With just two weeks remaining before many of us meet again in Chicago to gauge for ourselves how the industry is doing, I thought it timely to catch up with Byron Morton, VP of Leasing at the Merchandise Mart, and Julie Amato-Kohl, VP of NeoCon Exhibitor Sales, to see how things are shaping up from the perspective of the NeoCon organization.
OI: For the exhibitors, it’s all about attendance. How have you approached marketing the show this year?
OI: After NeoCon 2013, you established an advisory council of exhibitors and attendees. Have you continued with that group?
BM: Nearly every initiative we worked on this past year is a result of the work we did with the advisory council. Some of the projects had longer than a one-year implementation time, but we’ve continued to expand and refine our responses. As a direct result, many of the improvements NeoCon attendees will experience this year grew directly from the input of the advisory council.
The bottom line of our commitment to NeoCon, and the Merchandise Mart in general, is that we have embarked on the biggest capital improvement program the building has seen in 30 years.
OI: Tell us about the improvements.
BM: In the countdown to Monday June 15th, we’ve given ourselves the goal of being completely “show ready” by Friday the 12th. As part of that drive we’ve formally recognized that many people arrive on Saturday and Sunday, so we’ve opened up on-site registration from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm Saturday and Sunday.
After last year I don’t want to make too much of this particular investment, but we’ve completely redone the water infrastructure of the building!
But more to the point, we have made significant investments this year in things to help attendees navigate the show more easily and effectively:
- I mentioned our efforts to increase pre-registration. We did this by making it easier and simpler to pre-register. For example, if a person has attended NeoCon in the past there is a “Quick-Reg” process that lets them start with the information they used to register before and edit it as needed.
- We have installed a digital directory on the 1st and 2nd floors, to make finding exhibitors easier.
- We are building a new 60-yard long park on the south side of the building, complete with grass and shade and outdoor furniture to give people a great place to decompress. We’ll co-host a party there on Tuesday evening, with Interior Design magazine.
- We’ve completely renovated the 11th floor corridor with new lighting and floor covering and a much lighter, brighter ambiance.
- And last but not least, we’ve developed an app for mobile devices that we’re really excited about because it will greatly enhance the whole NeoCon experience for anyone who uses it.
OI: A NeoCon App? Give us a rundown of some of the most useful features.
BM: Okay.
- First off, it’s available for download as we speak.
- It’s available for all the usual mobile platforms: iOS, Windows, Android and even Blackberry.
- It can be used in airplane mode, so users don’t have to be on a network to use it. But of course, you’ll have to be on a network to update it.
- It has an interactive map and cool way-finding features that will help attendees find the quickest/best way to get from one place to another.
- It has a “Favorites” feature that will allow you to flag your favorite exhibitors and products, speakers and events.
- There’s a great networking feature that allows users to connect with friends and colleagues by sharing contact information and schedules.
- There’s a link to your registration information to facilitate printing your badge when you arrive at the show if you’ve pre-registered.
- And finally we’ve tried to make it extremely user friendly so everyone will be inclined to use it.
OI: The primary raison d’etre of the show is for exhibitors to strut their new stuff and for attendees to get to see everything that’s new. What can you tell prospective attendees about the number and quality of exhibitors?
Julie Amato-Kohl (JK): I’ve been focused on the temporary exhibitor spaces on the seventh and eighth floors, and I’m proud to say, “The show is Sold Out!” We have more than 100 new exhibitors this year, so there will be a lot to see.
Last year, we organized and restacked those two floors by product categories, and this year we have continued to refine the process. We also have 15 companies that have taken spaces of more than 1,000 square feet, with several new exhibitors taking showroom size spaces of 3,000 square feet.
We have about 40 flooring manufacturers taking approximately 15,000 square feet of space on the seventh floor.
BM: There has also been a lot of activity on the permanent floors this year. I guess it isn’t big news that the permanent showroom floors are at 100% occupancy, as they usually are. But we’ve had some churn this year with Boss Design and The Senator Group, out of the U.K. both taking permanent showrooms. Concertex will be in a new permanent showroom, Watson Furniture will return to the Mart in a great new space on 10, and the start up Stir will also have its own permanent space for the first time.
OI: It sounds exciting. Officeinsight will be featuring NeoCon Events and Educational opportunities in a separate article in this issue. We understand that all the Keynotes are already at Standing Room Only, but don’t let that inhibit you.
We thought last year’s NeoCon was a major step in the right direction to insure a great future of the show, and it sounds as if this one will be even better. We look forward to seeing you there…get the app and pre-register to avoid the Monday morning log-jam!