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Are trade shows still relevant in the digital age? In this episode of the Convene Podcast, the team explores how trade shows are evolving beyond transactional exchanges to deliver meaningful, data-informed, and emotionally engaging experiences. From AI-powered matchmaking to facial recognition technology and immersive booth design, learn how organizers and exhibitors are redefining ROI—return on investment and emotion.
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· Michelle Russell, Editor in Chief
· Barbara Palmer, Deputy Editor
· Jennifer N. Dienst, Senior Editor
· Magdalina Atanassova, Digital Media Editor
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Music: Inspirational Cinematic Piano with Orchestra
Creators and Guests
What is PCMA Convene Podcast?
Since 1986, Convene has been delivering award-winning content that helps event professionals plan and execute innovative and successful events. Join the Convene editors as we dive into the latest topics of interest to — and some flying under the radar of — the business events community.
Convene Talk, ep. 60/Apr 25, 2025
*Note: the transcript is AI generated, excuse typos and inaccuracies
Magdalina Atanassova: This is the Convene Podcast. Welcome to another episode of the Convene Talk. Barbara, what have you picked for today's discussion?
Barbara Palmer: Yeah, I thought we'd talk about trade shows because I think trade shows sometimes have this reputation because of, like the name trade shows. They've been around forever.
There's this idea that maybe they're not as, as relevant as they used to be with all the changes in the way that people buy things, the way that the capacities that you have for technology to, like, you know, reach out to people.
But one of my favorite and most surprising statistics that I came across in the last year or so came out of a Freeman study,
and this was actually from their fourth quarter. So it's not even been a year about what attendees look for at events.
And it was comparing it to what organizers think that they're looking for at events.
And 87% of attendees said that they came to events to discover new products and solutions.
And that was higher. Even, even been networking. And that's what organizers put networking at the top.
And so I thought that was really interesting.
And I know that everyone that's been at trade shows, this has been a long, slow evolution from when it was very transactional. You are going to the trade show,
you get information from the person and then you move on.
And that's really changed where it's a lot more interactive, more immersive,
that people are doing things to really just engage people much more deeply.
And it really intersects with what we wrote about last month, Return on Emotion.
And I would just love to throw this out to the rest of you to see what you have to say before I talk more about the technology that, that I discovered.
Jen, what are you thinking?
Jennifer N. Dienst: I think you're so spot on. And I think an article that ran in Trade Show News Network, I think it was this week,
it's a relatively new article that talks about how more than ever,
trade shows really have to prove their value, which goes back to the ROI and the ROE and the all the RO’s.
And it specifically spotlighted how companies that are backed by private equity, if those are kind of the target for trade shows. He was saying, you know, it is essential that you be able to provide some very definitive ROI because they are held to standards that are so much more stringent because they have a plan,
you know, they, if they're investing in something, they have a plan. They want to get. Get out and they want to get their money right. So they're not going to spend 100k on going to a trade show unless they know they're going to get business of equal or more value.
So he had some really good suggestions in this article for how organizers of trade shows can really help to produce that ROI in a way that is data driven and easily provable to, you know, the C suite and the people who are making the decisions.
So a couple things that he mentioned were lead qualification, facilitating better networking and a good way to do that is AI powered matchmaking, which I thought was really cool.
Another one was giving exhibitors post show analytics on attendee engagement,
helping connect them with the right buyers. And that more data that you provide for this, it's easier for those companies to justify returning.
So I think there's some really good takeaways from this article, but it also I think connects back, Barbara, to something that we explored in our cover story which has kind of focuses on a different RO return on emotion, but something that is also being shown to be increasingly data driven.
I'll let you talk about that.
Barbara Palmer: Yeah, my mind was really blown when I talked to people about facial analysis. And I think that's something that like kind of, because it's a little scary to people, like they don't know what really is happening when this technology is in place.
It kind of, I think obscured for me anyway what was really going on and what they were looking for. I talked to a company named Zenith and it just takes a second by second by millisecond by millisecond read of all the faces and they point sensors from exhibitor booths or in the hall and it just takes the temperature of the engagement and they're able to find out all kinds of very specific things that are really just upending
some of the most basic things that people have believed about trade shows for a long time. Like one example is that, you know, you always think it's great to be by the, by the front.
But what they find when they're analyzing the movement and the engagement is that when people walk in a room,
they're affected by how many people are there and their line of sight goes back.
So maybe the third row or the second row is where people go. And this has become so fine tuned that some of those digital displays, digital advertisements,
they're able to measure engagement as people look at banners.
And if they're not getting enough engagement at the trade show like that day, they switch it out and measure that.
So that's really one way in which that desire for more data is being realized. The point that they make, and it's such an important point is that this data is only useful in the context of what you're doing and what your goals are.
It can offer immediate feedback.
Just one other example, you know, people think, oh, the more people at the booth, the more engagement because the more conversations we can have.
One analysis showed too many people. It scares people away. They'll walk up and they'll go, oh, that's a phalanx of people.
I'm just going to keep moving.
So, anyway, I'm so eager to hear what you have to say about all of this, Michelle.
Michelle Russell: Thanks, Barbara. It reminded me of what Robin Preston said to me. She is. She works with the American Institute of Architects,
and she worked with Freeman to redesign re Architect, if you will, their trade show floor. But she spoke specifically about technology and how having that kind of information enables a planner to make changes in real time.
So they were planning on doing something to bring people into the trade show, like a surprise and delight kind of event or something in the trade show. And then they realized they didn't need to do that because people were already on the trade show floor and they were already engaged.
So they were able to save that kind of experience for another, I think for another point in the event. But you talked to Jen about, like, how to make it worthwhile for exhibitors in a trade show.
How they really approached it was how to make it, yes,
engaging for exhibitors, but also how to make it engaging for participants. So they really took people on a journey. Their whole idea was to have people go in the trade show and it be a journey.
And there'd be different zones that were really specific to interests they have or where they are in their career progression. And I just think about convening leaders. We don't have a trade show, but we have a district.
And I think what makes that district engaging is the activations and things for people to do and reasons for them to go there and not just to get swag, but just to have different experiences depending on the, you know, each exhibitor.
And I think for Robin's group, they had their exhibitors doing, like, quick sessions and like instant kind of learning and not just product demonstrations, you know, like you would expect at a trade show floor, but other things that were a little more innovative and just keeping in mind the experience of somebody going through the trade show floor and what would keep them engaged and spaces for people to sit and relax and.
And talk to each other. I think we're seeing that more and more also.
Maggie, what do you think?
Magdalina Atanassova: Listening to all of you, I just cannot imagine Anything else in my head other than IMEX. When you say a trade show, I go to IMEX immediately. I feel that there is this hashtag post iMax.
I am exhausted that a lot of event planners are using because, well, it's very engaging and I feel the industry is engaged there for sure,
but it's also very exhausting. So all the. This trend for activities I think takes away a little bit of the pressure because especially if you're a hosted buyer, going to a meeting after meeting after meeting, it's really takes a toll on you.
And something else, I don't know, we discussed that before recording, but sometimes there feels to be this gimmick of calling things with different names, with sexier names, but actually providing the same experience.
People get a hold of that pretty quickly. So I would urge event planners not to just change the name to something more trendy, but to really think of the whole experience that people have on the trade show floor.
And I've had a very interesting discussion a few years ago with a person that works for a healthcare company and he's wish that unfortunately never materialized was not to have an actual booth, just to have the place where the booth should sit and not have the booth and just have something marking that is there,
stand and have a conversation.
Michelle Russell: Why?
Magdalina Atanassova: And his primary reason was because he wanted to be more sustainable and not bring all these materials and all the CO2 emissions, everything that is entailed on top of the cost of the space.
So he really wanted to provoke the audience and have this discussion with them. Just having a blank spot with maybe a place to sit and let's talk about that and how it's affecting the healthcare industry.
But I know that his bosses were not in favor. But how about that? Imagine going to an IMEX and seeing an empty show floor and people just being,
you know, like, come and let's talk about it and let's discuss how we can change things. I think that would be extreme, but very thought provoking. Barbara, what do you have in mind?
Barbara Palmer: You know, Maggie, as you were speaking, it reminded me of some of the things that I've heard about interventions for this kind of high engagement.
I know that at IMEX America they had a violinist playing in the corridor and it was like, you know, an attempt to like help people kind of bring it down a little bit, you know, and maybe just the noise would go down and you just hear this very calming violin music.
And one of the things I spoke with Lewis Layton at Freeman and he talked about a trade show where they had A little pub on the trade show floor. And the purpose was to be a place for people to, you know, get away.
And he said that that had just off the charts engagement because, you know, it was a little bit different. And this is related, I think, in terms of engagement that one of the kind of the conventional wisdom that's getting questioned a bit is that, you know, you think like,
oh, the best day is the first day. Everyone's there, everyone's excited.
And then like maybe the second, third days, depending on how long the show is that, oh, those are okay, then people, people are coming in. But what they're seeing in terms of these data on engagement is those are often the most engaged visitors to the booth because they're there when there's less going on,
they're at better conversations.
Maybe there's somebody who, their interest was piqued the first day when it was so busy and they go back.
One of the other things that they do at IMEX is something called Wonder Walks where someone who's an expert on biophilia, which is like the effect on nature,
just kind of takes participants on a walk and they just kind of point out the elements in nature. When I read it, I thought it was like, oh, they leave the exhibit hall and walk around outside.
But no, they're looking at what, how the, how the booths are using nature and the sound of water and light to,
you know, to kind of make an emotional impact on visitors.
Jen?
Jennifer N. Dienst: Yeah, so what you were saying about exhaustion I wanted to touch on because I've actually been a participant at a trade show, so not IMEX. I'm not talking about IMEX, but I had a short stint as a travel agent for a few years and I attended a well known show in the industry,
I won't name it.
And there were a lot of things I liked about this show. So, you know, I'm not, I'm not ragging on it, but there was a trade show element that included essentially matchmaking.
And that was kind of the biggest part of this show experience. And when I say it was exhausting, people left sick, like especially the suppliers, because what would happen is you had these, like, I think it was just a, you had just a few minutes.
And it was like this speed dating style of meetings where the attendees, so me, the travel agent, we would sit in one spot at one table and the poor suppliers had to change tables every, I think like five minutes, seven minutes, something just crazy.
And when I tell you there were three days of this, by the end of it, those poor Suppliers had lost their voices. They would just play, like, a video because they couldn't talk anymore.
And it really felt like a waste because most of them, not all, but most, were just kind of giving a spiel that you could have gotten from the website, you could have gotten from, you know, so many other places.
And some of these suppliers I was really excited to meet and really interested in. But when I actually did get to sit down with them, it wasn't enough time to actually ask them about the things I wanted to ask about.
And this was several years ago. It may have changed by now, but, you know, I read an article last week that talked about a similar setup at another trade show.
And it just made me think, like, is anyone actually getting anything out of this?
Because my sense, from my experience was we felt let down and exhausted, and so did the suppliers. So I just wonder if there's been kind of an evolution of that style of matchmaker speed dating at trade shows that's evolved into something that's more beneficial for both sides.
Barbara Palmer: I have not had so much the matchmaking on with suppliers, but more matchmaking at maybe virtual events. And those are so awkward.
And I think it's because there's a transactional element there that is so hard to get out of the front of your mind that what are they expecting from me?
I'm probably not going to be able to give them what they want. And what I was thinking about when you were speaking is I don't know if you've participated in brain dates,
but I do not find that there. And I'm trying to think of why. I think it's because you're meeting on this level of interest. That's mutual interest.
It's like you're, like, thinking together.
You're not.
Jennifer N. Dienst: More thought has gone into it.
Barbara Palmer: It's not like, I have this, you have that. Can we swap? Or it's more like you're moving together somewhere.
So I would feel like if somebody could take that.
They're trying to make these connections between buyers and sellers. If there was some way to put it through the brain date filter,
I think that would be really interesting.
Jennifer N. Dienst: I agree. I think brain dates are a really cool concept. I've never participated, but I have met with the team before and chatted with them. Just. I think it was at edUcon a couple years ago.
And I also found it very fascinating and such a great. Because there's, like a shared objective. Whereas sometimes with these.
Michelle Russell: Yeah, yeah, you can say, I have. Here's my challenge. I want to Talk to somebody who's experienced the same challenge. They could tell me what they've done.
Magdalina Atanassova: I do not have a good experience with that.
Michelle Russell: No, you did not.
Magdalina Atanassova: No, no. It was awkward. As awkward as they were online, really. I. I don't know. Maybe I never had luck with those things. But even though in theory the one learns from the other or there is a common topic to speak about, it's not.
Yeah, I do not have good experience with that. And by the way, when you are exhibiting at a trade show such as IMEX, there is the tool again, there is the technology to kind of match you with the right hosted buyers and vice versa.
But again, I think there is also the human element. While the technology is obviously not perfect, there is the human side of it, because we've all experienced that one way or another, where you go to an event, you want to meet really with somebody, but you just don't have the connection with the person.
Right. You just don't click. Right. We are such an industry. We are based on relationships, and sometimes this relationship just doesn't happen in. In that instant that you have.
And it is what it is. You can't. I don't think technology will help us ever with that. It's just how things are. We as imperfect human beings, trying to connect with another one.
Michelle Russell: I spoke with someone yesterday who had an interesting perspective on going to events now that a lot of people are remote. And there was a criticism at a couple of events where people said, oh, you're just hanging out with people you work with.
You're not meeting anybody new. You're all hanging out with people who you work with, but you don't necessarily work with them. You work for the same organization, and it's an opportunity to see them in person that you have not had.
Her idea, which I thought was really smart, is if there's a group of people, like going to an event or a trade show to have the people from the company go a day early, and that's their day to, like, do all of their, like, you know,
stuff about what's happening inside the company and how everybody is, you know, like, have that day be a day for people to get to get together internally, and then the next day they've gotten that out of their system and they're probably more apt to go speak to other people.
I thought there was an interesting evolution from COVID Yeah, for sure.
Magdalina Atanassova: We all miss the human connection, and we experienced it in a different way now.
Michelle Russell: Right. We were always told at events, you know, this is your opportunity to meet other people. Don't just be with your clique. I think this is a way to be with your clique initially so that you get that taken care of and then you engage with other people.
Feels more comfortable to be with your clique. But.
Magdalina Atanassova: Yeah, for sure, anything that we may be missing we should mention before we wrap up.
Barbara Palmer: You know, the only thing that's on my mind is just going back to thinking about the most fantastic trade show I ever went to, which was when I went to the book fair in New York.
And I feel like I really got this sense of, like,
kid in a candy store.
And I know that that's how they want everybody to feel at trade shows. And so I think trade shows are getting to be more like candy stores. And I think that's a good thing.
Magdalina Atanassova: I like that. And thank you everyone, for the conversation.
Remember to subscribe to the Convene Podcast on your favorite listening platform to stay updated with our latest episodes. For further industry insights from the Convene team, head over to PCMA.org/convene. My name is Maggie. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring. And until next time.