Conferences, seminars and shows

Businesses, these day have a whole variety of means to get their messages across to the public and other interested bodies. It means aren't limited to advertising and press releases. Indeed, marketing covers so much more. And it is, perhaps, a shame that more businesses don't get out into the public to show off what they do face-to-face. This might be because of bureaucracy with regard to businesses operating on the street.

Gain public interest

But there is a good halfway house. The public, and others, are always looking for things to interest them, and they largely don't mind paying for value.

Which means there's a route for businesses to entice people to shows and conferences. Neither has to be directly related to what you want to do or show, but it does provide a platform and gateway to do business. And it only has to be interesting or enticing to the public.

Well made shows have a habit of bucking trends. As an example, the Boat Show Federation reports that visitor numbers for boat shows are up, despite the fact that many visitor attractions are feeling the effects of consumer cost cutting.

Show opportunities

Hotels and other businesses are struggling for business these days, and would be delighted to make more use of their assets. Which also means there are deals to be had.

And if you are considering running a show or conference, Chalestra can help. We have been advising and designing shows for over 20 years. The biggest we have ever put together is an international conference for the oil industry.

Handled well, it's not impossible for a business to recoup the cost of the event, even if it sells nothing. Chalestra can help with cost management and RoI too.

No reason to host an event

In fact, we know businesses that host shows with zero expectation of getting business - they are in it for the reputation. It is true that they frequently get access to new business and contacts, but gaining those is not the objective.

There are also well-known companies that host shows that show off what they make, what they sell, demonstrate what they want to do.

And events can be cheap

These types of events don't have to cost a lot. They do have to be professional, and they do have to be organised well. Which is where our experience comes in.

What's a successful event?

The answer to that is different for anyone that hosts a show. For some, that they held a show at all meant that it was successful. For most, realising the objectives is sufficient. What's most important to delivering a successful show is that clear objectives must be established even before planning commences. Speculative launches are rarely successful, unless, of course, there were no objectives in the first place, which happens.

Very large conferences and events

These types of events can take a year to produce. Our favourite method is to hire a warehouse and build it there, with a view to moving to construction to the official site nearer the day. It's not the cheapest way of doing things, but the benefits of doing so easily outstrip cost concerns.

The two main benefits of building the conference off-site is that it offers the hosts an opportunity to get to know the layout well, and, secondly, allows everyone ample time to rehearse their part.

All that's left, then, is how staff interact with the public on the day.