May 15th, 2012
Industry group, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), has come up with some interesting views this week, relating to how different types of employees respond better to certain show marketing efforts.
Apparently, the ‘one size fits all’ approach to promoting your show does not work on the four main employee types. These are:
• The Silent Generation (age 67 and older)
• Baby Boomers (48-66 years old)
• Generation X (31-47 years old; also called the Echo Boomers)
• Generation Y (15-30 years old)
• Generation Z (born after 1997, could enter workforce as early as 2015)
OK, there are five listed, but Gen Z are not yet working – but will be soon, says CEIR.
Of those, Cathy Breden, executive director of.CEIR, says it’s important not to overlook Gen X & Y at tradeshows.
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Tags: event, exhibition, marketing, show
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May 8th, 2012
Want to keep up with what’s happening in the events and exhibition scene? The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) has hooked up with leading app developer, Core-Apps LLC, to “take its mobile app offering to the next level”.
Core-Apps is already the maker of well-known events apps like ‘Follow Me’ and ‘EventLink’. IAEE will now use Core-Apps as its exclusive mobile app provider, in order to deliver key information about its programs, products and services to members and meeting attendees via smartphone.
The IAEE represents the organizers responsible of more than 20,000 events across the U.S. and around the world.
“Not only is the advanced technology in line with IAEE’s strategic objectives of providing turnkey solutions for its members, but it also offers….
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Tags: apps, event, exhibition, mobile, technology
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May 2nd, 2012
You’d think that the award for the greenest and most environmentally considerate show in the United States would actually go to some hippy, green-oriented, garden or planet-saving event but you’d be wrong. Even more surprising is that the winner is a tech show.
The 2012 International CES in Las Vegas, January 10-13 – the largest technology show in the world – managed to recycle 75% of show materials and has garnered the title of North America’s Greenest Show by Trade Show Executive Magazine.
Owners of the show, The Consumer Electronics Association, claimed they had “significantly expanded its recycling and repurposing efforts” at the 2012 event.
Here’s an idea of what kinds of recycling – and the sheer scale of it – that made up that impressive 75% figure:
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Tags: business, event, exhibition, green, recycling, show
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April 24th, 2012
Americans love Wi-Fi and wireless data which is why the events and exhibition sector needs to get the lead out and start making free Wi-Fi an integral part of every convention center, not just some of the big ones.
If they need any further proof then just check out the latest figures from industry body, CTIA-The Wireless Association. Its latest semi-annual figures found that wireless data transmitted by Americans last year jumped by 123% over 2010 to a staggering 866.7 billion megabytes.
Ownership of smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs also rocketed to 111.5 million devices, up from 78.2 million in 2010. Over 95% of these devices can transmit data. Growth was also very strong for wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems – which rose to 20.2 million – a 49% increase on 2010.
“Americans’ love for mobile products and services continue to grow,” said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA. “Our survey shows…
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Tags: event, exhibition, marketing, show, wireless
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April 18th, 2012
Things continue to look up in the the events industry as a new report shows that budgets for shows are up almost 8%, thanks largely to the increased use of social media tools and technology.
The 7.8% rise is more than double the budget increase of 3.6% in 2011, according to the “EventTrack 2012” report from The Event Marketing Institute (EMI) and Mosaic Experiential Marketing. Researchers canvassed over 1,460 execs at major corporations and associations, as well as agencies, brand marketers and consumers.
The budget increase is even higher – 12.5% – among those companies that measure their conferences and other types of event programs. That’s almost three times higher than the budget increase for those businesses last year.
Key among the other findings was that 83% of brand survey respondents said….
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Tags: budget, business, event, exhibition, marketing, show
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March 28th, 2012
The US events industry could be benefiting from an additional $3bn a year if the government sorts out the Visa problems associated with international business travelers not being able to attend events.
Speaking to U.S. Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee on Homeland Security recently Steven Hacker, president of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, said there needs to be more done to make it easier for international business travelers to attend events and exhibitions in the US.
He presented the committee with findings from a report [“The Economic Impact of International Non-Participation in the Exhibition Industry Due to U.S. Visa Issues”] by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), highlighting the problems.
Some key findings included:
- Visa issues prevent 116,000 international visitors from attending U.S. exhibitions each year including 78,400 buyers and 37,900 exhibitors. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: business, event, security, visa
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March 22nd, 2012
We are all aware of how the events and exhibition sector is trying to be more environmentally friendly but you have to look to Europe to see green meetings being promoted on a far bigger scale.
This week saw convention bureaus, destination marketing organizations, venues and agencies from the five Scandinavian member countries of the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) agree to create the world´s first sustainable meetings region. The Accord outlines 10 specific actions to which all signatories commit – all focused on advancing sustainable development in the meetings and events industry. The countries signed up include Norway, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
“Sustainability is a business imperative that we all understand,” commented Steen Jakobsen, Convention Director, Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau and board member of ICCA and the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC). “It’s about good business and creating better communities. We recognize that only through collaboration, including the….
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Tags: business, environment, event, exhibition, green, marketing, show
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March 13th, 2012
It’s hard to predict where the industry is going but recent reports show that the shoots of recovery remain strong.
[Read: Exhibition Industry Posts Healthy 2011 Growth].
Assuming the recovery continues throughout this year, what marketing trends and technologies can you expect to see making their mark on the events and exhibition industry?
And will you be using any of them in organising your events?
Live Marketing, an integrated engagement marketing agency for tradeshows and virtual events, has put together a list of what it thinks will be big this year.
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Tags: business, event, exhibition, marketing
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March 5th, 2012
If free pens, candy or a chance to win a bottle of champagne are no longer enough to entice visitors to your exhibit then maybe you need to start thinking smarter.
There are other ways to get people onto your stand for a short period of time and one of those is by appealing to their gadgets. Or more specifically their gadgets’ need for power.
goCharge, makers of mobile device charging stations, has just launched its latest model – The Orion II – designed to entice people needing to charge their mobile devices right to your stand. This, in turn, gives you an excellent chance to explore more potential leads with your captive audience.
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Tags: business, exhibition, ipad, marketing, show, technology
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February 28th, 2012
Last year was a great year for the U.S. exhibition industry. Not only did the sector outgrow the country’s growth rate for GDP but, for the third year running, the sector continued its steady recovery, leaving behind the worst global economic recession in decades.
The figures are in and according to industry watchdog, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), overall exhibition industry activity increased by 3.8% from the level one year-ago during the fourth quarter of 2011, and rose by 2.7% for the year 2011 as a whole. Despite a “brief pause” in Q2 last year, the sector then picked up its pace. The final growth rate for the sector of 2.7% even surpassed CEIR’s own prediction of 2.3% for the year.
“The positive momentum of the exhibition industry…”
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Tags: business, exhibition, marketing, recession, show
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