jumbo Non-Conforming Loans wasn’t so bad after all. I just wish I hadn’t stayed out until 5am and had won the Callaway R7 driver.
