Exhibits Committee Meeting Agenda

December 9, 2009

MWEA Office – Bath, MI

  1. Feedback from 2009 Annual Conference

In general feedback from the 2009 conference was positive. Several exhibitors indicated that they felt it would be useful to extend the exhibits to a second day. The walking dinner received positive feedback and most people liked that format.

  1. 2010 Joint Annual conference general info
  2. Location/Layout – reviewed the location map provided by Soaring Eagle, which noted the registration area, conference location and exhibit hall.
  3. General schedule – reviewed the draft schedule for the conference, which begins on Tuesday (with some specific events and exhibitor move in on Monday) and ends on Friday. Lloyd Carr will be a featured speaker on Tuesday night after dinner.
  4. Exhibit times - general exhibits schedule will be from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday (note, on Wednesday continental breakfast is in the exhibit area starting at approximately 7:30 a.m.)
  1. 2010 Exhibitor Contract
  2. Pricing – general pricing will be $600 for one booth, changing to $700 after June 1. Pricing for two booths will be $1000/$1100. Pricing for more booths would be a case by case basis.
  3. Note that the fee for the exhibits this year includes several meals which have not always been included before, as well as a full conference registration.
  1. Exhibit Committee timeline
  2. Reviewed the committee timeline. Most of the immediate need items are being performed by the MWEA staff, including the save the date postcard for exhibitors.
  1. Initial postcard
  2. Postcard being prepared by MWEA staff, and will be ready for distribution shortly.
  1. Children’s activities
  2. Due to the venue and availability of activities for kids on-site, no additional children’s activities will be performed
  1. Theme
  2. There will be no theme for this year’s conference. The original thought with the theme was to make it a more festive atmosphere with only a single night of exhibits. With exhibits extending over two days, it was determined that a theme may not be appropriate this year.
  1. Exhibit area presentations
  2. Exhibit area presentations are something that AWWA frequently uses to generate interest in the exhibit area, especially for the operations and maintenance staff.
  3. All exhibitors will be given the opportunity to submit a request to perform a technical presentation. The focus on the presentations will be a “hands-on” activity for O&M type items.
  4. “Abstracts” for the exhibit presentations will be due on May 1. They will be reviewed at the May exhibits committee meeting and the presentations will be selected at that time.
  5. Presentations will be 30 minutes in length and held directly at the exhibit booth. A maximum of two will be held on Tuesday (3 and 4) and three on Wednesday (9, 10, and 11).
  1. Prizes
  2. Suggestion was made to use a “bucket” type of prize package this year. Each full conference registrant will be given a number of tickets (number not decided) to put into a container for a specific prize package. Individuals will need to write their name and number on each ticket.
  3. The prize packages could be centered around a theme (golf, spa, sports, movies, etc) and typically would be more than a single prize giveaway. An individual can put all their tickets in one container or spread them out.
  4. Approximately 15 prize packages will be put together.
  5. On Tuesday night following the Lloyd Carr presentation (approximately 8:30 p.m.) a name will be drawn from each bucket and the prize will be awarded.
  6. Vendors will be responsible for their own prizes, and notifying winners on their own.
  1. Other items
  2. Bags – discussed the use of bags again. Will pursue approximately 5 bag sponsors. The cost of the bag sponsorship will be determined once the number of sponsors and bag cost has been verified.
  1. Other meetings
  2. Next exhibits committee meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 10 at 9:00 a.m. at the MWEA office. Call in number will be the same for those who cannot attend in person.