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Event App Research

63% of planners are currently using mobile apps at events.

Meeting Planners International (MPI) and DoubleDutch teamed up to conduct a study on the adoption of mobile technology at events.

The full report covers the data included in a survey of event professionals, answers questions around why some planners don't adopt mobile, and exposes the value that users and non-users alike can gain from deeper use of event apps.
http://info.doubledutch.me/content-mpi-event-app-research-report.html

How to Boost Traffic at Your Trade Show Booth

Want to stand out? Plan ahead and skip the tchotchkes and gimmicks.

Clowns, costumes, caricaturists: they're staples of nearly every trade show, attempting to bring an audience to an otherwise lackluster booth. And don't forget the beguiling ladies, handing out fliers with a side of flirtation. Does any of the showiness of the showroom floor actually work to draw in attendees that become reliable leads?

"Don't get me started on booth babes," said Susan Friedmann, an industry consultant who goes by "The Tradeshow Coach." "People really have had to get more serious about exhibiting. When you're investing often several hundred thousand dollars going to a trade show, you have to get a return on your investment."

Whether your desired outcome is to fill a spreadsheet with sales leads, generate buzz for a new product, or just increase brand awareness, relying on random booth traffic isn't usually the wisest strategy, experts tell Inc. Plan early for not just creating an inventive and effective booth, but also for getting the right people to seek you out.

"A lot of show marketers leave it to the show organizer to drive traffic on the show floor," said Ruth P. Stevens, a consultant on business-to-business marketing and president of eMarketing Strategy. "You cannot cede responsibility to the show organizer to get all the traffic you want to get – you need to take aggressive action."

Drawing Traffic to Your Trade Show Booth: Plan Ahead

Trade show consultants and experts cite a statistic illustrative of the risk of leaving convention or show traffic to chance: Roughly 70 percent of show attendees plan a list of whom they're going to visit before ever entering the convention center doors. They say that number makes plain the power – and necessity – of pre-show outreach.

Stevens advocates taking a two-pronged approach. The first would be to contact your in-house file – that's your regular customers, local contacts, and solid prospects. The other? Registered attendees of the show. "Most organizers, if you are buying a booth, will give you access to this list," Stevens says. "You should conduct some outreach to them - or a segment of attendees that might be interested in you - either through direct mail, e-mail, or even phone."

While e-mailing a contact list is by far the most cost-effective way to spread information about an upcoming trade show or conference appearance, David Brull, the vice president of marketing and membership for the Trade Show Exhibitors Association, says snail mail not only still works, but might be the best means of communicating an upcoming event. "A postcard is pretty much the most effective – and odd sized is even better so that it doesn't just blend in and end up in the trash. I know one person that shaped theirs like a fish once, and that really brought people in."

While you're at it, make a substantial effort to contact and make appointments with your local clients, suppliers, or anyone you do business with in the geographic area of your show. It's a simple way to get face-time with folks you might not otherwise be able to sit down with – and a way to make sure you or your employees aren't wasting time standing around in an empty booth.

Drawing Traffic to Your Trade Show Booth: Offer an Incentive, But Be Selective

Getting a piece of mail into a potential client's hand isn't enough, though, Stevens says. They'll also need a solid reason to show up. If you have a new product launching – especially if there's at least an aspect of it that will be completely fresh to consumers – promote that.

"Or, if you don't have something new, you might want to make a special offer," Stevens says. "It might be a price promotion, or a show discount, or you might want to give them a special gift for coming by."

But, there's a big difference in having special gifts for the people you've contacted before the show and doing a random promotion to draw foot traffic into your booth, Friedmann says. "You have to give your target audience a reason to come and see you, based on your goals and objective," she says. "I'm not an advocate of just giving away an iPad or a camcorder, because you're not attracting someone in your target audience."

That's because the old put-your-business-card-in-a-fishbowl-and-win-a-prize ruse to generate leads has proven itself stale.

"Putting a bowl out and asking people to drop in a business card is a waste of energy," Stevens says. "The real way to generate good leads is to have a conversation and kick off a business relationship. You can rent cold names for 15 cents each, so why would you spend hundreds at a trade show to get cold names?"

And the value of pricey giveaways can be lost if your company doesn't get quality warm leads out of the very thing that's supposed to draw people to your booth.

"You have to know your attendees," Stevens says. "If there are going to be a lot of unqualified people, like students or spouses, know that. If it's going to be prowled by a lot of tchotchke grabbers, you might want to keep the gift under the table."

There are other ways to bond with your target audience at a trade show. Friedmann suggests hosting events away from the trade show floor, in more private conference rooms. Reserve space ahead of time, she suggests, and use it for special product demos that you might not want your competition to be privy to – but that you do want your best customers to see.

Another option is to speak on a panel. Talk early on with the conference or trade show's organizers about possible topics that you and your company are experts in – or even a niche of a current industry trend. Being in the middle of the debate or on the edge of innovation, explaining it as you go, is a great place to be. The bonus: You'll be sure to attract those most interested in your work. Offer them additional conversation, a free book, or something else useful, if they'll stop by your booth later.

Be sure to let your clients – and future customers – know where you are speaking and what special events your company is participating in over social media. Increasingly, conferences create their own Twitter hash-tag, so participants can communicate with one another from the showroom floor.

"Individual show exhibitors are using twitter too – saying, hey, I just sold my first widget, or I just attended a great talk," Stephens says. "A lot of them are gaining more attention for their booth by just tweeting around."

Drawing Traffic to Your Trade Show Booth: Be Aggressive, Not Abrasive

If you're debuting a product, and actually want a lot of general buzz and interest in your product and brand, the golden rule is: "If you have a product people can play with, make sure you can bring it," Brull says. "The whole point of face-to-face marketing is so people can touch and feel things."

For small companies with small booths, just remember that for every 10' by 10' booth you have, you have approximately four seconds to engage someone that's walking by. And distractions are aplenty: "The trade show environment is easy to get overwhelmed, it's easy to go into this zombified state and it's so easy to not be able to take anything in," Friedmann says.

Brull suggests to draw in people, create a clean, warm environment they can step into. "In some way, it's your retail store. You need to think of it as your home for a few days, and inviting people into your space should be pleasant," he says.

Having the right people in your booth can also make or break the quick impression your company makes on passers by. For the weekend, remember, the employees in your booth are your ambassadors. While Friedmann says they should never hawk to people from the aisles, they shouldn't be hidden behind a table. They should ask engaging questions off the bat to find out in a non-intrusive way whether the person stopping by is a potential customer or business partner – or just might be curious about your brand.

David Maskin makes a living drawing people into trade show booths. He creates personalized nameplates by bending aluminum wire as giveaways from the company who takes him on to sit in their booth. While Maskin – who goes by "The WireMan" – markets himself as a traffic magnet, he tries to go beyond collecting business cards and creating cold leads.

"The way I like to do things is to go beyond just drawing people into a booth. The big word free is one way to get people to come in. Others will come in just to see what I'm doing," Maskin says. "And when one person comes in, their colleagues come and stand around, which gives the booth staff time to come and mingle with the crowd."

Stevens says: "To me the most important thing to keep in mind is quality. It's really easy to waste a lot of money on a show – it's an expensive environment on a cost-per-contact basis. You want to make sure you're attracting and talking to people who are really likely to be buyers or influencers in your world."

Drawing Traffic to Your Trade Show Booth: Look Sharp

It's not just the shiny things inside your booth that can be a draw for attendees. The booth itself can attract visitors.

Aside from the open, warm, retail-style aesthetic Brull suggests, you'll want to make sure you don't box in too much of your space with tables or displays. "You don't want to block your door with a table," he says.

This year's Exhibitor magazine exhibit design awards hailed mostly booths that created a calm sanctuary in an otherwise chaotic exhibit atmosphere. And doing something that stands out doesn't have to be expensive. Autodesk Inc. won an exhibitor award for creating an 18-foot-high double archway or cardboard tubing that soared above its and custom-made walls and desks. The cost? Thirteen dollars per square foot.

"One of the most effective booths I've ever seen was a 10' by 20' booth with a back wall of boxes or all colors and shapes," Brull says. It was for a box-shipping company. "It was neat, and eye-catching, but it wasn't expensive."

That said, design options can be pretty restricted when you only have a 10' by 10' or 15' booth.

"The most important thing in booth design in a small booth – or any booth really – is the signage," Stevens says. "Assuming you've done your work in pre-show promotions, you want to attract the people who know you."

The way to attract them, Stevens says, is with a "benefit-oriented" sign. It should:

-       Be visible and legible from down an aisle on the showroom floor
-       Have words that give a potential client a good reason to stop.
-       Answer the question for a client: What's in it specifically for me?
-       Not use a lot of jargon, such as "exceptional interface."
-       Include a solution to a business problem.

Don't be afraid to be specific – turning off a segment of the trade show audience who isn't your target is just fine.

"If you're offering specific software for accountants, say so," Stevens says. "You do in fact want to repel unqualified prospects. The real value of show exhibiting is to develop valuable contacts with people you might do business with, and you only have x number of hours to do that."

Read the full article here on Inc.

4 Tips for Training Event Staff

When guests walk through the door to your event, it’s your event staffers who will ensure that they experience the event as you’ve planned and envisioned it. Are they up to the task? Help them offer flawless service with these four training best practices.

1. Role-play your event as a guest.

The difference between a good event and a great event is attention to detail. How should arriving VIPs or speakers be greeted and managed? Should pre-registrants be processed in a different line from on-site registrants? You know how to handle these “simple” situations instinctively, but don’t assume that your volunteers or local staff share your hard-learned skills. Role-playing, where you take on the persona of different types of guests, gives you an opportunity to show your volunteers how to properly attend to all of them.

And if you can, literally walk the venue as different guests would. Knowing, in detail, how they will flow through an event can help you prepare volunteers and station them where you predict confusion.

2. Prepare your staff for FAQs.

You’re an event planner. You know that there is no amount of signage or advance information that will prevent guests from asking questions. Prepare your volunteers or staff with a list of responses to frequently asked questions. These might include queries about food allergies, coat check, restrooms, the business center, or other issues. If necessary, coach them about how to handle a registered guest who brings unregistered friends to a limited-seating event.

For cases that can’t be anticipated or otherwise need your attention, make sure your staff knows how to get in touch with you. They don’t need to have all the answers, but they should be able to quickly find them. Confident staff will ensure a positive experience for every guest, even those who require special consideration.

3. Allow enough time for training.

Training an hour before an event leaves little time for staff to internalize your instructions. Consider holding a training session at least a few hours—if not days—prior to the event. Make it more appealing by offering free food or organizing an outing after. The more excited staff are about the event, the more enthusiastic they will be when helping your guests.

If prior training is impractical, consider printing a “cheat sheet” that briefly explains what’s required and covers any frequently asked questions. E-mail the checklist to volunteers before the event so they can look it over on their own.

4. Thank them, and then thank them again.

Have you ever worked for a boss that didn’t appreciate your efforts? Don’t be that boss. If you make your volunteers feel like they are a crucial part of the team, they are way more likely to adopt your goal of event success.

They represent you during the execution of the event and will be most effective if they’re happy to be there. Besides, a positive experience will make them more likely to volunteer at an event in the future and could save you the trouble of recruiting and re-teaching inexperienced staff.

Recognize your staff as your greatest support in the execution of the event and acknowledge them with thanks before, during, and after an event. They’ll show their gratitude with their performance.

Drew D’Agostino is CTO and cofounder of Attendware, online software that simplifies and automates event management processes. The company is backed by .406 Ventures and is headquartered in Boston, Mass. Prior to founding Attendware, D’Agostino served as a contracted CTO for several startup companies, was a member of the product team at Gemvara, and was director of business development at Jola Venture, a funded startup that launched a sustainable food-preservation technology in Cameroon, Africa.

Full article can be found on meetingsnet.com

AIBTM 2011 feedback

Dear Meetings industry professional

I've attended AIBTM 2011 in Baltimore and here comes my feedback.
Overall it was an interesting tradeshow with ups and downs (as usual). As the 2011 edition was the first of its kind I would like to congratulate the organizer for a well organized trade show. Of course the format and style was similar as EIBTM and other trade shows organized by the same group but with a very interesting co-seminar organized by PCMA it was nevertheless more interesting.

As a hosted buyer at AIBTM we were not allowed to attend PCMA seminars but as control was not existent I went into some seminars the first day and I liked it.

AIBTM 2011 offered a large variety of North- and South American suppliers and even some "rest of the world" suppliers. I had some very interesting and some less interesting meetings. And some meetings I had absolutely no interest in as I will not have any business for them...

I had to ask again and again to translate sft into sqm as I am not familiar with the US sizes. When will US companies start to realize the world doesn't stop at their boarder?

But for me the main question was: why Baltimore? This city doesn't offer much (nice said) for MICE organizers and the venue as well as hotels are discutable. In one hotel (which belongs to a well known chain) there was no electricity and no water in the guest rooms and in another one from another well known chain did the elevators not work and the guests had to carry their suitcase etc up to their room (which might have been on the 18th floor).

There was no drinking water available on the welcome reception so I had to take a glass and go to the toilette to get some...

Another wish from my side would be to allow us organizer to select the travel dates as many of us would have liked to extend our stay and do some more buisness in the US while being there already.

To summarize, AIBTM should go to another city, get some of the small issues corrected and go on with what could be the best US trade show organized by an European company

Keep Your Audience in Focus – 16 Resources for Effective Presentations

When going through all the effort to get in front of a crowd, you need to ensure that you communicate effectively. In the past decade, the majority of us have most likely had to sit through a bullet point infested presentation that completely failed to keep us engaged. Or worse, awake.

There are many aspects to giving a good presentation and being an engaging public speaker. The good news is that the web is full of good resources that can help us improve in these areas. By now, most presenters are aware that lots of text in your slides is a no-no and knowing your content is priceless. But even that isn’t enough.

Here are a list of resources list of resources that can help you take your talk to another level. Enjoy!

EIBTM - the 3rd kind of invitation

I love creative people, and I especially love them at Trade shows.

A couple of minutes ago I did receive a simple email with the subject "Meeting at EIBTM 2010" with a link to youtube and of course I was curious what it will be.

So here it is:



So he promises that he will let us know how to find him. Let's hope that the follow up is as good as this introduction.

Negotiating with hotels

I found an interesting document for associations on the ICCA website:

Ideas and advice for meeting planners to obtain a better understanding of the hotel business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions.

Most hotels have limited experience of dealing with associations, and are more familiar with corporate meetings and intermediary agencies, whose needs and buying behaviour can be very different from those of association planners. Many buyers in the association world have limited experience of negotiating with hotels, and do not clearly understand the business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions. Most guides on the subject of negotiating concern themselves with the corporate market. These three facts add up to the need for a simple guide to assist the international association buyer to speak the same “business language” as the hotel sales representative, and to obtain a fair deal that reflects the importance and value of their event.

More here:
Negotiating with hotels

What is the 7th Annual MICE Europe Congress in Dubrovnik, organized by NASEBA?

I have come across this event called "7th Annual MICE Europe Congress in Dubrovnik".

Do you know about it? I didn't. So let's have a closer look:

Looking at the video, I got some interesting thoughts about this event.
Look at the video and check out the following:

After 0:27 (Coffee Break?), I count 15 people
After 1:37 (Exhibition?), I see the table number 29 but this table is already empty. So let's assume there were 29 exhibitors (but where is exhibitor No 29?)
After 1:43 (Dinner?), I count 10 tabels with a total of 18 people
After 3:06 (Exhibiton?), are there two people from the same company talking to each other? At least the name boards suggest this. It must have been a great trade show. (Maybe the lady behind the Name Kerim is not "Kerim"? Is Kerim a man's name?)
After 3:34 (Dinner reception?), I count approx. 30 people

And so on. Did you attend this event? What is your feedback?

I wonder why Event organizers don't do a proper marketing campaign... And start to embraze the entire industry because only if we work together we will become stronger.

Cape Town

After Meetings Africa, I had the pleasure of going on the post conference trip to Cape town. The three days trip was organized by the Cape town Convention Bureau and the DMC was Kuoni DMC.

We did visit Table mountain, some great wine estates such as Asara and Simonsig, had a lovely Cape Malay cooking lesson with Cass Abrahams (loved it!) amongst many other great moments. What a beautiful place (if the weather is nice).

We had three great days with great weather, even better wine and food and some trully impressing moments all way long.

Meetings Africa

I've arrived yesterday morning in Johannesburg, after an excellen flight (in small seats...) with Swiss.

After 2 hours of waiting at the airport, we were brought to our hotel, The Radisson Johannesburg. The Hotel just opened last week, so many of my colleagues arriving after a long journey had to wait until their room was ready... (I was one of them).

I must admit, the guest rooms are really great. I have a standard room but the bed is one of the most confortable beds I've ever stayed in. The design of the room is very nice and practical (modern) as the target hotel guests are Business travellers.

This morning was the opening of the Conference. The key speaker was allright, but honestly only some nice words and pictures are not enough. But right after this keynote speaker came the absolut highlight (and not only for me):

Lebo (her full name is Lebogang Mashile). Above you see her picture.

Wow, her presentation was one of the most touching ones I have ever seen! I simplz can't describe the way she not only told us one of her poems, but also how she lived it at the very moment and celebrated every single word. Check out her poems.

The exhibition was a mixture nice surprises and boredom. As it was my first time in Africa I must admit, some ideas for Incentives and Meetings are extraordinary. And some other exhibitors still don't understand how to sell. In response to my question "Why should my client select your Hotel/DMC?" I've received astonishing answers, many of them are just to forget and a wast of time.

But over all, it was a great and instructive event where I had the chance to meet some very special people!

Thank you Meetings Africa, I hope to be back!

MICEpoint at EIBTM

We would like to thank you for all your visits to our booth during EIBTM.

Your feedback and ideas will be carefully reviewed, first RFP`s received during the show have already been answered and yes, the future is looking bright!

We are looking forward to welcoming you at IMEX in Frankfurt in 2009.

Christian W. Frei
and the MICEpoint Team

Listen to an Interview with Christian W. Frei

Recently, Mike McAllen of GrassShackRoad interviewed me for the Meetings Podcast. The title was “The Meeting Planners podcast source for what’s new and exciting in meetings and events industry!”

As I just returned from ITB Asia, surely I spoke about some new and exciting ventures in Asia. But listed to the podcast yourself here:
Meetings Podcast Interview

Enjoy!
Christian W. Frei

ITB Asia exceeds exhibitor and visitor targets

Exhibitor space selling out in just nine months.


After three years of meticulous planning and research, Messe Berlin launched the inaugural ITB Asia at Suntec Singapore, “comfortably exceeding our initial 500-exhibitor target,” said Messe Berlin CEO Mr. Raimund Hosch. The final count was 651 exhibiting companies and organizations from 58 countries and territories worldwide -a far cry from the 12 exhibitors who took part in the first ITB Berlin 42 years ago- with ITB Asia exhibitor space selling out in just nine months. The number of buyers was announced at 812 carefully-selected, hosted buyers. In addition, there are more than 1,000 trade visitors.

ITB Berlin, which is held annually in March, is the world’s leading international travel show, attracting some 11,000 exhibitors in 2008 from 186 countries and territories. Exhibitors at ITB Berlin this year utilized 160,000 square meters of floor space. ITB Berlin focuses primarily on the European and North American markets. Messe Berlin’s intention, in launching ITB Asia, was to take its trade show expertise, contacts, and technical skills and diversify its well-known brand into a completely new space.

Why Asia? “Because it has a track record of offering impressive economic growth rates,” said Mr. Hosch, “and it also offers a massive population, youthful demographics. and amazing cultural diversity.” Will it work? “All we know at this stage is that buyers and exhibitors have turned out in mass to attend ITB Asia. We have had virtually no cancellations attributed to the new economic crisis. This tells us that in good times or bad, the travel and tourism industry is committed and resilient. In fact, Messe Berlin believes that the global economic crisis has added impetus and importance to the first ITB Asia. We believe ITB Asia delegates correctly saw this week as their chance to come together from all corners of the industry to discuss proactive policies and plans for the recovery to come.”

Both Messe Berlin and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), its strategic partner in the new venture – “without whom we could never have hoped to achieve such fantastic support across the whole of Asia” – believe the staging of ITB Asia has proved timely. As the first international travel trade show in Asia to be held after the tumultuous events of the past couple of months, ITB Asia is being seen as a barometer of business confidence in the future of travel and tourism demand. The strategic partnership between Messe Berlin and STB covers a minimum of three years, but Messe Berlin fully expects it to continue in the long term, attracting strong growth in exhibitors and buyers/trade visitors year on year.

Whether or not ITB Asia will also be opened up to the public is yet to be decided. “This will depend on what our exhibitors want,” said Mr. Hosch.

Source: Travel Daily News.

First international tourism online & marketing conference in Sharm El-Sheikh

Recognizing the growing importance of online marketing, leading Middle East tourism organizations endorsed the

Electronic Union of Travel Industry (EUOTI) online marketing conference. Speakers represent leading companies such as Google and Microsoft, leading international universities, the UN World Tourism Organization and Canadian e-Tourism Council.

Dr. Bandar Bin Fahd Al-Faheed, President of the Arabic Tourism Organization (ATO) notes the ATO’s care about spreading the E-culture and teaching the E-Industry in Arab Countries and the Middle East. Consequently, the “ATO is sponsoring EUOTI’s International Conferences in the Middle East to support this booming international marketing platform.”

Similarly, Mr. Amr El-Ezaby, President of the Egyptian Tourism Authority “supports EUOTI in its international mission to train those who work in E-Travel and E-Tourism to enhance their performance and increase their sales through the Internet.” As Mr. Mohammad Almehaizae, EUOTI Chairman confirmed, “The union’s main mission is protecting and developing the E-travel industry and providing professional training to those working in the E-field to enhance their performance and increase their productivity.”

E-tourism is increasing even faster than E-commerce and should reach 55% of the E-Commerce Sector during 2008. The phenomenal growth in E-Tourism is due to the growing reliance on the Internet, e-mails, cell phones and recently, Web 2.0 applications such as TripAdvisor and Yahoo Travel, and meta-search engines such as Kayak or Sidestep. EUOTI’s International Online Tourism Conference, featuring industry and academic experts, gives Arab and Middle-Eastern operators the chance to learn and take advantage of the latest E-tourism trends.

EUOTI has organised the 15-19 December 2008 conference in conjunction with the world’s leading academic body dedicated to tourism and technology, the
International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism and tourism (IFITT). Conference attendees will benefit from a range of activities, tailored for both beginners and advanced online marketers, including workshops, panels and presentations.

EUOTI conference will be managed by the international organization of IFITT together with the collaboration of the Arab travel Organization and under the supervision of the League of Arab states and The Egyptian ministry of Tourism authorities.

EUOTI conference main objective is to create awareness, educate and update Travel industry producers and concerned people with the latest E-travel, E-marketing and E-commerce strategies to enable them to achieve best sales and profits with the minimum effort and human power, as recently proofed that around 52% of the world wide E-commerce is covered by the E-travel industry.

Conference Outlines and important Topics:

* Web Development
* Web Designing
* SEM
* SEO
* Online Sales Techniques
* Online Marketing technologies
* Mobile Marketing strategies
* Online Hotel Reservations systems appliance
* Video online Marketing
* Hotel & Restaurants E-Marketing
* Travel Companies business promoting
* Duplicating Investments aspects
* Broadening The Horizon of E-Travel business

EUOTI, herewith extend a sincere invitation to all Travel business concerned individuals, corporations and properties to attend its booming international conference event and to get an official certificate approved from the leading world wide travel organizations of attending this unique in the middle east event , which will take place 15-19/12/08 in
Sharm el-Sheikh – Egypt.




Source: Travel Daily News.

New Al Ain Convention Centre showcased in key South East Asian market

Picture shows Shaikh Sultan briefing Shaikh Tahnoun about the Dh3.5 billion Al Ain Convention Centre.


Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) participated in the 3rd MICE, Business & Incentive Travel Expo (ITE MICE), which was held from June 12 – 14, 2008, in Hong Kong; to showcase the recently launched Al Ain Convention Centre and district in the South East Asian market.

A team of ADNEC representatives attended the event, and also promoted the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre, Capital Gate, Capital Centre and the company’s recent acquisition of ExCeL London.

Simon Horgan, CEO of ADNEC, said: “Business tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, which is why events such as this are thriving. Our recent announcements about ExCeL London and the Al Ain Convention Centre, coupled with the on-going development of ADNEC and Capital Centre made this a good time for us to present our portfolio of world-class facilities to the key South East Asian market.”

Organised by TKS Exhibitions, ITE MICE Hong Kong has emerged as one of Asia’s top international travel fairs, welcoming industry players that include airlines; conference and exhibition venues; hotel groups; and MICE planners. This year`s attendance surpassed 2007’s 650 exhibitors, 11,655 corporate trade visitors, and 53,000 public visitors. Hong Kong served as the perfect backdrop for this premier travel and tourism event, as local residents make over 75 million trips annually.

How sexy is the MICE industry?

Lately I have been attending a trade fair somewhere in the wide world. It struck me like a flash: "How sexy is the MICE industry?". Looking at large scale trade fairs (not MICE!) all over the world, you will find plenty of beautiful people dressed up according to their marketing campaign representing their products or services. I know, we are doing the same but looking at the photo it still looks slightly different at another fair. We are a sexy industry with amazing products and services but when are we starting to show it?

This is not a question of cheap marketing but rather a question of being proud about what we are doing and making the most out of it.

What do you think? Write me a comment...

MICE conference calendar

The first ever conference and event calendar dedicated solely to the worldwide MICE industry is now available online on www.miceconferences.com.

Plenty of conferences, seminars, workshops and trade shows dedicated to the meetings industry are featured on this calendar. By clicking on an event title you will find further helpful details about the event including contact details of the organizer. Events and conferences listed include also those of MPI and SITE. To visit the MICE calendar simply go to www.miceconferences.com.

Comparing IMEX and EIBTM

MICEpoint has been an exhibitor at both, IMEX and EIBTM. They are (as far as I know) Europe's most important MICE trade shows. There are some other (smaller) very interesting trade shows (see the MICE conference calendar on miceconferences.com for more details) but I want to focus on the two largest ones.

Some facts:
EIBTM 2007:
7'218 visitors whereby 3'326 were Hosted Buyers and 3'892 were Trade visitors.
IMEX 2007:
8'310 visitors whereby 3'592 were Hosted Buyers and 4'718 were Trade visitors

Looking back now at EIBTM 2007 and IMEX 2008 (sorry, no figures available yet), I must admit that EIBTM had more qualified hosted buyers and trade visitors then IMEX. While during EIBTM, MICEpoint had 3 diaries fully booked and some times up to 5 people waiting for an appointment at our booth, at IMEX we had one (almost) fully booked diary and very few additional visitors passing by.

At IMEX 2008, about 30% of pre-scheduled appointments did not show up, while at EIBTM only 10% did not show up.

Quantity is one thing but Quality is more important to me. And also there I have to admit that EIBTM is two steps ahead of IMEX!

And if I am talking about trade shows and hosted buyers:
Dear IMEX and EIBTM, please stop bringing organizers who will arrange a conference in 2018 (or similar). I have listened several of these "organizers" who commented something likd "I will enjoy with my wife a nice trip to Barcelona/Frankfurt free of charge". These are not the organizers we want. Quality is more important then Quantity!

Still, MICEpoint will keep exhibiting at both trade shows for the coming year.

What is your opinion?

Thanks to IMEX for the photo!

Visit us at the 4th international MICE Forum in Moscow

The next chance to meet me at an international MICE trade show will be in March.

The 4th international MICE Forum will be held on March 18 at the T-Modul Exhibition Hall in Moscow, Tishinskaya sq., 1, building 1. See the map.

The Russian Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions business is growing. It is reported to be worth more than $.150 million per year and increasing fast with more than 3 million Russians traveling internationally on business trips. This is becoming one of the most dynamic sources of business travel in the world.

At the Moscow International MICE Forum you will have the opportunity to meet with most of the leading Russian MICE specialists and corporate travel buyers in a professional workshop environment.

So come and say hello to MICEpoint!