Articles

Gate Money for Trade shows is the right thing to do
January, 17, 2009
Y Mukund Rao

A lot of effort goes in an exhibition. Event and exhibition organisers are responsible for planning events and ensuring that they run as smoothly as possible. They work on public events, trade and industry. However, in preparation for, and during an event, they need to be flexible and often work long, unsociable hours.

Whole lot of planning, effort and expenditure goes in defining your visitors, and ensuring the right target audience turns up at the event. It is true across industries that due to lack of good niche magazines, organizers most often than not, use mass media to advertise and reach out to the potential target audience as far as visitors are concerned.

The fallout most often of such media plans is those visitors who don’t fit the “trade visitor” tag for that particular exhibition also turn up. It may be easier to think that one can turn these visitors away, but ground realities being that the registration staff being temporary and college students find it difficult most often to understand and differentiate trade and non trade visitors, and an uncharged event is perceived as open to all, by these visitors.

These same visitors who don’t fit the trade visitor profile will be a wasted effort for exhibitors, with regards to their free give away, printed material, It is a noticed fact outside most events to find exhibitor brochure/leaflets strewn around, mostly thrown by these non-trade visitors.

A large percentage of Non trade visitors would mean less space for movement and interaction for the exhibitors with the serious trade visitor. Chance of exhibitor missing out the serious trade visitor in melee is also quite a possibility. The trade visitor himself today is well traveled , informed and very clearly understands and appreciates that gate money is to ensure better ambience, space and more attention from and time with the exhibitor.

Simple solution to all these ills is charging gate money which ensures that only serious visitors have access to the show, it also leaves a perception to the exhibitor about the organizer confidence in the ad. campaign or promotional activities to attract visitors.

The organiser seems today to be large extent hindered by his thinking of complex permsissions to collect gate money. But the tuth be told Entertainment tax or any requisite govt process, permission and the remitance is quite simple. The onsite complexities of gate money collection can be taken care and executed by profesional and competent registration solution agency.

The gate money is not an avenue for additional revenues (organisers who have been collecting gate money from visitors to serious B2B Trade fairs will agree) but to ensure quality, serious trade visitors and mainly to discourage unwanted visitors ………GATE money for a trade show is a must.

(The author is consultant for onsite registration and mob control with over 500 events under his belt and can be reached at muksrao@rediffmail.com / info@preconfirm.com | 9819768928 | 9321168928)