First, the good news. After having to go all-digital out of necessity in 2020, trade show organizers anticipate a surge in pent-up demand for in-person events once the COVID-19 vaccine rollout reaches critical mass. However, there are still challenges to resuming in-person shows, including ongoing restrictions on international travel, tight budgets for exhibitors and buyers, and a continued hesitancy to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Most trade show organizers agree that the future is likely to be hybrid, at least for a while. The question is how to maximize the value of both aspects of a hybrid show for attendees, exhibitors and sponsors, as well as the host organization.
To find out, EAST recently spoke to two trade show executives who are taking a hybrid approach. One is Karen Chupka, executive vice president of CES for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). In 2019, the TSE’s premier Gold 100 show flooded Las Vegas with an estimated 180,000 enthusiastic attendees and exhibitors combined. It went fully digital this year and plans to launch in hybrid form in 2022. The other is Justine McVaney, senior vice president of event planning and operations in the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) convention and business operations division. The annual NAB show, which was originally scheduled for April 2020 and then relaunched as an all-digital event last fall, will be hybrid this year. This long-standing historic show was ranked No. 7 in the latest TSE Gold 100 directory with nearly one million net square feet and more than 65,000 attendees.
- Start with the value proposition. When CTA made the decision to take its show virtual in January 2021, Chupka said her team began their planning by going back to basics. “What is the value of our show? Why are we coming together, and how can we make that possible in a digital world?” The goal wasn’t to replicate the content, exhibitor benefits and networking (which are at the core of the in-person event), but to reimagine how they could translate those values into the digital environment, she said.
Justine McVaney, Senior Vice President, Event Planning and Operations, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention and Business Operations Department Don’t try to replicate the in-person trade show online. “We didn’t want to make it too complex or ask companies to spend a lot of money on a digital booth,” Chupka says. “We also didn’t think it would be a great user experience to walk through 2,000 booths in a virtual world.” So CES offered exhibitor activations in several tiers, with the top tier having the ability to do daily live presentations, which were also available after the fact. A company that wanted to keep its investment low could upload a brochure and a video of itself and chat with attendees. And it worked beautifully. “We originally hoped to have about 1,000 exhibitors sign up, and we ended up having close to 2,000,” Chupka says.
The digital experience gives exhibitors “an opportunity to extend their reach and increase their ROI by getting their message out to a broader audience than just the in-person event,” McVaney added. While they’re still figuring out exactly how to blend the online and in-person exhibit experience into the hybrid exhibit booths and demo rooms at this fall’s NAB Show, the goal is to deliver qualified leads from both in-person and online attendees, she said.
- Also, don’t try to replicate in-person teaching online. CES typically offers about 300 sessions over four days. “That wasn’t possible in a digital world, especially after six or seven months of Zoom,” Chupka said. “Nobody wanted to sit in front of a computer screen that long.” On the other hand, they found they could attract a more diverse set of speakers to the digital event because they wouldn’t have to travel to Las Vegas to speak. “We’ll explore the possibility of producing some sessions digitally only when we move to a hybrid event,” Chupka said. McVaney said it makes sense to edit and repackage those live sessions to serve them in the way the digital customer wants to consume them. That could mean providing a recorded version of the session, supplemented by a live Q&A with the speakers.
Discover the May issue of EAST for four more tips and insider information!