CONTACT:
JOHN TISDALE
LISTENATION CORPORATION
P: 702-357-8663
E: jtisdale@listenation.com
www.listenation.com

ListeNation Acquires ExpoCall to Create Market Leader

Las Vegas, NV – February 3, 2011 – ListeNation, a leading provider of marketing services to the Trade Show and Events industry today announced the acquisition of ExpoCall. The company will continue to be identified as ListeNation. ExpoCall President and CEO John Tisdale served as ListeNation Director of Marketing from 2001 through 2005. He will become a shareholder in the company and take over day-to-day responsibilities of Business Development and Client Relations.

Since it’s inception in 2005, ExpoCall has focused on providing the highest quality event marketing services and captured substantial market share within the events marketplace. Through the acquisition, ListeNation further strengthens its position as a leading provider of Voice Mail Broadcasting, SMS Text Messaging and Customized Exhibitor Lead Follow-Up services. Combined with ExpoCall’s client list, ListeNation will provide marketing services to over 400 trade shows and events in 2011.

“Everyone here at ListeNation is really excited to have John back. We’re a stronger company with him. We love working with trade shows and events and we’re so pleased to have ExpoCall’s clients as part of the ListeNation family now”, Javier Stewart, Founder and President of ListeNation stated.

“Javier and I have maintained a healthy competitive relationship over the past several years. The timing just made sense for everyone involved. I’m excited to be back with such a great company and I believe together we will take ListeNation to another level”, Tisdale stated.

About ListeNation
Established in 1998, ListeNation pioneered Digital Voicemail Broadcasting for the trade show and event industries. ListeNation is the preferred vendor for PCMA, TSEA, CAEM and HSMAI. The ListeNation Call has become “standard practice” for a majority of flagship shows within the U.S. and Canada and abroad. ListeNation has won several industry awards including IAEM’s Rookie of the Year – Supplier 2004, IAEE‘s Supplier of the year 2007, and was one of Trade Show Executive’s Technology Innovation Award Winners in 2004 & 2008.

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We’ve analyzed the results of hundreds of call campaigns and discovered the five key elements consistently present in our clients’ most successful programs.

While these rules may not apply to every campaign, we strongly encourage our clients to consider these and consult with ExpoCall’s team before planning your next attendee outreach.

Five Key’s to “The Formula”

1.) Tell, Don’t Sell
We encourage all of our clients to direct their audience to where information can be found instead of telling them all of the details of their event. A simple directive will allow the recipient to read to their hearts’ content…on your website or in an email you have sent them. Too often people tune out if we list features and benefits which results in less effective campaigns. More…

2.) Title, Schmitle
A client connected us with their voice talent whose title took up more than half of the allotted time for the recording. We all love and appreciate our titles – we have earned them but a voice message is no place to show off. More…

3.) Early Bird Gets the Worm
Many clients operate in panic mode and do it well. We do our best work when the heat is on and from time to time clients will contact us at the last minute to get a final boost in their attendance numbers. Sometimes it works but our clients who plan their campaigns months ahead of time consistently achieve better results. More…

4.) Know Your ABC’s
Many voice mail systems limit the length of an inbound message to 30 Seconds. We encourage our clients to keep that in mind when creating their recordings. Keeping your message to 25 seconds or less – roughly the time it takes for us to sing our ABC’s – eliminates this problem and consistently produces better results over all. More…

5.) Land of the Free
Let’s face it…Everyone loves something free. We appreciate the fact that everything has its price but the response to a free expo pass or networking reception has consistently proven effective. Discounts work great as well but give your audience something valuable and they’ll show their appreciation. More…

A friend of mine Andrew Spielberg (facebook.com/theotherspielberg) made this video as a promotional tool to showcase his creativity as a Copywriter.  I had no idea that he was a Rapper and based on this a pretty darn good lyricist (Lyrics).

Seriously though, when I post this here on my blog, tweet about it to my 726 followers I wonder how many more views it will receive?  Keep in mind that I am no Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) or Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) but the viral nature of video is powerful!

We’ve all seen Dad’s Life and numerous Flash Mob clips that notch up millions of views on YouTube.  Who says this can’t be the next creative, think-outside-the-box way to attract attention to your product or in this case Copywriting service?

It’s all one big crazy experiment, isn’t it?

With all of the new emails coming from TSNN.com with familiar faces including Stephen, Rachel Wimberly (formerly of Tradeshow Week), Dave Lutz, Chris Brogan, I was hoping Stephen could shed some light on what was going on in Austin and how did he end up with a Boss!

Here Stephen talks about the new TSNN.com and their plans to become the leading source of news, research and information for our ever changing industry.

ExpoCall is proud to be apart of the upcoming MTO Summit being held at the Hilton Alexandria, VA on November 9th and 10th.  We’re most excited about the hosted buyer element of the event and the opportunity to share our expertise with Show Managers from some of the most influential shows in the US.

Learn more at www.mtosummit.com.

Starting September 7th, I’ll be taking to the skies for a crazy month of travel visiting clients, attending events and meeting with prospects.  My mode of travel will be jetBlue as I maximize their #AYCJ – All You Can Jet promotion.

I first heard about the promotion last week and began thinking of all of the places I really needed to go.  I couldn’t turn down the deal of the year – $499 for all that you can fly (excluding Fridays and Sundays).

Sooooo…Mark your calendar because mine is filling up.  My current plans include Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Boston, New York City, Denver and Chicago.  I’ll be documenting my travels here so follow us @expocall for updates!

Happy Trails!

From this ingenuity, we as marketers and suppliers to these event planners must develop complementary products and services for this new “wave” hitting our industry.

At ExpoCall, we’ve noticed that many of our traditional clients are following this trend of Virtual Tradeshows and Events. We have responded to the demand of our clients by creating new ways to capitalize on these growth markets.

There are two ways that we suggest utilizing Voice Broadcast Marketing for your virtual and online events.

The first is to reach out to attendees of your brick and mortar events such as Tradeshows and Conferences with special offers to attend your innovative, travel free virtual events. This application is customizable towards subsets of your attendee database focusing on the benefits of individual elements of your events. For example, if you run a conference focused on B2B Media, you can create multiple targeted messages focused on unique groups within your overall attendee universe such as Publishers, Digital Service Providers, Custom Media Specialists, etc. Having an expert focused on each of these niche groups record a targeted message that speaks to each audience with the benefits of attending your virtual event will draw more attention because the information is crucial to their staying relevant within your industry. This is not only an easy process, but also an affordable one.

The second best practice for Voice Broadcast for Virtual Events is to send a reminder call from your Keynote an hour prior to the event going live. This is a simple and cost effective way to boost your retention of pre-registrants. All too often I hear from clients that retention is a major issue. Repeatedly I hear the range of 40-50% of registered attendees actually log in and visit exhibits within the Virtual Tradeshows. By sending a reminder that is brief and to the point, retention rates have shown to consistently improve by an average of 10-15%. Plus you are showing your exhibitors that you are doing everything in your power to bring the most qualified attendees to their virtual booth at your event.

While most doubt that Virtual Events will never take the place of their more costly and less “green” big brothers – Trade Shows and Conferences, they are a valuable complement to your brand and maximizing their reach has never been easier.

The event will be held at Gibney’s Pub just around the corner from the Marriott Marquis from 6PM to 8PM.

To register, visit http://twtvite.com/cajpsy. Free to attend for all interested in learning about Tweetups and why show managers should encourage them within their own communities.

What I found intriguing about this concert announcement was the brilliant use of social media tools, viral marketing and suspense, suspense, suspense. When the band announced the show, they didn’t tell where the concert would be held. They utilized a flash driven map of the United States with each State in play until it was removed by either forces of nature, alien spacecraft, even a bulldozer, just to name a few.

These “removals” occurred at random times over a three week period. Speculations from fans were posted on message boards, followers posted their thoughts on twitter, facebook, etc. The band had their entire fan base on edge speculating about the location of Festival 8! In a strange twist, and much to the chagrin of many fans, Phish removed favored frontrunner California only to bring it back at the last minute announcing the event would be held at the Indio Polo Fields in Indio. Several fans complained that they had purchased flights based on speculation only to have to cancel then rebook once the actual site was confirmed. It was quite the roller coaster ride!

If the location announcement wasn’t enough to keep fans hooked, the band created a second “Campaign” announcing a special Halloween “Costume” album at Festival 8. On past Halloween performances, Phish has chosen to cover another outfit’s album to showcase their talent and love of other music. Past “Costume” albums include Quadrphenia by The Who, The White Album by The Beatles, Loaded by The Velvet Underground and Remain in Light by The Talking Heads. To announce this years Halloween album, Phish started with a list of 99 album covers on their website. Each day a few more were removed from the list by being “killed off”. This created more speculation and chatter than the location and even today, fans are checking back frequently to see which of the final 19 albums (as of 10/26/09) will be chosen for this special occasion. With thousands of visits and posts, Todd Levy’s Blog on Jamtopia has been information and speculation central for fans to voice their opinion as to which album should be played.

What does this have to do with Marketers? This rock and roll band is an example of a great show organizer just like many of our clients. They have a purpose – their music, an event – their concerts and an audience – their fans. They must find creative ways to engage this fan base to keep them tuned in and wanting more.

How can event organizers learn from Phish? Take a look at your own event and identify ways to keep your audience engaged and always checking back for more info.

A few examples:

1. Have a countdown to announce your celebrity keynote. Create clues and encourage your audience to participate by making their own speculations. Promote this countdown on social media platforms so the message is delivered via multiple mediums.

2. Ask your audience to submit ideas that will make your event better. Give away a “Rock Star” package as incentive with First Class flights, Hotel Suite and star treatment.

3. Send out Voice Mail reminders with clues about a major giveaway on the show floor. Those who gather clues from these reminders and submit them onsite and are entered to win a valuable prize.

Finally, I’ll be tweeting this weekend from Festival 8 (@expocall) so stay tuned and I’ll keep everyone updated. Direct Message me your selection for the Halloween Cover Album and I’ll post the results here!