ad:tech New York 2005 Wraps, Much More to Come
On Wednesday at 12 Noon, the largest ad:tech ever, with over 8,300 attendees, closed. There were over 200 exhibitors and more parties than any one individual could ever hope to attend. The mood at the show, as it has been for the past couple years was upbeat and optimistic. As an independent voice, I can say dmg world media, the event producer, has done a great job promoting and organizing the show.
While yesterday, Tuesday, at 5PM exhibitors quickly dismantled their booths, Wednesday morning was still teeming with activity at the many sessions held between nine and the show's wrap time, noon.
The next major U.S ad:tech conference is in San Francisco, April 26-28 at the Moscone Center, newly chosen over area hotels as the show has grown so large. In March and April of 2006, ad:tech will launch its "impact" series, a collection a one day shows in ten cities across the U.S. We hope to see you, next, in San Francisco or at one of the "impact" series shows in a city near you. Until then, rock on and have fun.
Comments
While I enjoyed the ad:tech show, and my company certainly benefitted, I have to respectfully (albeit anonymously, since this my own opinion and NOT my employer's) disagree about DMG running the show well.
I think DMG made a surprising number of errors in their handling of this year's ad:tech NY.
For starters, I hope Revenue.net was at least partially refunded for their sponsorship of the wireless connection at the show. It rarely worked. Even the hard connections were faulty, and one delegated commented that the network appeared to have been "set up by a bunch of high school students." Probably not the image Revenue.net was going for.
Their handling of exhibitors was less than warm (and those of us who dealt with JD Events were totally spoiled in the past). For our $5000+, we weren't even given lunch tickets.
There was a single registration kiosk open for exhibitors on Monday morning, and the line was horrific. Considering most of the other reg kiosks were pretty empty, they probably could have done with two.
(And why did they SNAIL-MAIL the exhibit hall passes? That's just silly!)
Finally, I was really unimpressed with the renewal process for booths this year. Among other things, the deadline was 11/2 -- a day where most of us exhibitors were panicking and scrambling with last minute booth details, press releases, etc. I don't recall receiving a reminder, certainly not an important looking reminder, anyway...until after the process had closed! I heard a few other exhibitors with the same gripe. They would have liked to have seen the setup in "person" before bidding on a new booth.
(And, BTW, why didn't Freeman tape down the edges of the carpets in the exhibit hall this year? Did they WANT a law suit? Not too bright.)
There were other complaints among the exhibitors and sponsors, but I don't need to get into all of them. (Underdelivering on some sponsorships, not driving enough traffic to third floor booths, etc.)
I thought I was just being cranky, but - unsolicited - I did hear a lot of the same gripes from others.
DMG would be wise to warm up and treat their exhibitors and sponsors with some kindness and personalized attention. Frankly, we get enough cheerful newsletters, and a phone call and personal greeting at the show would go a long, long way.
(Footnote in their defense: DMG seemed swift in addressing some of the more egregious issues. Still...how about just avoiding them and offering us some respect next time out?)