Wings to Fly Bowlathon!

Let the good times roll at the Bowling for Wings Bowl-A-Thon! Join us for a family-friendly bowling event benefiting Wings to Fly, a non-profit organization that promotes lifelong self-esteem among young women during annual summer camps. Bring the whole family for an exciting day filled with fun, food and music. You’ll be “bowled over” by activities like cosmic bowling, face painting, arcade games, a silent auction and raffles of great prizes perfect for all ages.

The Bowling for Wings Bowl-A-Thon will feature local celebrity team captains who will be sprinkled throughout this fundraising event consisting of 40 lanes with 4 bowlers per team. Each team will receive shoes, large pizza, bottomless pitcher of soft drinks and other special surprises!

The winning team will be crowned the Bowling for Wings Team of the Year, receive a trophy, and celebrated on the Wings to Fly website and other publications. Be there or be “spare”!

Sign your team up today! For full details on team sponsor benefits call Karen May 602-923-0011 fax 602-923-0044 or e-mail to karenm@meetcsi.com

The bowl-a-thon tournament fee is $75 per bowler - 6 person team minimum.

No charge for fans and spectators to attend, so bring your entourage to help cheer you on! All proceeds to benefit Wings to Fly.

http://bowling4wings.kintera.org

Breaking News Post - Face to Face Meetings Make Real Dollars and Cents!

The hard facts we have all been waiting for (even if we already knew they existed):

For every dollar invested in trade shows, returns are in the $4 to $5.99 range!!

Here is the complete release:

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 -- The U.S. Travel Association today released a study that draws a direct link between business travel and corporate revenue and profit growth.

According to the study, conducted by global research firm Oxford Economics, for every dollar invested in a company meeting, the return is in the range of $15 to $19.99. Conferences and trade shows are in the $4 to $5.99 range. Data also showed that in order to achieve the same effect of incentive travel, an employee's total base compensation would need to be increased by 8.5 percent. According to the figures, an incentive trip yields a return of more than four times the investment, not including any broader motivation the opportunity provides to those who do not meet the award criteria.

Oxford Economics USA conducted the study of 300 U.S. corporate executives and 500 business travelers from late spring through the summer. A professor of finance and economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania audited the methodology.

Other findings indicated that for every dollar invested in business travel, businesses average $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits.

"This study shows that not all spending cuts are smart cuts," said Adam Sacks, managing director of Oxford Economics. "When companies cut their travel budgets, there are negative consequences that we can now quantify, in terms of lost revenue and profit growth, and in terms of giving competitors a distinct advantage."

The study also found that curbing business travel can have a strong negative impact on corporate profits. The average business in the United States would forfeit 15 percent of its profits in the first year of eliminating business travel.

"Business travel is economic stimulus," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, which commissioned the study. "In order to grow, businesses have to invest. This study shows that face-to-face meetings and incentive awards to top performers are among the smartest investments companies can make."

Plan of Attack - Realism Meets Optimism

This is part two in our (almost!) real time series of how one of our clients is dealing with dramatically decreased exhibitor and attendee numbers.

The assessment completed, we now needed to form a realistic plan of attack. What was equally important to the mission was keeping a sense of vitality and optimism among all parties involved, while clearly communicating the reality of the situation. Here is distilled version of what we did:

Space

The contracted space was much bigger than we now needed and even though we released space back to the venue, they were unable to resell the space in time for our client to avoid penalties. We were able to help them negotiate a cost break due to the overwhelming issues the economy has created, and the loyalty our client has shown to the venue. However, we still had a lot of space. Since perception is everything, we knew we had to visually make the space look full, so we altered the layout of the exhibit hall by dropping airwalls where possible and putting in a large physical "staging area" to reduce width. We also widened aisles, added lounge spaces in open booth areas, and added cocktail rounds to break up the visual openness.

Exhibit Income:

With fewer exhibitors, the budget was slashed for decoration and food and beverage. To help on very little budget, we added background music to provide ambience (and reduce echo) and carefully placed spandex arches and walls with uplights to take the place of planned decoration. Because the elaborate food stations were not possible, we worked with our client to move toward passed hors d'oeuvres for less time and spaced the timing to make them stretch. The hosted bar was replaced by a cash bar.

Attendee Registrations:

We needed our exhibitors to realize fewer attendees wouldn't necessary impact the outcome of their participation. We created and emailed an exhibitors guideline "cheat sheet" before the event that provided a profile of the expected attendees along with tips on how to engage them. We covered items that indirectly addressed the lower attendee count, such as the ability to spend the time to learn their needs so the next steps could be closer to a decision. Quality over quantity became the theme.

In the next entry, we will discuss reaction from the client, exhibitors and attendees to the changes.

Need to tackle a problem with viable solutions? Contact karenm@meetcsi.com to learn how simple steps can make a big difference.

Where there's a will and creativity, there IS a way!

Believe it or not, not every conference is seeing big dips, but the reality remains that some are. What would you do if you realized your 500 booth show was barely cracking 200 and your attendance wasn't even keeping pace with your booth cut? You let out some screams, curse the economy and get on with it.

This is the first post showing how a CSI etc. client is dealing with the shift in numbers around their show and what they are doing to overcome it (with help from the friendly folks at CSI). Today we'll look at assessing and the next installment will cover the steps toward solutions.

Assessing

We keep hearing it: these are unprecedented times, consumers and businesses alike are afraid to spend, and this cycle is affecting everything. We can't be in denial, but we can properly cope to ensure our show isn't brought down in the spiral. When our client realized what was happening, they contacted us to assess the situation and discuss what could be done to turn the show around.

We assessed items that contribute to the financial impact of the show:

Space:
Our client had written the contract with the venue years before, as is often customary, and was responsible for the rental of a much larger space then they now needed.

Exhibit Income:
Exhibit income is down dramatically due to fewer exhibitors, which also impacts viability of show decoration and food and beverage to be served in the exhibit halls.

Attendee Registrations:
Fewer attendee registrations means less pull for exhibitors and fewer exhibitors draw lower numbers of attendees.

That is the reality. Find out in the next installment how we worked with the situation to create a realistic plan of attack.

Have an issue you need to solve? Contact karenm@meetcsi.com to see how a difficult situation can be systematically analyzed to create positive outcomes.

Where does the time go?

Here at CSI etc. we work at lightning speeds to keep one step ahead of our client's needs. Sometimes this means the relevancy of a blog post changes before we can finish writing it. This is one such week. Stay tuned for an in-progress case study of how one client took at event from nearly bust to a qualified success...even if there were a few heart attack moments along the way!

Making the Most of Your Trade Show

Each minute on the trade show floor must yield results

For the organizer
When you plan your show, are you relying on what's worked in the past or simply "what you've always done"? This may not be enough. Examine the information you have about how your attendees view and use the exhibit time at your shows. Do they view it as a time to socially interact with each other and potential vendors? Do they use it as a time to hash out business ideas and work toward getting ideas and quotes out of vendors that they want returned in a detailed format post-show? Do they use it to get a broad overview of what the industry is offering and then narrow down appropriate exhibitors to speak to? Now think about your show format: when is the exhibit hall open, what kind of activities do you use to encourage interaction, should you reconfigure the space to accommodate different goals? Think outside the usual pipe and drape configuration...let us help!

For the exhibitor
How well prepared are you for the attendee's actual needs? Have you thought about why they visit your booth and how you can best serve those purposes? This is a rare, important opportunity to be face to face with many potential clients. Let them know their business matters right from the start by configuring your space, your messaging and your offers to their needs. If yours is a product or service that can benefit from demos, highlight that in your space. Rehearse quick case studies that may match your probable booth visitors so you can quickly show how you can help. You only have seconds to grab their attention and a few more to establish whether there is a benefit you can offer, so make the most of it.

For the attendee
This is one of the few times you have the opportunity to meet potential vendors face to face. They have invested considerable time and effort to make sure they are bringing you useful information that can help your business objectives and it's all there at your fingertips! Save time and effort by researching exhibitors you want to spend extra time with and make sure to seek them out. Allow yourself ample time to view vendors you may not be familiar with as they may have the perfect solution you didn't even know existed. Bring a notepad and jot observations and contact information so you can queue your memory post-show and ensure the exhibitors you visited met the deliverables you asked for or so you remember where to get more information.

Want to go beyond the pipe and drape? Contact karenm@meetcsi.com to learn how innovative trade show formats can add value and increase yield for the organizer, exhibitor and attendee.

Wings to Fly

Here at CSI we realize we are truly lucky to be able to live our lives to our full potential. We believe it is our privilege and duty to help others who would not otherwise have the chance. We choose to support Wings to Fly, a non-profit organization that promotes life long self-esteem in young women by providing coaching and resources to build the confidence to build a life they can be proud of living. CSI provides donations on behalf of our clients that help support scholarships for girls so they can experiences the Wings to Fly camps that provide the resources and coaching.

Give Karen a shout if you want to learn more: karenm@meetcsi.com!

Why Physical Trade Shows Matter

Presenting your product or service live and in person to a group of what amounts to pre-qualified prospects must be an integral part of your marketing mix. Certainly virtual shows have their place and any savvy marketer is using a combination of social networking along with more traditional marketing avenues such as banner ads and email marketing and even print ads and direct mail. However-there's just never been a better time to put the right people from your sales team in a communicative booth equipped with the right message to market face-to-face. You're cutting through the clutter of piles of mail and streams of email and the call that always seems to come when no one has time to talk. Simply put, at a trade show you are in front of prospects who have taken the time and made the investment to come to a conference to learn and are entering the trade show hall specifically to find ways they can improve their businesses. They want to hear from you and you can find out what their needs are and sell what makes sense. Do you want to be the resource that's not there?

At CSI etc. we help our clients organize trade shows that are cost efficient and remarkably effective. We also provide tools that help exhibitors maximize their experience. Success for all. 800.471.7330.

We are Rock Stars!

We're excited to announce our very own Karen May's golf committee has won Committee of the Year from the Arizona Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. Karen chaired the committee with Bill Mesa from OB Sports. We thank everyone who voted for us!!

We're ready to make sure your next Trade Show reaches rock star status too...contact Karen and see what we can do!

CSI etc. Plants a Forest for You!

Did you know that as part of CSI's "Make Your Tradeshow Green" program, for every booth you contract with us to set up at your Trade Show, we will plant one tree in your company’s name through the National Forest Foundation’s tree-planting program. So have 500 booths, then you'll have 500 trees in your name. We can build a forest together. Let's even turn it into a tradeshow contest: "name the tree," "gather the most leaves," etc. We can go on and on.

Now what will YOU name them?? Mr. Green, Ms. Oxygen, Barky...ok, ok, we'll stop now. Let's get to planting some trees and the seeds of some great business at your tradeshow!

EVERYONE at Conference Services International gets wrapped up in our work

Meet Beauregard McGregor May "Mac". You see, we at CSI are very dedicated to our work. You could even say we get all wrapped up in it. Mac takes it slightly more literally than the rest of us, but our dedication is the same!

Want to know how us humans over here respond when our clients need something on the double? Instead of running around and getting tied up in knots, we act. When a client recently wanted to change their header graphic to their entrance unit late at night after set up was complete and hours before their show was to open, our in-house sign shop made it happen (we didn't even let them see us sweat as we switched out the header with attendees almost in sight!)

At CSI, we just get it done - no drama, no sweat, and sometimes just a bit of ribbon : )

MPI Golf Outing a Success!

All of us at CSI want to thank the great participation in the Meeting Professionals International Sunbelt Chapter Annual Golf Classic. Over 100 golfers and great sponsors provided the support that will help allow AZMPI to continue to serve our community, and CSI was proud to be a sponsor, raffle donor, and active in the planning and organizing of the event.

Wow-we were lucky to get cooler weather, slightly overcast skies and, well, perhaps just a tad too much wind (not that it stopped our game-oh no!!)

What's more, we were able to raise some great funds for Wings To Fly 2020 through a spectacular Maui Jim sunglass special! We thank our friends at Maui Jim sunglasses for working with us to help fund a great cause.

It's fun for us to work on projects that support charities in need and the organizations that support our industry's vital programs. Enjoy the great photos of our team from the event (thanks Valerie Linker from Razmataz Entertainment!).

Let us know if you want us to create some fun for your next conference!

You have 6 seconds - meet the Traffic Stoppers

Return-on-investment for tradeshows must now be more immediate than ever. In previous economies, the return cycle allowed for the benefits of brand recognition and pipeline business, but now companies want their show reps to return with leads they can start to work immediately. Accordingly, people who are visiting trade shows are expected to return with resources that can help their businesses start to generate revenue.

In the vast sea of booths, how can the right prospect find the right resource? Well, you typically have 6 seconds to convince the passerby that you are the company they need to stop and investigate, so visuals are everything. In 6 seconds you must grab their attention (enter the splash), deliver just enough information that lets them know you have products or services that they need (real information that cuts to the chase), and provide an inviting entrance to come and talk (let the splash move aside for the real communication to begin).

Want to learn how we can take you from 0 to 60 in 6 seconds or less? Contact Karen May today 602.923.0011.

Hole in One

Mark your calendars: May 20, 2009 is Meeting Professional's International Golf Tournament

CSI cares about MPI and our meetings industry friends so we've committed to support the AZMPI Annual Golf Tournament in lots of fun ways! OK, OK, they are not all fun (making all the phone calls to promote the event, procure sponsorship, paperwork), but they are all necessary and it's our mission to help our community. What's fun? Cigar cutters and lighters (perfectly relaxing after a 100 degree Arizona day of golf), donating 15 raffle prizes (yessir-all helps raise important funds), donating items for the ditty bags, providing Maui Jim Sunglasses at our sponsored hole (!!), and working the whole event.

We want everyone to come, have fun and raise some funds for the meetings industry!

Welcome, Sit Down and Enjoy the Show!

Welcome to CSI’s new blog! Here we’re going to share some trade show advice, interesting stories and let you know a little more about who makes up CSI. We warn you-it might get a little wacky, but that’s what this forum is for: to communicate informally to our clients and friends and have fun while we do it. We love what we do and we want to show you why!

For this first post we’d like to introduce you to our newest addition, industry veteran and all around conference service queen, Karen May. As Vice President Sales & Marketing, Karen helps CSI using her endless list of resources for the amplified demand for trade show and exposition companies in Arizona and throughout the country. Karen's really seen and done it all, running shows from 10-10,000 attendees, but she remains an innovator who challenges herself and her team to do the next event better.

In her spare time (what is spare time?) she has fun with her pets and runs events for charitable organizations including 2006 New Times “Best of Phoenix” A’ Fare to benefit March of Dimes, JDRF, Hemophilia Salsa Challenge, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, The Children’s Angel Foundation. Karen is also the co-founder of “Comedy 4 Canines”, a fundraiser benefiting animal rescue in Arizona.

Say hi to Karen: karenm@meetcsi.com