Event Industry Leaders Collaborate to Establish Common Exhibitor Data Standards
January 23, 2020
Leaders from industry companies including CadmiumCD, EXPOCAD, Freeman, GES, Map Your Show and Personify A2Z Events are coming together to create a solution to a major problem in the industry: jumbled exhibitor data. This effort of designing common exhibitor data standards is expected to help streamline operations as well as improve the customer experience.
In the past, events providers each had their own practices for managing exhibitor data — and because there wasn’t a standard for providing the data, it created pain points and was inefficient for all involved, explains Rick Britton, GES chief information officer.
“Approximately a year ago, GES and Freeman began working on standards for the way exhibitor data is provided,” says Britton. “For most shows, the data is currently shared in Excel spreadsheets and manually managed for updates and changes. With the new Exhibitor Data Standards, we are able to automate the process and improve the experience for show organizers and companies using exhibitor data.”
This initiative will evolve as companies work together for the greater good of the industry. Data is central to proving the value of events, so these standards will elevate the sophistication of measurement for event organizers to better demonstrate ROI.
"The promotion of exhibitors and sponsors at an event is a critical source of revenue for many events,” said Michelle Wyatt, co-founder and CEO of CadmiumCD. “Being able to communicate that data exchange effectively by using these standards across a variety of platforms that attendees use as part of their experience is a requirement for any show to be effective in reaching their target audience."
Indeed, creating standards for exhibitor information will be a win for the entire industry, says Don Kline, CEO of Map Your Show. “This seemingly small step makes putting on events more efficient and allows all vendors to focus on what’s important — the actual event.”
To learn more about these standards and how to get involved, please contact Donald Bishop, Freeman sales engineer (Donald.Bishop@Freeman.com) or Robynn Coulter, senior systems analyst at GES (rcoulter@ges.com).
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