PM Digital Blog

I am frequently asked which of the industry trade shows are worth attending.  While PM Digital can’t attend every event, we do have better visibility to these shows than most, so below is the first of two installments that cover our thoughts and recommendations on the ever-expanding online marketing conference landscape.

Because PM Digital has a heavy penetration of retail clients, we attend many conferences in the retail category as will be evident in this roundup.  The list below takes into account that there are generally three reasons to attend trade shows:  1) networking, 2) keeping current, and 3) investigating new technologies.

eTail - eTail hosts two big shows each year.  eTail West (which starts today) is the larger and runs from February 22-24 in Palm Desert; eTail East will be held in Baltimore from August 9-12.   I personally love the timing of the February eTail show since it’s the first big event after the holiday season.  People have had a few weeks to relax and breathe, but they also recognize that now is the time to launch new initiatives in order to maximize the next year-end holiday.  Attendees are definitely looking and researching at this conference.

A common criticism of the eTail shows is that it seems partial to vendors rather than retailers, and this manifests itself in sessions that occasionally sound like paid commercials.  Many of the session panels include vendors, and there are some big keynote slots given to vendors (and as a vendor, we are aware that there is a cost to speak at this show as well as some of the other events).   I once left a multivariate testing session and found one of the companies represented on the panel was also the manning the exits with one-sheeters.  I haven’t seen anything that blatant happen in a while but it’s a good example of how eTail developed its vendor-first reputation.  The August eTail conference is very convenient if you are on the East Coast, and I’ve found it attracts a high-level retail attendee.  It is much smaller than the West Coast show.

Continue reading →