Trade shows play an essential role in business and in life, as they have for hundreds of years. An interesting article about this presents a floor plan for one of the first trade shows of the modern era: the Great Exhibition that took place at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851.
Not much has changed since then. The map looks similar to a map of a trade show today. Why? Because trade shows work!
Trade shows are a wonderful solution for global companies and a great way for companies and communities to gather, meet new suppliers and customers from all over the world, to learn, and to find new products and services.
COVID-19 has taught us to conduct business digitally and revealed the wonders of Zoom and similar apps. This industry, too, has resorted to digital platforms, producing virtual trade shows and conferences. The primary goal of these has been to keep in touch with the community while waiting for a chance to get together in person again, but many people around the world claim that this is just the beginning of a trend that will keep on growing even after COVID-19 vanishes from our lives.
So how do these events stack up to actual trade shows?
A survey of the field asked visitors and presenters to rate the quality of virtual events as compared to in-person events. The survey included more than 15,000 respondents from around the world (results are available in the article). As far as visitors were concerned, online events were perceived as cheaper and, therefore, much more accessible and easier to participate in. However, respondents were dissatisfied with these opportunities to find inspiration, to meet new suppliers, and to do business. Beyond this, they just didn’t feel that the online experience offered the same sense of belonging to a community, and didn’t make it easy to forge new connections and network with peers.
Presenters also showed a clear preference for in-person events. For example,
86% said that in-person events were better for the quality of networking required to build sales leads and generate a return on investment.
Just like many other service industries, the trade show field is suffering from a massive lack of personnel and continues to recover slowly on the road back to business as usual.
Still, despite the glittering parallel world that MarkZuckerberg and his friends are planning for us, as of now, the numbers prove that just as after all those lockdowns, we want to go out more to shows, sports, and social events, professional trade shows are no different. Both visitors and presenters are looking forward to reconnecting and feeling the buzz of the show floor once again.
Because there’s no better environment for networking and doing business. You simply can’t reproduce that atmosphere online. And in light of the data, I think many people actually appreciate trade shows far more now than ever.
