This presentation discusses five ways to extend the power of tradeshows after they are over. For more useful tradeshow tips visit our blog: http://www.bartizan.com/blog Including ways for show managers to engage the tradeshow audience after the show. And for exhibitors to use tradeshows as a long term lead generation tool. The use of mobile apps at tradeshows is highlighted as well as the latest ways to manage data and sales leads.

1. Attendees Staying Connected After the Show

2. STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 2
Bartizan Connects, a provider of Lead Retrieval systems for trade shows, recently surveyed trade show
attendees across a range of industries and show profiles. The focus of the survey was to determine how they
view the show experience and how they deal with what they’ve learned from the show when they return
home. The methodology used for gathering this research was a series of online focus groups used to solicit
attitudes and opinions regarding trade show industry experiences from the unique perspectives of trade show
Attendees. These online groups were conducted by Joyce McKee & Company, over a multi-day time frame in
April and May of 2009 allowing respondents to candidly discuss and debate topics. The respondents did not
know who was sponsoring the survey.
When we analyzed what we learned from our interaction with Attendees in the context of similar interactions
with Exhibitors and Organizers, we were struck by how ineffective post-show interaction was between
Attendees and Exhibitors. We don’t mean the communication with possible prospects, but rather the
communication with all those Attendees who were “just looking.” Those Attendees with no intention to buy,
who make up the vast majority of visitors to any booth.
If broader marketplace visibility plays a role in your show strategy, then how you handle those visitors who
aren’t active sales opportunities becomes important to you. In this paper we pinpoint where we see Exhibitors
lose that visibility with the broader marketplace. And we suggest a general approach to solving it that some
might find worth pursuing.
Specifically we focus on:
1. A profile of the “curious” Attendee.
2. The breakdown of the connection between Exhibitors and those Attendees.
3. The problem that breakdown causes.
4. The collaboration between Exhibitors and Organizers that can repair that connection.
Attendees Staying Connected After the Show

3. STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 3
The Curious Attendee
We probed what Attendees wanted to get out of
show attendance. There were a few answers, but
only one common one. Here’s Lyn to tell it
succinctly.
Learn as much as I can in the short time I have.
This is what we learn from every study about
show attendees. The vast majority are on a
knowledge hunt. We imagine this aligns with
most Exhibitors’ experience. Most of their traffic
isn’t interested in buying. They’re walking the
floor. They’re engaging in informal professional
development. Learning who’s out there, and what
they have that’s new. They may be on the floor
between learning and breakout sessions. They
may be passing your booth on the way to another
company whose product they are interested in.
They may just be looking for stress balls.
This is the “broader market visibility” part of your
show objectives. The objective is to become
somehow part of the conversation when this
group of Attendees returns to work. To have
made enough of an impression that when the
post show review session takes place your
product and company are remembered . . . along
with your stress ball.
Connection Breakdown
During the show, your connection to this broader
market is active. The show is designed that way,
designed to guide people to see as many
displays as possible: to connect curious visitors
with exhibiting companies. It’s a very limited
connection to be sure: neither the curious
Attendee nor the sales rep in the booth wants to
interact with each other. But they do want to
connect: the rep wants to scan the badge and the
Attendee wants to see what his company does. A
quick connection. But a connection nonetheless.
But after the show, instead of being something to
build on, the connection breaks down and
eventually disappears.
Let’s piece together the phases of that
breakdown using quotes from both our Exhibitors
and Attendees.
When Attendees Get Back To the Office
Things are informal for our Attendee respondents
when they get back home. Few have any rigid
obligations (reports, summaries, meetings, email)
coming back from the show.
Let’s sit back and let Pat speak for them all:
When I return it is expected that I have learned
more about the products we utilize and what is
coming from this product in the near future. It is also
expected that I share any information of products
that may interest one of our departments so that
they can follow up and see for themselves. It is also
expected that I share what I have learned with my
Administrators if I think there is something that may
be beneficial to our instructional technology.
(Laughing) I am also expected to come back and
spread out any 'freebees' collected for everyone to
grab.
Our Attendees all described the same kind of
thing. If they thought it was interesting, they
shared it. If not, it was forgotten. Your fate is
entirely in their hands.
When Exhibitors Return to the Office
Our Exhibitors were equally unanimous in
describing what they did upon their return. Follow
up was the same across the board. Keith does a
good job of representing the Exhibitors group
when he describes that follow up.
We use the show scanners and read almost
everyone who we talk to. These are cold leads.
They will get a catalog mailed to them and "thanks
for stopping by...." note.
A thank you email. Sometimes an offer. In Keith’s
case a catalog. Paths to more information. And,
always, an invitation to call if there are any
questions. Sometimes a call or two. Everybody
with the same lead qualification code gets the
same letter.
When Attendees Receive the Follow Up
Our Attendees view this follow up as unavoidable
and irrelevant. Only a couple of comments are
needed:
It can result in several annoying calls from the
vendors desperate for a lead.

4. STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 4
Usually results in more junk e-mail/mail.
The Problem
Here’s the issue. This group of attendees, the
merely curious, have let you know in action, word
and behavior, that they’re just learning what’s out
there. Keeping up to date. That they aren’t
interested in your product.
And how do you follow up? With information
about your product. So it’s no surprise that your
message falls on deaf ears. Let’s let Pat finish
her story be describing her reaction to follow up:
What I usually hear on the other end of the phone is
"Thank you for your interest in our product" or "you
requested a call" when I never really spoke to
anyone or in anyway requested contact.
The conclusion is clear. If you want to maintain
your goal of “broader market visibility,” you need
to deliver a message they do want to hear.
A Joint Action
And what is that? Our Attendees have already
told us the answer to that question.
Remember what Lyn said?
Learn as much as I can in the short time I have.
Broad industry knowledge. To stay in front of this
group you have to deliver more than information
about your product. You have to deliver
information that they can use for their own
professional knowledge.
Such an easy answer. The practical answer,
though, is not easy. There are three big
obstacles:
1. Cost
This is not a critical marketplace, this is a
“good to have” group. No Marketer has a
significant budget to allocate for brand
awareness to this group.
No Marketer has a significant budget, but a
tiny one they do.
2. Having a continual supply of interesting
content.
No individual exhibitor has the ability or the
motivation to become a conduit of broad
market knowledge. Something within their
product category yes, but not across
categories.
No individual exhibitor does. But working
together they do.
It’s an extension of lead sharing. They
contribute interesting articles encountered
and make it part of a broader package of
information. Two articles for company A and
one from company B and two more from C .
. . and you have a useful package of
information that extends beyond any
individual company’s sphere of interest.
3. Having a delivery infrastructure in place to
send it out on a regular basis.
Exhibitors don’t have registration
processing systems, or data analyses that
point to qualified collaborating companies,
or content management systems, or
sophisticated email creation, delivery and
tracking methods.
They don’t. But Organizers do.
Organizers have the registration systems.
They have access to data that can tell them
that this person visited these booths, and
they can use that information to suggest
collaborations. They have email and postal
mail systems in place. They can develop
SIGs and focus groups.
Our Call to Action
That’s the collaboration we’re suggesting. Using predominantly existing resources, and making only the
most modest of additional investments, Exhibitors and Organizers can together create a message
delivery vehicle that supports the often-critical goal of broader market visibility. That allows companies to

5. STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 5
stay in front of people and organizations who may not have a need today, but who still contribute and
make purchasing decisions within the broader industry. And that continues providing the full value of the
show to everyone, after the show has closed.
It’s a win/win/win opportunity.
1. Attendees get what they want: access to industry trends and insights. And they credit the
participating companies and the show itself for it.
2. Exhibitors get what they want: ongoing visibility in the industry, at a price that makes it worth doing.
3. Organizers get what they want: value-add to attract Exhibitors and Attendees (and possibly
additional revenue by providing participation as a service option).
A Final Note
This is not a prescription. It’s an observation. Something we at Bartizan thought worth sharing with our
customers, and our customers’ customers. We don’t expect that it will apply to all of you. But we do expect
that it will apply to many of you. In a landscape where show attendance is at risk, delivering this kind of added
value for everyone may be good territory to explore.
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