Report from the Field: Farnborough 2010

Our colleague, Kimberly Williamson of Aviall, attended and worked the 2010 edition of the Farnborough Airshow. Here is her report:

Aviall's presence at the show was a flurry of activity between interviews and a full staff being on board. The economy is showing signs of improvement with many companies sending multiple personnel as opposed to the Paris Airshow last year. Numbers appeared to be up, but nothing has been released yet that I know of. We had good traffic, especially being right next door to Rolls-Royce (since we are exclusive on three of their engine lines).

This year Farnborough rolled out what they called Future's Day on Friday (the last trade day of the show). Future's Day was basically an opportunity for companies to invite school children to visit the airshow to promote aviation. Yes, it sounds like a great idea, but for most of us...it really wasn't. There were over 4,000 school children running amuck like locusts through the exhibit halls. All of our neighboring exhibitors (with the exception of Rolls) were very unhappy and ended up closing shop early (some left as early as noon).

Sounds like things are coming back and show management is trying innovative things to build traffic and good will with their various audiences.

Thanks, Kim.

TTSG

Aviall Exhibits at EBACE

The 10th annual European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) ended its three-day conference earlier this month in Geneva, Switzerland. Our colleague, Gary Donatell of Freeman Exhibits, was there with Aviall. He filed this report for our blog.

The exhibition was sold out and 11,174 attended the event.There was a general air of optimism that the global industry’s economic outlook is on the upswing, EBACE reported. Event organizers also pointed to positive signs, such as the sense of enthusiasm among exhibitors and attendees.

Aviall continues to increase their presence at this show, while being very budget conscious. The roughly 20' x 20' exhibit is twice the size of their exhibit in 2009.

“I would categorize their display as a rental ‘custom turn-key’ exhibit,” Gary said. He goes on to report that the budget for this exhibit, not including graphic design and production provided by Zachry and Associates, and transportation of the white fabric cube was US$25K. This total includes the 7.6% VAT.

This works out to about $62.50 per square foot, and represents a real value in today's economy. Consider that recent industry studies even put stateside rentals at twice that number, this makes international exhibiting seem affordable.

“Speaking of the white fabric cube,” Gary continued. "It has become an icon that Aviall uses at various trade shows they attend. At EBACE, there were restrictions on hanging anything from the ceiling, so the booth had to be designed to have it rest on top of the exhibit. It worked out nicely.”

Thanks, Gary. We’ll pass on your report on the whole show in a future post.

TTSG

Having a plan and philosophy

A client just shared with me her internal trade show program plan. Great stuff and shows vision.

While it has the requisite charts and graphs showing costs and shows and timelines, it also includes direction, how vendors are managed and a long-term expectation of where the program is headed.

This helps as a directional tool, but also in succession planning.

So, think ahead and write such a document. In subsequent posts, we'll share examples.

TTSG

Changing your display approach

One of the difficult things to do in exhibit management is change course when it comes to presentation. Most times, strategy drives these changes. Lately, cost and a realization of what a real ROI is has helped make the decision.

Our colleagues at Aviall made changes based upon both.

At the Paris Air Show, Aviall showed less hardware and product than they have in previous years. They are using more graphics and using storytelling by staff to portray the products as opposed to actually displaying things. This accomplishes several things:

• Sharpens the focus of Aviall's mission from the product to the process
• Reduces expenses by lowering freight and drayage costs as well as saving time in filing paperwork to import and export displays and products.

This evolution has helped reduce clutter and cost and help tell more of the Aviall story, since it is now not focused just on product, reports Kim Williamson of Aviall.

This is a great example of a company sharpening the focus of their presentation based upon their key messages and understanding their clientele.

TTSG

Report from Paris Air

Our colleague, Kimberly Williamson of Aviall, recently returned from the Paris Air Show at LeBourget Field. She filed this report for us.

"The show went well for us," Kim said. "while the rain was a disadvantage for those with outdoor displays, it drove traffic indoors to our stand," she said.

As with others reporting on shows during these interesting economic times, Kim reports that while overall attendance appeared to be down, the visitors they did receive were high quality.

"We are a supplier-based business," Kim continued. "We had the right people visiting us (from our standpoint)."

TTSG

Reports from Paris Air

Watch this space. The Paris Air Show opens today at Le Bourget.

This show should be quiet. With airlines asking for their orders from Boeing and Airbus to be delayed, the crash of the Air France jetliner in the Atlantic and the Boeing Dreamliner's maiden flight not taking place until after the show, look for news from other areas.

Most likely defense. Fighter contracts, helicopters, weapon systems. With two active wars and several hot spots around the world, this is an area of interest to many.

Our colleague and friend, Kimberly Williamson of Aviall, is at the Paris Air Show this month. When she has time, she will report to us "from the field" to keep us updated on this very important aerospace and aviation show.

TTSG

The MRO Show

One of the more interesting and original ideas to come out of the MRO Show this year was this product display.

At first glance, this looks like a skid arrived at the booth and was overlooked and not unpacked. In reality, it did several things, according to Kim Williamson, trade show manager for Aviall.

Kim explained that it shows the range of product types as well as the uniformity of product packaging. As always, Aviall is the "box the parts come in."

This was a simple act that drew attention to the space and the products. It allowed for a number of products to be shown without taking up precious real estate (the booth was only a 20x20 or 20x30, most of the space dedicated to conference space).

It became a conversations tarter that got casual attendees to talk and veteran guests to open up (maybe with a "I didn't know you did that" query).

And, it had the bonus of already being mostly packed on the down.

TTSG