Going to Lunch

Things are just a bit quiet over here for the moment… but the important thing to remember is that we are still here. We’re watching you. We know you’re there and we want you to know that… we still care about you.

We’ve been meeting with our staff for that last six months and now that the sky is clearing, the ice is thawing, the snow is melting and spring is turning everything green and beautiful… we’re going to take a little break for lunch. We’ll have a sandwich and be back with some really interesting stuff.

So what about Tradeshow Week?

Click to Enlarge!

Sometimes (the more the better) you need to point out the good stuff and make sure people know about it. For instance, during our regular strategery planning meeting this morning we noticed that Tradeshow Blues was outpositioning such notables in the field as Tradeshow Week and Tradeshow Executive magazines’ websites on basic search terms like… uh… say, “trade show” or “tradeshow”… to name a couple.

Now, to subtly prove our point, just click the image on the left to see a  larger view of a Google search from today (July 24, 2009). Of course you can do this yourself as many ways as you like… but this is more dramatic. And of course… we like drama!

Let’s face it folks, Tradeshow Blues not only rocks…  it ranks.

What do you want to do now? (answer here)

The newest ENAMs joining the ESN are Jeanne Feuille, CMP, Kirstie Maynard, Richard Simpson and Janice Stillings.

“Experient is thrilled to be able to continue to add to its sales and account management presence throughout North America,” says Andy Smith, vice president, independent agent channel. “These new representatives have extensive entrepreneurial and industry backgrounds that will provide enhanced results for our valued clients.”

With more than 20 years in the meetings industry (MI), Feuille has successfully managed conferences for corporate, association and third-party companies (3PC’s). She is an active member of Meetings Professional International (MPI) and has obtained her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation. Feuille is based in Austin, Texas.

Maynard is a Colorado-based ENAM with 18 years of sales, marketing and entrepreneurial experience in the financial services and affinity marketing fields (FSAMF). She was founder and owner of an award-winning business (AWB), and has received numerous awards and national recognitions for high standards and satisfied customers in her business endeavors.

Simpson is based in Canada and serves the Toronto area while also heading the ESN expansion into Western Canada. With more than 10 years in the industry, his diverse experiences include all aspects of conference and event management for both corporations and associations.

A 30-year industry veteran, Stillings is based in Florida and serves the New England area. Her experience includes meeting planning positions in the pharmaceutical and high tech industries (PHTI) as well as sales and marketing positions.

More information at www.experient-inc.com.

(Editors Note: As soon as we receive photos of these folks they will be included… for now, just use your imagination)

WTF? (click for big)

Tradeshow Blues was off the air for a few days over the holidays as a result of some DNS issues surrounding our transfer of the original domain. Fortunately this anomaly occurred during a relatively slow news period before and during the 4th of July holiday.

Obviously we hate when this happens, but the good news is that all is well… and all is Wall.

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming as we join Days of Our Times already in progress.

Play Interview Now >>

CEIR Predicts

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) just announced that data collected for the annual CEIR Index report for the first quarter of 2009 reveals that the exhibition industry experienced an overall decline of 11.6 percent when compared to the same quarter of the previous year, before any widespread industry downturn had begun. Year-over-year contraction of the exhibition industry is directly linked to the continuing recession. Further declines are likely throughout the first half of 2009.

The 6th Edition CEIR Index, released in early April, reported that the National Association of Business Economists predicts that the U.S. economy will recover during the second half of 2009, with the GDP beginning to grow again at that point at an annualized rate of 1.6 percent.

More at www.ceir.org.

Join the Conversation on TSB

Now, nearly every article on TSB provides the Intense Debate follow-up commenting and interaction facility.

Our Intense Debate installation is simple, elegant and highly functional. It’s great for basic, short comments… or complex threaded discussions. You can even create a poll on the fly (which is not the same as a fly on the pole) or embed a YouTube video to add some visual stimulation to the discussion. And there’s even more to come.

It’s all brand new and just one more way Tradeshow Blues is creating enthusiastic, positive interaction for our readers. Give it a shot and of course, we’re interested in your comments.

Feeling a little blue?

Feeling a little blue about the possibility of say… a worldwide flu pandemic… with millions of people walking around in face masks. Obviously the worst case scenario is a serious matter so we thought it might make sense to pass along this information that IAEE and Freeman put out a few years ago when we had the bird flu scare.

Freeman and IAEE issued Business Continuity Planning Guidelines for Pandemic Influenza that is probably as relevant today as it was in 2006 when they were issued.

Download it here >>

The BluesLetter is Back

The first Tradeshow BluesLetter in many (like 4 or 5)  years went through the pipes yesterday and received an absolutely incredible  response.

We heard from so many people with “welcome back” messages like… “Welcome back” and “Glad you’re back” and “We’ve got your back.” It’s very gravitating and we really appreciate it.

In case you’re not a subscriber (and you can be using the form on the right sidebar) you can read it right over here.