And it’s not just us saying that either (although representatives from mice.net magazine were at both and recorded strong interest at each event).
The event, held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre in mid-May, was described by one participant as “having a better feel than RSVP Sydney. It seemed like a lot of the exhibitors went to a lot of trouble to really make their exhibitions stands stand out.”
With 224 exhibitors at RSVP 08 in Melbourne and 3781 visitors – just over half the number of exhibitors that RSVP 08 Sydney experienced – you would have expected that Sydney was regarded as better for sellers.
But not so according to Jacqueline Caldecoat, product manager of CLV smart stays, who participated in both shows.
“Over two days we spoke to 280 people. One hundred and eighty sales kits and 1500 postcards were distributed,” Ms Caldecoat said.
“The Melbourne expo seemed to attract genuine delegates looking for new suppliers.
“We were talking to the Victorian Football Association, Camp Quality, Fuji, Telstra, Coles Myer, companies within the pharmaceutical industry and numerous associations, to name a few.
“All delegates we spoke with seemed impressed with our product and could see the benefits of using CLV smart stays.”
She said that Melbourne’s RSVP event had a sense of style about it which was complemented by excellent performers who entertained delegates throughout the two days.
“[There was a] fantastic buzz in the air. Aesthetically the event looked the part. It really was impressive.
“In regards to RSVP Sydney and the Australian Events Expo clv smart stays personally spoke to 736 delegates over two days in different weeks. As a first time exhibitor to both RSVP event expos, I found the Sydney market was a tougher market. The willingness for delegates to stop and discuss the product was not as frequent as at the Melbourne market. In fact, I found one in 10 delegates who attended were in fact developing their own company and were not a genuine delegate looking for suppliers.
“Unfortunately, the look and atmosphere from the entertainers at the show through to the post-production event (the boat cruise) did not come anywhere near the standard Melbourne’s RSVP event expo delivered.”
Ms Caldecoat said she would certainly be returning to Melbourne for RSVP in 2009 but said Sydney would have to “lift its game in order to see my return business”.
Ian Walsh of G1 Productions who was an exhibitor and seminar presenter at RSVP Melbourne said he enjoyed the intimacy of the Melbourne event.
“It was quite small and looked quite good, and gave me the opportunity to catch up with people and find some new product myself,” he said.
“From my perspective, why we exhibit is about brand recognition – people getting to know us and who we are. We don’t expect to have visitors coming up and booking large amounts of business with us.
Mr Walsh said he found that there were quite a number of people – visitors – trying to sell to him what they did, which he believes isn’t fair considering there are many exhibitors paying good money to exhibit.
He also spoke at RSVP Melbourne as part of a panel on the topic – The Ultimate Event Makeover – Reviving That Same Old Event.
All good quality business to business exhibitions must have a strong seminar program running alongside the exhibition, and RSVP 08 in Melbourne certainly provided some high-quality speakers and presentations.
Peter Jones of Peter Jones Special Events, Peter Wynne of Peter Wynne Productions, and Doug Tremlett of DNA Ideas gave an enlightening presentation to attendees entitled The Secret Of My Success – Past, Present & Future. Other sessions included:
• Champagne & Pies, Caviar & Beer – Imaginative Catering for your Event – with presenters including: Bruce Keebaugh of The Big Group, Steve Richardson of Peter Rowland Catering, Michael Milburn of Epicure Catering, and Georgina Damm of Damm Fine Foods.
• Beautiful. Persuasive. Irresistible – Mark Barrett and Grant Higgins of Imagination Australia showed delegates how to bring the worlds of strategy and creativity together to make marketing “irresistible”.
• Next Generation – Who is the Future of the Events Industry. This was a panel discussion led by ISES members including Jenifer Trethewey of The JT Group, Bruce Ranken of VIP Hospitality, Emma Robilliard of Service Skills Victoria, Nancy Vincent of VETENC, and Nikki Seymour-Smith from the MCVB.
• Brand Experiences: The Ins and Outs. This was a presentation by the creative team at Australian Business Theatre, who gave a number of case studies to show how to bring brands to life “from the inside out”.
• Theming: 40 Ideas in 40 Minutes – presented by Peter Jones of Peter Jones Special Events, Rhona Walker of Solution RED, Antony Hampel of Think Creative Events, Jon Smith of Staging Connections, and Rob Frank from Verve Creative.
In 2009 RSVP Melbourne will be held on Wednesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 26 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
Top
|