All too frequently, I hear exhibitors express their dismay that attendance was not what they thought it would be for a particular day or that attendance was not what they thought it would be for a particular show. Some 0 go to the extent of claiming they were cheated.

Many exhibitor believe or want to believe, that the figures show-producers use in promotional pieces are indicative of the number of people that will come to their booth. When a promoter says 10,000 people will attend an event, the exhibitor expects 10,000. Never mind that many exhibitors don't talk with 10,000 visitors in a lifetime. Never-the-less they are of the mind set that they have been short changed if they aren't mobbed at all times.

One way to ensure you won't be among the disappointed is to be realistic in setting objectives for your exhibit.

One premise of good marketing says that we need to know the audience before we can begin to talk with them. It is amazing how many exhibitors go to a show and have no idea what to expect from the audience. This is evident by those firms that go to different kinds of shows but don't change their exhibit, message or approach to mesh with the audience. Once the audience is known, you can begin to tailor your objectives and your message to meet their needs.

The ultimate purpose of any good exhibit is to bring together sellers and buyers with common objectives. The objective is usually to solve a problem. The visitor (buyer) has the problem and the exhibitor (seller) has the solution.

Exhibitors that don't understand the audience probably don't understand the problems that exist within the audience and can't adequately prepare for a successful show experience.

Research provided by the Trade Show Industry tells us that generally 16% of the show audience will have an interest in a particular product line or service.

Therefore, if a show is advertising an expected attendance of 10,000, you can assume a potential audience of 1600. They will not come to your booth automatically.

What you do in terms of pre-show promotion will determine to a great extent how many of those 1600 come to your exhibit. If you present an effective pre-show marketing program to an audience that you know, you may expect to lure 1200 to your exhibit.

Assuming that you can attract 1200 visitors to your booth the questions arise:

• Can you talk with them within the allotted show time in a meaningful manner?
• Is your booth large enough?
• How many staff will you need'?

You may find that an objective of meeting 300 or 400 attendees is attainable. Going to a show with a realistic goal will result in a win-win conclusion for everyone.