Today marked the last day of the interactive section of SXSW. As I prepare to leave Austin, I am convinced that this event should be in my calendar every year.

I doubt there is another event as complete for interactive professionals where you can find this combination of great networking, hundreds of educational sessions, outstanding speakers and exhibitors offering the latest products and innovations. All of this in the middle of a fun and casual environment that invites people to have longer conversations leading to the exchange of knowledge — changing the way we think, the things we do and how we do them.

As I start to process it all, here are a few random non-technical things that stuck in my head:

• Everybody keeps talking about social media, and there is no question it’s here to stay. Social media is great but content is king.
• Be an entrepreneur. That doesn’t mean you need to have your own company, you can be an entrepreneur at your job. Muhammad Yunus said “All human beings are entrepreneurs. When we were in the caves we were all self employed… finding our food, feeding ourselves. That’s where the human history began. As civilization came we suppressed it. We forgot that we are entrepreneurs.”
• When going after a dream or idea, invest in time and/or money and be willing to risk as much as you are hoping to achieve.
• Mobile phones and mobile apps are changing the world and will keep doing so. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and optimized.
• Ambient location apps will keep popping up more and more.
• Mobile app wallets will take over leather wallets sooner than we think.
• Food trucks rock! Austin has 1,000+ food trucks. I wish DC had more of them too.
• Geeks are the new rock stars—think Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Biz Stone from Twitter, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin from Google.
• I need to stop arguing with Randy about too much white space. White space is good. It helps communicate ideas in a better way when used appropriately.

Who wants to go to SXSW next year? Contact me and let’s get a group together!

More to come from my SXSW partner in crime, Josh Levie, Fixation’s Interactive Project Manager.

Another great day at SXSW. Great networking, sessions, speakers, and entertainment. Here are the highlights of the day:

• Listening to Ray Kurzweil’s session titled “Expanding Our Intelligence Without Limit” for a second time. I had the opportunity to listen to a very similar session by him at Shop.org last year. Ray Kurzweil has been involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments, all inventions that are embedded into gadgets we use on a daily basis.
• Seeing Biz Stone talk about his experiences and the thought process behind Twitter. Biz is best known as the co-founder of Twitter.
• Then to finish the education part of the day, we had the opportunity of seeing Al Gore interviewing Sean Parker, founder of Napster and co-founder of Facebook. (Think Justin Timberlake if you saw the movie The Social Network)
• Another great part of the day was walking the show floor. It was a great reminder of how important face-to-face communication is, and why we are in this business — Tradeshows.
• After learning a lot at SXSW, the next stop was the entertainmet part and some more networking. We headed to the Jay-Z concert. American Express had a campaign where they asked us to sync our AmEx credit card with Twitter as they are launching a campaign that allows credit card members to Tweet their way to savings at SXSW. That gave us free tickets! Watch the video below.

Day one attending South by Southwest and I am already thinking about next year’s event!

South by Southwest, or how the old-timers like to call it “South by” happens every year in Austin, TX. The event has three components, Music, Film and Interactive, the last one being the reason for me to attend. The event is packed with talks, workshops, keynotes, meet ups, exhibitors and plenty of networking.

For the next five days I will be looking for the latest interactive solutions for our clients, listening to inspirational speakers, meeting geeks from all over the world, and yes, socializing over beer and BBQ by night.

Today’s Keynote speaker was The Onion director of digital, Baratunde Thurston. He was very funny, inspirational and thought-provoking. His keynote titled “How to Read the World” was about how comedy and satire can help make sense of the world, help increase the limits of freedom of speech around the world, and how the internet and social media have helped this movement happen.

The good news is that we do not have to be afraid. Trade shows, while still certainly struggling under current economic conditions, appear not to have lost their basic value as a cost efficient, significant business opportunity. In fact, according to a 2010 CEIR Survey, 76% of attendees rate face-to-face interaction with potential vendors and suppliers very or extremely important in performing their job.

Also, according to BtoBonline, 94% say it is important or very important to be able to view online content after the event has occurred.

What does this mean from a marketing perspective? It means that the recent push for online/virtual events, as well as full-scale transitions from integrated marketing (including traditional tactics) to 100% digital marketing plans are not the end-all be-all of the modern trade show marketing campaign. However, virtual events are beginning to prove their worth as a driver for the live event.

So, how do we utilize a virtual event to drive attendance to the show? The first thing to understand is that the virtual event cannot (for now) exist as a stand-alone event. It MUST come as an extension of the live event. While IAEE research shows that 40% of virtual events aim to be self-sustaining, we also know that live content is the most popular content of virtual events. So, for now at least, it is up to show producers to capture enough engaging content to make people want to attend the virtual, and eventually the real event. Show floor interviews, product demos, and education sessions all make the list of engaging (and more importantly, desired) content.

The second important factor is the overall purpose of the virtual event. Some show producers make the mistake of promoting the technologically progressive nature of the event, as opposed to its actual value to the attendee. The event should be focused on what it can do for the participant, NOT about what it is doing for the trade association.

Ultimately, the physical, face-to-face interaction achieved at trade shows remains as one of the leading drivers of attendance. The virtual event, by nature, will never achieve the tactile stimulation of a live trade show. People experience trade shows with their five senses. They are able to see, touch, and experience what they are after, allowing them to make more educated business decisions.

Eliminating a physical event and converting to a virtual one at this point seems to be, frankly, a bad idea. Converting your marketing campaign to 100% digital is not be the best plan either. And please don’t ever think email is free.

Is the trade show industry progressing? Certainly. But it can’t escape essential business interaction – face to face, solidified with a handshake and a smile.

Say your show is eight weeks out and the attendees who have the right job titles and work for the right companies are committed. In other words, the buyers you would expect to see at your show plan on being at your show. Now is not the time to simply splash around in the shallow end. You’ve got eight weeks! Why not dive into the deep end of the prospect pool and really drive up your registration numbers! It’s a worthwhile exercise—not just for the sake of spreadsheets and statistics, but for the relevancy and longevity of your event.

One of our clients, the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA), has been working on building their new prospect base for a few years now in an effort to attract fresh faces and evolve their annual HPBExpo as the leading indoor-outdoor living showcase. HPBExpo 2010 in Orlando took place last month and, for the third consecutive year, new prospect numbers increased. In addition to retailers and sales reps, HPBExpo is a draw for more and more home builders, remodelers and designers; propane retailers and other service providers; landscape architects and outdoor room specialists; and anyone who stands to benefit from having product knowledge of the very latest hearth appliances, grills, outdoor room features…you get the idea. While these new attendees may not all be direct buyers, they certainly have direct influence on consumers and end users—the very homeowners who will be purchasing their way to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

How did HPBExpo do it? Through direct and targeted marketing efforts, special promotions, advertisements in trade publications and regional outreach, they were able to find and attract new attendees. A good place to start is with the “drive in” audience—those who live/work within a 300 to 350 mile driving range of the event’s location. The cost to this group would be minimal, especially if you offer them goodies like free exhibit passes, special webinars, education sessions focused on their business, etc. The possibilities are endless—you just have to jump in and start swimming. And don’t be afraid to go after individuals. In today’s world of social media and customizable marketing it’s more about having a conversation with your audience, speaking to them directly instead of as part of a segment. It’s easy to do and the tools to do it are readily available.

Here’s something to keep in mind: new attendees attract new exhibitors and new exhibitors keep your attendees coming back year after year. That’s a tradeshow tidalwave you want to be caught in!

Read a Guest Blog from PMMI’s Christine Maple. Christine is the Marketing Manager for Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), which produces PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas and EXPO PACK Mexico. PMMI is one of Fixation’s clients.

Are you familiar with Large Show Roundtables (LSR), hosted by tradeshow veteran Sam Lippman? I wasn’t until Fixation Marketing—one of the event’s sponsors—invited me to participate earlier this year. I’m really glad they did. LSR in Anaheim, California on January 22, 2010, was a great learning experience.

The one-day roundtables are kept small and private to facilitate frank discussion and real problem-solving among those of us who manage large trade events. I was one of only 16 executives in attendance. I was also the newest and the youngest by far. But, my peers didn’t make me feel that way at all. Instead, they looked to me, in particular, as the freshest perspective in the room, turning to me when issues of social media and emerging technologies came up. I quickly realized they were looking for reassurance and I was able to give them some.

I’ll tell you what I shared with the group:

• Face-to-face interaction still matters—And it will never go out of style. Even young people today realize that showing up makes a bolder statement than calling, emailing, video-chatting, tweeting and texting. But as show managers, we do have to work hard to produce events that speak to every generation and that move and shake with the times.
  
• Social media is a given, not an option—The answer is “Yes!” Yes, you should set up a LinkedIn Group; yes, a Facebook page is necessary; and yes, Twitter is something you should actually do, not just complain about. These social media channels open up the lines of communication with the very people you want to attend or exhibit at your show. Open discussion, instantaneous information exchange and viral community-building leads to a sense of ownership, which in turns leads to more investment of time and resources on the part of the “community.” You want your show to grow into a “large” one, right?
• Don’t just listen to your audience, let them know you heard them—At the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), we did and it’s paying off. With an industry-wide shift toward total systems solutions, PACK EXPO International is evolving in step with the marketplace and expanding its focus to showcase processing and packaging solutions under one roof. Exhibitors and attendees asked for one powerful show; and we are delivering this fall.

The next Large Show Roundtable will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on April 15. I encourage you to apply right away. Don’t miss the opportunity to find out what you’re doing right when it comes to your trade shows and events, and what you could be doing better. I promise you’ll go home with plenty of new ideas, proven strategies and the support of your peers.

Christine Maple
Marketing Manager
Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), producer of PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas, and EXPO PACK Mexico

PMMI is a trade association with more than 500 member companies that manufacture packaging and packaging-related converting machinery, commercially-available packaging machinery components, containers and materials in the United States and Canada. PMMI’s vision is to be the leading global resource for packaging, and its mission is to improve and promote members’ abilities to succeed in a global marketplace.