CHICAGO — A touchy subject for exhibitors who prefer a refund, some organizers of canceled association shows are only offering credits for shows up to three years in the future.
For example, the Plastics Industry Association recently announced that it would provide non-refundable credits for its NPE 2024 show to exhibitors who had paid deposits for space at its 2021 event, which was canceled due to COVID. It has been holding booth deposits since January 2021, when it decided to cancel the show scheduled for May of that year. Some exhibitors had paid their deposits in full at that time. The association relies heavily on the event — held every three years and generating about $36 million in revenue, according to Plastics News — to fund its operations.
This contrasts with the practices of many other shows, such as the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) 2022 Planners and Dispatchers Conference. After postponing the event—which was scheduled for January 18-21, 2022—and moving it to April 5-7, it offered exhibitors choices if they couldn’t attend the new dates. They could either credit their exhibit fees to 2023 or request a refund of their exhibit fees.
Robyn Jones, head of conferences at the Association for Asian Studies, found herself in a completely different situation when some exhibitors offered to donate their registration fees to the non-profit after it was forced to cancel amid the Covid crisis. “Before we cancelled, we had already offered exhibitors the option to defer their booth bookings to 2021, and many took that option. After the cancellation, we reconfirmed and, although we were offering 100% refunds for booths, many still chose to defer, allowing us to keep some of the revenue,” Jones said. “We also had a small number of exhibitors who offered to ‘donate’ their registration fees, or perhaps just extra registrations they had purchased. We didn’t ask exhibitors for donations, but our long-standing exhibitors – over 20 years – made that decision on their own.”
Related. Trade show executives meet privately
It’s important to understand that an association’s position may be a result of its underlying contract with the convention center or hotel, said Kimberly A. Pendo, a partner at Chicago Law Partners. “It’s possible that the hotel/convention center will withhold the association’s deposits/payments to apply to the next show,” she said. “It’s important for associations to communicate with their exhibitors to ensure continued mutually beneficial and positive relationships” in all cases, she added.
Contact Robyn Jones at (734) 391-1651 or [email protected]; Kimberly A. Pendo at (312) 929-1964 or [email protected]