This year’s Specialty Advertising Counselors of the Delaware Valley (SACDV) show garnered 5 percent more attendees than last year’s show, where attendance was up 42 percent.
The sold-out show was held at the Valley Forge Convention Center, Valley Forge, Pa., on Sept. 13.
“The traffic did not stop from start to finish,” noted Expo chair, Mary Ellen Hudicka. “Our distributor hosts were delighted at the “InfoTainment Value” of the event in informing and entertaining their clients with the fun theme and so many tie-in giveaways. Exhibitors were delighted as well—they received both quantity and quality for their money.”
The Expo, which is the largest annual event for SACDV is a member-only event, limited to invited guests of SACDV distributor firm members. “Our challenge was to increase attendance without increasing costs for us or our members, but with a finite number of members to generate client attendance,” explained Hudicka. “One of the solutions was to create an easier way of promoting the show, and to get our distributors to embrace it.”
The Show Committee partnered with PPAI to pilot the first regional association client show electronic registration system, with e-invitation capability. After two months of specs and development, SACDV launched the program to its distributor members, urging them to register and then send out an e-mail link to their clients.
“It took several weeks of rework, testing and personal contact with every distributor member, but the results were fantastic,” noted SACDV executive director, Jim Harmon. “Last year, we had long lines at registration. This year, most people zipped right through our Cruisin’ Lane. Sixty percent of the clients who came had their bar-coded invitations in hand, and started their experience off with a smooth ride.”
With a Route 66 retro theme of “Ideas that Drive Results,” volunteers transformed the neutral convention hall into an animated blast from the past. SACDV president Vytas Masalaitis, who arranged for actual classic cars to be on display, said, “The decorations were truly amazing. From the New Product Drive In Pavilion, to the Diner networking food court at the center of the hall, and the hundreds of street signs that pointed buyers to ‘The Promotional Products Way’, we gave them an experience that showed how creative our SACDV counselors are and can be for them.”
The SACDV 2007 Fall Expo will be held on Wed., Sept. 5, 2007. For more information, call (610) 873-1186.
