There is a line an a song that says, "everything old is new again". Well, we are seeing that prophesy come true in the trade show business.

I'm sure there are some of you who remember the old time pitch man... the guy that stood on the corner or in the local Kresge store and demonstrated some type of magical product that was certain to bring you fame, fortune, nutrition, leisure time or, if nothing else, less money in your pocket than you had before stopping to listen to him.

The pitch man's approach was personal. He spoke to everyone in his audience as though they were in a one-on-one situation. He brought reality to his presentation. Judging by sales of products like Veg-o-matic and other slicers and dicers, he must have been very successful. Those were the days before people heard terms like "mass media", "direct mail", or "electronic marketing". Most of us didn't have TVs, and computers were for Buck Rogers.

Trade shows, or expositions as they were commonly called, were a gathering of pitch men selling everything imaginable from Oleo the could be colored (remember the little red capsule?) to Filler Brushes.

As the market became more complex and fragmented, new approaches appeared to carry our message. We had television commercials. Early commercials usually featured the pitch man on camera demonstrating a product. I wonder how many watches John Cameron Swayze threw into the bathtub or if they used the same Timex over and over. Slowly be surely we took advantage of the new-fangled marketing tools that were developed. We mass-mailed, we telemarketed, we became wired and interactive.

Our trade show exhibits became extravaganzas complete with music and dance. We began to depend on video walls, interactive kiosks and computers to give information while the exhibit staff talked to each other and served coffee, cookies and old jokes to visitors.

Downsizing is the latest trend to hit business, and marketing departments are feeling the crunch. Marketers are being asked to find less costly ways to bring their message to more people in a memorable way. Companies are using fewer dollars to tell their story to show attendees. Many firms are replacing the video walls and computers with real live people. Some companies are using mini dramas within the exhibit area to tell a story. Imagine a software firm presenting the solutions to a design problem in drama form. Alas... after all else has failed, our hero, the systems analyst, comes to the rescue with a new software package that will save the company from impending doom and ensure that the owners will be able to retire at the ripe old age of 35.

Recent research shows that leads generated by live presentations are of higher quality than those developed by the "old" electronic methods. The live presentations place a premium on communication, which enables them to leverage their dollars to produce a larger audience in the same space formerly used for elaborate equipment. This produces a win-win situation; the audience learns more in less time, and the exhibiting company will require less people to staff the exhibit area. Often, the savings in staff, travel and equipment costs will pay for the cost of professional players.

In the past few years, many major exhibitors have switched to live presentations to tell their story. Now, many smaller firms are seeing the advantages of cost containment and are finding that live presentations don't require a large space and can be done quite nicely in a smaller booth.

Look around the next time you go to a trade show. You will see them.

The pitch man is back!