Trade Show Management - National Trade Productions - Exhibitor Retention

Exhibitor Retention - DEMA

	Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) DEMA is a non-profit membership-based association created to help businesses in the Scuba Diving and Action Water Sports industries. DEMA is widely known for DEMA Show, the annual trade show it produces, however DEMA is involved in many other activities focused at helping the industry.

Challenge/Goal:	After six strategic exhibiting companies left the show, DEMA turned to NTP for assistance in bringing them back. At the same time, we needed to retain currently exhibiting strategic companies and turn around the bad energy that was surrounding the industry. In addition, the creation of a new, competitive show threatened to take advantage of the instability of the market.

Strategy/Tactics:	NTP and DEMA focused on the goal of creating the very best dive show for the marketplace to address all challenges and goals. First, we took care of the companies and attendees that continued to support DEMA by creating a program to give the exhibitors extra exposure benefits, letting them know they are important to the industry. We took the time to discuss the target audience they wanted to see at the show and partnered with them to reach out to their customer bases and in turn helped them learn how to market themselves more efficiently. Second, we addressed the strategic companies no longer exhibiting in the show by relaying the successes of current exhibitors to the companies that were not participating. We spent a week visiting each of the non-exhibiting organizations in their offices to understand what they needed to re-commit to the show. Once we knew what they were looking for, we delivered it.

Results:	We have not lost any additional strategic exhibitors. They have more confidence in the industry than ever. Of the six strategics that left the show, five have come back and have had very positive experiences. The threat of a competitive event in a market that had no room for it was averted by simply creating what the market needed, and the competitive show never launched.