Businesses looking to exhibit abroad and crack a new market could do well to learn a bit about local ways and customs before even getting their stand out of the truck.

According to speakers at the recent International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES) in Shanghai, China, it pays to learn a little about where you hope to exhibit next.

Asia is still seen by many western companies as a huge untapped business opportunity, particularly China. There are approximately 165 exposition centers in 15 Asian countries, with almost half of them located in China.

American member company, EWI Worldwide, from Livonia, Michigan, spoke about its own experience of opening a China-based branch. Ben Einer, vice president of EWI International, said: “There are usually two points of view to manage expectations, but it depends on which side is asking. Gaining awareness of our cultural gaps goes a long way to establish a positive relationship when securing a foothold in China.”

In another talk entitled ‘Managing the Brand from one Country to the Next’, Larry Kulchawik of 3D Exhibits and former president of IFES, discussed the differences in show regulations, labor, design, and cultural expectations.

Joined by Kingsmen, one of Asia’s largest exposition suppliers with offices in 16 eastern countries, he said that the concept of constructing a team exclusively for an individual customer ensures a cooperative spirit will prevail and knowledge of regional practices are shared in an effort to eliminate surprises.

One testimonial of ‘differences’ came from Peter Theodorides, president of Vision LTD in Athens, Greece on setting up a stand for a foreign client in Greece. The client asked that the workers stop smoking. However, the workers were on a break and in a designated smoking area of the building. “My dear customer,” Theodorides explained, “although smoking bothers me as well, I cannot ask my workers to refrain when the rules say they are permitted to do so in designated areas.”

The client was annoyed, but the workers completed the job without making any further eye contact.

Have you ran into any cultural differences in your exhibiting experience? Let us know.

You can read the full article here.

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With  hardly a week going by without another exhibition event collapsing, the good news is that recovery for the sector is forecasted to kick-in during the second half of 2011. Woohoo!

At least according to a survey carried out last month by the Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF). Speaking to 130 events executives, the majority claimed that show revenues will not recover until the second half of next year.

But there was some disagreement, namely between association organizers and independent exhibition organizers. Nearly two fifths of independent organizers think a recovery will occur only in the second half of 2011 but association organizers are that little bit more optimistic, claiming a recovery is on the cards for the first half of next year.

The survey also found that international audiences are a growing segment: around 40% of association organizers said that 16% of their audiences are from outside the US, with independent organisers putting the figure at 18%.

Getting bodies in the door though will require more marketing, according to most of the independent organizers who are planning to spend more of their budget on attendee marketing. Association organisations are splitting their budgets more evenly between marketing and education programming on the show floor.

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Not a day goes by in the Catalyst Exhibits office without some, ahem, ‘vital’ sports issue being addressed, even more so since the Blackhawks recently won the Stanley Cup.

However, now that hockey season is over, it’s time to talk about baseball. If you had to take a poll at Catalyst Exhibits, I would say that about 90% of employees are Cubs fans…what are they thinking? (Go White Sox!)

How will the “south-siders” do, as they try to fight their way to the top of the American League’s Central Division? If you missed the recent game don’t worry—you’ll get the chance to see them during IMTS here in Chicago in September.

The White Sox are in town during IMTS 2010 (September 13^th-18^th) and they’re offering discounted tickets to IMTS visitors and exhibitors, their families and friends.

So while you are in the Windy City during IMTS, be sure to head down to U.S. Cellular field to cheer on the White Sox as they play against the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers the week of September 14^th-19^th.

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Many organizations suffer from tunnel vision about their products or services, when they should be more concerned with the perspective of attendees who visit their booth.

In order to make trade show sales more effective, you must understand how your current target market thinks, believes and acts.

Here are 5 tips to improve your trade show exhibit.

1.)    Cost Savings, Time and Effort

The time and effort booth visitors need to invest to learn more about a new product and/or service is just as important as the financial investment. One way to improve your trade show sales is by offering value by reducing the time, effort, and money your visitors need to invest.

2.)    Personality

The majority of people who attend trade shows have high-strung personalities and want you, the exhibitor. to focus entirely on them. Accommodate their character. In order to handle diverse booth visitors, make sure to have an out-going staff and encourage conversation to discover their needs.

3.)    Just Say It, Don’t Sell It

Any sales person can memorize sales presentations; however, after a long day on the show floor, attendees are worn out and just want a simple presentation. Keep in mind, you can offer a better product and/or service than a competitor and still lose the sale because your sales presentation is too complex for your visitors.

4.)    Appearance is Everything

In order to generate more trade show leads, your exhibit design must stand out from its competitors. By having a bigger booth space, brighter colors, lighting and graphics attendees will be more attracted to your booth and will want to know more about your organization.

5.)    Giveaways, Promotions, and More Free Stuff

Managing how much you promote and giveaway items at an event can be a challenge. Who wouldn’t want free sample products, key chains, water bottles, t-shirts, and etc.? Entertainment is also another way to increase trade show leads. However, this creates traffic and does not always attract the qualified prospect. To avoid incompetent prospects make sure your promotions are aimed towards your target audience.

Sources: Skyline Trade Show Tips and Trade Show Marketing

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Here on the Best In Show blog for Catalyst Exhibits we’ve been covering topics ranging from key changes to Chicago labor laws that will help revive the ailing exhibition and events market to why renting rather than buying is a clever move when it comes to getting the right stand.

Today, we thought we’d pass on some tips from EXPO Magazine about how you can use SMS/text messaging to boost the number of visitors coming to your event.

Here are EXPO’s Top 10 reasons why you should be using it:

Top 10

1. SMS-capable mobile phones are ubiquitous.

2. Texting is very popular and growing — nearly 5 billion text messages were sent per day in the U.S. at the end of 2009.*

3. It’s simple to execute.

4. It requires little ramp-up time if you use a shared short code.

5. It can be rolled-out with relatively little investment.

6. It can help activate other media.

7. It can be used to track adjacent media.

8. It provides an excellent channel for remarketing.

9. It offers a much less cluttered environment than the e-mail inbox.

10. It offers real-time measurability.

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Some argue that owning your own exhibition stand is a better investment in the long run but, that only works if you can see the future of your business in your crystal ball. Since that’s unfortunately not possible, the best option – especially in the current, dangerous economic climate – is to rent your stand.

Andy Besic at Catalyst Exhibits says it’s like buying a car, where you pay a lot up front and then find yourself paying out for expensive maintenance – not repairs – a few years down the road.

“Think of a time when you bought a car from an incredibly helpful salesperson that left you with an overall euphoric experience. Now fast forward a few thousand miles when you are standing in front of the service manager and he is giving you an unbelievable list of maintenance items. You know the type of thing: “you really should do with this oil change.”

“You pay your bill and as time passes the bills get bigger even though the car is reliable. Remember these costs are for maintenance NOT repairs. You also feel that as long as you are in the warranty period you absolutely can’t go to a non-dealer service center, which would charge far less for this maintenance. You’re stuck in a long term relationship with someone who is an expert in taking advantage of that relationship.”

Which is why renting makes more sense, especially since you rent only what you need, when you need it, it can be completely changed and tailored each time to your needs and there’s no ongoing service charges.

Besic says: “With rental exhibits there is a new design for each show. The relationship that is formed is based on performance. If the rental doesn’t perform there is no future relationship. You can rent an economy stand one time, a luxury one the next time to comfort your clients, and an expensive one to intimidate your competitors another time. When you’re done, you don’t have to stand in front of the service manager and take your lumps for your decision. You also don’t have to worry about showing up in a general purpose, SUV-style stand that can go anywhere but really isn’t the best at anything.”

Find out more about Catalyst rental solutions here.

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As the A-Team’s Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith always famously said: ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.

The setting couldn’t have been more fitting either as the Catalyst Exhibits’ stand for Booz Allen Hamilton scooped ‘Best In Show’ at the Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems’ (DoDIIS) Annual Worldwide conference.

The show, held in Phoenix, Arizona, provided the perfect showcase for the multi-billion dollar strategic and technologic consulting firm at the forefront of the national security, defense and civil sectors.

The conference is the stomping ground of elite defense solution providers, dedicated solely to the collection, analysis, and presentation of intelligence to policy makers and tactical users.

Catalyst’s creative and logistic energy, spearheaded by Jimmy Bastille (Account Executive), Mark Lynch (Design Director, VP) and Carrie Meccia (Account Manager) captured and absorbed Booz Allen’s Hamilton’s specific marketing objectives, aesthetic preferences and functional requirements – designing and managing a refined environment that allowed for seamless direction of attendees toward live, illuminated demos and open conferencing designed with sleek, European character.

Catalyst translated a bevy of financial and objectives into a commanding and competitive expression of Booz Allen Hamilton’s spirit, affording this powerhouse an abundance of new business opportunities and “Best in Show” for DoDIIS 2010.

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Chicago is seen as an expensive place to hold conferences and exhibitions but hugely important changes in labor legislation were made law last week, which could stop the loss of major events to other cities.

Sweeping legislative changes have been made that will make McCormick Place and Navy Pier far more competitive and attractive to exhibitors.

One vital change…….

…….is that exhibitors can now do much of the set-up work on their own booths, reducing their dependence on unionized labor at McCormick Place – this has been a fiery topic for years.

The convention industry is worth a staggering $8 billion to Chicago and the State and many believe – especially exhibitors – that the new laws coming into play will help rejuvenate Chicago’s ailing convention sector.

What’s your take?

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It’s tough in the exhibition market space and the big convention cities are being hit hard by severe dips in events and attendance figures.

Our own city of Chicago saw its 2009 attendance figures for McCormick Place conventions and trade shows dropping by almost 7% last year, according to reports in the Chicago Tribune.

But that’s nothing compared to the hits being experienced in Las Vegas and Florida.

While visitor numbers for McCormick Place stood at 893,068 in 2009, the Las Vegas Convention Center suffered a 30% nosedive last year to 1.1 million attendees while the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando dipped 21% to 781,740. Chicago was the only one of the three to see a rise in the number of events.

It seems that Chicago’s perception as business-oriented venue did the city some good. Both the Las Vegas and Orlando venues said the economy was the leading reason why the numbers were down, along with a reluctance in corporate America to host their events in resort locations.

The question now is whether Chicago can continue to get off so lightly in the cut-throat exhibition market during 2010? Not likely, seems to be the consensus.

Attracting shows to your city requires a serious amount of cash. Thanks to the ching-ching of slot machines in Vegas, the city has a healthy marketing budget of $143 million and Florida has $47 million.  The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau on the other hand has just under $14 million. Even tougher times ahead for the Windy City .

Via Chicago Tribune

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Spend less on Drayage - But don't compromise Marketing Impact

One of our lovely colleagues brought in a delightful treat today – Paczki’s. Paczki’s, a doughnut/pastry of polish/french origin, are sold only one or two days each year. Apparently, doughnut restaurateurs do have a conscience when it comes to your waistline.

Why is it, then, that some exhibit houses have fewer scruples when it comes to the weight of your exhibit, or the SIZE of your material handling bill? Why is one of the most consistent features of a custom exhibit- heavy, bulky materials – a surefire way to clobber your drayage budget?

A modern exhibit design should be designed around some basic constraints – weight being a significant driver in that equation. When you look at a design, pay attention to materials. You may have to ask some pointed questions to get down to brass tacks on this aspect of a company’s design (sorry for the heavy-handed reference to fabric, one of our favorite weight-loss measures).

While aiming to reduce weight is among the chief goals of an exhibit house’s construction methods, this can become a double edged sword: How does a company reduce the mass of a structure without reducing it’s strength and stability? If I could properly answer that question, I’d be writing articles for these guys. The reality is, our design and engineering teams spend long hours figuring out just that. Some classic names in the exhibit business are long on weight-saving ideas, but short on the ingenuity it takes to make an exhibit feel like a permanent structure worthy of your brand.

While you need to be asking questions about materials, realize that it’s a goal that should not sacrifice the overall exhibit’s integrity.

If you haven't tried one, you might have to wait 'til next year...

Think of it in terms of the Paczki’s again – the anorexic stays away from this Fat Tuesday delight. While “wafer-thin” may appeal to some folks, anorexia does not epitomize health or aesthetic perfection. An exhibit that can still afford to eat a Paczki on a special occasion each year, but does so with a conscience to save you the hefty drayage bill: now that’s perfection. Smart exhibits weigh less, but still look the best.

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