∞ Opinion: If you want to meet at Macworld Expo, get a booth

Macworld Expo happens at the end of the month, and I’m being asked every day by PR people to meet with companies at the show. This year, with very few exceptions, I’m restricting my meetings to exhibitors only. I thought I’d explain why.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]For several years now, even predating Apple’s well-publicized exit from the show, there’s been a trend: companies have pulled up stakes from the show but they’ll rent a suite in a nearby hotel and encourage press people to meet for a presentation. This isn’t unique to Macworld Expo by any means, but it’s certainly happened a lot to this show.

I’ve heard all the reasons for why companies don’t want to get a booth: the cost of exhibiting is too high; the perceived return on the investment isn’t worth it; and so on. I understand and appreciate a lot of the explanations I’ve received.

Unfortunately, every half hour I spend in a press briefing like what I’ve just described becomes an hour away from the show floor. Even if the suites are in the hotels next to the Moscone Center, where the show is held, I have to transport myself to and from the hotel. There are only so many hours in the day that the show is open, and so few days that the show happens.

All of that becomes a bit unfair to vendors who are actually paying for booth space to appear at the show.

It’s also a bit unfair to IDG World Expo’s management team – the group that puts together Macworld Expo, for whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration. Not participating in the show directly but expecting to reap the benefits of exposure is, from my perspective, more than a bit parasitic.

So my message to vendors is simple: If you want to meet at Macworld Expo, get a booth. I promise to see you on the show floor and give you my undivided attention.

Obviously each company needs to decide for themselves whether the value in participation is there. I certainly understand economic pressures and the landscape of marketing software and hardware to the masses has changed. But from my perspective, if you’re asking me to meet and you’re not actually exhibiting, we might as well do it by a teleconference before or after the show. It’s Macworld Expo, and the people actually participating in the Expo deserve the attention.

As an aside, I’m not scheduling a lot of meetings on the show floor, either. (if you’re one of the many PR people I’ve told that to, it’s not just you – you’re in very good company.) And that’s because I absolutely, positively want to make sure to spend time talking with booth vendors – I’m The Loop’s sole representation at this year’s Macworld Expo, unfortunately, so I want to make sure I spend as much time as I can with the people with whom I’m most interested in talking.