addressing a number ways its reduce costs and improve the value of its trade show
for both exhibitors and attendees. The letter also
summarizes key results from a January 2009 survey of more than 1,500 outdoor
specialty retailers with findings that demonstrate OR's value to its attendees
and exhibitors.
“We know its a tough business climate and your
entire marketing budget is under scrutiny,” wrote Joe Flynn, VP, Nielsen
Sports Group, and Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer Show Director, in the
letter. “Return on investment of your tradeshow dollars is more important
than ever to you and your customers. We want to share some of the steps we are
taking to benefit all tradeshow attendees reducing the total cost of participation
while providing high value benefits for attending.”
On the cost side, the letter spelled out a number a ways
the trade show around boots, hotels and other areas. These include:
Discounted Booth
Rates: OIA members will receive booth rate discounts of 5% in 2009, 8% in
2010 and 10% in 2011.
Affordable Hotel
Options: An expanded hotel room block that the organizers say offer a
savings of 30% or more compared to rooms
outside the block or at other major convention city locations.
Controlling
Drayage Costs: Since the
able to negotiate labor and material handling rates that are as much as 50%
less than union facilities in other cities such as
and
Reduce T&E: The Open Air Demo has returned to
a one day event to reduce exhibitors travel, meals & staffing expenses by a
full day
Cost Effective
Booth Options: OR
said it has programs to help exhibitors reduce booth costs through turnkey exhibiting
solutions and other options that can save thousands of dollars on booth
development, shipping, labor setup and tear down costs.
New Boat Loft
displays
the cost for exhibiting their boats, OR now provides the option to display
boats in the dedicated Boat Loft section as an affordable extension to their
floor exhibit. This is new for Summer Market 2009.
Cash Flow
improvement for WM10: For
Market
reduced the initial deposit required for booking space from 25% to
15%. member OIA
Member exhibitors will receive flat main floor pricing to 2009 levels.
In working to improve
the “value proposition” for buyers and sellers OR said it has invested in new
show planning tools to aid buyers with time management before and during the
show. It also said it has continued to refine the Village and Zone concepts to
meet the buying/merchandising needs of retailers, and is also expanding its winter
sports demo at
The organizers also
touted the continued benefits of Salt Lake City's transportation systems all
free with the OR badge as well as the trade shows Project OR and Design Center
exhibits,
Finally, the letter
highlighted the results of a survey by Outdoor Retailer, in coordination with the OIA, of over
1,500 outdoor specialty retailers taken in January 2009. Key findings include:
76% of attending retailers wrote orders onsite at the
show.
87% of attending retailers found new suppliers.
82% of those that placed orders wrote for the same
amount or greater than in 2007.
91% of attending retailers indicated they were very
satisfied or satisfied with their show experience
“As the pace of change in business continues to
accelerate, changes to the value propositions of tradeshows also must keep pace,”
concluded Flynn and Haroutunian in the statement. “We at Outdoor Retailer
strive to listen, monitor and measure our success through the success of our
clients and the outdoor marketplace. While the changes and benefits in this
letter provide a sampling of steps we have taken to improve the value of your
participation in the show, be assured we relentlessly strive to better serve
you and your business needs. We know the show can be a catalyst for the future
success of your business, and constantly strive for ways to serve the market
better and grow the business for all who participate.”
