The Beauty Of A Tradeshow

As I was preparing for a series of lectures covering the topic of Exhibitions (or Tradeshows - which is the term I prefer using), I was drawn into thinking about the usefulness and effectiveness of tradeshows. And I must admit that each time I do this, it just becomes clearer to me - tradeshows play an important and valuable role in ensuring the on-going development and progress of commerce and industry.

Simply put, a tradeshow is an event which brings 2 primary groups of business executives (or companies) together at a specific place and within a limited timeframe: those who have a product or service to offer; and those who are looking to utilise of buy the product/service. It is a very effective tool that ensures commerce takes places and develops.  I guess the best way to prove a point is to look at results of surveys or companies that have participated in tradeshows.  This one is a quick summary of one of the Oxford Economics Survey (http://www.oef.com/):

1. Tradeshows generate an average of 15% of a company's annual turnover.
2. Tradeshows have a "significant" impact on building partnerships, encouraging professional development and generating new insights.

Just to solidify the point I am making here, I thought that I'd include more photographs of the recently completed FHA2012.

The tradeshow floor starts to fill up with business executives looking for products or services on behalf of the companies they represent.

The level of activity and energy can be seen even at areas which are not considered prime locality on the tradeshow floor.

From what I have witnessed, it appears that companies and business executives in general still prefer to conduct commercial transactions in a "face-to-face" setting.