By: Nancy Drapeau, PRC, VP of Research, CEIR and Dr. Allen Shaw, Ph.D.
The unrelenting nature of the health crisis might prompt some B2B exhibition organizers to take a hold and wait position before deciding what the event’s game plan will be. The current, second wave of COVID-19 cases underway in the United States is disheartening to say the least.
Despite the current situation, while most of the industry remains paused, it is of critical importance to create a plan, and revisit it as often as needed as dynamics in the market place shift to assure the ability to execute the best plan once the industry reopens again. Already we see smaller events happening in the U.S.
Don’t waste the opportunity to plan now! Based on McKinsey’s general recommendation for organizations to consider when building a strategic plan in the midst of COVID-19, we too recommend B2B exhibition organizer teams should start with having a clear view of the event’s starting position, specifically its position based on historical data, before COVID-19 hit in March of this year.
CEIR’s Event Analyzer tool is a resource to use to provide that insight, the performance of an event based on the critical metrics of: NSF of paid space, number of exhibitors, number of attendees and organizer gross revenues. The most powerful aspect of this free tool is that it benchmarks an event’s performance to the industry sector it serves. It takes away the ‘gut check’ approach to assessing the performance of an event and replaces it with objective, industry level data.
CEIR’s Event Analyzer has gotten a refresh, we are launching version 2.0 this week. It will continue to be available for free, generating 13 free charts and will also offer premium content for purchase. Including metrics never before published in the annual CEIR Index report. For example, three premium analytical charts (NSF per exhibitor, attendees per exhibitor and real revenue per NSF) offer insights for strategic planning.
We encourage you to join us this Thursday, 5 November for a free webinar that will go over how to use the new tool, discuss how to interpret results using a case study example, as well as provide an invaluable update on the current state of the U.S. B2B exhibition industry. Don’t miss this unique opportunity! Register for the free webinar!