Posted by
Barry Siskind
UFI’s Community Manager
Decreasing the cost of staging an event or exhibition is an age old challenge. Yet, often the result of cost cutting has a detrimental effect of the over look and feel of an exhibition. What are sometimes minor changes are notable by exhibitors and visitors alike. The challenge then is to find ways of cutting costs without jeopardizing the experience for your exhibitors and visitors.
Blogger Mitra Sorrells posted eight guidelines on the BizBash blog that can help focus the direction of any cost cutting you may be considering. Her eight are:
Be Flexible – Nothing is sacred. You can be flexible with dates and venues or even the entire exhibition plan.
Plan ahead. We all plan ahead. Ensure the planning schedules are designed for the exhibitor and delegates as well as for you.
Maintain open lines of communication. This is a tough one. Rules, regulations and all sorts of communications between your stakeholders are posted yet, so little of it is read. This is an age old problem and although there has never been a magic formula that will guarantee that everything you write will be read, you need to continue to try.
Reduce power consumption. Some of the ideas here include battery-powered lighting and energy-optimized audio systems.
Shop around for Wi-Fi. While many venues have contract with service providers, ensuring fast, free, reliable Wi-Fi is crucial. Do whatever you can to work with the venue to either see if the restrictions on outside vendors is possible or whether an increase in service from the official vendor is possible.
Invest in reusable materials. The cost of one-time events within an exhibition is costly yet, in many cases a must. When planning these events think long term and consider equipment that must be purchased with a longer lifespan than only one exhibition.
Eliminate printing. The vast majority of your visitors have Smartphone’s which has made the use of paper, in many cases, obsolete. The trick is not simply replacing hard copies with digital but creating a digital strategy that will encourage visitors and exhibitors to connect with your communications.
Get creative. The trick isn’t simply thinking out of the box but encouraging your staff to forget there is a box in the first place. Great cost saving ideas comes from the most unusual places. To realize the potential of these ideas try forgetting all about the rules you have followed rigidly for years. Whenever you face a decision that you make by route ask yourself – Why? If you don’t have a good answer then maybe it’s time to re-think your rational for doing things the way you always have.
Reducing the cost of an event is often found in common sense solutions. These eight clearly fall into that category. They are a good reminder for us all.
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