Attendees at trade shows are looking to network and learn about something new. Pictured: The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Total Store Expo Exhibit Hall. © 2023 Zilz Productions / Photo Courtesy of Jim Whitman / National Association of Chain Drug Stores

What used to work at trade shows 50 years ago vastly differs from today’s sophisticated, less-cluttered ones packed with modern, experiential exhibits, immersive technology and experience-driven shows powered by attendees’ expectations.

The average trade show event design genuinely enhances connectivity — getting attendees to experience valuable resources and engage with peers, strategic partners, sponsors and speakers.

For trade show event designers, the idea is to incorporate memorable keynote speakers, secure interactive technological experiences that “wow” attendees, establish networking “hot spots” throughout the trade show, and ensure a wealth of different vendors that showcase their innovations and products in unique ways.

Robyn Duda is an award-winning event strategist, experienced designer and thought-leader who has created event strategies, including trade shows, for some of the most recognized brands in the world, including Coca-Cola, Spotify, Visa and IBM. Known for creating bold changes, her work inspires, innovates and harnesses growth for her clients.

“Unique, relevant and valuable experiences capture people’s time, money and attention. Whether we like it or not, all events are held to that standard, even trade shows,” says Duda, who is now the co-founder and managing director of RacquetX, the inaugural all-racquet sports conference that was just held at the Miami Beach Convention Center. “The trade shows that are evolving focus on the experience. By experience, I mean the entire journey from discovery to ticketing, to navigation to cool moments they can engage with. Attendees want to keep it simple: discover new things; easily connect with peers, ideas and businesses; and be surprised and delighted. More unique sponsorship opportunities, that make sense, help drive that experience.”

Prior to her entrepreneurial adventures, Duda was an executive at event giant UBM (now Informa). Seatrade Cruise Global, the largest cruise shipping event in the world, was part of that portfolio and she was given the task of moving the trade show event from Miami to Fort Lauderdale for three years while the MBCC was under construction.

“Sounds easy; however, the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center was significantly smaller, yet we were expected to continue growing,” Duda says. “We were able to get creative with sponsorship offerings and the experience — like an emergency slide sponsor set up on the third floor of the lobby, sending people down for the keynote.”

According to Lynn Edwards, vice president of events at EVO 3 Events and owner and meeting planner for Proper Planning, today’s trade show attendees are looking for valuable resources. They want to make connections with strategic partners that can assist them in saving time, money and offering state-of-the art solutions.

With that in mind, she says planners “need to engage their staff in leveraging the experience of one-to-one meetings. Their displays need to communicate the vendors’ products or services clearly and quickly on a trade show floor,” Edwards says.

Indeed, when it comes to trade show booth design, many marketers are looking for the next “big thing” and one that leaves a lasting impression. Virtual reality fits that bill.

Virtual-reality-type experiences at trade shows can run the gamut, from virtual walk-throughs to virtual demonstrations, to head-mounted technology that heightens the way attendees experience video. Additional trends that resonate with trade show attendees include lounges and meeting spaces. Having a comfortable place to meet and relax is important for most attendees. They can have a conversation, make a phone call, check email, all while being surrounded by vendor booths.

With any trade show booth, creating a connection with attendees is paramount. For planners, incorporating interactive elements within trade show design is key.

At a recent trade show, Edwards incorporated non-vendor activities such as a tech booth, new headshot photos, best-of-class innovation awards, etc. to help drive traffic.

“Offering attendees resources and learning opportunities inside the show floor makes it a draw to visit this partner area,” Edwards says. “Planners need to work with the vendors to ensure they are getting their marketing goals met with what you are creating. Ask them what they want in the show.”

Through her experience, Duda says it is vital that when meeting professionals are planning a tradeshow, they know their audience. Ask registrants why they are coming. Get to know them. Design for them. Push the norm. Do it differently if you need to. The closer you are to your audience, the better you can design moments for them. Live demos can act as a means to create a notable interaction within trade show spaces. Determining what type of interaction aligns best with the trade show’s objectives is the first step before a meeting planner can decide on how to incorporate it into the trade show design.

And remember that meeting planners cannot control everything in events even though they want to; however, not thinking through the uncontrollable variables as it relates to trade shows is deadly.

“There will always be variables planners can’t mitigate. You need to try to understand what they might be and plan accordingly,” Duda says. “It takes three positives to counterbalance every negative. It’s important to run through how the trade show attendee and sponsor consume your event and look for those potential negative moments. I do this by hosting a vulnerability mapping workshop and pre-mortem before every event.”

Peter Sarno, event director at Trans-World Events, runs the organization’s sustainability portfolio including Sustainable Industry Week and the E-Waste, Battery & Metal Recycling Expo. He has experience orchestrating trade shows in both the U.S. and in Europe and with a strong talent for identifying future technology trends, Sarno is responsible for ensuring that the company delivers industry leading conferences and exhibitions. From his experience, Sarno says trade shows are constantly evolving to meet the changing demands of attendees. He notes that there is a growing demand for increased interactive opportunities, and pre-event meeting planners are becoming more common at fairs.

“Attendees usually prefer to spend a day or two at a trade fair, specifically choosing one that is highly focused on their role rather than just their industry,” Sarno says.

In his experience, Sarno has faced many challenges as it comes to planning trade shows, most of which have come from launching new ideas.

“The biggest challenge is communicating what the fair is about and why we are running it,” Sarno says. “Creating a new concept and making it become an industry leading event takes a lot of research and hundreds of conversations with industry professionals.”

Sarno has launched and run E-Waste World, Battery & Metal Recycling Expo, an event with three co-located titles. He says that achieving success with this show has been a challenging learning process, particularly as they introduced E-Waste World just before the onset of the recent pandemic.

“The show’s success can be attributed to our recognition of the industry’s growing demand for recycling in the electronics and batteries sectors in recent years,” Sarno says. “The key to its success has been the creation of targeted event brands and strategically co-locating events with significant crossover.”

According to Jim Whitman, senior vice president of member programs and services at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), notes that since the COVID-19 pandemic, trade shows have greatly evolved. The pandemic underscored just how valuable in-person meetings are compared to virtual trade shows.

“Nothing beats the hands-on experience and one-on-on relationships that are forged at in-person shows,” Whitman says. At the same time, post-pandemic, there are even greater demands from companies, who are looking for a strong return on investment. As Whitman explains, attendees are looking for well-run shows, for meaningful experiences, for interaction, for growth, for networking, for opportunities. It is important to keep up with evolving needs and demands – and to have programming that caters to the demographic that is attending.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) hosts two trade shows: the NACDS Annual Meeting and the NACDS Total Store Expo. The annual meeting is a top-to-top conference for industry executives. The expo is a traditional trade show. Each of the two conferences is geared to a specific and identifiable audience — each with different goals and objectives. NACDS strives to meet the interests and the needs of the entire industry between the two meetings, catering to both NACDS-member retailers and NACDS-member suppliers.

“In the pharmacy industry, health and wellness has different meaning depending on who you are talking to,” Whitman notes. “Attendees need to feel that they are achieving their own goals and objectives when they choose to attend.”

One of the biggest challenges that Whitman is seeing as it relates to trade shows is that companies have fewer dollars to spend and need to budget. Therefore, planners need to ensure that their shows are part of that dollar spend.

“It is also important for planners to be sensitive to their own budgets. The cost to produce trade shows has gone up and that means decisions need to be made,” Whitman says. “Planners may not be able to do everything they envisioned. They have to make smart choices about what the show will include.”

Event planners need to be more thorough than ever before. They should start earlier and look at alternatives. As Whitman points out, what planners did the year prior — even six months ago — may not be the most effective approach tomorrow. That’s why it is essential to understand who is attending the trade show and what are the emerging technologies that can take the event to the next level. It is critical to communicate with attendees from beginning to end, and even after.

The Future of Trade Shows

Through the decades, trade shows have certainly evolved. And this evolution is expected to continue far into the future as attendees’ interests change, technology advances and the way trade shows are executed evolves.

“One of the key mistakes today’s meeting planners make is doing trade shows as we have always done them. That model no longer works for the attendees and the vendors,” Edwards says. “Future trade shows will include more experiences and engaging, interactive displays.”

Duda believes there is a clear place for trade shows and that they can bring real value to an industry when executed in a meaningful way. She says the meetings industry is going to see smaller footprints in many industries where building branded meeting space isn’t necessary.

“Brands will want more, turnkey sponsorship options to engage attendees,” Duda says. “Content will need to be unique and valuable since we can stream anything, anytime, anywhere. If we embrace this, we control more of the experience which can be great for our event brand growth.”

Sarno believes trade shows will continue to evolve in the same way by trying to cater to the demand for convenient and efficient relationship-building opportunities.

“Trade shows are increasingly adopting interactive elements, but the most significant takeaway from recent years is that individuals still desire to attend these events in person and engage face to face,” Sarno says. “This is promising news for the industry.”

Whitman agrees that trade shows have a bright future. He thinks that technology will inevitably play a huge role in this planning, and that is not limited to AI.

“There will continue to be a place for trade shows of all types, formats and sizes. And it will be important to maximize attendees’ time; to make the shows more effective and concise and efficient,” Whitman says. For those that have been in the trade show planning industry for years, fight the urge to think that because you have been doing this for a long time you can’t learn some new techniques or tools or freshen up your approach.

“Most critically, it is essential to identify where the industry is going — and how to incorporate that future into your show,” Whitman says. “Trade shows are a conduit for the future. This is where opportunities are presented, and the greatest ideas are formed.” | AC&F |