Posted by
Barry Siskind
I read an interesting article recently by journalist Martha White, for the New York Times called, The Convention Crashers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/business/16shows.html
Convention Crashers are people who set up their exhibit in a hotel near the fair site and attempt to do business with legitimate visitors who have registered for the fair. White refers to these “outboarders,” as parasites who live off the time and investment made by fair organizers and exhibitors.
While few can argue the correctness of outboarding, there does not seem to be one overall strategy to deal with it.
Is outboarding an issue you have faced?
What steps have you taken to minimize or eliminate its effect?
We have sufferred the same problem with our Reed Midem events in Cannes, and have recently won a court case on this very matter, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/7339865/Drivers-Jonas-fined-for-parasitical-behaviour.html
[…] March 2, 2010 Posted by Barry Siskind I read an interesting article recently by journalist Martha White, for the New York Times called, The Convention Crashers. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/business/16shows.html Convention Crashers are people who set up th … Continue reading … […]
Very interesting topic this one Barry. Just had a long discussion with one industry leader while we were in Taipei this week about the role played in this by hotels neighbouring exhibition centres and what organisers can do about that. This is certainly currently a problem with a number of exhibitions in various cities in Asia including Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei itself.
The “parasites” – “crashers” – “interlopers” should all be decapitated by order of the Queen (or, the President, depending upon where they reside). These artful dodgers infiltrate every aspect of business and offhandedly attempt to pilfer the fame and the fortune we as producers MUST create. Where there’s an event, there’s an opportunity to divert traffic. In doing so, they are no less than criminals picking the pockets of legitimate entrepreneurs — and for that, they should be smitten … to smithereens … HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR? (And that’s what I feel when I’m in a good mood.)