Posts Tagged: exhibitors

kchopson

How Tracking Your Live and Virtual Conference Attendees Can Help Your Bottom Line

Conference Attendees

In the mad rush to get ready for a conference, it is easy to ignore one of the most important metrics of show – namely, who actually attended. Planners often overlook this metric because the registration revenue is already in the bank so, in their overworked mind, it is not particularly important knowing who actually showed up. This is a major mistake because knowing your attendees from your no-shows is very important for your planning, marketing and bottom line. There are two things you should take into account when getting ready to verify your attendees. Know the difference between Attendance... Read more »

kchopson

Questions to ask your Event Management Software Provider for your Hybrid Conference and Trade Show

Trade Show Exhibitors

It is an understatement to say that event planners have been in quite a whirlwind since early 2020. Having mastered face-to-face events, planners had to quickly learn and properly implement 100% virtual conferences. Now as the pandemic is easing, there is now another transition to hybrid events. This change not only results in another steep learning curve, but it also requires a reworking of the particular technologies that should be deployed for a hybrid event. What is a Hybrid Event?What is a Hybrid event? It is not just streaming live feeds from F2F or posting recordings as was done in... Read more »

kchopson

Why Your Next Conference should be a Virtual Conference

ERVirtual Conference Schedule

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused havoc to the meetings and conference industry around the world with countless events postponed or cancelled. It will take a long time for face-to-face meetings to return with the vigor that they had prior to 2020. Furthermore, many trends that were happening before the crisis have been profoundly moved into fast forward. The path forward for the meetings industry is to face the new realities. In particular, the “way things have always been done” is on the way out and new paradigms are moving in. Let’s look at the old and new ways of doing... Read more »

kchopson

Why Strong Email Campaigns Increase Conference and Trade Show Sales

After launching a trade show or conference, your next goal becomes increasing registrations and sales. Here’s a secret: To maximize your success, you need the right mix of event management technology. For starters, both a user-friendly online registration platform and a trade show exhibitor management tool ensure your show starts on the right foot. But beyond that, there’s one tool that’s missing from the event technology mix – an email marketing solution. Email is one of the most popular marketing channels in the U.S. – used by more than 42% of marketers, according to data from Statista. That means there’s... Read more »

kchopson

17 Reasons why a Lead Retrieval App is Better for Your Show

Lead Retrieval App

You have probably heard frequent complaints from your exhibitors about how expensive it is to rent lead retrieval units for your show. In contrast to inexpensive and easy-to-use lead retrieval apps, the old fashioned way of doing lead retrieval is cumbersome for many reasons: The lead retrieval units are expensive! Some of the reasons for these high costs are described below. Buying the old-fashioned units is typically done in an old-fashioned way, such as faxing or emailing a form with a credit card. By the way, this is also a violation of good credit card security practices. The hardware is... Read more »

kchopson

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Six – Successful Event Email Marketing

This series has been reviewing how event technology can be employed at various points in the lifecycle of an association’s annual conference. After you have opened online registration and your online trade show sales, you can now start using event technology to drive revenue. In particular, targeted Email communications still remains one of the best ways to get companies and individuals to sign up for your conference. Event technology can help you communicate with potential attendees in a number of different ways: Scheduled Email Campaigns. Great event management software will let you plan out your marketing campaigns in advance through... Read more »

kchopson

How Verifying Your Conference Attendees Can Help Your Bottom Line

Conference Attendees

In the mad rush to get ready for a conference, it is easy to ignore one of the most important metrics of show – namely, who actually attended. Planners often overlook this metric because the registration revenue is already in the bank so, in their overworked mind, it is not particularly important knowing who actually showed up. This is a major mistake because knowing your attendees from your no-shows is very important for your planning, marketing and bottom line. There are two things you should take into account when getting ready to verify your attendees. Know the difference between Attendance... Read more »

kchopson

Ten Signs That You Are Using Sub-Standard Online Registration Software

Have you heard of someone who bought an online registration software package that promised to deliver an attractive form and save time, only to find these expectations were not met? Did they get a lot of complaints from registrants? Was the software so limited that the planner had to spend long, late hours creating spreadsheets to manage tasks the software could not handle? Fortunately, there are some tell-tale signs that an online registration package is sub-standard. If you look for these during the evaluation process, you can be spared the pain of the unfortunate planner.Online registration form looks like a... Read more »

kchopson

Why and How to Create a Great Conference Blog

Talk to a marketing expert about your event, conference or trade show and almost certainly you will be told that social media needs to be a key component of your promotion. However, what is often missing is the advice on how to do have a great social media campaign. What do you tweet about? What should you post on Facebook? How do you get started? To answer these questions, it is important to reconsider a core principal of social media marketing. This concept involves the idea of a “spoke” – as in a bicycle tire. At the center of this... Read more »

kchopson

Mobile App Lead Retrieval is Better for Your Show

Lead Retrieval Tradeshow App

You have probably heard frequent complaints from your exhibitors about how expensive it is to rent lead retrieval units for your show. The old fashioned way of doing lead retrieval is cumbersome for many reasons: The lead retrieval units are expensive! Some of the reasons for these high costs are described below. Buying the old-fashioned units is typically done in an old-fashioned way, such as faxing or emailing a form with a credit card. By the way, this is also a violation of good credit card security practices. The hardware is proprietary, so it is difficult to explain what the... Read more »

kchopson

Trade Show Swag: What’s Hot for 2015

Design Rebel: Trade Show Swag

An intriguing thought crossed my mind as I prepared this blog on the benefits of trade show giveaways. Given the nearly universal appeal of tchotchkes I wondered whether anyone has proposed a doctoral dissertation analyzing the irresistible allure of ball point pens, pocket-sized hand sanitizers, disposable water bottles and tote bags emblazoned with exhibitor’s logos. As a veteran of scores of trade shows, I’ve seen well-dressed, affluent –looking professionals saunter over to a booth and scoop up a key chain, pencil, highlighter or a tiny box of breath mints. Generally, these items retail for under three dollars. Perhaps there is... Read more »

kchopson

Nine Features Your Mobile Event App Must Have!

ERMobile Attendee App for iPhone and Android

Apps for conferences and trade shows are red hot. Your attendees expect that your show will have a mobile app that will not only replace the old printed program, but will add some additional modules as a result of being digital. So what are the key features your app must have? Schedule. All sessions and events should be listed in the program including (with few exceptions) those that require an extra fee, pre-registration or restricted attendance. Times should be clearly listed along with the location or room. Itinerary. One of the favorite activities of many conference attendees has been to... Read more »

kchopson

Why You Should Not Organize Badges by Category

One of the most common reasons for long lines at a conference is the inability of the staffers at the registration desk to find an attendee’s badge. This happens frustratingly often, even to a person that has successfully pre-registered for the show. There are many causes for long lines, but one of the most common is organizing badges in an inappropriate fashion. In particular, planners often sort attendees by the category of registration, rather than by name. Let’s see why this is not a good idea and the confusion it can cause. Member versus Non-Member. Because it is important to... Read more »

kchopson

How Online Trade Show Floor Map and Exhibitor Management Software Can Improve Your Show

Trade Show

Did you know there is an easy way to drive trade show revenue, dramatically cut labor and paper costs, while at the same time marketing your exhibitors to your attendees? This great technology uses an interactive trade show floor map to achieve all these amazing results. Here are some of the features of such software. For the Exhibitor   The software produces a floor map of your show online with all the tables and booths.   For booths that are available for purchase, exhibitors can simply click on the booth and buy on the spot.   Anybody can see the... Read more »

kchopson

Afraid to use Internet Technology for Your Meeting?

Internet

Do you want to use the Internet to improve and simplify your meeting planning but someone in your office (maybe your boss) thinks the Internet is too dangerous? Perhaps you live in the world of spreadsheets and that has always worked.  Maybe attendance is down and your budget is getting tighter every year, but any change seems overwhelming. If you fit any of the previous profiles, then you should know that the Internet is not dangerous! Furthermore, if used properly, Internet software will save you time, money and increase revenue and attendance.  Here are some misconceptions that cause meeting planners... Read more »