After holding its first virtual edition, due to the pandemic, organizers of the International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo reported a healthy result.
“Overall we had a very good feeling about the show,” said Ray Giovine, group director for Informa Marketing and PSP/DeckExpo.
“We had to pivot very quickly, because we originally thought we were going to have an in-person event … but we were very happy with the end results.”
Co-located with DeckExpo, an event for the deck industry, the show saw an attendance of 2,600, with 2,000 of those being attendees and the rest exhibitor staff.
But this year, nearly one-third of the attendees were brand new to the event, Giovine said. “It was a nice surprise for us,” he said. “There’s a big market out there that we’re not even tapping into yet.”
Approximately 90 exhibitors also participated. Show staff arranged 575 meetings between attendees and exhibitors as part of its matchmaking program, and plenty spontaneous drop-in meetings also took place, organizers said.
This year, the 20 core conference sessions and various sponsored webinars were offered for free and left online for a month after the conference. Registration fees were charged for special courses that took place before the event, such as Genesis 3 sessions.
Each day kicked off with a Power Panel of industry professionals who fielded questions from a moderator and participants. With one each for builders, retailers and service professionals, this proved one of the most popular features, said Brandi McElhaney, senior conference manager for the event.
With this experience under its belt, Informa is exploring ways it can use the technology to offer hybrid events. “One of the things we learned is that there is definitely an appetite for audience extension,” Giovine said. “… We can cast a much wider net.”
The next International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo Co-located with DeckExpo is set to take place Nov. 13-18, 2021 in Dallas.
