Feature article—
"What does information age mean for future of trade shows?"

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Timing always has been a traditional strong suit for exhibitions. Busy executives on both the buyer and seller side historically have carved out time to deal with one another at trade shows. They know the central role of the face-to-face link; trade shows easily beat one-at-a-time treks to customer locations over a calendar year. An electronic information superhighway can't address these issues. A fixed time and place also force the coming together of buyers and sellers unlike any other marketing medium. This can be a godsend in an era of information overload, where the most common decision is to "decide later."

The notion of a specified time and place may seem limiting, given the everywhere, around-the-clock promise of the Internet. But here's the rub: It is just a promise. Dialogues across time zones are no more real-time than any other communications outside of office hours. Inquiries that can't be addressed through fixed on-screen menus must wait in a queue.

That takes us back to the opening question. The answer: In the 21st Century, trade shows will become an increasingly vital, competitive vehicle for business. They will be the engines necessary to deliver results on the broader marketing reach provided by the latest revolutions in technology.

Published April 27, 1998 in Marketing News (ISSN 0025-3790), a bi-weekly news magazine of the American Marketing Association, Chicago; written by Dell Deaton: 714 words.