BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY: SMITHBUCKLIN
‘Delivering the nation's largest baking event’
International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE)
BY INCON PARTNER: SMITHBUCKLIN
'Las Vegas Convention Center' LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES
INTRODUCTION
The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) 2016, held Oct. 8-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, celebrated a record-breaking show, making it the largest, most comprehensive event in the U.S. for the grain-based food industry. The overall show’s growth was due to a new, dynamic outreach program developed by the SmithBucklin exhibit sales team.
The team focused on strategically connecting with highly desirable exhibitors while expanding its global outreach program. The team also helped develop customized collateral to connect exhibitors with relevant and meaningful messages. Working as an extension of IBIE member volunteers, the sales team provided the volunteers with market-specific talking points, sales collateral and messaging for contacting their prospects.
International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES
WHAT IS THE IBIE?
IBIE, also known as the Baking Expo™, gathers key players in the global grain-based food industry to present a broad range of solutions and innovations, allowing each specific market to connect with the people and ideas that present the biggest opportunities for success in the baking industry.
The event which is hosted once every three years invites all players in the industry together to conduct face-to-face meetings, review the latest industry innovations, participate in cutting-edge conference sessions and demos and build relationships at high-level networking events.
VISIT EXPO SITE: IBIE OFFICIAL SITE →
LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES
SMITHBUCKLIN’S SOLUTIONS
TARGETED AUDIENCES
For each contact, the volunteers were given one question to ask each prospect: Who is your core audience? Based on their answers, the prospects then received detailed information about how to reach their audience through the IBIE show.
TRADE SHOW TECHNOLOGY
The team used a new tradeshow sales technology tool featuring customized virtual graphics and maps of a detailed floorplan that showed real-time booth availability. The tool helped the sales team guide prospects through booth options and stimulated discussions over the exhibitor’s strategic positioning, taking into consideration such factors as the location of competitors or like-minded companies.
PRE-SHOW COMMUNICATION
The team provided more communication with exhibitors through a new service called IBIEConnect, which facilitated pre-show marketing and networking between exhibitors and registered attendees.
UTILISING INDUSTRY TRENDS
The team paid close attention to food trends and created exhibitor opportunities around the trends. This year 'customizable' was the buzz word on the show floor with exhibitors showcasing products used for creating artisan breads, individualized cakes, printed cake decorations and one-of-a-kind baked goods that appealed to special diets such as gluten-free, sugar-free, or organic.
INTRODUCING NEW CONVENTION FEATURES
The team also managed and coordinated all of the show logistics, working closely with the show’s other partners. New features on the show floor included:
The Innovation Spotlight Theater: Located in the new Idea Lab, the theater provided a forum for exhibitors to conduct live presentations for their top innovations
Fresh Take Talks: Presented by the Grains Foods Foundation, the talks were a series of brief, informative presentations featuring influential thought leaders sharing perspectives on consumer, nutrition and industry trends.
The IBIE Baker’s Dozen Café: The café with its additional seating provided opportunities for networking and relaxing on the show floor.
Breakout education sessions held on the show floor: The new education sessions included live chef demonstrations and decoration competitions.
The All-American Tailgate Party: The unique networking reception was held on the show floor on opening day.
OUTCOMES
IBIE 2016 celebrated a record-breaking show, including the following landmarks:
LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES
ABOUT INCON PARTNER
As the association management and services company more organizations turn to than any other, SmithBucklin delivers seamless association management and event management services worldwide.
The company’s mission is to achieve the missions of the client organizations it serves and provide uncompromised stewardship for their long-term prosperity. Founded in 1949, SmithBucklin offers full-service management and outsourced services to trade associations, professional societies, technology user communities, industry consortia, charitable organizations, corporations and government institutes.
The company is 100 percent employee-owned.
Find out more: SMITHBUCKLIN →
ABOUT INCON
INCON is a global partnership of trusted conference and association management companies, whose unique collaboration results in the design and delivery of innovative and impactful client events. INCON Partners operate in over 170 destinations from over 81 global offices with a staff of 3,500 employees spread throughout the world.
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