One of our media partners backed out of the Podcast & Portable Media Expo today. Partly because of something we did - but given the ability to do it all over again I would have done the same thing. Let me explain.

Competitive issues between exhibitors on the trade show floor are as old as tradeshows themselves. Last year during our Forex Trading Expo, an exhibitor demanded a refund on the first day of the event because another exhibitor on the show floor owed them money. Apparently a business deal between the two small companies had gone sour and one exhibitor owed the other close to $10,000 and had refused to pay. The exhibitor said they weren’t aware the other company was going to have a booth at the event and told us that unless we refused to do business with the other company and kicked them out of the event, they would never participate in the show in the future. It sounds as ludicrous now as I write this as it did to me then. Essentially, the company had run out of options and was attempting to get us to force the former business associate to pay up or be punished. We attempted to play mediator for a while but it’s not what we do best and nothing came of it. In the end we convinced the exhibitor that they would only be hurting themselves and us if they backed out of the shows and left their competitor on the show floor to collect all the leads for themselves.

I’m sure all of you reading this have similar stories.

In the case of this media partner, a competitor who is also a media partner was writing a press release and asked us for a quote about how were were happy they were participating in the event and supporting the industry - pretty standard - we get asked for such quotes all the time. However, when the other media partner read the release, they were furious that we were quoted as supporting their competitor and promptly removed any marketing support of the event from their website and stated they would not be participating any further. No explanations on my part would change their decision.

I’m very disappointed because I felt it was a good partnership - they brought us registrations for the event and I believe we helped them gain exposure in the industry. But aside from refusing to give quotes for any exhibitors, which is absurd because we want exhibitors mentioning the show in every release they do if possible, I’m not sure there is much I could have done differently. There will always be times when one exhibitor is unhappy with the exposure another is getting - even when the exhibitor has paid for it. Whether it be a bigger sign in the lobby, a bigger booth or a better location, it will always be something.

The best we can do as show organizers is try to keep the show in balance as best we can and play fair with all our customers. Every booth confirmed, every sponsorship sold, every promotion put in place should be considered not only for short-term revenue gains but also for the long-term overall “feel” of the show.

In the case of the offending quote, I suppose there are some things that are simply out of our control.