Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Collaborative or Competitive?

What if you threw a party and nobody came?

Been there, done that. Then I learned one important principle.

I'll tell you about one epic failure as an example. Many years ago, when I was first working as the Trade Show Manager for Kerry Ingredients, we staged a piggy-back "party" event in Chicago to accompany an exhibit at a Snack Food Industry show.

We planned and executed all the logistics to perfection. We reserved the Bin 36 restaurant on the near North Side, and planned to have a paired wine and food tasting event where our products (Seasonings, in this case) would be incorporated into the hors d'oeuvres to be served. We had our sales team identify their top prospects, scrubbed the show attendee list and came up with a highly qualified list of 150 targets and 25 media people (trade publication writers and editors). We expected a crowd of 60-80 to show up for the free upscale paired wine and tapas-like dinner event. Our total attendance --- 6 people, all editors.


Our own people outnumbered them by about 4 to 1.


As we scratched our heads, and reviewed our failure, it was tough to figure out where we went wrong. But, boy, did we go wrong. We didn't just have a meager attendance, we created a ghost town. no prospects whatsoever.


So, being the troopers we had to be, we went on with the show. As it progressed, we took notice of how our Sales team was interacting with their prospects and clients. They were very careful not to broadcast too many of their most innovative ideas, preferring instead to share these in a more intimate, one-on-one setting.


That's when it became clear. Our customer base was highly competitive with each other. They did not typically share ideas among themselves. They were definitely not collaborative.


This was why our party idea fell so flat. Our prospects really didn't want to hang around with each other, or look across the room to see their #1 competitor having a good time with our company reps. They preferred to think that we were giving our very best service and innovation just to them -- which would create an edge for them over their competitors.


So here's something to consider when planning "piggy-back" events -- are your prospects collaborative or competitive? 


Here's some collaborative examples:

  • Health care -- health care providers tend to be extremely collaborative, sharing their knowledge to promote their standing inside their communities. There is tremendous status created when new treatment procedures are "published" and acknowledged by their peers. My party would have worked great if we'd invited a bunch of doctors.
  • Public safety, law enforcement -- very collaborative for many of the same reasons.
  • Geographically limited businesses, territorial networks, government entities -- also are very collaborative because of the limited reach of their services and offerings.
  • Short-lived business entities -- like those found supporting the entertainment industry, are also collaborative. These companies come and go as projects emerge and then die quickly - forcing people to shift allegiances rapidly, and develop extensive networks.
  • Lone Rangers -- a single person filling a unique job function within a much larger company. This is exactly what we see at the EXHIBITOR Show each year.

On the competitive side:
  • Mature industries -- like food manufacturing, where building business is all about stealing market share from each other.
  • Emerging technologies - where companies are very protective of their intellectual property, and fearful of being "copied" right out of business.
  • Any industry where "keeping a few secrets" is important to the success of a given company.

So, if your prospects are mainly competitive, focus on the one-on-one activities. If you've got a collaborative bunch, then party on, dude!! And let's hope your party is better attended than mine was.

If you've got other examples of competitive/collaborative relationships, please list them in the comments below.

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Bob's Best Bites
Whenever I'm in Anaheim for a show, I always try to make it out to Huntington Beach for a meal at Duke's. It's located right on the ocean at the Huntington Beach Pier, and features fresh seafood prepared and served Hawaiian style. Besides the unbelievable setting (which is hard to beat), what makes Duke's unique is how they offer their menu choices. You pair up a choice of seafood with a preparation method -- such as mahi mahi served parmesan and herb crusted, or firecracker, or baked "Duke style" in lemon garlic and basil. Each dish is prepared beautifully and tastes magnificent. Each species offered is only offered according to its season and sustainability, and their island ambiance and service is top notch. Then some "Hula Pie", followed by a stroll along the pier. It's the perfect way to breathe in the fresh sea air and do some interesting people watching.

When you're in Anaheim, where do you like to go?

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Simple & Organized

I love it when things are simple. I love it when peripheral tasks don't get in the way of what's most important & vital to our success.

In the world of trade shows, we can really muck things up. We write confusing booth duty schedules nobody follows anyway. We develop elaborate lead capture systems tied to our CRM's. We over-adjust our messages until both our staff and visitors are confused. We succumb to the chaos around us at the show, working ourselves to death and requiring lengthy therapy to recover.

But I really love it when people figure out how to keep things simple and organized. They understand that the focus of everything we develop, should facilitate face-to-face quality communication with our customers and prospects.

I recently found two examples of people doing exactly this, coincidentally exhibiting nearly side-by-side at the recent IFT Food Expo in New Orleans.

First, I want to tell you about my friend, Stacy Vandenheuvel, of TIC Gums. The folks at TIC Gums are experts in food texturization, adding the elements of texture to foods to make them "feel" right when we eat them. Their texture capabilities can be applied to hundreds of different kinds of foods. However, individual attendees at the IFT Food Expo are usually working on only one or two key projects at any given time. Stacy's challenge is to quickly identify their interests and focus discussions in that area.

Below is a picture of the "tool" she uses to do this. It's a simple peg board (actually one of a series she uses in her exhibit). Each peg holds a different information card, focusing on one specific textural application. There are cards for jelly beans, licorice, granola bars, marshmallows, jams, etc.


The simple, yet clearly organized array allows her staff to select a card, and move quickly into the appropriate discussion, while subtly building awareness of all the company's other product lines. I'm sure there are many other "techno whiz-bang" methods for doing this, but her's is elegant, simple, effective, and it doesn't get in the way -- no distractions here.

Almost nest door to Stacy's exhibit, I found Becky Rademacher of International Dehydrated Foods, a company that makes, well, dehydrated food ingredients of all kinds (no explanation required, I hope). Here's Becky standing next to her simple solution to a problem that plagues many exhibitors.


Becky uses the back of the door to her storage closet as her internal communication hub. She has taped 15 plastic business card holders onto the door. She fills these with the business cards of her staff. When someone stops by looking to see someone specific --- who never seems to be in the booth at that time -- she has them write a brief note. She asks them to include their text or Twitter handle, email or cell phone on the note. She then places these in the appropriate card holder, turned sideways (you can can see examples in the photo). As staff come and go, they know right where to look for messages - and they replenish their business cards at the same time. Oh yeah, that's her booth schedule and important daily reminders attached to the clip bar below.

It's another simple, low-tech solution that keeps the details organized without creating a lot of work for anybody. I love this.

In both these examples, these two young ladies have successfully streamlined their exhibit operations. They've empowered their staff by removing obstacles to communication, and made their lives easier in the process.

What other great organizational tips do you have to share?

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Bob's Best Bites
In keeping with the theme of "simple", I offer you Moochie's of Salt Lake City, UT. Simply put, it's the best (and messiest) meatball sub I've ever had. It's simply meatballs, marinara, and provolone on french bread, but the homemade meatballs are juicy, huge and full of Italian flavor. This combination of juicy meatballs and messy marinara sauce make the Moochie's sub one of the most un-green sandwiches around. At least a tree's worth of napkins were required to finish my sandwich. Frankly, I should have followed my son-in-law's advice, and brought an extra shirt to change into after eating. Located at 232 East 800 South, in Salt Lake City, it's best not to visit Moochie's at lunch time -- it's too crowded. Go during the afternoon or for an early dinner. Preferably, schedule your visit so you don't have to return to work afterward -- or bring along a spare shirt.


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