Doing business at ASAE's expo.

Browsing can be worthwhile, but to maximize your time in the exhibit hall at ASAE Boston 1996, come prepared to do business. Here's how.

One might expect that the head of an association's convention division would spend every minute at the annual meeting dwelling on the here and now: observing the conference, evaluating the exposition, hosing down fires, lighting fires under tired staff, and in general, doing everything possible to ensure that every participant walks away a happy camper. Not Gary LaBranche, CAE, ASAE's vice president of education and convention services. In addition to overseeing the current event, LaBranche blocks out hours in his annual meeting schedule to focus on the future. He walks the exposition floor, not only checking on exhibitors' satisfaction, but also handing out RFPs for upcoming events. "I visited 70 booths last year," LaBranche says, noting that many exhibitors are potential service providers for ASAE meetings down the road. "Many people don't realize that ASAE actually uses its own show to do business. But with all the products and services on display in one facility, I can't think of a better place to do business."

Requesting proposals at ASAE's exposition is only one way of doing business at the event - and in doing so, maximizing your attendance. Following are additional do-business techniques to help you make the most of ASAE's next annual meeting: ASAE Boston 1996, the world's premier association management conference and exposition, August 10-13. (See the sidebar "ASAE Boston 1996" for information about the educational programming.)

So many booths, so little...

You know the feeling: the stress that strikes when you walk through the expo doors and are overwhelmed by the size of the floor. Where to go? Where to begin? How to do it all (whatever "it all" may be)?

ASAE's expo, newly renamed the Association Business Center (see sidebar, "Name Change"), has been "rightsized" from 850 booths to 650 to make it more user-friendly and to focus on value rather than volume, explains LaBranche. Still, this is no small show. To transform stress into excitement about the wide array of exhibitions and to make the best use of the expo hours, trade show veterans suggest preparing in advance.

Here's the kind of homework done by John Crawford, CAE, president, Screenprinting and Graphic Imaging Association, International, Fairfax, Virginia: "The night before the show opens, I make a list of who I want to see, laying out my choices in numerical sequence. At the expo, I go to these booths first and bring meeting specs. After I visit the booths on my list, I use the time that's left to roam, because I like to maintain contact with people I've worked with in. the past and might want to work with again in the future."

Crawford says it's essential that he make good use of ASAE's exhibit every year because he doesn't have enough time during the course of day-to-day business to talk with all the service providers he needs to. "If I accepted all the luncheon and cocktail party invitations I receive from them, I'd never get any work done," he says. "I count on the expo. In the long run it saves me lots of time, because I also don't have to spend as much time going on 'fam' trips and seeing salespeople in my office."

Crawford frequently books meetings as a result of the expo, based on follow-up information he receives from booths at which he stopped. Occasionally he books meetings during the trade show. For example: "A couple of years ago, I visited the Pebble Beach exhibit. They had a computer in the booth and drew up a contract. The next morning, we modified the contract a bit, then I signed it right there in the exhibit hall."

LaBranche points out that some association executives are under the misconception that ASAE show attendees cannot sign contracts on the floor. "Lots of people think it's illegal to 'do business' at our expo, but it's not," he emphasizes.

Beverly Kinkade can attest to that. The vice president/director of association sales for ITT Sheraton Corporation - North America Division, Chicago, and chair of ASAE's Associate Member Advisory Committee, reports approximately $17 million in revenue projected from new leads on ASAE's 1995 trade show floor. "We've signed contracts on the show floor, too," Kinkade adds.

More planning lips. Like Crawford, Lisa Block tiers her approach to the trade show. "First I go to the need-to-go-to booths, then to the nice-to-go-to," says the director of meetings and conferences for the Alexandria, Virginia-based Society for Human Resource Management. "Beyond listing the booths that I want to visit, I identify in advance what I want to cover at each booth - exactly what it is I want to talk about."

Vicente Rodriguez reveals his method for maximizing his time at exhibitions. "Before going to an ASAE meeting, I look at my association's meeting schedule and sit with other staff involved in putting together the programs," says the director of conferences and training for the National Minority AIDS Council, Washington, D.C. "We talk about where in the country we need to go, what kind of property - downtown or suburban - we need, and our price range for rooms. Then I go to the expo with actual meeting specs to use in talking with people at booths."

What works well for William Deal, CAE, is a combination of pre-show and on-site planning. "My first time in the hall, I do a quick walkthrough," says the president and CEO of the International Sign Association, Alexandria, Virginia. "I go up and down each of the aisles just to see who all is there, making a mental or written note as to whom I need to see. This takes about two hours. On my second visit to the hall, I go to those booths I noted.

"I also make a mental or written note before I even go to the show of the people I definitely need to see - the people I'm interested in talking to about specific business," Deal says.

Serious comparison shopping

Nowhere else can you see in one place so many service providers - not only hotels and convention centers, but all kinds of business services - all targeted to meet association needs. So come to the Association Business Center prepared to do some serious comparison shopping. A few final tips for getting the most from your "shopping spree":

* Review the ASAE Boston 1996 preliminary program book you'll receive in the mail, which includes a listing of exhibitors. Call those with which you'd like to make appointments during the show.

* Once on-site, review the Annual Meeting & Exposition Buyers' Guide you'll receive at the registration desk. It includes a floor plan for the Association Business Center.

* Get as much information as you can on-site, but also take advantage of the card you'll receive at registration to be used in the exhibit hall to request follow-up information. Simply insert the digitized card into the special box set up at each booth.

* Put team attendance to work for you. If you are attending ASAE's annual meeting with others on your staff, plan ahead to split up the show floor so that, as a group, you can visit more booths and spend more quality time at each one.

RELATED ARTICLE: A Small Association Focuses on a Big Event

A four-day event, such as ASAE Boston 1996, is a major chunk of time for any association executive. But the impact on his or her association is perhaps strongest when that organization has a small staff. For example, Dawn Mancuso, CAE, represents one fifth of the entire staff of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds. So when this senior vice president leaves her Vienna, Virginia, office for a stretch of time, she must make sure that it's time well spent.

To do exactly that when she attends ASAE Boston 1996 and visits the exhibition, Mancuso says she'll be focused. "Focus is really important when you're working a trade show, particularly one as large as ASAE's," she says. "You need to focus on what your needs are and not get distracted by the exhibitor that's giving away free-bies and that might look interesting but is not offering the products or services you need at the moment."

It's a formula for efficiency that works for Mancuso, and it just might work for you, too. - G. Romano

RELATED ARTICLE: ASAE Boston 1996

ASAE adds a twist to tradition as it assists executives in understanding the degree of transition imposing itself on associations. The learning laboratory - ASAE Boston 1996, the world's premier association management conference and exposition, August 1013 - responds to the changing terrain with dynamic programs teaching executives to retrofit current realities to ever-evolving technologies, workplaces, and markets.

You can move from the hands-on learning format of the exposition, newly renamed the Association Business Center, to structured educational sessions, while taking advantage of this quintessential networking forum. Whether you are new to association management or a seasoned professional, ASAE Boston 1996 is critical to navigating the learning curve for the 21st century.

Intensive work

Arrive early and take advantage of these special Saturday sessions:

* the "1996 CEO Boot Camp," the popular workshop revealing secrets of survival for chief executives with fewer than three years of experience; and

* the "Scenario Planning Session," exclusively for chief executives, and organized by industry or field of business.

Learn with colleagues from around the world about such intriguing topics as

* "Global Ethics: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century";

* "Corporate Culture: Bringing Spirit and Meaning Back to Work"; and

* "Managing to Have Fun."

Customize a curriculum for Transition Management 101 from more than 140 educational sessions, 650 booths, and numerous networking activities and social events. Interact with association leaders, suppliers, academics, consultants, and business executives over "Learning Lunches," informal bistro-style or box-lunch formats featuring speakers and educational programs focused on your choice of six broad topical areas.

Celebrate the achievements and contributions of the association community with the announcement of Associations Advance America award winners, an upbeat feature of all three general sessions. And speaking of general sessions, ASAE recently confirmed one-to-one marketing experts Martha Rogers and Don Peppers as closing general session speakers.

Great play

Boston, itself a study in transitions as dramatic as its move from American Revolution site to high-technology mecca, plays gracious host to conference participants. Don't miss

* the welcoming reception on Copley Square Plaza, where street fair entertainment will be enhanced by food venues featuring "A Taste of Massachusetts" cuisine;

* "Dine Arounds" at 10 prominent convention hotels;

* the "Club Energy" dance party; and

* an evening with the Boston Pops in concert at the Harbor Lights Pavilion.

Mark your calendars - and prepare for success in your roles as association executives, not immobilized but energized by transition. For further information, call the ASAE Member Services Center, [phone]. - Carole Schweitzer, editorial intern 

RELATED ARTICLE: ASAE Boston: A New Name

"ASAE Boston 1996" may be a short title, but what it represents is long on significance. The name change for ASAE's annual meeting and exposition grew out of the many new ideas that will be implemented at the meeting. A nifty new nomenclature seemed appropriate for an event that is 76 years young - and more vital than ever.

So dynamic are the activities on the agenda that they've driven a change in the name of the exposition as well. If you see the phrase "Association Business Center" enlivening exhibit hall entrances, signs, and program materials, don't think your travel agent delivered you to the wrong convention. ASAE has renamed the exposition, concluding that "Association Business Center" more specifically expresses the tone, content, and orientation of the exhibit hall, which is designed to showcase innovative approaches to association management. - C. Schweitzer

Gerry Romano, CAE, is senior editor of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT.