Post-event surveys often capture verbatim feedback from visitors that cite navigation as a leading source of dissatisfaction from the event experience.

A key obstacle for event organizers in solving this problem is that we are prone to thinking about the visitor journey in the way we want it to happen, and overlook the idiosyncrasies of what attending an event can actually be like.

The expectation

What we want visitors to do

  • Meticulously plan a route around the event, ensuring they visit everything they are interested in.
  • Work out how long it is going to take them to get from meeting to meeting based on distance between exhibitors.
  • Remember when content sessions are being held and at what time when they are out browsing the show floor.
  • Familiarize themselves with the floor-plan on a "you are here" board to find a specific exhibitor, then remember it for their next meeting.
  • Study the layout of the hall and stand numbering system to find their way.

The reality

What visitors actually do (we've all been there)

  • Think about where their first meeting is located only the moment they get issued with their badge.
  • Miss meetings and content sessions they wanted to attend because they got distracted on the show floor and had no idea how long it was going to take to find the exhibitor, theatre or networking lounge.
  • Forget to pick up a show guide — or worse, get to the entrance to find they have all gone.
  • Consult the "you are here" board in a cursory fashion to find a certain exhibitor, then quickly forget the route as soon as they are on the show floor.
  • Get confused when stands aren't numbered sequentially — and when many stands don't display stand numbers at all.

These difficulties are compounded by the fact that most of us have largely outsourced navigation in our everyday lives to our smartphones and the artificial intelligence that helps us pick the best route to the best-rated restaurant, avoiding the worst of the traffic. Orienting ourselves in an unfamiliar environment using a paper-based map is, to many, a lost art.

It seems obvious, then, that providing an experience that mimics what the smartphone delivers — specifically for inside a trade-show venue — would be the optimal solution. The challenge is that GPS doesn't work inside an event hall, and the temporary nature of exhibitor stands means they aren't shown on Google or Apple maps anyway. You need a solution that compensates for this: in essence, an interactive floorplan with indoor positioning, such as the combined solution from ExpoFP and Crowd Connected, among others.

What your visitors actually need

  • A floor-plan that can easily be accessed on a smartphone and has been specifically designed for visitor wayfinding — not an exhibitor space-allocation plan created by operations for contractors to build the show.
  • Easy ways to find this digital floor-plan — for example, QR codes placed around the show and a bold button link on your homepage on the days of the show.
  • Search and routing that enables any show component and venue facility to be found.
  • The familiar blue dot overlaid on the digital floor-plan showing current location, telling you precisely where you are the moment you realize you need to be somewhere else.
  • Real-time location updated as you move about, so you can quickly see that you have made a wrong turn — or decide to take a stop along the route.
  • Reminders about meetings and speaker sessions saved to your calendar that alert you in time to get there (and suggest the best route).
Orienting ourselves in an unfamiliar environment using a paper-based map is, to many, a lost art.
Ade Allenby — Allenby Advisory

Don't abandon the analogue

It's always helpful to have highly visible analogue directional signage, however good your digital wayfinding solution is. That might include overhead aisle numbering, consistent booth-number display, sequential and logical booth numbering (far from the case at too many shows) and high-level signage for theatres, meeting spaces, washrooms and food outlets.

Budget for this is often trimmed — but be aware of the cost of lost and confused visitors reflected in visitor and exhibitor NPS and retention rates.

Navigation is an investment, not an overhead

Navigation at your event should be considered as much an investment as marketing the event itself. It is fundamental to ensuring positive outcomes for visitors and exhibitors — and the economic return is that your marketing budget will go further next year as retention rates increase.