Two associations that have success- fully embraced this new metric are the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American Dental Association (ADA). RSNA has used video data to help restructure its education exhibit hall, while ADA is using the information to improve its booth, help speed registration, boost sales potential on the exhibition floor, and draw in more exhibitor revenue.

RSNA WHEELS IN NEW HUB AND SPOKE
Last year the Chicago-based RSNA show, which draws 60,000 attendees annually, introduced a new floor plan in its education exhibit hall, shifting from a linear format with a primary center isle to a more user-friendly hub and spoke. The hall, located in McCormick Place's Lakeside Learning Center, featured 638 scientific posters (all electronic and presented via the RSNA database) and 1,427 education exhibits (511 on backboard panels, 787 displayed using the RSNA database, and 129 using the authors' customized applications on stand-alone computers). "We were nervous about the change because we hadn't seen it done before, but we knew it was time for a new approach," explained Betty Rohr, RSNA director of program services.

Much of the decision for the new layout came from data collected by a Michigan-based company, Ethnometrics. "We've been monitoring the show for three years," noted Marty Smith, Ethnometrics president. His company installed cameras throughout the show and examined patterns of traffic and tracked the time attendees spent at booths, in registration lines, and roaming the education exhibition hall. Attendees were notified of the project via promotional material and signs at the show. "One of our main goals was to measure how long people spent at the poster exhibits. The RSNA wanted to put more of the poster exhibits on computers and needed to know who was stepping up to look at what posters," Smith said.

After the November 2006 meeting, Ethnometrics found the new layout had been a huge success. "The average doctor spent up to 35 minutes longer looking at educational material. They consumed more, for a longer amount of time," Smith said. The new design amalgamated three areas (informatics, research, and education) into one spoke. "The doctors were able to access all three by going down the aisle instead of trying to make their way to separate sections of the hall. The hub and spoke design allowed them to spend their time more efficiently."

To monitor the educational exhibition hall, 23 cameras were installed in the ceiling, and data was also scanned from a bar code on the attendees' badges at the entrance and at the computer stations. "We tracked hundreds of people and built a mathematical model around our findings. The point was to find what hinders and what helps them," Smith said. He had 15 full-time staff members analyze the data for four months before coming up with the final results. At the upcoming conference, Nov. 25-30, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will be used in the attendees' badges and implemented at the entrances of the Lakeside Learning Center and technology exhibits.

The research has also brought about cost savings. Some installations were found to be underused and not worth repeating. One five-part showcase has since been modified to a one-stage presentation. "That station cost at least $100,000 and there was nothing compelling people to go explore beyond the first level," says Smith.

Interactive kiosks were also found to be a waste of money. "There were about three or four of these units on the floor to help you map a path to your destination. But we found only about 45 people a day used them," says Smith. The information desk at the center of the hub was another little-used service that will be ditched. Signage improvements were made as a result of earlier findings, and attendees didn't seem to need additional navigation assistance. "The first two years of data showed people wandering around the floor not quite sure where they were going. In 2006, after we installed new cylinder banners that hung from the ceiling over each educational specialty, we saw people look up, get their bearings, and go to their destination. It was a much more effective use of time," Rohr explained.

Three RSNA committees - radiology informatics, education exhibits, and scientific program - agreed upon the hub and spoke layout. The spokes each focused on one specialty, such as pediatrics or musculoskeletal, and at the end of each spoke was a small gathering place or "community."

"We wanted to create a place the professionals could call home. Each one had lounge furniture where doctors could sit, visit, eat their lunch, and view educational exhibitions on huge monitors," Rohr said. The idea came from the book, The Experience Economy, by Jim Gilmore. "One of our committee members suggested we read it so we could apply the concepts of experiential value to our meeting," she said.

THE ADA HAS ITS EYES OPENED
The ADA also used Ethnometrics' services in 2006 at its annual session in Las Vegas. "Initially we wanted to use the data to quantify and verify the attendance for our exhibitors," noted Jim Donovan, director of the council of American Dental Association sessions. That objective evolved as the project progressed and the ADA was able to measure the registration process, education programs, as well as relationships in the exhibit hall.

"We learned a lot about our show, but we also gave our exhibitors a huge tool," Donovan said, explaining that exhibitors were offered the opportunity to hire Ethnometrics to monitor their booths and work with their sales forces. "You learn amazing things, like how people commit to entering a booth, the interaction rate, and time spent per interaction. Most exhibitors could really benefit from this knowledge," he said.

ADA paid for approximately 50 cameras to be hung at its meeting in the exhibit halls and key intersections. If requested, a camera could be installed at a particular exhibitor's booth. Although only one exhibitor used the Ethnometrics service, ADA hopes to get more exhibitors interested this year. "The data can be used to really pinpoint problems that might affect sales, such as a booth space being too small for the number of people that come by, understaffing, or ineffective booth design," Donovan said. He noted that what his team learned about the ADA booth was eye-opening. "People were reluctant to step on the carpet, which was in sharp contrasting colors and set up a kind of psychological barrier. They made 90-degree turns to avoid the booth. Also, large structures on the corners of the booth worked like towers of a castle and kept people out."

Watching staff also revealed the need for improvement in a few areas. "They were really knowledgeable about ADA products but didn't know how to start a conversation. We're working on a 20-30 second spiel with open-ended questions that they can use to engage attendees this year. We also found we need to develop two to three key messages that will be retained instead of trying to be all things for everyone with 100 messages and no retention," he said.

Improvements to registration are also in the pipeline. Last year ADA registered 10 percent of its 40,000 attendees on site and the average wait time was seven minutes. "We found the interaction at the counter was where the majority of that time was spent," Donovan said. The registrants were figuring out their courses and asking questions, so to smooth the process, monitors with course availabilities will be positioned over the counters. "That way a registrant can look up and see immediately what's available."

The educational table clinics where members demonstrate their research was found to be a real trouble spot and needed so much work that Donovan said, "We won't bring it back until 2008." If an association is thinking of using a company like Ethnometrics to conduct similar research, Donovan advises budgeting between $100,000 and $200,000 for the project.*

Does he think it's worth it? "Yes. It is really important to actually see what works and why," he said, adding, "I wish we had done this kind of measuring sooner."

° Contributing Editor Maureen Littlejohn is a freelance writer in Toronto.

Editor's Note: Ralph Nappi, president, Graphic Arts Show Company/NPES, also used Ethnometrics for Graph Expo, which attracts 45,000 attendees. Nappi, who spoke at ECEF 2007 (Exhibition & Convention Executives Forum) on May 10, said his organization spent $50,000 for the cameras, footage, and analysis - an investment, he said, which has already paid for itself.