Rebranding a Trade Show - A Look at Virtual Extensions

View all posts from this author

Fran Brasseux

Fran Brasseux is the executive vice president of HSMAI responsible for oversight of chapter relations, all membership and marketing functions.

It’s only natural that as the meetings and conventions profession evolves and becomes more dynamic based on technological advances, the industry’s top trade shows do the same. Meeting planners and exhibitors were privy to some of these advances at HSMAI’s MEET National show put on by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International in Washington, D.C., in September.

HSMAI underwent a complete rebranding this year, which included updating our longtime Affordable Meetings series to meet the needs of our ever-evolving industry.

While the show offered many new elements for attendees, one of the most significant was HSMAI’s first-ever virtual extension component, HSMAI’s MEET On.

As part of the rebranding process, we wanted to ensure the name MEET On, linked to the new show name, HSMAI’s MEET, which stands for Meetings, Events, Education and Technology. The new show is a fresh way to meet, and every element had to connect with our objective of moving meetings and events forward and helping the attendees and the exhibitors make connections that truly can make a difference.

Time poverty, staff compression and more competition are driving a continual need for innovation and change, and this change must include offering multiple ways for those in the industry to obtain information on business trends, connections and educational knowledge. As part of the show rebranding, we spent 12 months doing research – getting attendee and exhibitor feedback and identifying best practices.

The virtual element appealed to us from the get-go as a new feature we wanted to explore. We actually had researched virtual extensions more than five years ago, and while we loved what we uncovered, we also realized the market needed more time to mature before it was worth the investment. 

Based on a long-standing relationship with Freeman, who is very involved in the virtual space, we began conversations on how to develop a virtual model that worked for associations like HSMAI. Together, with their platform partner, Inxpo, we developed a model that offered a virtual experience, gave our exhibitors expanded exposure to all site visitors, and allowed 24/7/365 online access.

MEET On broadcasted live educational sessions from the show to thousands of planners, as well as featured interviews with HSMAI’s MEET exhibitors and presenters. Adding additional value to our exhibitors, we arranged for the content to be accessible year-round at www.HSMAIMEETON.com. Our plan is to keep refreshing the content and completelyupdate it following each HSMAI’s MEET show.

Though nothing replaces the value of face-to-face connections, we have to keep in mind what attendees find value in, including the expanded reach a virtual element provides. Plus, research supports that virtual attendees who have a good experience will consider attending live next time. In fact, more than 60 percent of our virtual attendees said the MEET On experience would likely cause them to attend live next year.

While the expense and time to develop and execute a virtual show can seem overwhelming to smaller associations like ours, never underestimate the value of this medium. It not only delivers an additional value for your exhibitors but allows for capture of your live sessions, keeps your show open year around, and can help market your show well beyond normal attendees.  The end result for us was a better show ROI for our exhibitors and an opportunity to truly move events and meetings forward – our original objective.

We do recommend starting earlier than we did (just 90 days out), trying to obtain more live examples of virtual best practices to model against, and managing everyone’s expectations for a first virtual show. It’s also imperative to find great partners – ones you trust and that have come highly recommended. Our partnerships with bxbonline, for show marketing strategy, Freeman for virtual platform set up, and Inxpo, for the virtual platform execution were invaluable to our success.

Stay tuned as HSMAI and Inxpo are developing a comprehensive case study to share with the industry. We also plan to go virtual again next year – with the same great partners.