The launch of Ducate Tradeshow Solutions (DTS) was announced Jun. 11 by Principals Douglas L. Ducate and Brian E. Tully following their presentation at the ASAE University Finance, HR, & Business Operations Conference held in Washington, D.C.
“The realization that tradeshows are indeed a risk business was punctuated by the Great Recession when the industry declined by 15 percent, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR),” said Ducate. “This marked the second decline since the turn of the century and was much more severe than the 5 percent decline in 2001/2002.
“Risk management is a key responsibility of association executives,” said Tully. “Analyzing the risks inherent in the association trade show must be a high priority.”
Tully explained that the tradeshow business is being challenged on a number of fronts, with alternative marketing techniques such as Internet sourcing and social media commanding more marketing dollars each year.
“It will require ongoing and significant investments in tradeshows for associations to effectively compete with both the new marketing techniques and the for-profit organizers,” Tully said.
At the ASAE event, DTS introduced a unique proprietary process called the PEC analysis methodology that it offers to association clients. The process includes a step-by-step approach to event performance assessment and yields a number of options on how to manage the risk and preserve and protect the value of the asset.
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