Regional Exhibitions and Conferences: Do They Serve Us Better?

Volume IEntry 37 of 55 in 20092 min read5 comments ↓

Written by Gloria Metrick on October 23, 2009. Published as written. It may not reflect how these systems work today.

Just the other day, I attended the local LRIG (Laboratory Robotics Interest Group) Product Showcase. I attended because I figured there might be some crossover between their group and the LinkedIn LIMS/Laboratory Informatics group ( http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=36640 ), so I went to hand-out some flyers to get more local members for our Boston in-person version of the group.

I was there for several hours and got a chance to speak with some of the LRIG people and with some of the vendors that attended. As it turns out, I think LRIG told me that around 420 attendees ended up signing-up for it. Keep this in-mind: this is an exhibition in a single city in a hotel ballroom put on by a group of volunteers. So, I think 420 is an amazing number for that.

According to the vendors I spoke with, the booths are quite affordable. Vendors try it out because they feel they have much less to lose if it doesn’t produce leads for new customers than the bigger, more expensive shows. Those that keep coming back do so because the booths aren’t that expensive and they need to drive fewer leads to pay for the booth.

But then, the major problem with the big conferences isn’t the vendors as much as the attendees. The vendors only drop-off when the attendees start to dwindle. So, what’s the attraction that brought so many people to this exhibition?

First of all, it was held in Cambridge, MA, where there are a lot of companies, to begin with. A number of people probably walked to the exhibition and walked back to work. I met some people coming from the suburbs in the earlier hours. At that time of day, it’s a ½-hour drive to quite a lot of companies with laboratories. For those people that can’t miss work and work in the area, the exhibition hours went somewhat into the evening to pull them in, too.

At a maximum, a person might lose a few hours of work and have to pay for parking but that’s easier to justify and get permission for than a trip with plane tickets, hotel and the rest.

Are we headed toward more local conferences and exhibitions? Who knows, but maybe we’ll start seeing some of the big conferences break into regional gatherings, instead.

Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/

The conversation

5 comments from 2 people, October 23 to October 26, 2009. Gloria replied 2 times.

October 23, 2009
John H. Jones
That is a good annecdote. My company dropped out of the big shows back in 2003. That was the last Pittcon we ever did and do not plan to ever do Pittcon again as an exhibitor.

The Internet provides a great replacement for the big shows but the small local shows and groups are actually bolstered by the Internet. It is sort of like having Walmart on-line and having the store down the street. It gives you choice and you have consistency and familiarity between the Internet virtual meeting place and the real, physical world group meeting or show.

Social Media should probably be the driving force behind these sorts of physical venues.
October 26, 2009
Gloria MetrickAuthor
To that, I will add that LRIG does not appear to do anything at all with on-line social networking, but are still extremely successful with their efforts, from what I've seen. In fact, they are probably one of the most successful groups at getting and keeping the interest of the attendees and volunteers. However, my comment is merely based on a casual observation, not hard numbers.
John
LRIG I believe does have a social media presence that I think does help it promote membership and local events.

Check out: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=705&trk=anetsrch_name&goback=%2Egdr_1256556857463_1

They are on Linkedin and currently as of this post, has 2,622 members.

They have been around for quite a while and Andy Zaayenga (creator or LRIG) is a very active social media user (Linkedin in particular).

I would have no doubt that he makes use of Linkedin to help his local meetings.

John
Gloria MetrickAuthor
LRIG might actually post the local meetings in their LinkedIn group (I didn't notice), but these people are well-connected and active in the local community. They aren't relying on their on-line tools. Consider this -- LRIG is 15,000 strong, world-wide, yet their LinkedIn group isn't yet at 2,700. So, it's just one, small tool for them.

Also, my comments on LRIG are based on my first-hand experience as I've been dealing directly with them for a variety of things, locally. LRIG isn't an example of what you're trying to convey.
John H. Jones
Yep, LRIG is very well established without Social Networking and the Linkedin group is very new compared to how long the physical group has been in existence. So what you say is only to be expected but doesn't change the fact that in a very short period of time, social media has gained ground for even well established organizations who seek to attract new blood (members).

Given that fact, I really do think it is a great example of what I am trying to convey. Social Media does not compete with the physical meeting at all but actually serves to bolster membership and the physical, local communities.

My original post was conjecturing that large, national shows are not helped by social media but the small local show is very much helped. I support the idea that the small local show serves users and other stakeholders better than the large national shows along the line you blogged about and that social media can and does play a role to support that. I am sure you agree with that?

Comments are closed. This conversation is from 2009. Ask us to remove a comment

Working on the same problem in your lab?

Talk to a laboratory informatics scientist