A successful trade show has to work for three distinct stakeholders: exhibitors, show management, and attendees. If just one of these legs of the stool deteriorates, the whole event becomes unstable. After exhibiting at one of my company's shows in 2013, I noticed a distinct and worrying wobble.

As a convention manager at Medtronic plc, one of the world's largest medical-technology companies, I oversee the company's cardiac, vascular, and diabetes groups' exhibits. A couple months after a particular expo, I received all of our invoices and realized we had a problem – an expensive problem. The actual charges exceeded my show budget by 33 percent. Medtronic had been attending this show for years, and nothing of this scope had happened before. After analyzing my expenses, I determined that the major culprits were material handling and labor fees, and contributing factors included the location of the show itself as well as the show's schedule.

What was the solution? Reducing our footprint would just provide a vacuum for competitors to fill. On top of that, this show's attendees are a critical audience for our business, and we wanted to provide them with best possible in-booth experience.

Based on my data, I was certain other exhibitors were experiencing budget surprises as well. We'd also noticed a continuing decline in attendance, indicating that other legs of the stool were suffering. I decided to address our concerns with show organizers and discuss solutions that would benefit all stakeholders. As a result, they incorporated several tactics that resulted in a triple-win situation for all. To help you effect change in a similar manner, here's an explanation about how I approached the problem and worked with show reps to revamp and rehabilitate an event that was in decline, along with some been-there, done-that advice.

1. Identify the Problem
As soon as I realized I had a budgeting catastrophe, I worked to identify the sources of the dilemma. Without data to support my hunch, I couldn't expect show-management reps to take my claims seriously. And why should they? I went back through my budget line by line and compared it to past costs to determine where my unexpected expenditures came from. Right away, two issues were glaringly obvious. First, the total cost for material handling was 127 percent more than the year prior. I had already factored in an increase because I was aware that the show was moving from a tier-two city to a tier-one city, but I couldn't anticipate the costs would increase 80 to 120 percent from the prior year. Second, the labor rates had also skyrocketed by 59 percent, resulting in significant overage in installation and dismantle fees. Finally, nearly 100 percent of the material handling was billed at overtime rates, as was more than 50 percent of I&D labor.

My next step was to connect my issues to specific elements of the convention. Perhaps I wasn't the only one facing these obstacles – in which case this would be a great opportunity to have a discussion with my association contact and advocate for change.

The Bottom Line: Keeping comprehensive, organized budgets for all your shows is critical to determining the cause of any unanticipated expenditures. We have years' worth of data that allows us to compare expenses from year to year and show to show. Whenever we notice irregularities that we cannot explain at first glance, we run show comparisons across locations and years. Without having these detailed budgets readily available to cross reference, confidently evaluating any variations would be next to impossible.





2. Determine the Cause
Once I had identified the key budget breakers, I needed to determine their root causes. Were the anomalies inescapable, or was the fault a matter of negligence on my part? I had to ensure I had a clear understanding of the situation before I approached the association with my concerns, so I started with a bird's-eye view of the annual conference and its history. One pattern I noticed was that it frequently took place in tier-one cities, meaning rates for show services were typically high. Likewise, the premium locations meant a host of additional elevated expenses such as hotels, food, etc. On top of these already inflated costs, the show's exhibit days ran from Wednesday through Friday. Because of this, Medtronic's booth setup began on Sunday – including the unloading of our freight – and the entirety of the dismantle took place on the weekend. This meant that the lion's share of our labor and material-handling services was completed on overtime. The location, exclusive show service rates, and schedule were under show management's purview, not mine, but all three factors were directly impacting my budget. Just as important, I knew the pinch Medtronic was experiencing wasn't ours alone; it was likely felt by most, if not all, of the show's large exhibitors.
The Bottom Line: Before approaching show management, make sure you've done your due diligence to understand the cause and consider the bigger picture. Providing data to support your claims is essential to success. Remain calm and rational when providing feedback. It's easy to get frustrated, especially when budgets are involved, but addressing show reps by seeking to understand their position can help ensure they're receptive to your concerns.



3. Consider Possible Solutions and Craft Your Story
Having identified the problems and collected the supporting data, I was two-thirds of the way to building a strong case. The next step was to provide the association with viable solutions, and I came up with two. First, I felt that moving the show solely to tier-two cities would result in lower rates for exclusive services, which would benefit all exhibitors. Since average rates can differ anywhere between 10 and 60 percent from city to city, remaining in tier-two locales would lessen that variance.

The second solution involved altering the show schedule. Shifting the exhibition days from midweek to a weekend would allow exhibitors to conduct setup during the regular workweek, saving us about 30 percent on labor and material handling by avoiding costly overtime rates.

But before talking with show management, I needed to craft my story. In developing my sales pitch, I decided to frame it as a solution that served exhibitors as a whole, using Medtronic's experience as a case study. After all, I wouldn't expect show management to upend the entire convention just to suit my program. But if I made a compelling case that changing locations and the show dates would benefit the majority of exhibitors, I knew management would be more likely to consider my pitch. My plan was to schedule an informal conversation and develop a presentation that would support my claims and provide clear visuals to help impart the data.

The Bottom Line: Everyone knows people who are willing to voice their complaints, but I bet you know fewer who are prepared to offer solutions. Your associations and show organizers will be far more willing to consider your concerns if you provide realistic alternatives. Plus, it's important to focus your efforts on the most critical issues. If you're anything like me, you can probably come up with a multitude of problems and solutions for every single show you attend. Prioritize your concerns and present only those few that have a significant impact on your objectives. Additionally, developing a persuasive story is central to face-to-face marketing, and that's essentially what I needed to do before I met with the association.



4. Talk to the Right People
After I gathered all the information and honed my presentation, I had to get it in front of the right people. In this case, that was the association's then-new director of meeting services. I could have pitched my case via phone calls or emails, but a small in-person group meeting was my ideal avenue – after all, I work in face-to-face marketing. Medtronic is a member of the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association (HCEA), as was this particular association. HCEA's annual conference was coming up in the summer of 2014, and my director, Sue Huff, set a meeting for all of us to sit down and address some show concerns. This new association director was eager to hear our feedback, so we set aside an hour to chat.

The arrangement worked better than I had hoped. It turned out that the association's chief finance officer was also in attendance. I'm a numbers person, so having someone equally enamored with data on the other side of the conversation was incredibly beneficial because we spoke the same language. During our meeting, I was transparent about our costs and the strain it was putting on our show presence. I stressed how important the show was to us but that I was concerned if the current trends continued, we would be forced to reduce our presence. I didn't frame that as a threat – it was just a financial reality for us, and likely for other exhibitors as well. Ideally, I explained, there were a handful of viable solutions, such as relocating future shows and adjusting the show pattern, which would be mutually beneficial.

The Bottom Line: It's not always easy to know whom to speak to, but do your homework and target the influencers and decision-makers in the organization. Really, it's no different than exhibiting. When you're qualifying leads, you want to know if the visitors have the authority to influence decisions. Those are the people you want to talk to. For us, meeting with both the show's director of meeting services and the CFO proved essential for advancing our cause.



5. Ask Questions
During the meeting, I also probed the association contacts about the attendee experience. As I mentioned before, we'd perceived a decline in show attendance in recent years. I wanted to know if they saw a similar trend, and if so, whether our solutions might also benefit attendees. As luck would have it, the new director recently audited the event and noticed that attendance decreased by 22 percent since 2009. Plus, management was looking at ways to make the event more appealing to showgoers. Most important to our case, he explained that surveyed attendees revealed they were paying their own way to the show and using vacation days to attend.

I suggested that our proposals of relocating to tier-two cities and altering the show dates would then benefit both exhibitors and attendees. Tier-two locations would ensure less money came out of attendees' own pockets as accommodation, travel, and food costs would generally be lower. Additionally, shifting the show's schedule so it took place over the weekend would mean that attendees would have fewer days away from the office and require them to use less vacation time. The association's director of meeting services agreed. He was also looking to boost attendance by issuing other changes as well, such as lowering registration fees and increasing the number of education sessions. We all walked away from the meeting thinking we'd hit the trifecta with a win-win-win solution that could revitalize the show for all three stakeholders.

The Bottom Line: Remember, both show management and attendees have needs of their own that won't always align with yours. So ask questions about how the other stakeholders in the trade show ecosystem are faring. By doing so, I found additional information to bolster my case. And while you may not always be so lucky, asking questions will help you understand the situation from other perspectives. If you find that attendees and show management are doing great and it's only your program that is suffering, you may have to readjust your aims. However, in my experience, all three stakeholders are usually interdependent, and if one isn't doing well, it's likely the others are not either.



5. Be Patient
We didn't leave the meeting with anything set in stone, but I was optimistic that our message was well-received and change was on the horizon. The director of meeting services and the CFO were supportive of our concerns and clearly considering our solutions. Like us, they wanted the show to rebound and were open to exploring avenues that could benefit all stake-holders. However, they still had to convince the association's board before changes could be made, and that was going to take time. In the meanwhile, the director followed up with other exhibitors and continued assessing the impact of the show on attendees. Later that year, the director presented his findings to the board, shared our concerns, and offered some solutions. Ultimately, board members decided to revamp the show.

Again, though, it didn't happen overnight. The 2014 event had to go ahead as scheduled, but in 2016 the show dates shifted to run from Friday through Sunday, which made it more cost effective for attendees and exhibitors alike. Show management later surveyed exhibitors and found that overtime labor declined from an average of 17 hours to three hours, which amounted to significant savings.

Due to standing contracts with a number of venues, it took longer to settle into a fixed pattern of tier-two locations. Nevertheless, in 2018 the show began rotating between Baltimore, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix – cities that had, dare I say, reasonable show service rates. What's more, the set rotation had the additional benefit of allowing exhibitors to better predict expenditures that are specific to particular venues and cities.

The Bottom Line: Shows are like large ships in that they take time to change direction. So if you're asking for significant changes, as we were, it might take several years before all of them can be enacted. On the other hand, if your show concerns are less dramatic than ours were – e.g., asking for the show floor to remain open for two more hours or certain high-profile events or presentations to not take place during prime exhibiting times – then you might very well see changes made at the event's next iteration.

Sturdy Legs
In the end, the changes to the event resulted in our ability to maintain the show presence we wanted, which meant we were able to continue marketing our technologies and solutions to a key demographic. Some of these changes likely wouldn't have happened if I'd kept my thoughts to myself instead of sharing them with show management, which brings me to a couple key takeaways. One, if you don't raise your concerns with show management, reps won't be aware of problems that need to be addressed. So speak up. Two, nurture your relationships with show management. That's part of the culture within our team. We educate our team members and planners on the importance of maintaining relationships with their associations. We also encourage active participation in exhibitor advisory committees (EACs) or exhibitor forums that foster communication with show management. While I didn't take that route with this particular show, EACs are one of the best vehicles for getting your ideas out there. If the events you exhibit at don't have an EAC, they likely have some sort of large-group forum for exhibitors to share ideas. Those forums are less intimate than EACs and often don't allow for deep conversations into specific solutions, but they're a great starting point for figuring out if other exhibitors share some of your worries. If these options don't exist for the events you attend, ask show management to consider adding them.

Finally, too often there's a perception that show management is focused exclusively on revenue. And while that may be true for some events, in my experience show management is working to put together the best experience for everyone. However, it definitely has a delicate balancing act because exhibitors and attendees may not share all of the same objectives. Exhibitors want their booths packed with qualified prospects. Attendees want to be presented with informative, viable solutions to their problems. And show management wants to keep both exhibitors and attendees happy by producing a spectacular event. The one objective that all three stakeholders share, though, is the desire for a valuable face-to-face educational experience that is mutually beneficial for all.