What I learned from the World’s Softest Robe and other observations of the decline of the U.S. banking tradeshow
No more Beach Boys singing on Miami Beach or B.B. King at the New Orleans House of Blues. Gone are the lavious corporate parties with glowing ice cubes in the cocktails and endless hospitality.
Bad sign #1 – when vendors say, “What traffic I am getting is good…I just wish there was a lot more of it.”
The U.S. banking tradeshow industry has been on a downward decline since 2001. I have only attended one show since, whereby vendors have been excited to be there.
We are seeing fewer attendees (potential buyers), fewer exhibitors, increasingly modest sponsorships and smaller booths. More vendors are trading in their exhibitor applications for attendee badges.
As a vendor, the return on your tradeshow investment is how well you use your time. Are you using every breakfast, lunch, cocktail hour and dinner for achieving your objectives? Are you walking the halls for potential partnerships and garnering industry intelligence?
Can’t attend all the sessions? Get copies of presentations you cannot attend.
Often what pushes the ROI into positive territory is your ability to advance your mission with the sponsoring association, analysts and media. Generate good will with the association – learn how you and your company can have a more mutually beneficial relationship. Visit with media if you have something important to share (most reporters are extremely busy at shows, so they need to know you have something they can use). And finally, meet with analyst to who are influential within your area of financial services.
Bad sign #2 -- when vendors talk to other vendors to make the time go by faster.
I’m seeing a trend in the value of vendor user conferences, which in general, appear to provide more quality access buyers, enable you to have a bigger impact with your booth and better treatment from the host.
Recently, my friend and co-worker, Kelly Williams, and I had 30 minutes to decide on our booth giveaway – and we had to buy in within the cavernous Opryland Hotel in Nashville. While visiting the gift shop of the spa, we settled on a robe. The robe’s tag read, “World’s Softest Robe.” We picked a gender-neutral color and we were on our way. We made a sign that read, “Win the World’s Softest Robe,” and placed it on top of our display table. The hall doors flew open and we were mobbed. People had to touch the robe to see if it was in fact the world’s softest. Business cards were excitedly thrown into the card bowl -- it was amazing.
There were a couple of “takeaways” from the robe giveaway, but the most important one is that you need to give attendees a reason to stop by (a well-designed booth or large logo rarely does it alone). While the robe may have limited appeal based on the show, find out what your compelling reason is for the attendee to stop by.
Bad sign #3 -- when vendors swap Tsatske (sounds like chotch-keys) with each other for the kids.
Tradeshows offer a unique opportunity for the financial services community to gather. Using your time and planning ahead will make the difference between “waste of time” and “time well spent.”