We are in the midst of tradeshow season. With Security Essen and ASIS International back to back this year, several manufacturers are present at both. ASIS is one of the largest security tradeshows in North America, but not nearly as huge as Security Essen. Some prefer Essen, and others prefer smaller shows like ASIS or IFSEC. We asked some of our panellists for their thoughts on smaller versus larger tradeshows. Let's see what they had to say.
Larger shows allow you to meet and network with an expanded group of people including customer prospects, current customers, partners and consultants. You also gain a unique perspective on current and emerging industry trends and new technologies. Additionally, there is a unique opportunity to participate in a wide variety of educational sessions.
Smaller shows are generally more focused on a specific topic or vertical where you have more time to meet with specific individuals. There are also typically more networking opportunities with the entire event (both attendees and exhibitors).
Overall, smaller shows are a great opportunity to focus on a specific region or market while a larger conference offers the experience to engage with a great number of people and companies in one space.
Indulge me for a while as a self-employed consultant where my time spent at trade shows means I forego my income that day. That’s a more significant hit than people who get a salary every month will appreciate. So, the upside must promise to outweigh the downside. Small exhibitions & conferences sometimes fail to achieve this because there might be little value in their selling point of ‘opportunities for longer, more intimate conversations’ if there are too few interesting parties in the room. If invited to speak at a small event I would want to be assured the audience contained strong possibilities for moving my business forward. Large shows can simply offer far greater expanses of fertile territory. This means that several days might be needed with hotels overnight and hours of evening emails. A small show can be complete within a day. This cost-benefit balance will be evaluated ahead of every event.
Small trade shows provide more quality time with a select few exhibitors, but you can’t beat the scale of an ASIS or ISC West to provide almost endless opportunities to see and learn. The condition of one’s feet after a long day is an obvious downside. Smaller conference-type events can work well, including planned presentations and plenty of networking time involving an intimate group of colleagues. The exhibition part of a small event might be “table-top” exhibits during a lunch period or cocktail hour. That’s enough time to see everybody.