SHOW NEWS: Meeting With Customers Pleases Exhibitors Despite Lower Registration

John Wolz

�Good� was the most frequent word exhibitors used to describe the 7th annual National Industrial Show/West in Las Vegas. A sampling of exhibitors reported meeting with sufficient numbers of customers and heading home happy despite an 11.3% decrease in distributor registration.\
.�The show was good for us,� reported one North American fastener manufacturer. �Traffic was consistent. I had over a half dozen scheduled meetings throughout the event.�
�We had a great show. We thought that Wednesday would be a little slow, so we scheduled detailed demos and we ended up being busy the whole time.�
�This was our third consecutive NIFS/WEST, and for us it was the best of the three.�
�The show was good and the second day was even busy,� said one exhibitor. �The show has evolved into a meeting place for me and my biggest customers, so the retail aspect of the show attendees is the cherry on top of the sundae.�
Another exhibitor also found the related events valuable. �The biggest opportunity for us with the Vegas show was being able to meet with our reps, find new reps and continue our relationships � particularly with our fellow NFDA members and current customers. I loved having the NFDA hospitality suite available for meetings with customers so we took advantage of that.�
�The Las Vegas show was good for us this year. We are starting to get momentum and had many people/customers seeking us out. I had more individual meetings this year than I have ever had in previous shows.�
�We were consistently busy Thursday from opening through 1:30 or 2 p.m. and slow after that and very slow on Friday. Our president thought the show was a good one for us.�
Several exhibitors praised the opening reception sponsored by EFC International. �There were plenty of food and beverage stations so there weren�t long lines.� The Western Association of Fastener Distributors conference on China drew a rapt audience.
�Great first day from 9 to 2. But after that really slow. That�s the trouble with Vegas � everybody �shops� early then plays late.�
The narrower than standard convention center aisles gave the show a busier feel.
One exhibitor reported the �show was very good,� but the �eye opener� was discovering more competition. �A few years ago there were only a few quality hot headers and now there are one or two down every aisle.�
�Also we get up to date on all the current gossip,� another justified the trip.
Suggestion Box
�The cost is still outrageous,� one exhibitor who spent $20,000 on the show concluded.
�I think the show could have ended after the first day and saved us all a little money,� another suggested.
Booths cost $1,495 to $1,595, compared with $1,000 at Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association. �If STAFDA can do an excellent show for $1,000, why can�t they?� asked one. In its 27-year history, the association has never raised member dues, partly because of show revenue.
Some fastener suppliers have to open their books to customers to justify price increases. �If they are making the same margins we are, we can�t complain. If they are making more, how can we cut costs? Can they negotiate lower furniture rental prices or lower the booth prices? Can we find some efficiencies?�
�We prefer the tabletop version of a show versus the bigger booth types,� one manufacturer suggested. �It reduces costs yet maintains effectiveness.�
One veteran exhibitor suggested changing to the STAFDA format of two days of morning seminars and two afternoons for the trade show.
Show hours were cut from eight to seven hours on opening day this year and four to three on the second day. One exhibitor suggested, �one day is enough. Extend the hours.�
Exhibitors found there is still a problem drawing traffic to the auxiliary hall across from Paris ballroom. The Champagne ballroom had 14 unsold booths and the Versailles ballroom never opened. In hopes of drawing in traffic, show management announced a one-hour special Tuesday afternoon of a free glass of champagne for those crossing the hall. �People got their glass but went out into the hallway to sit and talk,� one observer noticed.
One exhibitor described the champagne party as �too little, too late. They have known for years there was a problem getting traffic into the extra hall. �
�They need to take economics 101,� one suggested. �If they had spent $2,000 on hourly door prizes in 2002, they could have had happy exhibitors and sold $75,000 in additional booths this year.�
�Not a Penny�
With the Paris ballroom sold out and the obvious overall financial success of their 30th distribution-oriented show, several industry insiders are questioning when NIFS management is going to demonstrate appreciation to the industry.
One industry leader involved in the finances of the manufacturing side�s Fastener Quality Act lobbying said �not a penny� was donated by the show. �Not a penny,� echoed a distribution-side leader.
Fastener associations, companies and individuals spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the legislative effort.
One association leader noted that though �one of their jobs is to bring in distributors, yet they have never advertised in distributor association newsletters. They could get a lot of goodwill for just $100 a year and the show charges distributors $50 each anyway.�
One exhibitor said show general partner Jim Bannister has refused even a token donation to an association scholarship fund.
�Most businesses know the value of goodwill,� another observed. �Is it even in their vocabulary?�
�They want to use association logos on their brochures, but not pay for them,� a multiple association participant mentioned.
�The only thing they �give away� is a can of soda during set-up,� one exhibitor finds. �At STAFDA beverages are free throughout the show to encourage distributors to stay longer.�
Industry �Lose/Lose�
Despite the STAFDA convention being scheduled and widely publicized for November 2-4, 2003, since 1995, less than two years ago show partners Bannister and Mike McGuire set the Las Vegas show over the same days.
One STAFDA observer said the schedule conflict probably cost the association 15 booths. But NIFS lost even more potential exhibitors who went to STAFDA, he guessed. While STAFDA had a record 756 booths, the Las Vegas show ended up with 580 occupied booths and 49 vacant.
It also divided the industry. At least two NFDA board members were at STAFDA instead of Las Vegas.
�They [Bannister & McGuire] caused a lose/lose situation for the industry.�
One observer noted that Bannister and McGuire could have avoided the conflict, as there are several larger exhibition halls in Las Vegas and many across the western U.S.
For next year the partners sandwiched their show between the November 14-16, 2004, STAFDA in San Francisco and November 19-22 Industrial Distribution event in Chicago making it almost impossible for small companies to participate in all three events. And 2005 will be the ninth of nine years that Bannister and McGuire have scheduled their West show within nine days of STAFDA.
Ironically, in 1994 Bannister described a fastener machinery show being set within two weeks of his Columbus distribution show as �a total lack of regard for the industry.� Bannister wrote that �events only 14 days apart has to have a negative impact on both� and that �prospective attendees and exhibitors will be forced to make a choice as to which show they visit or participate in.�
�I�ve said it before and I�ll say it again, why did they sign up for three years of bad dates in a hall the industry had already outgrown? What is their excuse?� an industry leader asked. �2003 FastenerNews.com