Convention & Exhibition Attendance Marketing Best ... · Convention & Exhibition Attendance Marketing Best Practices Study 3 Attracting high quality attendance and improving the attendee

Special Report by

2014

Convention & Exhibition Attendance Marketing Best Practices Study

2Convention & Exhibition Attendance Marketing Best Practices Study

Introduction ................................................................................... 3

Executive Summary ....................................................................... 4

I.) Attendance Marketing Approaches, Mediums & Media ..... 8

II.) Websites, Social Media & Video ................................... 13

III.) How Attendees are Changing ...................................... 21

IV.) Working with Cities & Biggest Opportunities ................ 22

Methodology & About the Respondents ...................................... 24

About the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau ................... 25

Table of Contents


Attracting high quality attendance and improving the attendee experience is the event management community’s top priority -- and challenge. To study attendance marketing trends for a special report, EXPO magazine along with the Philadelphia Convention & Visi-tors Bureau have developed this exclusive industry study to help convention and exhibition managers analyze and benchmark their attendance marketing programs and initiatives.

The report provides results from a survey of leading convention and exhibition producers. The focus is on the most effective attendance marketing mediums, use of social media, budget size, how event producers work with cities to drive attendance, and other related topics and metrics. A total of 165 event producers and planners responded to the survey.

Areas covered include:

• Key Study Insights and Findings

• Attendance Marketing Approaches, Mediums & Media

• Websites, Social Media & Video

• How Attendees are Changing

• Working with Cities and CVBs

Some of the new research findings are compared to the results from the inaugural 2011 study.

EXPO and the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau thank all of the respondents for their invaluable contributions to this study.

Introduction


Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Some of the key findings and insights from the convention and exhibition producer survey are pro-vided on the next few pages.

Emails and websites with specific attendee-focused information and content are used by nearly every event producer and are the number one and two most common used mediums for attendance mar-keting. The next three most common are Facebook, e-newsletters, and Twitter. A higher percentage of event producers send out direct mail postcards (61%) than a full brochure direct mailer (46%).

Percentage of Event Producers Using Various Mediums & Media

The table below provides the top ten most often used attendance marketing mediums, media and approaches.

96%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Emails

Website with attendee info

Facebook

E-newsletters

Twitter

Print publication, magazine ads

Direct mail: postcards

Partnerships with industry organizations

Exhibitor efforts to promote to clients

Banner ads on other websites

87%

77%

41%

71%

70%

61%

61%

59%

55%

A follow-up question asked: Which of the following attendance marketing mediums and media do you see as the most effective at driving attendance? Email is by far the most effective medium and these messages often link prospects to the show website and registration pages. In a way, all the other many marketing mediums and approaches are secondary or supportive.

Percentage of Pre-Registered that Attend

The industry average for attendees that pre-register that actually attend is now 82%, according to the survey respondents. This is slightly lower than the 84% average found in the previous study a few years ago.


Executive Summary

Online and Social Media Platforms Used for Attendance Marketing and Information

The three most popular social media platforms used to promote attendance are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Only 20% of shows have their own online industry forum and this is a change from the 42% found in the 2011 survey.

83%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

Show App

Blogs

Online industry site maintained by our organization

Google+

Pinterest

Instagram

SMS/Text

Other online social media sites

None of the above

82%

62%

44%

40%

30%

20%

15%

7%

11%

6%

10%

4%

How Show Websites are Being Enhanced & Improved

Improving the design and functionality – and look and feel – of show websites is by far the main focus of show producers. But there are a number of other strategies and enhancements pursued as well as listed in the table below.

40%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Design, Functionality Improvement

Session Planning, On-Site Experience

Social Media, Online Community

Content Enhancement

Mobile Enabled

Continual Change, Updates

Microsites

Video, Photos

Branding, Marketing Focus

11%

11%

9%

8%

6%

6%

6%

4%


Executive Summary

What is Most Successful to Develop Show Community Year-Round

The survey asked: Which of the following have been the most successful at developing a show or industry community following your event(s) and throughout the year? The findings suggest shows first need to send emails to get attendees and others to their sites and community areas.

% Events

Emails 57%

E-Newsletters 39%

Archived event content – information based 38%

Archived event content – photos 32%

Social media feeds and/or links 28%

Archived event content – videos 23%

Product or exhibitor information 21%

Blog 14%

Webinars/Webcasts 10%

Product or exhibitor search tools 8%

User-generated content 8%

Interactive show planners 5%

Research 4%

Chat rooms 2%

Matchmaking software 2%

RSS Feeds 2%

Other 7%

Importance of City Destinations & Hotel Packages to Driving Attendance

The city destination and hotel package are considered very important or important to 69% of event producers in terms of helping to drive attendance.

39%

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Very important

Important

Moderately important

Not very important

Not at all important

30%

15%

10%

6%


Executive Summary

How Event Producers are Changing the Way They Present Value to Attendees

The top five ways event producers are changing the way they present value to attendees are:

• Networking opportunities.

• Enhancing the focus on educational opportunities of events.

• More focus on the business value of attending.

• Promoting new products and/or technologies exhibited at show.

• Career enhancement value.

% Events

Networking opportunities 60%

Enhanced the focus on educational opportunities of events 49%

More focus on the business value of attending 39%

Promoted new products and/or technologies exhibited at show 39%

Career enhancement value 31%

Fun and entertainment value 19%

Support the industry by attending 14%

Lowered cost of attending 11%

Promoted the host city and area amenities more 10%

Other 6%

Not Applicable / We have not changed the way we present the value of our shows 19%

About the Respondents

Sixty-two percent of the event producers are with associations and 20% work for for-profit exhibition or show organizers. The rest are either conference producers, run consumer shows or are corporate meet-ing planners. Fifty-four percent have events with under 100,000 net square feet and 34% have at least one event with between 100,001 to 250,000 net square feet.

Size of Largest Most Important Event

54%

34%

Less than 100,000 net square feet

100,001 to 250,000 net square feet

Over 250,000 net square feet

13%


This is the first of four chapters analyzing the complete survey results of convention and exhibition producers. Many of the data tables have two columns, one with the new survey data compared to the results from the inaugural 2011 study.

A focus of the study has been to quantify the percentage of event producers using various mediums and media to drive attendance. Emails and websites with specific attendee-focused information and content are used by nearly every event producer and are the number one and two most commonly used medi-ums for attendance marketing. The next three most common are Facebook, e-newsletters, and Twitter. A higher percentage of event producers send out direct mail postcards (61%) than a full brochure direct mailer (46%).

Arguably, the most important change in the show management business over the past ten years has been the shift to digital attendee marketing. About ten years ago direct mail brochures were still the main atten-dance marketing tactic. Today, six of the top ten, and five of the top five most used attendance marketing mediums are digital.

What else is interesting is the sheer number of attendance marketing mediums, media and approaches used by show producers (there are 30 listed in the table below) although by far the most effective is email, according to 84% of show producer survey respondents. The second most effective medium is the show website with attendee-focused information, content and registration links, selected by 52 percent of show producers. When considering the most effective attendance marketing approaches, email and websites are the two primary methods and all others are secondary.

While email is the main attendance marketing method, many show producers use a truly diversified ap-proach to get the message out. For example, fifteen marketing methods are used by 40% or more shows and twenty-three are used by more than 30%.

The data table providing the Percentage of Event Producers Using Various Mediums & Media is on the next page.

Attendance Marketing Approaches, Mediums & MediaI.


Percentage of Event Producers Using Various Mediums & Media

The survey asked: Which of the following mediums and media do you use to market to either past attendees or attendee prospects? The table below provides both the 2014 survey results compared to the findings from the inaugural 2011 study.

Medium % Events 2014 % Events 2011

Emails 96% 99%

Website with attendee-focused information and content 87% 97%

Facebook 77% 75%

E-newsletter(s) 74% 81%

Twitter 71% 60%

Print publication and magazine advertising 70% na

Direct mail: postcards 61% 74%

Relationships, partnerships with other industry organizations 61% 62%

Exhibitor efforts to promote to their clients/prospects 59% 69%

Banner ads on other “outside” websites 55% 55%

LinkedIn / B2B social networking, sharing contacts 52% 47%

Direct mail: full brochure 46% 58%

Publication advertising, in internal publications 45% 52%

Direct mail: self mailers, smaller brochures 43% 42%

Video content promoting attendance 41% 39%

Top keynoter speakers 38% 49%

Outside list development and rental/purchase 38% 35%

Search Engine Optimization 38% 31%

Public relations 34% 44%

Online advertising, on “outside” websites 33% na

Publication advertising, in “outside” publications 33% 51%

Online search key words 33% 40%

Telemarketing 31% 23%

iPhone or iPad app 29% 26%

Webinars/webcasts/podcasts 24% 24%

Other app 17% na

Social media ads 17% 19%

TV and radio advertising 13% 15%

Newspaper advertising 12% 15%

Dedicated buyer or retailer support and services related to attendance marketing 9% 14%

Other 5% 10%



Most Effective Attendance Marketing Approaches, Mediums & Media

A follow-up question asked: Which of the following attendance marketing mediums and media do you see as the most effective at driving attendance? Email is by far the most effective medium and these messages often link prospects to the show website and registration pages. In a way, all the other many marketing mediums and approaches are secondary or supportive.

% Events

Emails 84%Primary

Website with attendee-focused information and content 52%

E-newsletter(s) 33%

Secondary

Direct mail: full brochure 32%

Direct mail: postcards 24%

Exhibitor efforts to promote to their clients/prospects 20%

Relationships, partnerships with other industry organizations 19%

Print publication and magazine advertising 18%

Direct mail: self mailers, smaller brochures 18%

Telemarketing 14%

Top keynoter speakers 13%

Facebook 12%

Twitter 10%

Publication advertising, in internal publications 10%

Banner ads on other “outside” websites 9%

Search Engine Optimization 8%

Video content promoting attendance 8%

Publication advertising, in “outside” publications 6%

TV and radio advertising 6%

Online search key words 5%

Newspaper advertising 5%

LinkedIn / B2B social networking, sharing contacts 5%

Outside list development and rental/purchase 5%

iPhone or iPad app 3%

Webinars/webcasts/podcasts 3%

Social media ads 3%

Dedicated buyer or retailer support and services related to attendance marketing 3%

Online advertising, on “outside” websites 3%

Public relations 3%

Other app 1%

Other 10%




Recommendation

It’s important to understand what makes your buyers and attendees tick and where the different segments of your audience are in terms of the economic recovery cycle. Many industries are changing and growing at significantly different speeds. Are the reasons your attendance base participates today the same as two to three years ago? Below are some of the top reasons why attendees typically attend shows:

• Keep up-to-date with changing industry trends.

• See new products, equipment, technology and services.

• See or participate in product demos.

• See products first reviewed online.

• Maintain and build relationships and network.

• See existing suppliers, and compare competing products and company teams.

• Make purchases.

• Access education and training.

They also attend to acquire new ideas, save on other travel by seeing many suppliers in one place, access competitive intelligence, and like exhibitors, maintain a presence and “see and be seen”.

Types of Keynote Speakers

The most commonly used keynote speakers are well-known, industry-specific business or government leaders, according to 61% of the event producer respondents. Experts and authors are also used by 54% of shows. These findings suggest that the focus of keynote presentations is on providing information or in-sight more than inspirational or motivational speeches, although just over one-third of shows book people with inspirational experiences and stories.

% Events

Well known business or government leaders in our industry 61%

Experts or authors 54%

People with inspirational experiences, stories 34%

Celebrities, entertainers 23%

Professional motivational speakers 22%

Well known business or government leaders in other industries 18%

Other 18%



Tag-Lines & Themes

Today, many show tag-lines and themes focus on areas such as learning, sharing, building and growing. Some of the other key themes expressed by verbatim, write-in responses are presented below. Many of these words are used in leading show tag-lines and themes today.

• Accepting Challenges • Answers• Change• Collaboration• Community Connected• Create

• Digital / Technology• Discover• Enable• Enhance• Experience• Future

• Innovation• Purpose• Solutions• Value

Number of Direct Mailers & Email Campaigns

Most shows (54%) mail between two and four spe-cific direct mail campaigns per event cycle. Most shows launch well over 11 specific emails during the marketing cycle. In fact, based on the survey data, 25% launch 11 to 15 emails,17% launch 16 to 20, and 23% send out over 21 specific email campaigns to help drive attendance. These results suggest that show producers are sending out more email today than a few years ago, which is not surprising.

Loyalty & Incentive Programs

Seventeen percent of the respondents say they have an attendance loyalty or frequent attendee/guest incentive program. This is up from 12% found in the previous study.

Percentage of Pre-Registered that Attend

The survey asked: Typically, what percentage of your pre-registration numbers actually attend your largest, most important event?

• Average: 82%

This is slightly lower than the 84% average found in the previous study.

Percentage of Total Expenditures & Marketing Budget Allocated to Attendance Marketing

The survey question was: What percentage of your event’s total marketing budget was allocated to attendance marketing, and how much was spent in total?

• Attendance marketing % of total marketing budget: . 50% average

• Total expenditure figure for attendance marketing: .... $81,016 average

Direct Mailers Emails1 12% 0%

2 22% 2%

3 21% 1%

4 11% 5%

5 5% 7%

6 5% 5%

7 2% 0%

8 3% 6%

9 1% 0%

10 1% 6%

11 to 15 1% 25%

16 to 20 0% 17%

Over 21 1% 23%

None / Not Applicable 15% 4%

% Events 2014 % Events 2011Yes 17% 12%

No 83% 88%


Websites, Social Media & VideoII.After years of focusing on social media, show websites are getting more attention from show producers. As noted previously, email and websites are by far the two key attendance marketing mediums. In addi-tion, over half of show producers are adding and developing more and different types of content – and a significant portion of this content is maintained on websites. The primary website enhancements being made by show producers today focus on overall design and functionality improvement.

How Show Websites are Being Enhanced & Improved

Improving the design and functionality – and look and feel – of show websites is by far the main focus of show producers. But there are a number of other strategies and enhancements pursued as well as listed in the table below.

% EventsDesign, Functionality Improvement 40%

Session Planning, On-Site Experience 11%

Social Media, Online Community 11%

Content Enhancement 9%

Mobile Enabled 8%

Continual Change, Updates 6%

Microsites 6%

Video, Photos 6%

Branding, Marketing Focus 4%

None / Not Applicable 15%


Overall, the key challenge related to show websites today is to provide clear general information while at the same time display the event’s energy/vitality, especially on the home page. The following are quotes from show producers on how they are improving and enhancing their websites:

■ “Added an online event network to build an online community and encourage year-round communications.”

■ “Complete overhaul of the functionality of our website layout, button features and registration navigation.”

■ “Currently developing a new more comprehensive website - attention being given to user experience.”

■ “Enhanced the amount of content to feature the benefits of attendance.”

■ “Have made it easier to navigate with pages targeted to exhibitors.”

■ “More photos, less verbiage.”

■ “Moved to new platform entirely, implementing business community pages on the site to address individual verticals within the market we serve. Simultaneously we are developing an aggregated brand microsite platform that is interactive and tied to the buying/selling season, that is of our design/proprietary.”

■ “Our website is in a state of continual updating. Never-ending process.”

■ “Try to keep it fresh and relevant. Add new technological features for ease of use. Use it to house our electronic files that were once delivered in paper form only.”

■ “We are always testing ways to create a more streamlined user experience and registration pro-cess; ensuring that we have the most effective communications.”

■ “We have made investment in enhancing the social networks at the website.”

■ “We just rebranded and updated our website. We intend to add more video, add interactivity on our website with comment and sharing capability, and focus more on Twitter.”

■ “We’ve implemented more live streaming of content that is readily available on-demand after the event. This content is then used to help promote future conferences.”

Next Wave of Show Website Development

Other key trends related to show websites are to add more social media integration, develop responsive web design to ensure the site fits various types of screens, mobile optimization, and adding more content and video.Longer term, the following trends are expected to become more prominent.

• Websites delivering customized content, creative, offers or messaging for each visitor.

• Big Data integration and analysis with websites and other digital and data touch points.

• Realizing more revenue from the site from these types of sources: sponsorships, advertising, enhanced listings, video, content and information sales.

Websites, Social Media & VideoII.


Recommendations: How to Make Your Home Page More Effective

Separately, a recent review of top show websites reveals interesting insights and best practices. The focus of the review was mainly on home page design and content. The websites were selected to reflect a number of industries, although all of the shows are considered the leaders in their sectors with over 200,000 net square feet and most draw-ing more than 10,000 attendees.

One of the key findings is that most of the sites are relatively similar in terms of the overall format and style. There’s basically a template for leading exhibi-tion home pages.

The main difference among these sites is that sectors such as apparel, sporting goods and certain areas of IT (industries were the ultimate end-user of the prod-ucts displayed are purchased by consumers) often have more photos and visuals on their home pages compared to shows in the industrial, manufacturing or medical sectors for example. Although even these more technical or equipment based events are using more visuals, colors and photos as well.

The primary best practice recommendation is to ensure your home page balances providing clear general information and easy to locate tabs and links with visuals showing the energy and vitality of the event. One of the ways to do this is to use more pho-tos, especially of crowds and engaged participants. Look at your home page equally as a portal for show information but also a key sales and marketing tool, as an interactive billboard.

Below is an overview of what most of the home pages have in common, followed by a list of what only about 40% to 50% have, and interesting ideas used by a smaller number of shows.

As mentioned above, overall, the top shows’ home pages look sharp with good graphics and are easy to read and navigate. Most all of the pages reviewed include the following:

§ Prominently displayed dates and location, in-cluding the convention center or hotel.

§ Clear areas or buttons for Attendees and Ex-hibitors, which then link to the various pages of relevant specific information and forms for each key group.

§ Very clear other tabs or sub-headers such as About the Show, Conference Program, Sched-ule, Registration, Hotel and Travel, News, About the Host City, FAQs, and Contact Us, etc.

§ Many of the sites have rotating visuals similar to image galleries or slideshows. And besides the Attend, Exhibit and other key tabs and links, these rotating visuals form the main content of the home page.

§ Additional content text, photos and links either with general show information, what’s new, show or industry news, keynote descriptions, or other information is frequently located near the bottom of the home page.

About half of the home pages have one or more of these elements or content areas.

§ Embedded video.

§ Social media feeds.

§ Sponsor logos, often at the bottom or on the side of the page.

§ Show app download link and information.

A smaller group of about 20% to 30% of the top shows have one or more of these components on their home pages as well.

§ Event date countdown clocks.

§ Specific tabs and sections for press or interna-tional visitors.

§ An industry or show-specific news feed or head-line ticker/scroll.

§ Attendee or exhibitor testimonials or press men-tions about the show.

§ Prominent “Register (or Book) Now and Save” messages and promotions.

§ Information about the networking components and value.

§ An exhibitor news brief section, or online ads and banners for exhibitors.

§ A show photo feed, including pictures uploaded by attendees and participants.

While social media has captured significant attention over the past few years, arguably your home page is much more important.



Online and Social Media Platforms Used for Attendance Marketing and Information

The three most popular social media platforms used to promote attendance are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Only 20% percent of shows have their own online industry forum and this is a change from the 42% found in the 2011 survey.

% Events 2014 % Events 2011Facebook 83% 87%

Twitter 82% 74%

LinkedIn 62% 60%

YouTube 44% 33%

Show App 40% na

Blogs 30% 28%

Online industry forum or site maintained by our organization or event 20% 42%

Google+ 15% na

Pinterest 11% Na

Instagram 10% Na

SMS/Text 7% 8%

Other online social media site(s) 6% na

None of the above 4% Na

Other 0% 8%



How Does Social Media Help Achieve Attendance Marketing Goals Events are using social media to mainly supplement marketing campaigns and increase brand awareness and increase event attendance, according to the survey respondents. The new findings are compared to the data collected in 2011.

% Events 2014 % Events 2011Supplement our marketing campaign 66% 62%

Increase brand awareness 59% 67%

Increase event attendance 50% 56%

Send out general show updates 44% 55%

Enhance industry/community relations 38% 44%

Create additional media/press coverage 35% 41%

Regularly engage in discussion with individual friends/followers 30% 30%

Send out general industry updates 26% 33%

Offer unique contests/giveaways or show discount specials 26% 19%

Increase the number of event exhibitors 18% 25%

Release specific exhibitor show plans 11% na

No positive impact 8% 3%

Has become the lead channel in our marketing campaign 2% 5%

Other 2% 3%

Not applicable – we don’t use social media as a strategy 11% na



Websites, Social Media & VideoII.What is Most Successful to Develop Show Community Year-Round The survey asked: Which of the following have been the most successful at developing a show or industry community following your event(s) and throughout the year? The findings suggest shows first need to send emails to get attendees and others to their sites and community areas.

% EventsEmails 57%

E-Newsletters 39%

Archived event content – information based 38%

Archived event content – photos 32%

Social media feeds and/or links 28%

Archived event content – videos 23%

Product or exhibitor information 21%

Blog 14%

Webinars/Webcasts 10%

Product or exhibitor search tools 8%

User-generated content 8%

Interactive show planners 5%

Research 4%

Chat rooms 2%

Matchmaking software 2%

RSS Feeds 2%

Other 7%


Video

Seventy percent of show producers currently use video in some capacity.

How Video is Used

Video is mainly used as an attendance marketing medium as well as to capture attendee testimonials. Over half also film “general show activities” for marketing uses. Forty-nine percent use video to market to exhibitors.

% EventsTo market to attendees 76%

For attendee testimonials 63%

Film “general show activities” for marketing uses 54%

To market to exhibitors 49%

For exhibitor testimonials 48%

Film some education sessions 42%

To capture keynotes 41%

To capture special events 39%

To film exhibitors in their booth at the show 25%

Provide fee based downloads of education sessions 14%

Provide free streaming video of education sessions 13%

Film all education sessions 10%

Allow participation from both remote exhibitors and attendees from the web 8%

Cover breaking news on the show floor 6%

Entertainment 6%

Show or organizational staff videos 6%

For show vendors to communicate with exhibitors 5%

To film exhibitors before the show 5%

City areas, hotels and local amenities 5%

Other 5%


Yes

No70%

30%


Show Producers on How Their Attendees are Changing

Depending on the show and industry, the survey captured that many show producers feel their attend-ees are either getting “older” or “younger.” In a way, many shows are actually two shows, or more, when considering their different attendee demographics. Shows may have to tailor their messages and mediums more effectively to different age groups.

Some of the key themes from the survey responses include:

Select Verbatim Responses

§ “Attendees are seeking a greater ROI for attending our events.”

§ “Attendees continue to book their hotel rooms outside our blocks of rooms.”

§ “Attendees have an increased need for education and informal networking.”

§ “Average age of attendees is ever increasing, more self-paying attendees (businesses not pay-ing as much anymore).”

§ “Becoming even more cost conscious, cutting down there total number of days at event, they are also getting younger.”

§ “Becoming more sophisticated regarding measur-ing impact of the event.”

§ “Booking closer to event and staying fewer days.”

§ “Getting younger, actively seeking the lowest pos-sible investment in the show.”

§ “Having to pay their own way instead of receiving institutional funding.”

§ “Higher level (more C-level) and groups.”

§ “Less attending but higher level decision maker.”

§ “More starting to use smart phones and become more computer savvy, next generation is begin-ning to take over and they want things quicker and electronically.”

§ “More value for money and want tangible results.”

§ “Peer to peer networking has grown more impor-tant with less focus on education because of how much free high quality information is now available online through vendors’ content marketing activi-ties; education is still important but peer to peer networking and connecting with exhibitors has grown even more important.”

§ “The average age of our attendees is decreasing, which is requiring us to market our event more than ever. Direct marketing efforts conveying the impor-tance and relevance of our convention is key. We’ve also experienced a sharp increase in the importance of destination appeal. Attendees want education and an experience at an appealing destination.”

§ “They are changing in that they are receiving infor-mation in so many different ways that we have to make sure we’re delivering it properly.”

§ “They are harder to reach, busier and harder to persuade to take time away from the office to at-tend a trade show.”

§ “They are much more aware of ROI. They need to know what they will be able to bring back to the office and utilize immediately.”

§ “Time management. Less time away from their busi-ness is important. Looking for ways to improve on their business by attending the seminars.”

§ “Want a lot of content, want more interaction.”

§ “Younger and more tech-savvy; More cost-con-scious and ROI-focused.”

• Requiring enhanced educational sessions and content.

• Getting older, or younger.

• Not staying at the event as long.

• Cost conscious.

• More technology savvy.

How Attendees are ChangingIII.


How Attendees are ChangingIII.How Event Producers are Changing the Way They Present Value to Attendees

The top five ways event producers are changing the way they present value to attendees are:

n Networking opportunities.

n Enhancing the focus on educational opportunities of events.

n More focus on the business value of attending.

n Promoting new products and/or technologies exhibited at show.

n Career enhancement value.

The table compares the new survey data to the findings from 2011.

% Events 2014 % Events 2011Networking opportunities 60% 65%

Enhanced the focus on educational opportunities of events 49% 67%

More focus on the business value of attending 39% 42%

Promoted new products and/or technologies exhibited at show 39% 49%

Career enhancement value 31% 30%

Fun and entertainment value 19% 31%

Support the industry by attending 14% 22%

Lowered cost of attending 11% 10%

Promoted the host city and area amenities more 10% 25%

Other 6% 7%

Not Applicable / We have not changed the way we present the value of our shows 19% 18%

Recommendation

For your attendance marketing consider stressing how not attending can hurt future company performance. This may include:

§ Not being up-to-date on industry trends can be lethal in a fast moving industry.

§ Not seeing all suppliers and products can cause “buying mistakes”.

§ Missing the ability to compare the staff quality at different suppliers.

§ Missing out on show deals and discounts.

§ Being “out of sight, out of mind” with key industry players.


Working with Cities & Biggest Opportunities IV.

Importance of City Destinations & Hotel Packages to Driving Attendance

The city destination and hotel package are considered very important or important to 69% of event producers in terms of helping to drive attendance.

Working with CVBs & Venues

The survey asked how show producers work with destinations, CVBs and venues related to attendance marketing. Some of the verbatim, write-in responses are presented below.

§ "Access to photography, videos content; list acquisition; micro web site; travel discounts; welcome signage; discount incentives; more."

§ "Connection with local press, colleges,

universities, and schools."

§ "Develop microsites and research additional

local attendance prospects."

§ "Email marketing campaigns, show giveaway items, recommendations for spouse program

§ "Guide books, custom websites."

§ "Mostly related to onsite marquees and

welcome messages."

§ "Partnership relationship essential." § "RFP, site visits, phone calls, emails."

§ "Some help create eMarketing campaigns to help get people to stay there."

§ "They do telemarketing on our behalf."

§ "We are on their web sites. We rely on them to help us secure lodging deals. We approach this

as an economic development project to encourage them to work with us."

§ "We ask CVBs to provide lists of qualified

attendees and exhibitors within 400-mile radius of destination."

§ "We have discrete funds provided by the CVB that are specifically for attendance marketing."

§ "We hire DMC's in most cities, CVB's are es-sential to developing the program. We want to make the experience at the show one that is remembered not just in education but also in entertainment."

§ "We typically visit with the CVB regarding mar-keting. We try to use any materials they have, take advantage of websites they offer, use any incentives they offer etc. We also go to them for video footage for commercials."

§ "We've had microsites created for our event, to promote the destination. CVBs have printed postcards that we distribute to attendees at the previous year's event."

39%

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Very important

Important

Moderately important

Not very important

Not at all important

30%

15%

10%

6%


Biggest Attendee Marketing Opportunities and Initiatives

The survey asked: What is the biggest opportunity for your organization’s attendee marketing efforts and initiatives? Some of the key verbatim, write-in responses are presented below.

• “App development if that brings those non-physi-cal attendees in as leads for our exhibitors.”

• “Attracting new members/attendees.”• “Attracting non-members to the show.”

• “Attracting the younger generation.”

• “Collaborating with other organizations and asso-ciations to provide more value for our attendees.”

• “Content marketing.”

• “Direct and customized marketing efforts to-wards each of our member/attendee job set-tings, conveying the importance and relevance of our convention is key. You can’t just tell them what anymore. You must tell them why they should attend. Why they should spend their time and money attending your event.”

• “Engagement.”

• “Expanding into related markets within the in-dustries we serve.”

• “Find ways to make an industry trade show professional, but also fun and exciting.”

• “Implementation of personalized marketing ver-sus spray and pray approach.” Customize the marketing message to fit the identity and needs of each attendee.”

• “International attendance acquisition.”

• “Move toward a truly content driven marketing strategy; Incorporating newsletters, building a community of attendees to maintain constant communication.”

• “Need to view marketing our event using fresh eyes. Look at is as if we are speaking to first time attendees, even though most are frequent attendees. This is to build the next generation of frequent attendees.”

• “New business segments and the opportunity to meet with key suppliers.”

• “New website that concentrates on letting the community interact with each other in a central destination.”

• “Our biggest opportunity is the ‘under 1 roof’ concept where attendees and exhibitors have equal opportunity to meet and sleep under 1 same roof. The change of venue and destina-tion will hopefully allow us to examine how we stage and promote our meetings and ability to stage a new, larger event drawing on the strengths of our content and support of solid past exhibitors.”

• “Personalized content and more video.”• “Print is back - direct mail and print ads return

the best for us.”

• “Reaching ancillary groups and getting their members to attend.”

• “Reaching new entrants to industry.”

• “Social media and comprehensive website.”

• “Stronger messaging and creating superior at-tendee experience; competition is growing and you have to differentiate your event based on the full experience since product developments are easily adopted by your competition.”

• “To begin building networks before attendees arrive and to keep them engaged after the event has ended.”

• “To create more customized marketing pieces/communications.”

• “To feed the attendee information which helps them stay in business and do it efficiently and effectively.”

Working with Cities & Biggest Opportunities IV.


In December 2013 to February 2014, an online survey was sent to 5,396 convention and exhibition producer executives. A total of 165 responded for a 3.1% response rate.

Methodology & About the Respondents

%

Association with a convention 62%

For-profit tradeshow and exhibition organizer 20%

Conference producer 8%

Consumer show producer 5%

Corporate meeting planner 4%

Special event owner/planner 1%

%

Less than 100,000 net square feet 54%

100,001 to 250,000 net square feet 34%

Over 250,000 net square feet 13%

Organization Type

Size of Largest Most Important Event

SMG, the nation’s leading facilities management firm, is making changes atthe Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Lorenz Hassenstein,General Manager of the PCC, talks about the customer-focused changessince SMG began facility management.

SMG MAKES IT EASY

Q: There has been some major news coming out of the Pennsylvania Convention Center(PCC) on a new agreement with trade unions and expanded exhibitor rights. What can youtell us about these changes?A: In May, the management of the Center and four trade labor unions signed a new Customer Satisfaction Agreement thatmodernizes the Center’s work rules, provides expanded customer rights, and puts the Center in the best position to retain existingcustomers and attract new shows and events. This was a direct response to the feedback we have received from customers anddemonstrates a joint commitment by management and labor to do what is necessary to compete with our peer facilities on anational scale.

Q: What are some of the changes contained in the new Customer Satisfaction Agreement?A: The new contract provides for greatly expanded exhibitor rights. We had been operating under an antiquated set of work rulesthat was put in place 10 years ago and needed to be updated to reflect changes in the industry. So the new work rules addresssome of the top concerns of our customers. For example, exhibitors can now use power tools and ladders when setting up theirexhibit booths and have the ability to perform work in their own booths in size up to 600 square feet. It also contains provisionsthat enable contractors to better manage the work performed in the building and will help to create greater economic stabilityfor customers and contractors. To enhance the customer experience, the new work rules allow the Center to create a “coreworkforce” of trade union members to meet its labor needs. That means the individuals who provide trade labor in the buildingwill have a greater understanding of Center operations and policies, as well as the needs of our customers.

Q: What is SMG’s focus at the Pennsylvania Convention CenterA: SMG’s focus is on providing our customers with the most efficient, hospitable, and cost-effective experience available. We wantto make it easier and more enjoyable to work with the Center. The new work rules and contract with trade labor are part of thateffort. We are also implementing SMG’s best practices in terms of operations management and customer service -- learned fromdecades of facility management -- as part of the day to day operations of the Center. Our goal is simple: to enable our state of-the-art facility to achieve its promise as the premiere convention destination on the East Coast.

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Q: Tell us about the changes SMG is implementing at the PCC.A: We are making it easier to do business at the Center. At the start of the New Year, SMG began directly managing the Center’slabor force and supervising Labor Services. We created a Labor Management group that works closely with customers and laborto ensure event builds are efficient and cost-conscious. We added executives to the Event Production team and created aManager on Duty (MOD) program to improve service levels and responsiveness. We also strengthened the Event ServicesDepartment at the PCC to include four event professionals focused on increased floor presence. These teams work together withcustomers -- from pre-cons to billing reconciliation -- with a focus on detail, transparency and service continuity. In addition, weestablished a working dialogue with Service Contractors/Production Companies to ensure we are being responsive to theirneeds. The end results are a streamlined process and follow through with customers to ensure their visions are met.

Q. What else should customers know?A: Following the approval of the new work rules and expanded customer rights, as well as the changes in operations beingimplemented by SMG, some regional leaders have called it a “New Day” at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. That capturesthe sense of excitement by Philadelphia’s hospitality industry, our management and operations team, and our trade laborpartners. We think we are in a great position moving forward and look forward to communicating more about these major,substantive changes to both past and prospective customers.

SMG: MAKING CHANGESSMG HAS IMPLEMENTED A NUMBER OF POSITIVE CHANGES AND COMPANY BEST PRACTICES TO ENHANCETHE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND MAKE THE CENTER A GREAT PLACE TO DO BUSINESS, INCLUDING:

Stay up-to-date on the latest SMG news at discoverPHL.com/SMG.

Establishing a new Customer Satisfaction Agreement with trade labor unions that enhances exhibitorrights, improves work rules, establishes a core trade union workforce, and places an increasedemphasis on hospitality to deliver a great customer experience;

Creating a Labor Services Team that uses a hands-on labor management approach to interfacewith the trade unions on behalf of customers, address jurisdictional rules, work with customers tokeep costs down by estimating and planning for labor needs well in advance of a show, and assistwith post-show billing and reconciliation;

Hiring of six seasoned executives across various business units to help introduce higher levels ofcustomer service into the Center's culture;

Expanding the Center's Event Services Team with additional floor managers to elevate service levelsand streamline the process;

Establishing a Production Services Department to gather event information at a deeper level in the earlyplanning stages and provide a seamless, cost-effective experience in A/V and high-end production;

Creating a more comprehensive management process working with customers in advance toimplement cost-saving measures, provide for better budgeting and use of resources, and assist withall stages of event planning;

Providing an expanded management presence with a manager on duty for major events to furtherimprove customer service levels and coordinate responses to events in real-time.

Call us at 1-855-MEET-PHL

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EXHIBITING AT THE PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION CENTER has become even easier with new management by SMG — the country’s best and most experienced

meeting facilities managers. Their experience, combined with our spectacular venue (boasting one million feet of saleable space and the largest ballroom on the East Coast), means the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC) is more dynamic and flexible than ever before.

There are plenty of comfortable lounges, sprawling balconies and beautiful terraces with unmatched views of Center City. Attendees can rely on technical support, WiFi connectivity, digital signage and smart rooms inside the PCC to make any event interactive and user-friendly. The lobby is welcoming and bright and houses four large mosaic glass Philadelphia-themed murals by Italian artist Bogdan Grom, uncovered and restored during the PCC’s renovation. The convention center also takes pride in its environmental commitments: earning LEED gold certification in 2011 thanks to initiatives around air quality, waste minimization, energy efficiency and water conservation.

Located in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, the PCC is close to everything attendees need for a comfortable and memorable experience: more than 10,000 hotel rooms are within walking distance, as are hundreds of restaurants, shops and cultural institutions. For great things to do just a short walk away, turn to page 18.

No matter how small or large your next Philadelphia event is, hosting it at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, with its hotel-like amenities, award-winning services and stellar customer service will ensure that it is a complete success.

INSIDE, PLANNERS AND ATTENDEES WILL FIND:• 528,000 square feet of

contiguous space• 79 high-tech meeting rooms• Two ballrooms, including the

55,408 square-foot Terrace Ballroom, the largest on the East Coast

Exhibit Hall Space 679,000 sq. ft.

Number of Halls 7

Main Level 528,000 sq. ft.contiguous

Street Level 149,650 sq. ft.

Ballroom Space 87,408 sq. ft.

Grand Ballroom 32,000 sq. ft.

Terrace Ballroom 55,408 sq. ft.

Grand Hall 34,960 sq. ft.

Broad Street Atrium 23,400 sq. ft.

Meeting Rooms* (Total square footage)

79(239,192 sq. ft.)

TOTAL More than 1 million sq. ft.

BY THE NUMBERS

*Includes ballroom breakouts

A WORLD-CLASS PLACE TO HOLD YOUR NEXT CONVENTION OR TRADE SHOW

Learn more about SMG, the Pennsylvania Convention Center’s new facility manager, at discoverPHL.com/SMG

PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION CENTER

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About the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors BureauThe Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), a private non-profit membership corporation, is the official Tourist Promotion Agency for the City of Philadelphia, and the primary sales and marketing agency for the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Consistently ranked one of the top CVB’s in the nation, the PHLCVB works worldwide to attract convention and tourism business. The customer-focused organization has departments dedicated to the multicultural, sports and life sciences markets.

Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau1700 Market Street, Suite 3000 Philadelphia, PA 19103Tel: (215) 636-3300 discoverPHL.com

For information on Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Convention Center (now managed by SMG) please contact Kevin Richards at 1-855-MEET-PHL or [email protected].

About the Pennsylvania Convention Center AuthorityThe Pennsylvania Convention Center is located in Philadelphia, situated at the center of the city’s many cultural offerings and world-class dining and entertainment scene. Now managed by SMG, the nation’s leader in public facility management, the Convention Center recently underwent a $787 million renovation and expansion. The expansion increased the venue’s size by 62 percent, made it the 14th largest facility in the nation and provided it with the largest exhibit space and ballroom in the Northeast. The Center’s expansion has won numerous awards and recognition, including a Gold-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and was designated the Best Government/Pub-lic Building of 2011 by the Engineering News Record. For more information, visit www.paconvention.com.

Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority1101 Arch StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19107Tel: (215) 418-4700www.paconvention.com

EXPO10 Norden PlaceNorwalk, CT 06855Tel: (480) 241-9405www.expoweb.com

Copyright © 2014 EXPO / Access Intelligence, LLC

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