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.

“All of these generations are present, or will be present, on the tradeshow floor by 2015,” Breden says. “Don’t dismiss a young person as not having influence into a purchasing decision.”

Looking at Gen X, Breden’s first webinar in CEIR’s “The Complete Exhibiting Experience” series highlights how they – all 48 million of them – tend not be fans of group activities and are cynical of the older generation  - making them a challenge for all exhibitors. They need to be targeted specifically.

Gen Y are less of a challenge. The so-called Facebook generation are ‘super consumers’ says Breden. There are around 80 million of them out there working and they love staying connected via social tools and events.

“Gen Y is optimistic, idealistic, energized,” Breden says. “They love their parents and they love their elders. Like Gen X, they live online and, like many other generations, they want to be rich.”

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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….

…an innovative service for a ‘green’ event,” said IAEE President Steven Hacker. “The use of Core-Apps will fundamentally change the experience for visitors, organizers and exhibiting companies when it comes to efficiency and range of impact, and IAEE is proud to collaborate with Core-Apps to implement this innovation.”

Core-Apps CEO Jay Tokosch, added: “We are very excited about this partnership, and being chosen by IAEE, the pinnacle of trade shows and education for our industry. Three years ago, we were newcomers to this industry, and we were welcomed by IAEE from the start. In that short time frame, we have grown to over 500 shows and events globally, with small corporate and association conferences, to trade shows in excess of 150,000 attendees with over 2 million users annually with our app”.

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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:

-          More than 35,700 square feet, equivalent to 20,000 pounds, of magnetic banners

-          28,600 square feet of vinyl banners

-          16,000 square feet of other show signs and materials

-          For the first time, almost 50,000 pounds of show publications

“Every year, we work tirelessly to make the International CES even more environmentally sustainable than the year before,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. “This year, we exceeded years past, increasing the overall reuse and recycle rate to 75% of all CES materials.”

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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…

….yet again that we are choosing to have more than one wireless device, including smartphones, tablets and e-readers, which is why the wireless penetration rate is almost 105%.”

We’ve seen the exhibition sector make some moves towards promoting the need for more free Wi-Fi at events [Conference Centers Waking up to Free Wi-Fi and Free Wi-Fi Comes to San Diego] but it is clear that more needs to be done. And fast.

Do you feel enough is being done? What could help speed things up? Let us know.

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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….

….their primary event and marketing goal was to boost sales, followed by brand awareness. Among event marketing executives, 84% claimed events and experiential marketing were vital to their organisations – again, increasing sales was the driving force.

Social media and other technology tools are rapidly becoming a key part of event marketing and tracking.

“The last three years alone have seen an explosion in the use of social media by corporations but also by the event industry to communicate event information, drive participation and build year-round online communities,” the report stated. “Events and technology are part of a critical and evolving relationship. Today, a key focus of event marketers is on better connecting event audiences with online communities of clients, prospects and influencers. Technology is being used to link these seemingly different communities into one.”

[Event Marketing Institute]

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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.
• Reducing visa barriers the U.S. economy would realize increases in business sales just from U.S. events of about $3 billion a year.
• This would create over 17,500 jobs directly and 43,000 jobs indirectly.
• It would generate $750 million in state and federal taxes.

Despite the huge sums of revenue being lost, Hacker and the IAEE expect an uphill battle to get Visa restrictions sorted out in its upcoming meetings with the State Department.

Do you agree that Visa restrictions need to be eased for international business travelers? Comment below

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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….

…sharing of best practices and expertise, will we improve performance of our organizations for the benefit of our clients. This accord documents our commitment to develop and deliver the best meeting experience possible.”

Erika Eischer, Head of Congress Department, Tampere Hall and Chair of the ICCA Scandinavian Chapter added: “Our clients are concerned about the ethical, social and environmental performance of their suppliers. We need to make it easier for our clients to organize a sustainable meeting in our destinations. As a first step, convention bureaux, congress centres and other meetings industry professionals from Norway, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark have agreed on a common set of indicators that we can all use to benchmark and transparently communicate our performance and progress.”

The 10-point Action Plan includes:

• Publicly declaring participation in the Scandinavian Sustainable Meetings Accord and using our personal and business networks to encourage member organisations to sign this Accord.
• Engaging our clients, partners and other interested parties in dialogue about economic, environmental and social sustainability for our industry.
• Educating interested parties, sharing knowledge in sustainable business practices and recognizing ICCA members for their best practice and efforts in sustainable business.
• Encouraging and supporting private-public collaboration with other destinations to share Scandinavian best practices and solutions and, in turn, to learn from others.
• Providing resources to planners to identify responsible, sustainable and certified suppliers in our community in order to help planners create more sustainable events.
• Advocating efficient, equitable and more sustainable use of resources.
• Facilitating the increased use of environmentally friendly transport through better communication with visitors and collaboration with transport providers.
• Calculating the CO2 footprint of a defined Scandinavian meetings industry and aiming to reduce this by 20% by 2020.
• Upholding the highest standards of honesty and fairness and thus maintaining a society with integrity and strong ethical standards.

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[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.

“Our Trends Report is a quick-read summary of what we see impacting our industry,” explained  Kristin Veach, VP of marketing for Live Marketing. “Event marketers can use it as a check-list to help ensure they are leveraging every opportunity possible to increase the results of their tradeshow and event programs.”

Here are some of them – complete with odd-sounding marketing-speak titles.

Tablets and iPads

All events will see an explosion of iPads and tablets.

Simultaneous Attendance

Non-attendees will be able to participate in events or tradeshows thanks to the integration of video.

Reach Amplification

Event-specific micro-sites, social media, webcasts and online communities will extend the life on an event.

Gamification

Spawned by video games and even Foursquare, using competition, interaction and fun game dynamics at events will help deepen engagements.

Mobile

Three-quarters of the global population is mobile so event marketers will continue incorporating mobile-optimized strategies.

Check out the full list here.

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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.

Orion II is a table top or wall mounted charging kiosk that stands about 2-feet tall. It sports a built-in slot for inserting an iPad and can also charge up to 8 phones [and tablets or digital cameras] quickly and simultaneously.

“Exhibitors and sponsors value goCharge because it helps to drive significant traffic to their booths and attract a captive audience,” said Scott Gurfein, chief revenue officer of goCharge. “During a long day at a conference, a quick and convenient charge has a significantly higher value than standard swag items like a pen or candy.”

[goCharge]

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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…”

“….which has experienced six consecutive quarters of growth, gives strong reassurance that the industry has emerged from the economic downturn and is making progress toward recovery,” commented CEIR’s economist Allen Shaw, Ph.D., Chief Economist for Global Economic Consulting Associates, Inc.

Looking more closely at the CEIR Index data for Q4, 2011, shows increases in all four metrics of measurement. These were Net Square Feet (4.2%), Revenue (5.1%), Professional Attendance (3.6%),  and Number of Exhibiting Companies (2.4%).

[CEIR]

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