“I don’t think that the iPhone generation, which gets immediate gratification, immediate purchasing and networking and
communication, is going to wait six months to get on a plane to go cross-country, then wait in a cab line to then wait in the
registration line at the hotel, to wait in a line to get on a shuttle bus, to wait in the registration area of a convention, to then walk around a building to see if they can find somebody.”
to attendees and exhibitors of the organization’sUnited Fresh annual conference, which attracts more than 3,000 partici- pants. Each year, Toner spends the day immediately after the showwriting thank-you notes,making sure that they carry the same postmark as the citywhere the exhibitionwas just held. Toner also reaches
CERTIFICATIONMADE POSSIBLE
out to newexhibitors by scanning newspapers and clipping articles about industry leaders who catch his eye. “I put [the clippings in the mail],” he said, “along
with a note saying, ‘I just read about you. It sounds like you have a great new product. Are you thinking about coming to our shows?’”The relationships he’s built via personal notes, Toner said, “have proved invaluable.”
Rethink Your Value Proposition Therewas a time,Toner said,when he looked at furniture on the United Fresh exhibition floor in only one way—as rev- enue. “I hated to see a table or chair,” he said, “that wasn’t paid for by somebody else.” But his thinking has done a turn- around. Today Toner supplies not just chairs but business suites for the use of some attendees, tomake it easy for them tomeet with one another. “People’s time was relatively free 15 to 20 years ago,”
Toner said.But attending an exhibition nowis not about “the glitz and the glamour,” but rather the opportunity for atten-
dees tomeetwith each other.And if they don’t have anywhere to sit down together at your show, they’ll spend time going back and forth to a hotel or some other space. Toner likens the shift to the change in the function of hotel lobbies. Ten years ago, theywere spare and efficient, he said, “designed to get people in and get people out.” Today, hotel lobbies serve their guests as lounges, with comfortablemeeting space. Toner has also changed his perspective aboutwhich of his
attendees gets special attention. “Previously, you had to be amajor player forme to invest in you,” he said. “NowI invest in anyone who comes to the show.” That includes creating opportunities for fledgling companies. “One of the hardest challenges for startup companies is being able to send eight to 10 people to staff an exhibition,” Toner said. So United Fresh includes tabletop space in its educational center on the exhibition floor.Toner said: “Then they can get bywith send- ing two people.”
SUMOFMANY PARTS:
A 50-percent rise in atten- dance over two years at BMES’s AnnualMeeting
was due to improvements inmany areas, including basicmarketing and rethinking the pool of
prospective attendees and participants, according to Executive Director Edward Schilling III.