Exhibitor opinion was split yesterday on the success of Reed Exhibition Companies’ decision to spin off IT and telecommerce shows from the International Direct Marketing Fair (IDMF).
Marketing IT and Telecommercexpo run concurrently with IDMF and New Media Marketing at London’s new ExCel exhibition center; admission is free and visitors can walk between the four events. By mid-day Wednesday, the second day of the conference, attendance for the shows combined was nearly 5,800. Sue Baker, a spokesperson for Reed, said the final tally for the three days would probably hit 12,000, short of last year’s record-breaking 13,262.
The drop in attendance, can partially be attributed to move to ExCel from Wembley, where the show was held for over a decade. The new site, which opened in November, is technically a better exhibition space, but more remote from central London. Indeed, several exhibitors interviewed noted attendance in the hall was down Wednesday morning, most likely because of engineering problems on the Jubilee Underground line, which attendees traveling by public transit had to use to connect to the Docklands Light Rail stop at ExCel.
Baker also noted that New Media Marketing was launched last year, during the dot-com boom time. This year’s new media climate in the U.K., as in the U.S., is decidely different.
As for the shows new for 2001, for U.K.-based database technology firm Alterian, Marketing IT is a success. Kirk Fallbacher, vice president, sales and marketing in Alterian’s Chicago office, said that while foot traffic in the IT side of the hall was light, the leads have been qualified.
“The people that are coming over here know why they’re coming here,” he said of the IT show.
Barbara Caisley of Cambridgeshire-based data solutions firm Raymead Ltd. wasn’t so pleased with the event.
“I don’t like it,” she said, noting that next year her company will move its booth back into the IDMF space, where traffic was heavier. She felt many attendees didn’t realize how far back the exhibits went and if they did make their way down to the IT event at the end of the hall, they were likely annoyed at having to have their badge scanned again and again as they passed between the concurrent shows.
Customer contact center BeCogent exhibited in Marketing IT as opposed to the Telecommercexpo to differentiate itself from other call center firms, said Greig Young, director of corporate sales. For his company, which was there to get its name out rather than generate leads, the event worked.
But Ascot Systems Ltd. of West Sussex won’t likely be back for 2002. Paul Smith, sales and marketing assistant with the call center system firm, said the lack of traffic in the Telecommercexpo meant he’d be lucky if he came away with one good lead.
“We didn’t come here to take home a lot of watered down leads,” countered Philip Kitchen, sales and marketing director for Ant Marketing, a 600-seat Sheffield call center. “We’ve grown a lot and we wanted to fly the flag,” he added, noting the show provided a chance to touch base with clients.
Bill Dawson, head of corporate accounts with Opal Telecom, said the show was quieter than expected. But he was reserving judgment until he returned home and followed up on leads from the event.
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