Monday, August 3, 2009

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.