Exhibition organizers have various ways of gathering information about attendees such as registration surveys, show audits, historical data and even walking the floor to talk with visitors. Understanding the preferences, behaviour and hot buttons of buyers helps event organizers develop features and product offerings that keep attendees coming back year after year.

 
The days of attending a conference or exhibition to get some time out of the office, catch a show and a steak dinner are long gone. Attendees today are much more strategic and their needs are much more complex that even a decade ago.

Buyers attend trade exhibitions for a number of important reasons:
 
•         Communicate strategies and objectives to potential suppliers
•         Build new or further existing relationships
•         Identify unique or differentiated content
•         Identify new innovations and technology trends
•         Discuss special purchase opportunities and other value concepts
•         Discuss promotional/marketing opportunities and concepts
•         Build support for a buyer’s unique go-to-market strategy
 
Many attendees are looking specifically to enhance their skill levels, increase their product knowledge and gather competitive intelligence often in an attempt to increase their own on-the-job capabilities.  Organizers that facilitate and emphasize the gathering of new information through product pavilions, call outs in show directories and product locators, hot topic sessions, exhibitor badges and show floor signage hoping to capture the attention and interest of buyers.
 
The offer of personal contact with potential suppliers, colleagues and educators is one of the main ways that exhibitions differentiate themselves from other sources that buyers use to gather information. Kimberly Gishler, Americas Marcomm manager for the ProCurve Networking Business of HP admits, “I participate in Webinars and many things to gather information but nothing beats the face-to-face connection from trade shows.” Valuable contacts, says Gishler, can come from places as unexpected as the check-out line at the concession stand.  
 
Because networking is such an attractive feature of exhibitions, ProCurve’s Gishler closely scrutinizes the audit results published by exhibition organizers and uses the information to rank exhibitions in terms of the potential networking opportunities and to choose among competing events. “If a show is not audited, it immediately drops in importance and priority to me. With audits, I know the show numbers are real. An audit proves that there are other people like me at the conference or show that I can network with,” Gishler says.  
 
Buyers employ a number of tactics when making the decision to attend a show or choosing among competing events. Word of mouth plays a very important role among buyers like Kimberly Gishler. She says, “I call up people that I respect to ask whether they felt the show was worth the money or worth attending. I do not want to have to work for the information about whether to go or not.” Also, it will be useful to contact a conference organizer and identify event objectives and budget.
 
In recent years, technology companies have led the movement to address the needs and preferences of buyers by providing products and services that address key attendee pain points, such as the desire for low-cost, time-saving and convenient ways to access show information. For example, Portland, ME-based NGN (New Generation Network) offers attendees an opportunity to search for specific products and browse exhibitor offerings online before, during and after the show. It also enables buyers to set appointments with exhibitors at the show and year round.
 
Some organizers may feel that offering too much information online may keep buyers away. The key is to recognize what the value proposition [of the exhibition] is and then link it to how we allow [attendees] to compare, contrast and analyze. Understanding what the attendee needs are will lead to higher buyer satisfaction and increased show attendance. When the information that an individual has to make a decision about a tradeshow is limited to the show Web site and a series of ‘picture postcards’ like floor plans and exhibitor lists, giving them a better picture of what they will get will help you increase show attendance.

Source: IAEE news and events, by Michelle Bruno