Industry News: PROMOTIONS EAST Organizers ‘Thrilled’ With Show’s Results


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Industry News: PROMOTIONS EAST Organizers ‘Thrilled’ With Show’s Results

Issue: 2009jun

Less than a week after PROMOTIONS EAST 2009 wrapped up, Jonathan Riegel, CAS, says the positive feedback from participants has him and fellow organizers thinking about how to make next year’s show even better.

“My expectations were pretty high,” says Riegel, president of Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY). “We knew going into it that the number of exhibitor booths were down, but the distrbutor numbers were holding up pretty well.”

By the time the show floor was open, the ratio of distributor attendees to exhibitors resulted in overwhelmingly positive comments from companies who had more, and more frequent, visits during the show.

“At the end of the day, this was the feedback we got,” says Riegel. “Our overall attendance was about the same as last year, but more companies were represented [among attendees]. I think most people came away pretty excited.”

One of the new features at this year’s show was the quality assurance booth on the show floor, where exhibitors could bring products to be scanned for free with an X-ray fluorescent (XRF) handheld machine, which detects lead levels. Riegel says about 400 products were scanned during the show. “Those who took advantage of the service really seemed to have a positive reaction.”

It wasn’t just the attendees who enjoyed their experience; panel presenter Eric Rubel, former general counsel for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), told Riegel he was particularly impressed with the interest and participation from the panel audience.

Looking forward, Riegel says though the slow-down from last week’s show has just begun, he and others are looking at how certain offerings like the scanning feature will continue to be offered, as well as how the overall show can be made better.

“How do you make ‘really good’ better?” he asks. “We’ll take the feedback we have, evaluate what’s realistic and what isn’t, and go from there. We have a really good, dedicated board and staff who are committed to providing the best experience possible. From our perspective, we were thrilled with the outcome."

Riegel is also president of Hewlett, New York-based distributor Concepts Unlimited (UPIC: CONUNLIM).

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