Global Fastener News

“Traffic and new contacts,” one exhibitor summarized in four words what multiple colleagues said in longer responses.

Within the next year there are three North American trade shows for the fastener industry (listed below) – plus regional table tops.

FIN surveyed a variety of exhibitors at the International Fastener Expo, Fastener Fair USA and Fastener Tech.

What results are you looking for in each of these shows?

“We look for new prospects, and new opportunities with current customers,” an exhibitor responded. “Seeing our customers face to face in one place gives us the time to update our customers with what is new, and have that personal communication that is lacking through email/phone.”

While exhibitors want to meet with customers, one noted that customers want to talk to exhibitors. “People want to talk to the people they buy from.”

What results are you looking for in each of these shows?

One exhibitor responded that his company “enjoys being able to continue to strengthen their relationships with current customers, along with introducing ourselves to those customers who might not know much about us. Some additional education will always be viewed as being beneficial.”

It isn’t just opening day traffic. One asked for “higher sustained volume across all hours of the show. There are too many peaks and valleys.”

Exhibitors would be “more receptive to these shows if the show managers brought in more quality distributor type customers rather than worry about how many booths they can sell.”

“More traffic, with new faces would help considerably.”

Ultimately the decision on which shows to exhibit in becomes a question of “Where are we going to get the best leads from?”

What can show management do between now and the show to make it successful for you as their exhibitor customer?

“Many shows seem to be concerned only with the number of booths they sell therefore, they open these shows up to any overseas company that they can sell space to. Many of these overseas companies are there to sell directly to the distribution/end user markets. Introducing overseas suppliers to these shows has hurt the master stocking importers and distributors alike.”

It might also make sense if OEMs were not invited to certain shows. If a show is targeting OEMs, then promote a show solely for OEM attendees. If a company sells distribution only and OEMs are in attendance, the optics may be bad if those companies are seen talking to OEMs.

Show management needs to make their events as “enticing as possible for distributors to travel to a show.”

What are locations where you want a fastener trade show?

“Las Vegas has been a nice destination for many, many years but it is expensive and people may be looking for something new. It may be a nice change of pace to move it around to different locations.”

“Las Vegas is popular,” one exhibitor acknowledged. But he questioned if Las Vegas draws “a fair representation from the east coast.” Orlando also is popular, but attendance from west coast could drop, he pointed out.

Other locations the exhibitors mentioned: Charlotte, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Phoenix, Nashville, Kansas City and Minneapolis.

One exhibitor suggested having shows “where there is industry is important for the traffic of the show.”

How often do you want a full trade show?

“One major show per year,” responded one.

One full trade show every other year with regional events in between, suggested another exhibitor.

The result of multiple shows is “distributors are getting burnt out and attendance is getting weak, particularly regional/association shows. I have not talked to a vendor this year about any show where they thought they were getting their money’s worth.”

Instead of holding “weakly attended” table tops, associations “need to get back to the basics of educational value, business building, etc.”

The addition of Fastener Fair USA in 2017 was of “no value to the industry, just another show.”

One exhibitor noted only IFE in Las Vegas has a “national” draw and Fastener Tech and Fastener Fair USA “are both regional trying to gain national exposure.”

One company passed on exhibiting at Fastener Fair USA based on price. “We can not afford to attend everything. As an exhibitor, it is a business decision to decide if the costs associated with a trade show or even table top show are worth the expense.”

There are already “too many” shows now, leaving attendance “weak, particularly regional / association table tops.”

If associations want a show, they need to get their distributors to attend, not just expect associate members to “donate by paying for tables along empty aisles.”

None of the exhibitors surveyed asked for more trade shows.

What would you change about the last trade shows you exhibited in?

It isn’t just the number of trade shows, but the cost of participating. “Show management needs to respect exhibitor costs,” one exhibitor advised. “A longer second day means fewer can fly home that day,” an exhibitor pointed out. “That adds to exhibitor costs with more hotel nights, more meals and another day out of the office.”

An exhibitor noted that “the second half-day or full day is always quiet and mostly disappointing.”

Instead of a later in the afternoon second day, what about “start earlier in morning of second day?”

“I consider the regional table-top show dead, for the time being,” observed one participant. “Do we try to resuscitate them or do we move to more of a networking / educational approach? When the industry is doing well, it is hard to get customers to show up without some sort of return on investment.”

One exhibitor called on fellow exhibitors to reject shows which fail to bring in sufficient attendees by either “not returning to shows which fail to get distributors in the aisles for the full hours, or at least by reducing their number of booths and advertising in show programs.”

Exhibitors should not pay national prices for shows that are essentially regional, one “selective” exhibitor advised.

The question to ask in determining which shows to exhibit at: “Where are we going to get the best leads from?”

“It’s about the bottom dollars,” one exhibitor explained.

Ultimately, exhibitors emphasize they want to profit from trade shows. Picking shows to spend the money on is a gamble that can pay off.

“About eight years ago, a company walked up to us at our booth at a small regional show and discovered we carried product they needed to source. Since then, they have done close to $100k a year with us,” an exhibitor noted. “That certainly covers the cost of that show each year. This is not the norm though. In fact, this is my best example of why we should exhibit as much as we can or do.”