Why would you spend your time walking through a trade show anymore? We're supposed to be in the Information Age -- anything there is in the trade show can be brought to you electronically, 24 hours a day, when you need it and where you want it. At the very least, your local manufacturer's representative would probably conduct a lunch presentation at your office to give you updated literature and new samples.

If this convenience is really the case, then why does our industry continue to have design centers or trade show events? Is it important to hold NeoCon, InterPlan, WestWeek, IDEX, High Point or any number of other venues so that design professionals can see tomorrow's technology -- in real time and real form -- and "kick the tires?"

It should be acknowledged that trade shows are a major source of revenue for conferences -- without the support of product manufacturers as exhibitors and sponsors, it would be impossible to produce quality seminars and workshops for attendees without significantly increasing registration fees. So those who visit the exhibit booth areas not only gain firsthand knowledge, but also help support the educational program of the event.

There are many reasons why trade shows continue to be a vital opportunity for exchange of information. Perhaps part of the answer to why people still attend them is related to the reason that banks still have lines of customers waiting to do simple transactions with tellers at a time in our technological history when ATM machines and on-line banking services make the personal transaction obsolete.

Maybe there is a human need that must be addressed. A landmark report by sociologist Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., in the spring 1996 issue of the Noetic Sciences Review outlines a new phenomenon that will radically impact our cultural landscape and have major implications on business. Ray's surveys identify two world views that are widely recognized: the "heartlanders," a culture that began around 1870 and represents 29 percent of the population; and the "modernists," a culture that began around 1920 and represents 47 percent of the population. Ray's breakthrough idea is the recognition of the "cultural creatives," an emerging culture that began around 1970 and currently represents 24 percent of the population, or 44 million people.

According to Ray, lifestyle preferences of the cultural creatives mean: "they want to know where a product came from, how it was made, who made it and what will happen to it when they are done with it . . . they are careful, well-informed shoppers who do not buy on impulse and read up on a purchase first." Also, "(they are) more likely . . . to go to meetings and workshops."

Symposium on Healthcare Design
The work of The Center for Health Design is supported by a high percentage of individuals who embrace the values of the cultural creatives. The center, which serves a network of 25,000 individuals worldwide, is a nonprofit, non-membership organization whose mission is to support the widespread development of life-enhancing environments. Each year, the center produces the Symposium on Healthcare Design, a four-day conference whose goal is to demonstrate the many ways that the design of the physical environment can be used to improve the quality of health care.

A major element of the symposium (which attracts a worldwide attendance of 1,500) is a Technology Exposition. The elements of this exposition include a 100-booth trade show, resource display tables, a Professional Sponsor Gallery displaying the work of leading health care design professionals, and an Award Gallery displaying the winning submittals from two design competitions sponsored by the center.

Most of the exhibitors in the Technology Exposition display furniture and furnishings products for health care facilities. These include wall coverings, fabrics, seating, casework, floor coverings, ceiling systems, lighting fixtures, artwork, etc. Since the market is so well-defined, and the quality of attendees is so high, many manufacturers use the symposium as the launching pad for new products.

Is it just new products that people come to the symposium's Technology Exposition to discover? While this is important, it really is the icing on the cake. People really come to the symposium's Technology Exposition to do the following:

• Meet eyeball to eyeball with senior level representatives of the manufacturing companies. This is important because attendees want credible information from the company that is not just "hype." They want to be assured of the company's commitment to service -- for deliveries, field installation support and repairs. They want evidence of the company's commitment to research and development and innovative product design. They want to know about the company's technological capabilities. They want a firsthand relationship so they can call upon these senior level executives as the need arises.
• Try out products and compare actual features.
• Network with colleagues and "be seen."
• Reinforce existing relationships and create new ones that will improve project design or delivery effectiveness.

Unlike some of the other trade shows in our industry, the interactions that occur at the symposium's Technology Exposition are finely tuned to respond to the real needs of the attendees. The experience is one of quality, rather than just quantity. It is a metaphorical "marketplace" where appropriate transactions take place that establish the basis of business relationships for the next 12 months and beyond.

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