Trade fairs and conferences are the marketplaces of today's knowledge society, tried and trusted means of communication. Even in the Internet age, where computer-based communication is of course becoming ever more important alongside print and audiovisual media, the trade fair continues to play an essential role as a communication medium. According to the study "Direct Marketing Germany 2005", trade fairs and events make up the largest share of marketing expenditure for the processing industries at 39 percent; retail companies spend 13 percent of their marketing budgets on trade fairs and events, and the service industry 10 percent. Overall, all German companies use 31 percent of their marketing budgets for trade fairs and events - in third place after the Internet (68 percent) and print advertising (60 percent). Face-to-face communication at "real" trade fairs is unbeatable for 75 percent of visitors in certain dimensions, because the flood of information is not reinforced, and talking to experts enables assessments and an emotional approach that is almost impossible elsewhere. It has therefore become a matter of course for decision-makers to attend trade fairs: the number and percentage of senior managers in business and administration who regularly attend trade fairs has risen by approximately 24 percent in the past two years; 84 percent of all decision-makers use trade fairs for purchasing and information purposes - according to the German study "LAE 2005 - Readers' Analysis Decision-Makers in Business and Administration". New customer acquisition and increasing the recognition value of companies and products are the two main objectives that 92 percent of German exhibitors hope to achieve by participating in trade fairs.

Meanwhile, however, the trend is moving away from purely product-oriented trade fair booths to marketing-oriented themes. Product-oriented participations are too focused back on the company itself and do not offer any extra benefit for visitors, whereas a marketing-oriented presentation can highlight the customer - which is why we hear more and more about trade fairs as theme parks. For the attractiveness of trade fairs and exhibitions, therefore, service quality is becoming increasingly important. Event managers now use all sorts of clever and imaginative tricks to make visitors happy by increasing the feel-good factor at trade fairs, based on the formula "satisfaction = quality of contacts and talks + quality of surroundings". At trade fairs in particular, successful communication calls for clear and emotional messages, not least because visitors are surrounded by countless optical and acoustic stimulants in the exhibition halls. Otherwise exhibitors run the risk of going under in the mass of sights and sounds and wasting a great deal of money without leaving any lasting impression. Events, regardless of whether they are large functions, trade fairs, conferences or lecture presentations, should create a positive effect among the participants; but to create a lasting positive memory in customers' minds, companies have to offer something exciting. So up-to-date mass concepts are oriented towards the visitor with the objective of not just creating a one-off effect, but remaining memorable beyond the event itself. The following principles apply:

• 1. Attract major attention through an externally reduced standard architecture with individual eye-catchers,
• 2. Present products as part of a whole story,
• 3. Integrate visitors interactively into the presentation concept and
• 4. Integrate the trade fair presentation as an active element of the overall communication strategy.

The Sony presentation at the Games Convention 2004 in Leipzig is one prime example of such a trade fair concept: instead of a sober trade fair booth, visitors found themselves sitting on a deckchair in a park, on a city train or in the changing rooms of a sports hall. The plasma screens were not built into walls, but recreated classic situations in which young people often start to play, e.g. on a boring train journey.

Traditional product presentations are more or less a thing of the past. The focus is now on relaxed interior design structured for customer benefit, attractive mood and action. Customer presentation is supported by scents and decorations, rounded off by information in the form of brochures and interactive on-screen presentations. Themed stands are becoming increasingly important attractions at trade fairs, whereas the emphasis on simple product presentation is reduced. Visitors don't just want to compare features, they want to discuss solutions. Emotional forms of addressing customers and future-oriented content attract more visitor attention than all previous concepts. Feelings are more important than technologies, so there is a need for visions and courage to take unusual routes. The more senses are appealed to, the more impressive the effect. Tailored customer appeal makes visitors spend more time at the right exhibits. So it makes more sense to actively integrate trade fair visitors that to confront them with a flood of images, videos and messages. Interactive video installations such as the "emotional brander" or "emotional mirror" play a key creative role in this process: visitors are initially addressed without obligation, their curiosity is awakened, they learn to control the installation and finally start to play with it, which is permanently and emotionally anchored in their consciousness. For example, pharmacists at Expopharm 2003 in Cologne were rewarded for their efforts: the more they addressed their audience, the more intensive the applause, which went up to standing ovations. The trade fair presentation "Treffpunkt Zukunft" aimed to grab pharmacists by the lapels, shake them to life and tell them: "You're great, we need you!"

As numerous comparable offers take effect on visitors in a limited space, company and product presentation at trade fairs is subject to very specific criteria. Creating something special in the right atmosphere and using the available space to awaken excitement, curiosity and a desire to spend time there, fascinating visitors, setting off thought processes and enabling communication and visual experiences, are the key tasks that call for subtle flair and make all the difference between strategic trade fair design and conventional booth construction. Trade fairs and events have to be based on an innovative, creative idea, which transports the company's message emotionally and enables a clear differentiation from the competition through presentation quality, whereby it is important to actively integrate visitors. If you want to fascinate people you have to tell them a story, because people are interested in people - and stories are part and parcel of their lives.

Based on the idea: "how can I interest people in my information?" VARTA Autobatterien AG used a human-like robot at AUTOMECHANIKA 2004 in Frankfurt/Main and BOOT 2005 in Düsseldorf. "VARTAmax" was designed to actively animate visitors and then inform them on an interactive basis. Unlike normal terminals, which usually wait passively for passers-by to use them , the robot initially addressed people nearby with animating statements, then offered them content in an entertaining way, which could be called up interactively, and finally added statements on the benefit of the content.

A similar technique is virtual characters or avatars, which actively address visitors and passers-by from kiosks, large screens or store windows, suggesting they use the kiosk or the interactive advertising space and then accompanying them through the menu. The avatar maintains direct eye contact with each user, making every kiosk or display a unique attraction. Many avatars are now famous in their own right, such as the virtual computer game heroine Lara Croft, Robert from T-Online or Baby Fred from genie.de. At Bangkok International ICT Expo 2004, for example, Hutchison CAT Wireless Multi Media Ltd Thailand used the interactive fish "Bubbles" to attract trade fair visitors by means of a three-dimensional audiovisual presentation. Bubbles stood out a mile from the other 300 exhibitors with his interactive show, which made the event a huge success for the company.

Trade fair visitors make many new contacts every day, often ending up with a whole pile of new business cards. Using kiosk terminals with a business card scanner, visitors can now digitalise their contacts. They then no longer have to carry all the business cards around with them, as they can send the addresses straight to their home or office by email. SAP presents a complex programme of lecture events at trade fairs and conventions, which are attended by numerous guests. Previously, the company was unable to compile information on who had attended which event and was therefore interested in a particular subject. To close this information gap, SAP has now been using a contact registration system: a kiosk terminal with an integrated business card reader is set up in front of every lecture room. Customers can register for the events on these systems by simply swiping their business cards through the scanner. The data is registered and stored in a database, so that the addresses can be allocated to the individual events. The address information is sent to the marketing department at the company's head office once a day. From there, serial letters can be immediately produced and sent with the requested marketing material. Using this system has saved a considerable sum in contact registration - it costs 0.25 EUR per data set instead of 2.50 EUR for manual registration.

Kiosks are also used as trade fair check-in terminals, as complicated entrance checks can lead to long queues for visitors. In conjunction with an integrated printer, visitor ID cards can be produced, and if the kiosk system is fitted with a webcam a photo can be taken of the visitor and integrated into the ID card. At drupa 2004, MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG used a trade fair information system for the administration of its stand, staff and catering. This took the pressure off the staff at the presentation by managing the reservation of meeting rooms, registering catering guests by means of a barcode reader, reaching staff via mobile services, simplifying visitor registration and of course registering who was present at the stand. At the 1000-sqm company presentation, over 2800 employees from over 50 companies and more than 70 of the company's own staff were managed in a central database system on 42 hostess notebook terminals and 8 standing and wall-mounted kiosks. In addition, more than 8000 customer business cards were scanned into the database and 1500 text messages were sent directly from the application to the relevant employees. Even before the trade fair, employees had registered via a web-based pre-registration system, entering their individual profiles, specialist skills, languages and dates of attendance at the trade fair. More than 5000 check-in and check-out processes were carried out on the wall-mounted and standing kiosks, more than 400 appointments in 12 meeting rooms were managed, more than 3000 personalised barcode identification cards were issued, more than 60,000 customer bookings were registered for catering and more than 1.8 million enquiries were forwarded to the database server.

The latest trend is for solving the above applications even more efficiently through the use of RFID technologies. These technologies offer modules especially for convention organisers, for process optimisation and improvement of customer service. Before and during the event, all event processes can be managed extremely economically on the basis of personalised electronic nametags (eBadges). A barcode or transponder integrated into the badge contains a specific ID. Issued manually during the accreditation process at the beginning of the event or at the check-in kiosk and also available in advance as a permanent membership ID, every participant is provided with a personalised eBadge and their ID is stored in a database. With this eBadge - no larger than a credit card - visitors can identify themselves and register for every event without contact. Using the individual rights and information also stored in the database and depending on the convention organiser's needs, individual attendance times in the individual seminars and workshops and all visitor-related processes can be managed, while respecting the data protection regulations. These processes include, for example, clear and fast verification, secured action registration and personalised service offers. The simple and comfortable handling of eBadges enables fast registration in the individual meeting rooms. A gate terminal checks access rights and registers the visitor's arrival in the database using his or her eBadge. A light signal provides information on access rights and acknowledges the process. Simultaneously, the time registration for documenting attendance time starts in the system. After the end of the event, visitors check out again at the gate terminal on leaving the room. German doctors, who are required by law to prove their participation in further training courses, immediately receive points on their account in the database once they have absolved the required time. As well as the above functions, a quick check-in via business cards, an electronic seating plan, a cloakroom and luggage management program, a personalised message system via information kiosks and personalised survey registration are all part of the package.

Read more on this subject soon in "MediaCityReport 2005/6" or at http://www.iBusiness.de/ekiosk.