Meeting News - September 21, 2009 - (Page 11)

effectively achieve our objectives.” Hoppe suggested companies also could modify exhibit plans by having smaller floor space, while allocating more resources toward the “value education that we are providing on the convention floor.” Two weeks after a show, attendance data are studied by Wyeth’s sales team to track the healthcare professionals they met and identify missed opportunities. The exhibit team also uses a Web-based program to have doctors become members of wyeth.com for updates of prod- ucts and services introduced or presented at a show. As Hoppe and the rest of the Wyeth events team work on plans for new drug launches and entry into international markets, they coordinate with the compliance department and local product managers and legal teams to ensure compliance with country, state and local regulations. They also build an experience around local culture. For example, some international shows require more of a social exhibit with a hospitality lounge environment. Hoppe manages about 50 of Wyeth’s 150 large events throughout the world with a department of 10 that includes four managers, two coordinators, a finance manager and a strategic director. The team sits within marketing operations. Smaller and internal meetings are managed by a separate meeting planning team. In January, New York-based pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer entered into a definitive merger agreement, in which the company would acquire Collegeville, Pa.- Wyeth’s Nancy Hoppe based Wyeth for $68 million. The companies are working through approval processes and expect the transaction to close before the end of the year, according to company documents. H card the physical events. “We weren’t really looking to replace what we are doing today with the live show because we still think there is a lot of value in the networking that takes place face-to-face between customer and vendor,” according to Tibbils. “The ability for them to look at and put their hands on it is still important to us and something we wanted to continue to do. It wasn’t, Let’s stop doing the road shows and change to virtual. It was, How can we combine these two things to bring greater value?” As ASI rolled out its virtual event product to potential attendees and exhibitors, the company used several communication channels. Within email blasts, Web site advertising, sales presentations and trade publication advertising, ASI included statistics on comparable virtual event metrics, such as the amount of time people spend attending and the average number of exhibitors. Tibbils also tailored communications to customers from cities that already had attendwww.meetingnews.com ed live events earlier in the year to include information about new exhibitors and education sessions they missed. The virtual platform also gives the marketing team better statistics and more meaningful attendee feedback, such as the products they purchased after learning about them at the show, the events they attended and ques- wasn’t, Let’s stop “It shows and changedoing the road to virtual. —Ken Tibbils, ASI vice president of marketing It was, How can we combine these two things to bring great value? ” tions that they asked. ASI also can replicate or provide new online exhibitor training sessions from such technology companies as Cisco Systems, Hitachi, Intel and Microsoft. Six to nine companies host education sessions at each show. “We are not just a distributor,” Tibbils said. “We give them insight into what is happening in the market so that they can use these products to really grow their business. That education piece is something that we see as a differentiator for our company. Being able to figure out mechanisms that deliver that from a vendor side all the way to our customers is something that we are focused on.” On top of the six live and two virtual events, ASI also holds two two- to three-day internal strategic planning meetings annually with executives from the company’s 12 U.S. and 11 international branches. While a marketing staff of three, including Tibbils, oversees the meetings and events program, six people coordinate the physical events. In preparation for the virtual show, Tibbils’ team worked with exhibitors to get their information uploaded correctly, hosted training sessions on controlling their booth and attendee interaction and provided guidance on booth development and labeling in the online environment. “You don’t want it to be like a Web site,” he said. H September 21, 2009 MeetingNews 11 http://www.wyeth.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - September 21, 2009

Meeting News - September 21, 2009

Contents
Pricing Forecast
Newsmaker
Meetings Spotlight
Event Profile

Meeting News - September 21, 2009

Meeting News - September 21, 2009 -

Meeting News - September 21, 2009

(Page Cover1)
Meeting News - September 21, 2009 -

Meeting News - September 21, 2009