Conference & Trade Show Intelligence

Purchase

SCIP members, log in to receive the member price.
Not a member? Join SCIP

By: Edited by Jonathan Calof and Bonnie Hohhof
Non-Member Price: $69.95
Member Price: $49.95

Conference and Trade Show Intelligence covers the concept and practice of information acquisition in conferences, seminars, symposia, and trade show settings, and analysis of information. It is the second volume in the Topics in CI series.

Trade shows, conferences, conventions, and other events are excellent places to learn about your competitive environment: market trends, new technologies, market opportunities, competitor plans and products, and much more. Collectively they provide opportunities to gather the most competitive information in the shortest time for the least amount of money. But too few organizations leverage this information resource in a systematic, focused way.

At the same time, these events consume a large portion of a company's marketing budgets. Virtually every company creates a presence at the key events in their industry, whether it's through manning exhibit booths, giving presentations, or sending managers and subject specialists as attendees. Conferences and trades shows are significant expenditures for most companies, and while senior management recognizes the need to have their company employees at these events, they are often disappointed with their return on these investments. But, as this book demonstrates, this need not be the case. Conferences, trade shows, and other such events can provide your organization with enormous intelligence benefits.

Written for both the competitive intelligence practitioner and those who work in the trade show environment, this book helps you develop the knowledge necessary to fully leverage the information gathering potential of these events and support your decision-makers' intelligence needs. Effective use of your ‘people presence' at these events can provide insight into current and future markets, competitors, technologies, and customers. 

Individual chapters, each written by recognized subject specialists, demonstrate the key elements of effective conference and trade show intelligence programs, and how to successfully implement them in a consistently ethical manner. These lessons can be applied to conferences, conventions, trade shows, workshops, even parties --- any place where people and information come together.

Organized into six sections, this publication first provides a general introduction to conference and trade show intelligence. It then presents information in the three linear components of the collection process: pre-event preparation, at the event activities, and after the event implementation. To be effective, each of these elements must be carefully planned and organized.

Table of Contents

Overview

What is Competitive Intelligence and How Does This Relate to Conferences and Trade Shows? Jonathan Calof         

Trade Show Intelligence: Making the Most of It. Vernon Prior             

Engineering Engineers: How to Develop a Trade Show Intelligence Process.  J. P Ratajczak                      

Pre-Show Preparation

Preparing the CEO for a Conference or Trade Show. William West            

What to Do Before the Show. Brian Soth     

At the Show

Mining Conference Materials - Ways to Strike Gold with Secondary Sources.  Alison Bourey

On Site Tools and Techniques for Primary Information Gathering.  Anne Barron

Elicitation - A Critical Part of Your Trade Show Tool Kit.  John Nolan

The Human Element of Intelligence Gathering at Trade Shows and Conventions.  Krista Davies

How to Execute a Trade Show Intelligence Plan.  Arjan Singh, Jodie Peake, and Leonard Fuld

After the Show

Multi-Year Trade Show Attendance and Its Impact on Intelligence Gathering. Daniel Himelfarb

Communicating the Value of Trade Shows to Decision-Makers.  Joseph Goldberg and Tim Barak

Build on Show Interactions - Leverage Your  Contact Network.  Eric Glitman              

Special Topics

Going Solo: Sharpen Your Trade Show Collection Skills.  Ellen Naylor

Solo CI Trade Show Collection. Kathrine Hayes                     

The Ethics of Trade Show Intelligence. Toni Wilson

Ethical Guidelines for Trade Shows. Richard Horowitz        

Trade Show Counter-Intelligence. Geary Soska

Counter-Intelligence at Trade Shows. Jonathan Calof

Conference and Trade Show Intelligence for Government. Jonathan Calof

Key Intelligence Topics. Jan Herring

Competitive Technical Intelligence at Trade Shows and Professional Meetings. Jay Paap

Connecting the Dots: Drawing Actionable Conclusions from Conference and Trade Show Intelligence

Gathering.  Kenneth Sawka

A Conference and Trade Show Intelligence Methodology. Peter McKenney

Trade Show Intelligence Case Study. Kirk Tyson