Open Forum

We categorize our exhibitors/sponsors in a tiered format (ie., platinum, gold, silver, bronze) but I'd also like to categorize them so attendees can search by their content expertise (e.g., Social-emotional learning, inclusive academic instruction, etc.). Is there a way to do this in the exhibitor portal?

#EventApp
#ExhibitorManagement

------------------------------
Ron Segundo
Project Manager
Orange County Department of Education (OCDE)United States
------------------------------

Hi Ron,

Thanks for your question! You can add different exhibitor categories under the "Exhibitor Categories" tab when you first open the exhibitor management portal from the planner side. In this article, it walks you through the steps.

------------------------------
Sydney Langer
CSA
Cvent
------------------------------

I think this is a great idea!  Your attendees often have no idea what sponsor level someone is and it would be difficult for them to locate the exhibitor that way.

------------------------------
Amy Zientek
Director Of Sales
Visit Lubbock The Convention and Visitors BureauUnited States
------------------------------

Add categories to the exhibitors.  I recommend having a selection of categories for them to select from when they sign up to be an exhibitor to minimize the number of categories (and prevent duplicates such as "Food", "Foods", "Food and Beverage", "Food & Beverage", "F&B", etc.  Exhibitors love the option just as much as attendees because they get higher quality foot traffic when people already know what expertise they have as opposed to visiting booths, getting into a discussion, then finding out they're not a match.

------------------------------
Julie-Michelle Davis, CMP
Meetings Manager
Amex GBT - USA
------------------------------

This is a fantastic idea. As someone mentioned, it would be the most consistent if you provide the category options rather than fill in the blank. I would also make sure there are not a ton of categories/options for the exhibitors to select from. 

------------------------------
Kayla Sisco
Program Manager
Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, Inc.United States
------------------------------

Yes! Great idea! In my past, I did the same thing - sponsor levels, and then categories for type of vendor. It's great that you are wanting to do this, as it's a really nice feature for attendees when they are looking for something specific (or not interested in something specific). 

------------------------------
Lori Wildman
Marketing Director
lwildman@dmainc.com
DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc.United States
------------------------------

Great idea, as an attendee I know I don't care so much about sponsor level, but I care a lot about category. You should set your categories first, based on what you think will matter to attendees, because that's what will drive foot traffic to the vendors. You should be able to set more than one category for each vendor, which will allow you to do both sponsor level and type. 

------------------------------
Elena PEREZ
Communications Coordinator
SEIU - UHWUnited States
------------------------------