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Are you thinking of the future seafood buyer?
Tuesday,5 June,2012 15:13:50
The International Boston Seafood Show and European Seafood Exposition have joined the social media world. While it seems like the world is changing by the minute, the Diversified Business Communications seafood team is thinking about social media and how to communicate with our exhibitors and attendees.
Recently, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research presented their findings on the next generation and how they “work” a tradeshow. "Gen X” is currently between the ages of 28-39 and the "Millennials" are 18–27 years old. Both generations are technologically savvy and individualistic. While this study was primarily attendee-focused, it did highlight some interesting points about “young professionals”:
- 73% create a must-see list of exhibitors before they attend an event
- 84% of both groups have attended tradeshows in the past two years
Gen Xers are more influenced by whether a product or service on display would solve a problem at work. Forty-three percent said that the displays of products and services offered made an exhibit memorable to them. They also said that there is too much pressure from the sales people staffing the booths.
While Millennials tend to be more uncomfortable in face to face interactions with people they do not know, they do like the incentives offered by exhibitors and the enthusiasm of the sales staff. They like the “bells and whistles” and want to be impressed.
Many young attendees expressed that they felt ignored by exhibitors because of their age! Note to exhibitors: don’t assume someone in this age group is not a buyer or influencer – you could be burning a future relationship. Two thirds of those surveyed have the power to make buying recommendations.
Exhibitors should consider including male and female staff from these generational groups to their stand. Automation, entertainment and a friendly staff are the best traffic drivers.
At the International Boston Seafood Show next month, there will be special events and information available to first-time attendees to the show. This will include more use of social media and networking sessions for first-time attendees. Watch out for areas highlighting what's going on during the show!
*Data attributed to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research's study "Power of Exhibitions in the 21st Century"
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Countdown to Boston
Monday,22 February,2010 14:26:06
The annual countdown is on! From early January, the fourth floor of Diversified’s Portland office is in a state of constant chaos – organized chaos! The seafood team begins to talk about life after Boston and Brussels. Life is simply postponed until May 1st or thereabouts. Phones are ringing and everything falls into priority mode or should I say constant fire drill mode! In the tradeshow industry, we tend to live at least several years ahead of ourselves. We are in mid February now and already have had numerous conversations about 2011 and beyond.
Often we are asked about the “behind the scenes” of a tradeshow. Right now, it’s all about staging of freezers for move-in, stand designs, fire regulations, security and this year, where do we get enough hand sanitizers for the show? Everywhere, there are boxes of seafood packages for new products competitions and the annual worry of what will we do if the awards don’t arrive on time? There are a lot of “we should think about that for next year” as well as "what do our attendance numbers look like"? Right now, I am happy to say we are way ahead on pre-registration but that does not stop the sleepless nights before the show opens. One thing is for sure though, the older I get, the faster these shows keep coming around.
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