Product Show Resounding Success April 7, 2017

While anecdotally, the Product Show was a winner, in order to ensure that we are continuing to deliver

the best possible Show, the Product Show committee solicited responses from both Exhibitors and

Attendees in separate surveys. The results described below confirmed that the Show continues to be a

resounding success.

A recurring theme that we are hearing from both Exhibitors and Attendees is that the show is getting

too big for Gillette and that it needs to be expanded to two days to allow everyone time to see the

entire show. We have begun the process to explore the expansion of the Show but we are committed to

the current venue through 2022. We want to ensure that everything that you love about the current

Show, especially its affordability, is kept if we do decide to relocate and/or expand to 2 days.

The decision to open exhibitor registration for next year’s Show at this year’s Show was a huge hit and

we thank you for your continued confidence in the Show. Most Exhibitors elected to reserve their

current spots reinforcing the value of the Show. If you haven’t reserved your spot yet, you can get

access to tables and advertising opportunities at http://productshow.ispeboston.org/reserve-space/.

Attendees This year there were over 3400 attendees at the Product Show. So who were they? Some statistics from

our preregistration survey:

43% of the Attendees

were End

Users/Buyers of your

products and

services.

Attendees were mostly

mid-level and Seasoned

Veterans.

Attendees represented

all job functions of the

industry.

42% of Attendees were at

some level of

Management.

Attendees were

interested in a broad

range of products and

services.

Attendees represented all

phases of the buying life

cycle.

Representatives from

all sizes of companies

attended the Show.

Most attendees were

from Biotechnology

and Pharmaceutical

companies.

A healthy percentage of Attendees were visiting the Show for the first time and they learned ot the

show from their industry colleagues.

61% of

Attendees

wanted to

learn about

your

products and

services and

14% had

projects to

use them on.

Immediately after the Show, we sent out a post-show survey to both Attendees and Exhibitors. From the

attendees of the Product Show, we gathered the following information:

Nearly 84% of the respondents came to the

Show from beyond the Boston/Cambridge

BioHub.

With so many aspects to the Show, the main

features that attracted people to the Show

continue to be the opportunity to network

and to see new products and vendors.

The attendees

overwhelmingly

continue to be

pleased with the

location of the Show,

the exhibit space,

and the food, but we

recognize that we are

outgrowing the space

at Gillette and will

need to look to larger

space in coming

years.

The attendees were very

pleased with the

registration/badging

process and networking

opportunities.

The educational sessions

were very well attended

and well received with

over 90% approval

ratings on all aspects of

this part of the Show.

Approximately 21% of the

respondents were able to

attend one of the

Showcase sessions on the

Innovation Stage. While

most attendees were

aware of the sessions, the

most common reason

given for not attending a

session were time

constraints followed by a

lack of interest in the

topics offered.

A majority of the respondents utilized the mobile friendly Product Show Website

(www.ISPEBoston.org/ProductShow) to access information about the Show:

Show Schedule (70%)

Show Maps (63%)

Exhibitor Locations (57%)

Exhibitors We received 124 responses to our Exhibitor survey request. While some of the questions were similar to

those asked of the Attendees, others were specific to the Exhibitor experience at the Show.

Most respondents

(77%) had previously

exhibited at the

Show; a figure that

reflects the

popularity of the

Show. Of those that

had not, most heard

about the

opportunity to

exhibit from

colleagues (10%).

Exhibitors were

overwhelming pleased

with all aspects of the

registration process.

More than half the

exhibitors took advantage

of the services provided

by Capital Convention

Contractors. We

encourage all exhibitors

to utilize their services to

make the set up process

go smoother.

Most of the exhibitor respondents explored the

Product Show website.

As to be expected, the most visited pages were

those for reserving space and Exhibitor

Dashboard. Also popular was the Attendee

section of the website as were the directions to

Gillette.

Data analytics shows that exhibitors also visited

the Promote My Exhibit (Advertising

Opportunities) and Plan My Exhibit webpages

with the various training videos (loading in;

directions; rules of the show; etc.) getting a large

number of views. These short 2 minute videos

will remain on the site and exhibitors are

encourage to review them prior to the next

Show.

Exhibitors continue to be

pleased with the venue

with over 90% approval

ratings on all aspects.

Nearly 60% of the

Exhibitors took advantage

of the opportunity to set

up their exhibit the night

before the Show. We will

continue to offer this

service next year and

hope even more

Exhibitors will take

advantage of this

opportunity.

Exhibitors were equally

pleased with all aspects

of the show day. Based

on traffic counts, we

can report that all

attendees visited both

exhibit areas during the

Show.

Approximately 80

exhibitors took

advantage of the new

Lead Retrieval System

implemented this year.

Most were pleased

that the system

allowed for the

exhibitor to use their

own smart phone to

scan badges and

eliminate the need to

rent a costly scanner.

Exhibitors feel that the

mix of “traffic builders”

we are providing to

attract people to the

Show is effective.

We asked the respondents how we could improve the Show and while the most common comment was

“it is an excellent event as is - leave it alone” or some variant thereof, there were a several suggestions

that we are exploring.

One item that a small minority has requested repeatedly is the addition of chairs. We decided many

years ago against allowing chairs at exhibits except within the booths. Table top show like ours is just

not conducive to the addition of chairs for a couple of reasons. First, our layout simply will not allow

adding the space necessary to have chairs without obstructing the traffic flows in the aisles. Second,

having chairs at your exhibit makes it too enticing for your staff to sit down and seeing an exhibit with a

seated staff does not convey an invitation to enter. Sitting makes you look bored and tired and does not

reflect the energy that our Show is known for.

As the Show grows - more than 400 additional people attended this over the previous year! – making

sure that there is enough free food and beverages is proving to be a challenge. But we know how

important this is to everyone, and we have implemented several changes to eliminate or reduce food

lines and ensure we don’t run out.

We are painfully aware, as so many have noted, that as the Show keeps increasing in popularity, we are

running into the issue of overcrowding both the attendees and the exhibitors. Our long term plan is to

seek a more suitable venue where all exhibitors can comfortably reside together in one location and

where educational sessions can be held isolated from the Show floor. The trick is to be able to do this

while keeping the Show affordable for our loyal Exhibitors. Long term, we are looking at new venues but

our choices are limited. Short term, we are exploring revised layout options for the 2019 Show at

Gillette Stadium to increase the number of booths available and create more space in the aisles.

In any event, thanks to you, this year’s Show was successful on all counts and is deemed by all to be the

best show of its kind. If you responded to our survey, thank you so much for your time and support and

we look forward to seeing you at the next Product Show.