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X-Rayted Files: Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Future of Trade Shows

I’ve heard the question repeatedly over the last couple of years, “Is the trade show dead?” It’s a valid question, and I’m not sure what the answer is, should be, or even what I wish it was. With a couple years under our belts now with canceled live events, some limited in person events, and an absolute tidal wave of virtual events and webinars, I am developing an opinion. Informing this opinion is also the fact that we have experience, and in some cases, success in finding effective alternatives to fill the void left by years of shows being on life support. On the whole, it has me scratching my head on another question. Is there a valid purpose for trade shows?

I’m not sure if they were actually the good old days or not, but for lack of a better turn of phrase, back in “the good old days” we pretty much just assumed that trade shows were a given as part of our marketing effort. Shows were accepted as essential to sales growth and were budgeted for with little question. I recall an element of FOMO (fear of missing out) if we didn’t have a presence at all the shows that our competitors were attending. Truth be told, we are still experiencing a touch of FOMO as we consider if, and what, shows we will participate in going forward. While attending and presenting at shows has always felt somewhat mandatory, it has often been difficult to measure the value of these efforts. When ours was a fledgling enterprise, standing up a presence at a show was a major undertaking. These were all-hands efforts that took priority over other important work, and of course required substantial financial commitment. Some events were clear winners, but so many fell into that gray area of “not sure that one was worth the effort… but it’s hard to say.” Attending these annual events also tends to develop a certain inertia that can make it hard to sit them out once you’ve been there before.

With that inertia interrupted, it’s a great time to take a hard look at what we really gain from going to trade shows (and participating in webinars), and whether the juice is worth the squeeze. At the risk of sounding like I’m completely down on them (I assure you I’m not, I’ve had a lot of fun over the years participating in shows, and both enjoyed and benefited from the networking that has been a key part of those experiences) we really do have a unique opportunity to get down to brass tacks here and examine what it is we’ve missed the last couple of years. Has the lack of trade show participation had a cost, and does that cost exceed effort and investment in attending such events?

In the case of my enterprise, the answer is a resounding “not sure, and maybe.” Sales have been stronger than ever. Is it because we’ve invested our sales and marketing efforts elsewhere, or would sales have been even better if there had just been a couple of great shows? It’s a vexing conundrum.

What activities did you adopt to fill the void in the wake of all the canceled shows? Did your marketing team come up with anything particularly successful or creative? Are such efforts a viable substitute for traditional trade shows? I’d love to hear what others have cooked up; use the “contact columnist” link if you have something to share. If I get enough responses perhaps I’ll write a column including your ideas. In that spirit, allow me to share.

We put on our thinking caps at Creative Electron as opportunities for shows evaporated and had some hits and misses. A prospecting campaign that relied heavily on phone contact landed with a thud as we learned pretty quickly that remote work meant very few people were even at their desks. An effort to offer onsite presentations with our mobile demonstration lab, dubbed the “X-ray Van,” was so successful that we got an additional van just to keep up with devand (get it, devand? Not a typo). One thing is certain, whether or not trade shows reemerge full tilt, our X-ray vans are here to stay.

I recall the first trade show I participated in after starting Creative Electron. It was exciting, exhausting, and somehow felt validating, like a rite of passage. On one hand, I’m glad that I’m not experiencing this entrepreneurial rite of passage during these times. Then again, it could be a real advantage to be starting an enterprise without the assumption that trade shows are a given and we’d be missing out if we weren’t to partake.

Dr. Bill Cardoso is CEO of Creative Electron.