Just imagine the entire population of a small city packed into one convention center. If you can picture that, then you get an idea of what it was like at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The 2010 CES show attracted more than 120,000 registered attendees. That’s more than the population of Charleston, South Carolina.
If you’ve been to CES or another national show, you know the meaning of “huge.”
But if you haven’t yet experienced a large national trade show, the scale is hard to imagine. You could walk for hours trying to get from one end of the show to the other, and still barely scratch the surface of everything to see. And that’s without people around! At peak times, the crowds made it nearly impossible to move in some spots. That was especially true near the popular 3D television displays or when a celebrity or an Elvis impersonator (remember, this was Vegas) was around.
As you may be aware from some of my other coverage of the CES show, I was there for two main reasons. First, I walked the show floor looking at small biz products until my feet squealed for mercy. Second, I spent some time as a resident small-business expert in the American Express OPEN Booth, giving a few presentations, and also chatting with business owners at the booth.
In this article let me take you for a glimpse behind the scenes at CES, to what it was like in the OPEN Forum booth itself.
The CES Show
Many CES exhibitor booths are about wow-ing people – impressing those who attend so that the press will write about them, and retailers and etailers will buy their products. Booths compete to be the biggest, brightest or loudest -- or the one that somehow breaks through the sensory overload to grab your attention as you walk by.
Some exhibitors use loud music; bright lights; giant video screens; attractive young women (hey, just reporting – don’t shoot the messenger please); celebrities for star appeal; games and interactive displays to engage you; free giveaways; even crowd barkers. You can imagine the confusion … and noise.
On the other hand, other companies intentionally opted for a more low-key approach. Some avoided booths altogether and went for out-of-the-way meeting rooms where the emphasis was on one-on-one meetings and serious business discussions. The meeting rooms were quiet and less distracting. The only challenge was finding them.
The Amex OPEN Booth
The OPEN booth was situated in the midst of the electronics section, and all I can say is, it was in a very loud neighborhood. But that turned out to be an advantage, as I’ll explain in a moment.
As someone who has exhibited at large tradeshows in my former corporate career, I am fascinated by show booths. I always look at booths with an analytical eye. I look at the furniture and signage. I look at their traffic patterns. After all, one day again I may need to set up a booth for my own business.
The OPEN Forum booth was like a port of calm in the midst of a mini-hurricane. The booth was open on 4 sides. There was open padded-bench seating. No music or glitz – just a businesslike yet informal setting. People could wander in a couple of steps off the show aisles and sit for a few minutes in a “relatively” quiet setting.
One of the most impressive things in the booth was the interactive kiosks with touch screens that you could use to compare Amex products. For instance, you could plug in your monthly expenses and instantly see your exact savings by using certain products. The kiosks were self-serve, so you could use them without feeling pressure.
[Note: The picture that accompanies this article was taken early in the morning before the start of the show. It does a good job showing the booth itself, but doesn’t capture the activity level during peak show hours.]
Connecting the Digital World with the Physical World
Early one morning before the show started, I had a chance to pick the brains of some of the representatives of Momentum Worldwide. Momentum is one of the agencies that represents OPEN. According to Richard Black, Senior Vice President of Momentum, one goal of the booth was to “bring the online OPEN Forum to life in a physical setting.” That’s what their firm specializes in – something they call “phygital marketing” – which means bridging the physical world and the digital world.
They consider themselves “experiential marketers.” That’s exactly what it sounds like – they create experiences. They guided the process and coordinated the many pieces designed to deepen the engagement of small business leaders attending the CES show.
Tom Buontempo, Director of Business Leadership at Momentum, says the approach for the OPEN booth was deliberately lower key than other booths at CES, because it fits with American Express’s goals. He said it’s all about making the show presence sync up with the business goals, noting that “Becoming a cardmember is a journey. You don’t visit a booth at a huge show like CES and instantly make the decision to become a cardmember,” he said, “You’re going to have questions. You’ll want to learn more before making that decision.”
Information … and Business Networking
With that in mind, Jason Rudman (@JasonRudman on Twitter), Director of OPEN Forum for American Express, said they wanted the booth to create a place where people could get information -- and not just about American Express, but small-business information in general. That’s why they engaged speakers to come and talk about a variety of business topics. He says it’s about advocating on behalf on small business owners – but it’s also tapping into the small business mindset… listening and learning. It becomes a circle of information that helps the company offer the most relevant products and services, he noted.
And it’s not just about information. Part of the goal with the Amex presence at CES was to create a place where entrepreneurs were encouraged to network with one another. “We often see that when business owners get together and connect with each other, magic happens,” Jason said.
He went on: “OPENForum.com is an online gateway to the American Express OPEN experience. Likewise, the OPEN booth at CES is an in-person gateway,” combining general information about running a business; information about American Express products and services; and a venue that encourages business leaders to network with one another – so that magic can happen.
So it was no surprise that whenever I looked around, I saw small groups of entrepreneurs chatting, shaking hands, exchanging business cards and networking. And rather than being shooed out of the booth as you might have been in some places, the OPEN booth encouraged it.
