The early impact of the web on the expo trade was painful. Suddenly consumers everywhere had immediate access to the info, products and services that they had previously only seen at their annual event. Certainly producers felt the effects in lower attendance and exhibitors saw sales drop. But this initial phase began to ease about three years ago in several important ways. First, people began to use the web to research products and then bring their questions to the show to meet with people face to face. Secondly, when program guides came out, people would  use the web to plan out their weekend.

Once promoters discovered that they had a new way to reach the public, they slowly began to adapt to using the web. These early efforts focused on merely placing their program guide pages on line either for viewing or downloading. At that stage most viewed the web either as a cheaper alternative to publishing a guide or as a relatively unimportant back-up to other advertising. These early versions of web sites had limited information and usually only updated once or twice. The results however began to increase with time. At BMSE we began to see more and more response cards saying that the web and email led to attendees coming to the expo for example.

The web also made a very quick means for sending info to the exhibitors at an event. From directions to special announcements, they could reach the exhibitors very quickly. Increasingly, web links and logos furthered the advanced use of the web and email for advertising the expo. Today nearly all expos send out to both their physical world address list and email lists. In addition to the cost savings of email, this allows the exhibitors to forward the show notice to their list of customers multiplying the effect of the emails at little additional effort.

As these campaigns have grown more effective, the overall web effort has grown far more sophisticated as well. For instance in Los Angeles at this year’s Conscious Life Expo, all lectures were recorded and made available after the expo as streaming audios and videos. Animations giving a sense of the event have begun to appear as well as broadband becomes more common. As times progress look for these “rich media” solutions to grow more common with video and audio links and pod-casts becoming standard.

The changes affect the information you can see as well. In the past for example you could scroll through a list of booths at an event or view the schedule. In the near future BMSE will offer “dynamic file links” allowing the public to search all presentations and prepare a list of just those of personal interest. They could for instance print out a floorplan of the expo showing where all the vitamin booths sit. Increasingly the expo website will work as a portal to all of the booths and speaker’s own sites. You will be able to download discounts or even pre-order your products and simply pick them up at an event. Within a few years the web and email will allow promoters to personalize their marketing message to the individual attendee and offer them optimized information tailored to their interests.