Trade Shows and Events Industry Metrics— Insights from Nancy Drapeau, Vice President of Research, CEIR: Bizcast Original

Nancy Drapeau, IPC, is a 30-year market research veteran with more than 20 years in the business-to-business exhibitions industry. As CEIR’s Vice President of Research, Ms. Drapeau conducts industry-wide studies and reports on current trends in the exhibition industry. In 2019, she was named to BizBash’s 1000 Most Influential People in Events list. She holds a BA in Government from Georgetown University and a Master’s in Advanced European and International Studies from l’Institut Européen des Hautes Études Internationales. She is an AC Nielsen Burke Institute-trained focus group moderator. She is a well-respected industry speaker and a member of the Industry Insights Association, with IPC certification. She has served as a member of the Events Industry Council’s (EIC) Research & Advocacy Task Force. She lives in Maine, with her husband and a border collie named Moxie.

• Nancy Drapeau discusses her latest research findings. All indicators point to a strong and resurgent Trade Shows industry. The strong growth is being driven by exhibitors, although attendance is somewhat lagging. This lag can be attributed to several factors, such as higher costs of attending and sticky inflation.
• Exhibitors are extremely happy with the high quality of attendees who are real decision-makers rather than tyre kickers. So, while there is no doubt that exhibitors have full faith in face-to-face experiences, they are somewhat cautious due to global uncertainties.
• 94% of exhibitors polled in 2021 said they would be coming back, and current data corroborates those predictions. Exhibitions are delivering against specific metrics such as sales leads, number of leads, quality of leads, brand impressions, number of face-to-face engagements and so on. But it is up to the exhibitor to succeed, through innovative marketing and by providing visceral experiences to visitors.

Run time – 42:47 mins.