June 19, 2017

Should Infocomm add a Fourth Day?

Recent Twitter chatter is revolving around adding a 4th day to the yearly Infocomm show. For clarity sake I assume this means a 4th day of the trade show as Infocomm is already longer than four days taking into account classes and lectures.

So:
Should Infocomm add a 4th day of the trade show?

No.

As any veteran of the show (attendee, booth worker, etc) will tell you, the show is all but over by noon on Friday. This is typically my favorite day where I can spend more time with people talking about products. Adding a Tuesday show opening will only decrease the necessity of Friday and then people will start leaving Thursday afternoon. Then in five years the debate will center around getting rid of Fridays.

Any thoughts of adding a Saturday to the show should be immediately discarded.

Here is what could happen instead. Make a bigger importance out of Tuesday. Tuesday should be the "networking" day with sponsored gatherings. Tuesday could also be the day for what could be deemed the "most important" lectures. Multiple keynotes from multiple parties can happen.

Rough Tuesday schedule:

6am open the badge receiving line
8am Sponsored breakfast for networking and meet ups
9am High importance Lecture
10am minor keynote or major lecture
11am minor keynote or lecture
noon MAJOR sponsored lunch for networking and meet ups
1 or 2 major keynote
3pm final keynote/awards
4-6 reception for networking and meet ups
6-? networking events hosted by various companies at various locations

Keep the trade show out of Tuesday or God forbid Saturday.

EDIT: I forgot this important point - opening up Tuesdays for the trade show means even more exhausted booth workers. A Tuesday networking day allows them to be part of the event in a different capacity than just working the booth.

PS - the Badge receiving area should be open early and open late. Typically I arrive on Sunday or Monday afternoon. By the time I get to my hotel, check in and freshen up, I am almost always about 10 minutes late to get my badge. Or figure out a way to use my cell phone and a stupid QR code to print my own badge. It works everywhere else...

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