Meeting News - September 21, 2009 - (Page 40)

Dateline: Las Vegas continued from page 38 attendees ranged from the median of $30,000 to much higher than the $921,000 average. Eight percent spent more than one million dollars,” said Jan Goldsmith, executive director of research at Exhibit Surveys. A total of 83 percent of those who purchased or plan to purchase will do so from companies with which they had not conducted business prior to the NAB show. Half of all respondents either purchased or plan to purchase products seen at the NAB show in which they had little interest prior to attending. An important statistic derived from the survey is that 93 percent of all attendees have buying influence. Not only does NAB follow up with attendees, but with exhibitors, too. “A comprehensive email survey is sent out to all exhibitors that asks them everything from overall level of satisfaction, to satisfaction with specific aspects of the show, to interest in reaching certain target audience segments. This year’s response rate was about 20 percent, or 300 respondents. We, of course, also have our sales team follow up individually with every exhibitor after the show to solicit additional feedback,” said Brown. At the height of the economic boom, the show generated $68 billion in sales. With 2 million square feet of exhibit space located within a short distance of more than 100,000 guest rooms, the Las Vegas Convention Center is one of the few venues in the country that works for the NAB. Plus, the location is ideal, as a large number of the attendees come from the West Coast, said Brown. Though the results were not up to the $68 billion mark of the past, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was thrilled when NAB provided them with the numbers. “That economic activity was felt across the world because you have international attendees coming in who are purchasing goods and services from exhibitors,” said Chris Meyer, LVCVA’s vice president of convention sales. “That in itself is a game-changer when you talk about how these shows impact commerce. This was 40 MeetingNews September 21, 2009 just one of our trade shows; we have about 80 to 100 a year. It’s a validation for Las Vegas as a premier business place.” There are some who do not realize that actual business is conducted at trade shows, nor do they realize the amount of business that takes place, even though the format has existed for thousands of years. “If you think about it, it’s business in its purest form. Trade shows have been going on since the dawn of civilization,” Meyer said. vision networks and other major television and radio groups at the show, the association picked up their airfare, hotel accommodations and registration tabs. “This helped us lock in the key buyers that many of our exhibitors were trying to reach. In return, NAB asked the companies to hold their own business or board meetings in conjunction with the show. Several did, including all of the networks, which in turn helped attract even more top people,” Brown said. Two million square feet of exhibit space near 100,000 hotel rooms lured NAB back. “We’re just more sophisticated at executing them these days. In the Middle Ages, people went to marketplaces to trade hides, cloth and tools. They set up stands, exactly how modern trade shows do today. It’s a much more efficient way of doing commerce than making sales calls at a bunch of companies.” About 84,000 attendees were on hand at this year’s NAB show, a 20 percent drop from the 105,000 who attended last year. “We pulled out all the stops to increase attendance,” said Brown. “An objection we heard over and over again is, ‘We don’t have the money in the budget to attend this year.’” To get 150 key buyers from the four top teleAnother tactic employed by NAB to increase attendance was to lengthen the discount time for registration. They also worked closely with the LVCVA to extend its outreach. The LVCVA has an attendance promotion program in place that is available to all events with 1,000 rooms or more. There are 12 different options available, including sending out promotional postcards, hosting a press event, and promoting Las Vegas at a current trade show as an upcoming destination. The most popular, according to Meyer, is the call program it introduced about a year ago. A script is developed with a call center, and continued on page 42 www.meetingnews.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