After years of experience
exhibiting at tradeshows, BoothBoss® founder, Zack Below, envisioned
interactive software to streamline the process involved with reserving booth
space at tradeshows. BoothBoss was created for show organizers and exhibitors
using the powerful, new Flex technology; it speeds-up and simplifies the booth
sales and reservation process for show managers and exhibitors alike.
BoothBoss® team members researched,
over a period of four years, the problems exhibitors and show organizers
experienced on a daily basis; they found numerous common problems between
them. Below stated, “Booth reservation
has been a very tedious, paper-oriented process. As an exhibitor, I was
frustrated with the amount of time it took to fill out all of the necessary forms,
fax them to the company, send a check and then often have no guarantee of
getting the booth I wanted.” Below
continued, “From a show organizer’s perspective, the costs associated with
floor plan creation, mailing and postage expenses, processing forms and checks really
starts to add up and cause a lot of headaches.”
Below continued by saying, “I
quickly realized that a solution to this slow-moving process was to develop an
online automated system. That meant
creating an interactive floor plan, giving exhibitors the ability to buy one or
more booths online, digitally sign their contracts and electronically send
deposits and payments.”
When asked to describe his
company’s product, Jim Lemke, Executive Vice President of Operations for
BoothBoss®, responded, “In its simplest terms, BoothBoss allows tradeshow
organizers to offer their exhibitors online registration through their own website
where they can view the floor plan, select a prime booth location to obtain
that competitive edge and pay for those booths all in one place.”
Lemke continued, “When
exhibitors check out, our BoothBoss® program provides a real-time update
indicating that the booth has been reserved for them and is no longer available
to other exhibitors. The convenience to the exhibitor is unsurpassable.”
Besides the ability to allow
exhibitors to go paperless, BoothBoss® gives great flexibility and control to
show organizers. Below stated, “I wanted
show managers to not only have the ability to manage exhibitor registrations,
but also have the ability to interactively manipulate their floor plan on the
fly in real time. This gives their team and their exhibitors the ability to
view up-to-the-second floor plan changes. One of the best aspects of the BoothBoss®
software is the ability for show managers to access their floor plan and show
information from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Mangers can even access their BoothBoss®
floor plan from their Blackberry or iPhone.”
One novel factor of
BoothBoss® is its pricing structure. The
software is affordable for show managers seeking to adapt a management system
because the cost is deferred to the exhibitor.
At the end of the registration process, exhibitors are charged a nominal
one-time fee, similar to the business models of Orbitz, Priceline and
Ticketmaster. This makes BoothBoss® affordable and applicable for shows of all
scales and sizes.
Lemke elaborates, “BoothBoss®
is especially ideal for start up shows with cost concerns. I think a lot of show administrators are very
concerned about the general overhead of running their show. BoothBoss® allows them an opportunity to obtain
high profile software that eliminates a lot of the overhead costs related to exhibitor
registration. They can utilize a high-tech,
high-quality registration system without having to pay thousands of dollars a
month.”
BoothBoss® was developed by
WebZack.com L.L.C., a full-service public relations, marketing and Internet
advertising agency founded by Below. “Quite often we work with shows that are
interested in better exposure through their website and other marketing
opportunities. We have the capability to offer everything from website design
to complete marketing plans and public relations consulting, setting our
clients apart in their markets,” explained Below.
As with any novel technology,
there is always a learning curve involved.
Matt Colborn, who was one of the initial users of the product, saw this
first hand. He explains, “Initially, I
do not think there was enough lead in and education on our show’s site to let
people know what the BoothBoss process was going to be like. Originally when you went onto our website and
clicked on the floor plan, it popped up, but it did not inform you to click on
the booth you wanted so that you could be taken to the registration page. It was our fault partially with the design of
our website, but we were getting calls from people while they were looking at
the floor plan wanting to register a booth and we had to tell them to just to
click on it. But, anytime I brought up
an issue, 99% of the time it seem like it was something Zack and his team were
already working on.”
Ron Woods of Big Expo Experts
found BoothBoss® incredibly useful. Using
this tool, Woods was able to cut his overhead and immediately pass those
savings on to his attendees, many of whom are members of non-profit
organizations. Woods stated, “It cuts my
administration fees and so many other things that I had to do, allowing us to
let the public come in at a lower cost and allowing some local, non-profit
organizations to come in for free.”
Another unique element to the
BoothBoss® process is the personal service provided by a dedicated team of
individuals. Gina Carr, Director of
Customer Relations, and Melissa Peterson, Director of BoothBoss® Sales, with
their teams, supply an exceptional frame of support for their customers. The committed BoothBoss® team is often
praised by frequent users of the software.
Woods, commenting on the
dedication and friendliness of the BoothBoss® team, states, “The people, Zack,
Gina, Melissa and all of those guys at BoothBoss are just so unique and
knowledgeable at what they do. The entire team is really an expert, in my
opinion. They work with you and walk you
through everything. It is an excellent company.”
Simple-to-use technology
combined with its innovative pricing structure makes BoothBoss® a technology to
keep an eye on. Below concluded, “It is completely
adaptable software and it is all online.
It is a very robust tool for the layout, design and management of an
exhibit floor as well as the pricing and selling of booths. For anyone running a tradeshow, it’s a
must-have. For those exhibiting, life couldn’t get any easier.”