Scoring Opportunities

In 2006, organizers of the Commerce trade show took their game up a notch by relocating the annual fall event to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The change of venue, coupled with some different programs, generated some new excitement for the show. Seizing on that momentum, planners have brought the show back to the Hall, but with some new wrinkles to the game plan designed to bring more value to exhibitors and visitors alike.

‘Elevate Your Game.’

That’s the theme for Commerce 2007, the 17th edition of the annual fall trade show staged by the Chicopee and Greater Holyoke Chambers of Commerce, slated for Nov. 1. It was chosen to draw a strong connection between the event and its new home, the Basketball Hall of Fame, to which the show was first taken last year; the event’s brochure is replete with double entendres covering both sports and business. But it also speaks to business owners about the opportunities that show organizers believe the event offers for companies to take their marketing efforts to a higher plane.

Indeed, there are several new wrinkles to the traditional trade show format designed to give participants more exposure. These include a ‘star exhibitor status’ package, which gives vendors more visibility, both on the show floor and in marketing materials for the event. Meanwhile, companies can also sign on as ‘playmakers,’ an upgraded ‘star status’ product tailored toward companies that plan to offer demonstrations or mini-seminars at their booths.

But ‘elevating the game’ also refers to what show organizers, especially Chicopee Chamber President Gail Sherman and her counterpart in Holyoke, Doris Ransford, have been trying to do with their trade show. The move to the Hall of Fame energized some long-time participants and sparked enough curiosity to attract several newcomers last fall, said Sherman, noting that the chambers want to seize on that momentum and make the show an even more attractive marketing option for business owners.

To that end, they have created the new initiatives aimed at exposure, while also tweaking the show layout and some of the programs — all in an effort to add value. Last year, booths were spread out over several levels of the Hall and many different rooms, which many attendees found inconvenient; this year, all the booths are on one floor, but over a broader area. Last year, breakfast was in the Hall’s auditorium, with people essentially eating out of their laps; this year, a buffet-style restaurant will be staged in Pazzo’s restaurant in the Hall complex.

Meanwhile, show attendees will also be given free entrance to the Hall of Fame’s exhibits, as they were last year, and visitors and exhibitors alike can mix their time at the show with a visit to one of three restaurants located within the complex.

“We think it’s a very attractive package of programs and opportunities for networking,” said Ransford, adding that show organizers are expecting to at least match last year’s turnout, a considerable feat considering an ongoing trend of declining participation in trade shows, coupled with an economic outlook now featuring many question marks.

In this issue, BusinessWest previews Commerce ’07, a show that promises exhibitors some real scoring opportunities.

Hook Shots

Flashing back to 1991, Ransford said the Commerce Show was launched to provide area companies, many of them smaller businesses with limited marketing budgets, a chance to gain some important exposure at a time when they needed it — the start of a prolonged recession — and when most couldn’t afford to market themselves extensively, or thought they couldn’t.

The Western Mass. landscape has changed considerably since then, and the economy is obviously much improved, although there are some concerns about the future and more frequent references to the dreaded ‘R’ word, said Ransford. But the basic mission of this trade show hasn’t changed — it remains an opportunity for companies to gain some cost-effective exposure and gain some potentially valuable leads.

“These days, it seems that there’s far less human interaction when it comes to sales and marketing, and technology has a lot to do with that,” said Ransford. “Today, people use E-mail and voice mail to communicate. But there’s no substitute for face-to-face contact, and the show gives people a chance to reconnect.”

Since the beginning, the challenge has been to keep the show fresh and make it well worth it for business owners and managers to devote a day, some expense, and considerable energy to the event.

“Business owners make a big investment in the show in terms of their time, their employees’ time, and the cost of exhibiting,” said Sherman. “We want to make this a prudent investment for everyone, and we do that by providing a lot of bang for the buck in terms of exposure to decision-makers.”

The Commerce Show has been well-traveled throughout its history. It started out at what is now the Plantation Inn in Chicopee, and later spent a number of years operating out of one of the large hangars at Westover Air Reserve Base. The events of 9/11 made those facilities unavailable, so organizers took the show to the Big E, where it remained until the MassMutual Center opened in the fall of 2005.

That year’s Commerce Show was one of the first events staged at the downtown Springfield facility, and it went well, said Sherman, but there were some glitches. Parking was a problem, either real or perceived, she explained, and there were some other logistical and practical concerns; organizers tried a shuttle bus from downtown parking lots, but it didn’t prove popular.

Weighing the pros and cons of that location, Commerce organizers considered other venues, and gave the Hall of Fame a hard look. The uniqueness of the facility, the potential to collaborate and co-market with the Hall, and acres of free parking made the site an attractive alternative.

What the Hall provided was a clean break from the look and feel provided by the traditional, large exhibition hall, said Sherman, noting that in year one at the Hall of Fame, organizers had booths and tables spread out on each of the shrine’s many levels. Such an arrangement looked good on paper, but didn’t work out as well as hoped, she told BusinessWest, adding that for year 2, the show will be on one level, utilizing the Hall’s Center Court area, the hallway outside it, the food court, and a now vacant Adidas storefront. In the promotional brochure for the event, these areas are called the ‘Front Court,’ ‘Back Court,’ etc., in keeping with the general theme.

Beyond the changes in layout for the show — designed to add convenience while still providing a non-traditional trade show experience — there are some new wrinkles designed to provide more value for exhibitors, said Ransford.
The ‘Star Exhibitor’ designation provides added exposure in several forms, including everything from links on the show’s Web site to mentions in all press releases to passes to the Star Exhibitor luncheon at Pazzo’s. Meanwhile, the so-called Playmakers, get those benefits plus announcements on the loudspeaker system prior to their demonstrations, postings of those demonstration and seminars on the Web site, and even discounts on booth prices.

“Thus far, the new packages are proving to be popular,” said Ransford. “They’re something new, and what we expect will be effective ways for companies to get more exposure and more people to their booths.”

Transition Game

Beyond the many imaginative plays on words now available to those marketing the Commerce Show, its current home provides something else — that different look and feel that organizers have long desired to make their show stand out.

Capitalizing on the venue, but also adding more value whenever and wherever possible is the simple game plan for the ’07 show. Early forecasts project that for this event, exhibitors should expect nothing but net.

George O’Brien can be reached at[email protected]