Learning, connecting, buying, selling, exhibiting, networking or job searching: the list of reasons one might attend World Dairy Expo is endless. Yet most attendees – as different as their individual objectives might be – seem to walk away from the show with the same feeling of accomplishment and community.
John Folks, CAE of Minding Your Business, has spent 35 years in event planning, design and strategy. His company is helping set the show up for success in coming years. He says the feeling created at World Dairy Expo is second to none, and it’s no accident. It’s one thing to coordinate the logistics of an industry-leading trade show along with the world’s most renowned dairy show, but it’s entirely another to bring it all together into a relevant and exciting experience for every age and profession to enjoy.
“Maybe I’m coming to the show to learn a specific skill or find a specific solution to a problem that I’ve got,” Folks says. “Maybe I’m there for other reasons, but understanding why different people attend is important, so that you can design the event around those needs. This is what makes a ‘must-attend’ event.”
Folks spent several days at World Dairy Expo working towards an understanding of why attendees are going to the show. “It’s the annual reunion of dairy cattle community, which is a powerful motivator,” Folks says. “The sense of tradition is important and part of the event’s DNA. Like many legacy events, the challenge is to celebrate and retain the important traditions, with an eye to the future and what tomorrow’s attendees will want and expect in order to stay relevant.”
Resources and Solutions
According to Folks, today’s tradeshow has to be designed differently. “People are coming to a tradeshow today, not necessarily to buy things as they once did, but to get educated and exposed, build relationships and find solutions,” Folks says. “It’s different than it was 20 years ago, so we’ve got to adjust our expectations as organizers, as well as how we design the exhibit floor to attract attendees and entice them to stay longer.”
Folks sees the tradeshow of the future as more of a “solution center.” This includes positioning the exhibitors to share solutions and purposefully bringing education to the tradeshow floor. “We’re designing tradeshow experiences to include networking lounges and informal learning areas for small group discussions around specific topics,” Folks says. “We’re sprinkling in opportunities for people to learn and share with each other. It brings traffic to the floor for the exhibitors and it’s also giving more value to the attendees that are there.”
In a tradeshow built around education and solutions, exhibitors are encouraged to position their product as a solution to a problem. “Tradeshows today are less about purchasing, and more about being places for people to learn about new products and the companies that produce them,” Folks says. “Its also about building a relationship with people, because we found out during the pandemic just how important it is for us to be face to face, person to person. Ultimately people want to do business with people they like and trust which makes that connection that we build at a tradeshow, an even more important one.”
Community
Folks describes a wonderful sense of community that World Dairy Expo has created – a bond over dairy cattle and the sense of competition, showing and pride. It’s a family experience, where your family isn’t just your blood relatives.
“Building that sense of community and that they’re a part of something bigger than themselves is such an undervalued outcome of attending an event,” Folks says. “World Dairy Expo has successfully created this. You’ve got all sides of the dairy community coming together at this event - companies in all sectors, large and small dairy producers, and participants at every age level. We were particularly excited to see the number of young people attending and engaging at expo, both in the competitions and in the education.”
Folks notes the challenges of convening such a large and diverse community and meeting all their needs for networking, education and competition. He says, “The most successful events are intentional about creating opportunities for smaller micro-communities to come together during the larger event. World Dairy Expo has achieved this with things like encouraging other association events to take place during the show, creating an international attendee lounge, and with the youth programming.
“I’ve never seen such a sense of community as when I walked through the barns. It’s pretty impressive – just that level of loyalty and commitment. It’s something you want to bottle up, really foster and nurture. Continuing to build on that is really important.
“You’ve got to make everyone feel like it’s their show,” Folks adds. “That right there is the recipe for success.”
What it takes to deliver a world-class experience:
- 10 full-time employees
- 460 volunteers
- 150 event workers
- Countless volunteer hours
- 11.5 months
