U.S. HISTORY
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Late 1950’s Interstate Highway system completed and commercial
introduction of the Jet airplane.
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1959-Las Vegas-Rotunda + 90,000sf exhibit hall
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1960-McCormick Place first large facility
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Real expansion in 1970’s making industry 40 years old
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CEIR Census identifies more than 14,000 meetings with exhibitions
held each year.
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10,000 are B to B events
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67% are owned by associations.
FACILITIES
HOTEL TO EXHIBIT HALL
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Show Room
Bellman
Catering
Banquet
Engineering
Housekeeping
Ambiance in Place
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Concrete
Material Handling
Food Service
Furniture Rental
Utility Service
Cleaning Service
Ambiance Temporary
Number of U.S. exhibitions dropped from
11,094 to 11,041 or -0.5%
 Added Mexico with 722 events
 Total U.S., Mexico & Canada 14,541
 More than 50% of all the exhibitions held in
the entire world
 Average size in U.S. 47,984 NSF +25%
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2,649 or 24% of U.S. events B to C
 37% of U.S. events held in exhibition/CC
 44% held in hotels
 67% owned by associations
 33% owned by media companies and
entrepreneurs

CEIR Index was down a record 9 consecutive
quarters
 Index turned positive Q3/Q4 2010 & Q1,2 &3
2011.
 In 2010, five sectors had positive YoY
performance
 Losses in 2008-2010 combined 15%
compared to 2001/2002 loss of 5%
 Overall back to 2000 level
 Number of exhibiting companies and NSF sold
the biggest losers
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CEIR INDEX 2011
Total

Q1
Index
3.1
Real GDP
2.2

Q2
1.0
1.6
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Q3
2.6
1.5
New source produced economic analysis
 New approach to calculating averages using
geometric method
 Restated the first 10 years
 Established new 2009 base year
 Added a predictive element to enhance
projecting future performance
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(1)
INSFt , j  INSFt 1, j  [(1  pch(SNSFt , j ) /100]
0.25
0.25
0.25
(2) TINt , j  INSFt ,0.25

IATT

IEXH

IREV
j
t, j
t, j
t, j
(3)
Mi j = f (Oj, FDj, EMj, Zj, RCE, TE)
Deeper recession-peak to trough 5.1% not
4.1% as earlier reported
 Improvement Q1 declined in Q2
 Index outperforming GDP
 Index slowed Q1 to Q2
 Recovery varies by sector but on average 3%
a year if no further setbacks in the economy.
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THE PERFORMANCE OF THE OVERALL EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
IN 2011 H1 WAS IN LINE WITH OUR PREVIOUS FORECAST.
Table 1: Overall Exhibition Industry
Metric
Net Square Feet
Exhibitors
Attendees
2008
2009
2010
20112/ 2011H1 3/ 20122/
20132/
-1.4
-10.9
-2.1
2.3
2.8
3.3
-2.0
-10.7
-1.1
2.1
1.9
2.8
-3.2
-7.5
2.4
2.5
3.4
2.8
-3.6
-9.6
-8.4
2.5
1.6
3.9
Real Revenues 1/
Total
-2.6
-9.7
-2.4
2.4
2.4
3.2
Note: 1/ Inflation Adjusted Revenues, adjusted by CPI for all urban consumers (CPI-U).
2/ Forecast
3/ Actual semi-annual percent change
3.0
2.4
2.5
3.4
2.8
CAGR,
2000-2010
-0.6
-1.3
-0.6
-1.2
-0.9
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Generation X-Ages 28-39
Generation Y-Ages 19-27
Gen X-20 million
Gen Y-60 million
Combined…more than the baby boomers
Much greater net worth and more liberal spending
practices
Like the face to face experience to network
 Consider attending a professional perquisite
 See new products
 Find new suppliers
 Learn more about a product or service they
have heard or read about
 Browse without sales pressure
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56% E-mail
19% Direct mail
25% various
Event Messaging – What Resonates?
 Be genuine…authentic…DO NOT overpromise
 Communicate in small bites…easy to digest
 Use social media CAREFULLY
 Schedule messages early in the day
 Create and promote event website
 Upgrade websites
 Measure results
Exhibitor Advice
 Every visitor is important…treat with respect
 Don’t speculate on degree of interest
 Include younger workers among exhibit staff
 Be prepared to handle young children (candy, play
area, computer games)
 Interactive versus static exhibit
 One-on-many versus one-on-one
Can the industry return to pre-2000 levels?
 Will companies that have reduced to smaller
spaces return to larger spaces?
 Will destinations cutting essential services
continue to subsidize Convention Centers?
 How will destinations know when they can no
longer compete?
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