#54 DAC 5: Why DAC’s a better place than ever to exhibit

You’ll notice something different when you walk into the Exhibit Hall at the Austin Convention Center this coming June. We are very excited to be featuring new suites from Freeman, one of the most innovative event-marketing vendors around. (Seriously, they do great work; browse their site for five minutes and you’ll see what I mean.)

Here are just a few of the upgrades that are in the works:

• Quieter booths. The Exhibit Hall can be a hive of activity with demos and in-booth presentations and giveaways. This of course generates noise, great when it comes to the general energy level and enthusiasm on the floor but occasionally challenging when it comes to having quiet 1:1 conversations. The new suite walls include hidden sound batting to help put a necessary damper on din and make it easier to talk.
• Real doors with privacy shades. The bigger booths include improved suite rooms for private meetings. Most spaces at DAC are highly social and public so we’ve made an effort to ensure the upgraded suite rooms are as private as possible. New doors have regular door locks as you have on your office/home doors, pull the privacy shade (each door is equipped with a privacy shade) and get down to business finally landing the deal or partnership you’ve been working on for months.
• More graphics, easier to hang monitors. Your booth first and foremost represents your brand. We all know that lots of casual conversations at DAC start with “Did you check out the booth of…?” This year it will be easier than ever to have your brand shine by adding graphics and logos to seamless tension fabric inside or outside the suites. And the wall is sturdy enough that you can quickly and easily hang monitors with some help from labor but minimum work required.

You’ll find most of the practical details on how to get started as an exhibitor here. (One pro-tip to know is that the new suites are measured in the metric system this year. I know you can handle it; we’ve been talking about nanometer-scale manufacturing process nodes forever, after. But keep that in mind when considering your floor plan, submitting materials and so on.) And you can always email Stacy Dilallo or Susie Horn, MP Associates for further information.

We’ve come a long way, baby! Above a DAC booth in the early 1980s.

The bigger question may be why DAC remains such an excellent opportunity for exhibitors. Yes, attendance is off its historic highs, a trend line that’s apparent across the entire media/event landscape. But here’s the thing — somewhat paradoxically in this age of niches, the value of platforms that allow you to reach the right audience at the right time is generally going up.

I recognize there are some modest differences between DAC and the Super Bowl (for one, the gridiron fest is a relative youngster at 51 compared to our coming 54th birthday). Still, it’s interesting to note that Super Bowl ad rates have continued to edge up even as audiences have dwindled. Susan Credle, the global chief creative officer of ad agency FCB gave one theory why in a Jan. 29 New York Times story: “There are very few places where we experience things together for the first time, and I think we underestimate the power of that.”

I’ll note here that compared to $5 million for a 30-second spot, our rates for 24 hours of exhibiting over three days are a relative bargain!

Kidding aside, DAC’s audience is the highest quality, most valuable around. Few other events in the world attract several thousand people steeped in the latest in everything from digital and AMS IC design to verification and post-silicon services. I hope that we can lure you to the show floor as well.

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