This Week's Herman Trend Alert Cyberbullying---a Growing Problem

The Herman Trend Alert September 4, 2002 Convention Attendance Shifting Designs Have you noticed that there are fewer people on exhibit hall floors at conventions lately? Not surprisingly, with the big numbers of mergers and acquisitions, there's a smaller base of buyers and sellers. According to Skip Cox, President of Exhibit Surveys in Red Bank, New Jersey and Wayne Jacobs of Jacobs, Jenner & Kent in Baltimore, there's been a 30% decrease in traffic density on show floors. US companies that sent employees to an average of 4.8 events in 1995 now allow an average of only 1.6. Due to the combination of fewer attendees and higher exhibit costs, many companies believe their return on exhibition investment has evaporated. This belief moves them to "invest" in fewer trade shows. It's an unstoppable downward spiral. While people may spend less time in exhibit halls, they are participating in more educational sessions. Top executives give two principal reasons for going to conferences: Networking and staying on the leading edge. The Cox and Jacobs study found that networking was the deciding factor in whether people would choose to attend a show. Savvy planners are responding with longer breaks between sessions for networking time. Expect to see increased networking opportunities specifically designed for attendees to interact with each other when the exhibit hall is not open and no educational sessions are held. It is paradoxical that the way to take care of exhibitors is to offer attendees more time away from them. The secret will be to add more floor hours to benefit exhibitors as well. In fact, some associations have already taken the latter step. Another interesting development is that attendees feel less compulsion to go to an event every time it is held. This fact has led to what is called "attendance churn," when companies send different attendees each year. This phenomenon results in greater difficulty attracting the highly prized "power buyer." Some exhibitors have already chosen to put more of their limited sales and marketing dollars into private events, spending less on elaborate exhibits that have not yielded an appropriate ROI. We expect that trend to continue. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." DISCOVER WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON... in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. MOM ALWAYS TAUGHT IT WAS GOOD TO SHARE You have probably subscribed to The Herman Trend Alert for a while now and you know how valuable it is to you. Why not suggest that your friends sign up at http://www.hermantrendalert.com? Join the thousands who subscribe in 87 countries around the globe. Are there particular topics you'd like to see covered? Let us know and we will research "The Future of. . .". And let us know how else we may serve you? E-mail: joyce@hermangroup.com. YOUR EMPLOYEES NEED THEIR LEADERS MORE THAN EVER Help your leaders to excel. Thousands have used our weekly Lessons in Leadership to help their supervisors and managers remember how to hold onto top talent. The 52-week subscription is only $47, a bargain when you think about the savings to your organization in reduced turnover. Quantity discounts available by emailing Carol at carol@hermangroup.com. Order today at: http://www.hermangroup.com/store/subscription_all.html#3. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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