Pure February 2011 Compared To August 2011

I have spent many weeks of my life going around trade fairs some of them fruitful others wasted. The reason why I feel that my review of these two shows has more relevance is that for both these shows I took the role as an exhibitor and a buyer. So what was the difference between the two shows? A lot is the easy answer.

Firstly, lets look at visitor levels. February was what I expected in terms of visitor levels. Sunday the tyre kicking day got off to a good start but lacked a viable level of real buyers. Lots of extended family groups proved not to be the profile of leads of substance or quality. Monday was busy I generated more leads than expected and saw lots of dedicated buyers. Tuesday proved to be a good chance to catch up on unanswered emails and put my new leads into the address book.

On Tuesday I saw some strange behaviour from other exhibitors and buyers. Attendance at the fair is pretty expensive in fact ridiculous if you price up your stand as to square foot cost. Bearing the cost in mind then it was strange to see two exhibitors standing behind us leave by 1pm. Either they had found early flights or simply they had had enough. Another stand belonging to a mid market wholesale company, positioned in front of us, spent the whole of Tuesday sat down chatting to each other. Having said that nothing different to Sunday there. I only realised they had legs and feet on Monday. The show organisers described attendance as higher than before so taking that as a benchmark I can move onto August.

What a total contrast Sunday even lacked a volume of tyre kickers. We generated a third less leads and failed to generate new accounts on the day. However, I made the point of standing and showing genuine interest in all potential clients. Luckily we had a much better position than last year but by contrast still on death row compared to the stands around the centre. Still though a better position just not prime. Monday was the day we kicked off with a big order and went on from there. Lower traffic than last time but still good leads and orders, at this stage all that we can ask for.

On to Tuesday; very, very poor. I do not think I have seen any show anywhere as quiet off the main drag. Lots of agents and reps chatting and trying to look business-like. Then many beyond caring and simply trying to stop themselves from falling asleep. The organisers (allegedly) started a rumour off about visitors not coming in due to the riots. Certainly visitors did not arrive for whatever reason. Champagne was brought around by Vicky and her many assistants along with her usual theatre-like personality.

So can anything be concluded from the two shows. Well yes:

1. Visitor levels were down show to show, regardless of PR release information.

2. For revenue gained the show is not economically efficient. The price of the show per stand is set to rise next time, which is surely wrong.

3. There are so many different people organising the event it is hard to see who does the hard work.

4. This show may not be a buying show instead it may be more a show case event. It could be slightly too early for footwear but may suit clothing.

5. No effort was made this time compared to the last to stop non trade sales people coming in. They sold all sorts of services all of which you could have browsed for on the web. At one point seven callers in a row came onto the stand whilst we were trying to sell. It was confusing to say the least. You have to be courteous to all callers on your stand they even pretended to be trying to buy then went off on a sales line once they had you away from genuine customers. If you need someone to organise your foreign exchange then are you really going to trust a wide boy passing himself off as a buyer.

6. What will I do next time? Unless somebody else foots the bill I will not attend as an exhibitor. There may also be a very long discussion about how better to spend that budget. Our company may also not waste budget attending as buyers.

My Tip, attend or stand at Moda. If you can afford it.