StorageExpo 09 – the death of an exhibition?
From 2010 Storage Expo is to be incorporated into a new event dedicated to the IT community and professionals working to deliver next generation IT infrastructure. Reed Exhibitions herald this as a significant and positive development. how do porn stars get viagra, how much is cialis with insurance. While at the show I spoke to over 20 exhibitors. Almost without exception they said that attendance was disappointing and seemed to be down on last year. Nobody I spoke to was heralding the new event. There seems to be a trend away from the traditional, large exhibition. Successful organisers seem to be the ones who identify a niche in the market where a technology is on the rise and market an event around it for a few years, with sponsorship opportunities, high-cost conferences and the like. Then, when the bloom is off the rose they move on, selling the concept to a less agile competitor who presides over its declining years. Or am I just too cynical?>
Exhibitions are becoming hugely wasteful and expensive marketing activities. If you take the big players, they practically build a house in there, then rip it all out; much of the material goes to waste. It these challenging times we are all busy trying to make ends meet and we don’t have time to trawl round exhibitions collecting brochures and freebies that end up going in the bin. There are far more savvy ways of spending your marketing budget, such as carefully targeted email or direct mail with a clear offering and ensuring prompt follow up with professional telemarketers. Events can work if there is a value to them, such as a paid for conference running alongside a small targeted bunch of stands.