Exhibitors, who each paid $2000.00 for booth space, and the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce are baffled by the way an Alberta, Canada trade show was handled by its organizer. [AlbertaLocalNews]
Only 22 attendees were present at last week’s Rig Expo, in Red Deer’s hot oil and gas economy.
Paul Pearson, organizer of the show, ran ads including 700 names of business operators he hoped would attend and network with more than 60 exhibitors. No one named in the newspaper ads was approached to gauge their interest in attending. The list included the Calgary Flames, the World Professional Chuckwagon Association, Habitat for Humanity, and the Cancer Society.
Considering this was an industry-specific show, it doesn’t make much sense to include businesses that are not in the oil and gas industry. Interestingly, the Chamber of Commerce is questioning why the Rig Expo was even held in Red Deer since there are similar successful exhibitions in Houston and Calgary, where executives of the oil and gas industry tend be headquartered.
Pearson said he promoted the event for a year, sending out “hundreds and hundreds of e-mails” to drilling companies and contractors. On Friday, Pearson stated that he is broke as a result of the event.
Red Deer city officials are investigating to see if any crime was committed.
Suffice it to say, placing ads in newspapers and sending out hundreds of emails is not an effective way to organize, operate or market a trade show.
Source: Alberta Local News
