Customer
A major US based professional organization hosts two (2) major conventions on an annual basis; the annual meeting for all members and a smaller one focused on specific disciplines. Each event includes a trade show floor that attracts major suppliers to the industry.
Challenge
The organization offers an Exhibitor to Attendee Communication Program that enables a small number (10%) of the event’s exhibitors to purchase the right to send pre-show and post-show emails to the registered attendees. The program provides exhibitors with a vehicle to connect with potential buyers prior to them finalizing their trade show visitation agendas and provides the event with a source of revenue used to enhance the show experience for attendees. The association’s management decided in 2013 to outsource the program in an effort to better utilize scarce internal resources.
A key requirement of the firm chosen to manage the program was to demonstrate the ability to protect the attendee list and insure that the exhibitors could not access the attendees’ contact information or email addresses. In addition, the program needed to:
• stick to a tight schedule
• follow strict content guidelines
• give exhibitors the choice of using a standard email template or customizing their own
• be reasonably priced
Solution
Event Technologies created a program that satisfied all of the requirements without increasing the organizations’ workload. The program was designed to send two emails per day over the course of four (4) weeks. To keep the program on schedule and ensure exhibitor satisfaction, each exhibitor is assigned an Event Technologies’ representative who guides them through the process.
The solution implemented by Event Technologies includes these key elements:
1. Strict confidentiality of the attendee email addresses (encrypted in the database)
2. Dedicated support representative for each exhibitor during the email creation process
3. A central function for attendees to unsubscribe from all future program emails
4. Adherence to a predetermined schedule of two (2) emails per day
5. Adherence to AAPS formatting specifications on emails
6. Exhibitor and AAPS approval prior to each email being sent
7. Real time access to email statistics for both AAPS and the participating exhibitors
Results
The program was implemented at the 2013 annual meeting. Since then, Event Technologies has delivered this service for 9 additional events on time and within budget. The events have sent more than 600,000 emails from 300 plus exhibitors with an open rate of well over 20%. As a result of this program, the association was able to generate over $300,000 in additional revenue providing this valuable service to their exhibitors.
