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If you have questions about any of these changes contact John Rozum at jrozum@wdexpo.com or Maria McGinnis at mmcginnis@wdexpo.com.
Attendee Survey Results
The results of the 2007 show are in! Each year, Expo works with members of the UW Madison NAMA chapter to conduct an on-grounds survey of Expo attendees. They surveyed over 700 dairy producers from 37 states (international attendees were surveyed separately) who attended World Dairy Expo, and here’s what we found:
Herd Size Continues to Grow
- Average herd size was 225 milking cows
- One in five producers at Expo is milking more than 250 cows
- Less than 30% are at Expo for one day
- 23% come for two days
- 43.6% are here for three or more days!
- 47% of all dairy farmer attendees have come each of the past five years
- This number is similar across all herd sizes
- The top three things they come to do are 1) see the trade show 2) watch the dairy cattle show and 3) visit the barns
- Large herd producers tend to spend more time with the trade show and less time in the show ring than small farmers
- Large producers are also more likely to attend educational programs, such as Expo’s seminars and Virtual Farm Tours
- 56% said personal contact with exhibitors and 58% said to they wanted to gather literature
- 47% said they wanted to talk with technical experts in exhibit booths
- 66.3% Livestock Supplies
- 38.7% Milk Handling Equipment
- 34.4% Feed Handling Equipment
- 27.9% Expanding their herd
- 24% Manure Management
- 23.3% Facility Expansion
- 10.7% Financial Services
- 6.7% Organic Farming
- 5.5% Farm Relocation
Scam Warning
Every year, Expo exhibitors report being contacted by suspicious companies who claim to be “official vendors” or otherwise using the Expo name to try to get you to buy their products or services. Expo does carefully select vendors to provide services at the show and those companies are listed in the Official Manual. If they aren’t listed, you might want to be a little suspicious.
For example, last year a freight company contacted several exhibitors to let them know that the shipping address for advance freight was changed. Their materials made it appear that they were an official contractor who was hired by the show to handle incoming freight. All you had to do was fill out their forms (complete with credit card information) and they would ensure that your freight arrived. Fortunately, we were contacted early by an exhibitor and were able to put a stop to the solicitation.
Perhaps the best known example of trade show scammers is Construct Data and their “Fair Guide.” This Austrian company has been sending out solicitations including the Expo name and logo for several years. The pitch seems as though they are only looking for your approval to receive a free listing in their book. The fine print reveals a three-year commitment at $1531 per year. This one is so well known that many governments have gotten involved to try to stop them. Unfortunately, recent legal action in Europe has pushed them to focus almost exclusively on US companies as targets.
Remember, we do distribute your address to our Preferred Vendors so they can contact you, but we never, ever give out your email address. For a full list of Preferred Vendors, check the Service Directory in our Exhibitor Manual.