Technology trade shows

THE TRADE FAIR WITH BIG BOOST
EXHIBIT INDIA , is an organization which brings together companies which conceive, create, develop, manage, market, sponsor, supply or service trade exhibitions and consumer events.
Our aim is to be the voice of the multi-billion event organizing industry, to serve the collective needs of event organizers and to promote the interests of the industry at large .Representing contractors and suppliers of goods and services to the exhibition industry.
The development of a closer relationship and understanding between organizers their suppliers and venues can only benefit the industry as a whole. This closer relationship is partly demonstrated by way of joint working groups covering a range of issues into which all sides of the industry have an important input. It is also a major step towards the goal of enabling the industry to speak with a united voice when striving to increase its share of the marketing cake.
http://www.exhibitindia.com/

ahh chucks...

The type of males we are and the civilizations we’ve built has been shaped by the choices women made for thousands of years. They liked powerful, ambitious men but also gadget-makers and the presentation of those gadgets by beautiful women tries to tell you that if you are a successful gadget-man you can have her. It’s called sexual selection and we often feel uncomfortable because we know deep down very well how much power young beautiful women have over us and some of these women just cut the corners to get what they want.

What is this article about?

I'm suprised nobody has touched on how juvenile the whole booth babe thing is, how lacking in class. It's a sad indictment of what they think of their customers.

Then again if an Ipad 2 came with a happy ending then I wouldn't cock a snook. Perhaps in the interest of political correctness we could have "his and hers" happy endings. To capture the Apple brand the staff could be all bespectecled and wearing plaid overshirts over their apple uniforms; the Polyphonic Spree playing over the speakers. The surfaces all that easy-wipe, cream coloured, thing they've got going on.

All very civilised.

Really this is a non story , beautiful girls have been used to attract attention at trade shows for years and for all products e.g ISM confectionery fair, Anuga food fair, Duty Free exhibition. And from the biggest company to the smallest you can guarantee if there is a new product being launched then what better combination than a beautiful girl and a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine!!!!!

Nothing new about it for the tech shows in (East) Asia. As far as I know it started in Japan, and then Korea, Hong Kong Taiwan, SE Asia and Mainland China.

Nuthin' sells like sex. No wonder it's the 'oldest profession' known to mankind..

I was at a Computer Aided Designer Show (cad/cam ) which was attended by mainly high level scientific types and high powered computer geeks and the exhibit that drew the biggest crowds was one that did a western cow girl skit with scantily clad , beautiful girls. I watched it twice because it found it so offensive!

Sleaze reigns supreme. Being openly 'slutty' is no longer frowned upon. Infact, to watch these models comport (flaunt?) themselves, one is made to feel that's the way it should be.

Like you wrote, leaves most males arroused, embarassed & repulsed by this naked prurience. How primal..

Yes, I am certainly hoping to give my daughters good work ethics and educations, so that they may find satisfaction and contribute to the world by wearing clothing which enhances their sexual characteristics and smiling at every goober who walks by as if he were the cleverest and most enchanting person to walk the earth, before they go home and soak their aching feet (assuming they're lucky enough to land jobs with employers who do not require them to do a little of that nocturnal overtime marketing which is often part of the job).

I think the location of the logos on the women's bodies in comparison with the men's pretty much says all that needs to be said.

The mere existence of this article implies that in the view of the Economist editors there is something questionable about the employment of 'attractive' persons' in a demanding selling environment where 'attracting' attention spells the difference between success and failure.

Is that indeed your considered view? I doubt it. You know there is nothing at all wrong with the employment of models on a trade show floor, no matter how sexy or silly their attire.

To the contrary, with the publication of this commentary and its inclusion in your high-profile weekly e-mailed promotion (was there nothing more worthy of inclusion on the exalted list of seven articles that fits in that promotion?) you demonstrate that like those very booth-renters whose selling decisions you question, you too will not hesitate to push "babes" and "silicon implants" out into the aisle to try to "reel in" readers.

I would say "why don't you sweep around your own back door"…except for the fact that there is nothing wrong with what you did either.

Take the rest of the day off, Babbage, and go see a doctor about your distaste for your own desires.

How very "made in America" this problem is.

Every woman in the US has plastic surgery, liposuctions and botox injections about three dozen times between high school and the geriatric ward. On top of that, add three to four diets every year. But in the name of "politically correctness", you still feel threatened instead of inspired when you see a woman who looks like she's exercising regularly and wears a size small or xtra small dress?

Every man in the US is downloading raunchy movies or buying magazines wrapped in opaque plastic. Just lookee no touchee strip joints are big business, burlesque dancers are stars. But you guys feel "resentful and embarrassed" when you see pretty girls at a convention?

Why not just enjoy the view rather than go into another masochistic american guilt ritual? Puzzles me...

The only real oddity is the absence of chippendales type male models at conventions. With up to one half of the crowd possibly attracted to guys, counting all straight and gay people attending, the conclusion must be that there is no audience and thus no business case for hiring male models. I wonder what the reason for that could be...

You rail against "Booth Babes" and yet headline your article "Silicon Implants"...You use the same tactics you decry vendors use. Tad hypocritical, don't you think?

I like the girls because I like girls but the comments that end the post are largely right: you hire pretty girls to sell things because you are trying to draw attention to a product that otherwise doesn't draw attention. In rare cases, that might be because the product category is relatively obscure and deserves more mind share but in most it's just show. Some companies need to feel good about buzz. It may be all they have.

My all time favorite acts at shows are two guys. One is (was?) Joel somebody who did a magnificent act using huge cards and a mesmerizing tone - "step closer". He'd play poker against a guy in the crowd, showing him his cards and discombobulate the guy so much he'd always win. Beautiful, high level carny work. The other was an escape artist who'd break out of strait jackets and the like. Cool shows.

Here's an idea - have a booth-babe beauty contest in the middle of the show. Turn it into a true meat market with advertising prestige for the winner and disses for the losers. And keep track of who bothers to vote, and ask them if they would buy the actual product on the babe's bikini.

I say this not because I actually want to attend any of this, but because a good way to kill bad advertising is to actually measure its effect in some way and then let the people paying for it know the dismal results of all their spending.

"Being a man, Babbage cannot deny evolution's impact on his admiration of attractive women. Yet he resents it being used against him."

Exactly -- this kind of advertising exploits men.

Yes, I know sex sells. Yes, I know the IT world is still more than 50% male. Yes, I know men like to look at scantily clad women (babes). But it's still annoying and makes me not want to buy that company's product.