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At one point during our dinner, our attention turned to all the whiz-bang gimmicks that many tradeshows have added to attract attendees. With the downturn of the economy, many of the largest trade shows in the electronics industries have turned to all sorts of so-called creative ploys to attract visitors. Everything from giving away free PDAs to holding an industry-wide Chili Cook-Off. I told Jason that I would love to get the latest HP iPAQ PDA for attending InfoComm, but that if he decided to do a Chili Cook-Off I requested that it be held the end of the last day of the show as I'm not sure I would want to be wandering around InfoComm in the middle of the summer with 20,000 people who ate primarily beans the day before for dinner.
In all seriousness, I don't need a gimmick to attend the shows I go to annually. I go because I am interested. However, there are a few things that I do think that Jason can do to keep me and a few thousand trade-show warriors happy annually. Simple requests, but important ones.
So, Jason, here's your list to ensure prosperous attendance at your next event in Atlanta:
The first one is water pressure. It's bad enough to have to get up every day at 6:00am to attend the plethora of educational seminars and manufacturer product introduction breakfasts, but it's a major bummer when you step into your morning shower only to be trickled upon by the 12-year-old faucet head that sprays water everywhere but down. So, Jason, please ask the hotels in the 2004 hotel block to get their water pressure checked and replace those ancient shower heads.
On a related note, please check the hot water level. Some hotels are actually putting a water temperature level governor on the rooms and that means if a few people on your floor sharing the same hot water tank with you beat you to the shower, you get warm water that never gets hot. Hot is good, cold is bad.
Secondly, I would appreciate it if there is an AC (air conditioner) control adjustment in the room that correlates to the AC unit on the wall. And, if it only has high, medium or low settings, make sure that low fan level is somewhere below 90db. If I wanted the ambient noise level of my room to be that of most hotel AC units, I would just pick a hotel next to the airport and open the window. I love being lulled to sleep with white noise, but not at the same level as the last Rolling Stones concert I attended
Third, Starbucks. I've become a Frappuccino junkie and those 6am wake-up calls are enhanced significantly with the knowledge that there's a Starbucks somewhere within a five minute walking distance. And, if it's in the hotel, even better! Oh, by the way, if you're like me and watching your fat intake, you can now still enjoy a "frap" from Starbucks, just say no to that weight-heavy whipped cream they try to stuff on the top of your blended beverage. Order your Venti Chocolate Brownie Frappuccino without whipped cream and you'll take 25 fat grams down to a whopping 13 grams of fat! This easily frees me up to have the convention center fries with lunch.
Fourth, the newspaper outside my door -- and that's it. It is amazing to me the pile of paper I amass when at virtually every trade show on earth. I love getting that show daily, but when dashing outside my room (wrapped with a towel) having just stepped outside my warm water shower, and then reaching for the daily and the local paper, the plethora of 3rd party advertising stuff-ins that fall out of the paper is ridiculous. I don't have the heart to just leave it on the floor in the hall so I feel the need to try and stuff it all in my room trash can. It doesn't fit. And, that's a long time for me to spend in the hall in my towel.
Finally, I don't need a fancy PDA-based floor map or even wireless access to my e-mail while walking the show floor, but I would appreciate something besides trade show junk food. An apple would be awesome.
But, come to think of it, Chili ain't so bad either.
Gary Kayye, CTS, is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com.
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Gary Kayye, CTS is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com. Related Keywords:Jason McGraw, ICIA, Senior VP of Expositions, ProAV market, InfoComm, InfoComm 2004, Atlanta, GA, ISE, Geneva, Switzerland, AV/IT Convergence
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