To improve the flow of attendees, the company sets up cameras around the hall to record and determine where the hot and cold spots are.

“We do a ‘dwell count’ of how many people are in each part of the hall at each hour of the entire show, so you can see what the traffic patterns are,” says Dave Fellers, president at EthnoMetrics, Stevensville, Mich., and a former client of the company during his days as the executive director at the Radiological Society of North America, based in Oak Brook, Ill.

Main Street and Pavilions

Once they looked at the video evidence, EthnoMetrics recommended ways to change ALA's exhibit floor to improve flow.

One thing they did was create a “Main Street,” one or two extra-wide aisles that go down the middle of the floor. Many exhibitors want to be on Main Street because of the foot traffic, but beyond that, it allows more people to move to other parts of the hall. This is key for many associations, says Fellers. “Once we widen the drive aisles, all of a sudden the traffic in the back is as good as in the front and there are not as many cold spots as you would have had in the past.”

They also added pavilions to cluster booths into common interest areas. For example, they have a graphic novel pavilion where all the graphic novel booths are located, an international pavilion for international exhibitors, and a gaming pavilion for companies that serve that area. It helps attendees find what they are looking for as well as create hot spots throughout the hall, says Ross.

Some of these pavilions were placed in the back of the hall to draw in traffic. They also put a stage in the back for a promotion called “Live at the Library,” which is a place where authors and writers read their work. It was a big draw.

Having these types of attractions in the hall is critical, concurs Johnstone. “You have to concentrate less on the trade and more on the show,” he says. At NAMM, they try to make it more like a fraternal gathering than a trade show. “An experience you'd be hard pressed to skip.” To create that atmosphere, they fill the convention center and hotel lobbies with live music played on various stages. The performances aren't sponsored; they are simply there for the enjoyment of visitors. They serve as gathering places where people can listen to music and have a beverage as they move about the hall. Planners find that people hang around the hall longer because they want to see what's next. “It's like a party,” says Johnstone.

Also, the exhibitors do a lot of clinics and demonstrations in their booths, some even have small stages, so there is activity and music everywhere. Ultimately, it's a great atmosphere for business. Despite the recession, exhibit revenues were down just 3 percent for January's annual meeting and exhibitors were satisfied.

Overall, Ross was very pleased with the results. Attendance was down from the previous year at about 10,000, but “Even though we had fewer people, exhibitors were ecstatic.” It showed exhibitors that, just because attendance is down doesn't mean the show will be a bust. ALA plans to use the company again for the annual meeting in June.

“Right now, the exhibitors are saying, ‘Why should I come? It's going to be a down year, I'll take a year off,’” says Fellers. “But if they know that you are doing something to help the show and help them in their future, it makes them much more interested in participating.”

Get Competitive With Costs

So what else do exhibitors want? “All of us are being pressured by our customers to be more competitive with costs. It would be nice if exhibit organizers could help by not increasing their costs and, if possible, even show some signs of reducing costs,” says Drew De Grado, director of marketing communications at Topcon Medical Systems, Paramus, N.J.

That's a message that leadership at the International Carwash Association heard loud and clear last year. For ICA's 2008 annual meeting, Car Care World Expo, they offered exhibitors an economic stimulus package to help them through tough times. It came at a time when gas prices were $4 per gallon and the automobile industry was hurting, so association leaders wanted to reach out to exhibitors to find out how they could help, explains Dave Weil, senior director, convention and trade show services at SmithBucklin, which manages ICA.

So, they did three things. First, they surveyed exhibitors about industry trends and challenges, as well as their thoughts on the expo. “We uncovered that there was a lot of angst out there in the industry — a lot of challenges and a lot of questions about our show,” says Weil. Some exhibitors were talking about downsizing their booths because of the economic pressures they were under.

Economic Stimulus, Exhibit-Style

The research led to an economic stimulus package that ICA rolled out at the convention. To keep exhibitors from downsizing or canceling in 2009, they offered a 20 percent discount on rates if they kept the same booth size and booked on-site at the 2008 meeting. The result? They had 163 exhibitors take the offer while only 37 downsized. Interestingly, they had 77 upgrade to a larger booth, essentially paying the same as last year for more space. It helped because they were expecting twice as many to downsize. It wasn't so much about boosting revenues as it was about but helping out exhibitors and building a deeper relationship with them. “There are a lot of choices for them out there and the pie was getting smaller for them so we wanted to make sure that our slice of the pie remained the same,” says Weil.

Like ALA, ICA offered an exhibitor-training webinar. “You can't just sell them a booth and say, ‘OK, make it work.’ You have to take ownership and help them achieve their ROI,” says Weil.

Through the survey they found exhibitors were getting leads, but they were having trouble with engagement — that is, turning those leads into business. So the webinar was created to advise them on selling in a trade show environment, how to staff booths and interact with attendees, and how to measure ROI. One hundred companies participated in the free webinar and the association plans to make it an ongoing program.

The old saying, “Build it and they will come” doesn't always work, he says. “You have to work a little harder.”

Sidebar #1: Exhibitor Feedback

Exhibitors, responding to a query through the Trade Show Exhibitors Association, Chicago, relayed their main concerns around exhibiting these days. Their responses included the number of quality leads they obtained, their return on investment, getting additional opportunities or packages, and the need for more information on attendee demographics. “Are we reaching the right decision-makers at events?” wrote one respondent.

“The quality of leads is always more important than quantity or traffic count,” says Michael Hatch, senior vice president of marketing and sales at a2z Inc., Columbia, Md. The company has eliminated a couple of shows this year because of poor performance last year, before the downturn. “New or year-round opportunities like virtual trade shows that complement live shows are will prompt us to choose one show over another.”

Patricia Sanders, director, marketing and communications at DRS Technologies, Herndon, Va., says her greatest exhibiting concerns were “More transparency of attendee profiles and lower space costs.”

Sidebar #2: Tips for Exhibitors

As part of the package, EthnoMetrics, Stevensville, Mich,, offers training programs full of pointers on how to interact with and engage attendees, and also some general ideas about how booth design and layout can attract — and repel — visitors.

Some tips you can pass on to your exhibitors:

1. Having a different color carpet in the booth than in the aisle can serve as a barrier. “We strongly advise using the same color carpet [in a booth] as the aisle carpet,” says Dave Fellers, president at EthnoMetrics.

2. One of the major flaws in exhibit design and layout is to have equipment, tables, or walls limiting access to the booth. It is important to have an open design that allows flow into the exhibit and to make sure that sales staff are able to interact with attendees without blocking access to the booth.

3. Video measurement of an exhibit is a motivating factor for the booth staff. “We see a remarkable increase in the sales effort and productivity when staff know they are on camera,” says Fellers.