ConferencePulse has relaunched as ExpoIQ, a marketplace that helps technology event organizers find and connect with the right exhibitors for their events. The new platform leverages a database of more than 20,000 technology exhibitors, 5,000 IT exhibitions and 30,000 key decision makers, which ExpoIQ founder and CEO Val Tsanev says is what makes it unique.

“We’re trying to make the entire exhibition sales process — prospecting, finding and acquiring — seamless, expedited and much more efficient than it is today,” says Tsanev.  

“Information is extremely decentralized in the public domain. Expo sales reps have to Google names, go on social media, send people to competing events [to find prospects] … It’s very inefficient and can be very costly.”

The searchable ExpoIQ marketplace acts as a prospecting platform. Exhibition organizers type in the names of the companies they are interested in, or upload a .csv file to do a mass search. The results display all the upcoming events where that company or companies will be exhibiting.

Clicking on the event name will provide show details, including date, location, number of attendees, number of exhibitors — and, if you had searched for more than one company, how many of them are participating in this particular event.

From there, you can click “Exhibitors to Target” to get similar details on each exhibiting company, including the company size, headquarters, number of tech shows in ExpoIQ’s database that they are exhibiting at and what those specific shows are.

Show organizers can request an introductory call with the companies of their choice by filling out a short form. Tsanev, and the pop-up form as well, suggests that the show offer some form of incentive to make it worth the prospective exhibitor’s while to accept the call request. This could range from a discount on exhibition space to a free expo hall pass or a value-added sponsorship upgrade.

From there, Tsanev says, the ExpoIQ team takes over, acting in a similar manner to a telesales company that owns lists, reaching out to the decision-makers and coordinating calls. Only if the call is accepted and takes place is there any charge to the show organizer — and there is never a cost for the prospective exhibitor. Tsanev also notes that ExpoIQ keeps the decision maker’s identity confidential until the call is scheduled, to maintain privacy, and only shares contact details if approved to do so.  

The platform still needs some data cleansing and standardization. For example, there are records for Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), Amazon Web Services Inc., Amazon Web Services and Amazon Web Services AWS — but there’s a handy predictive text drop-down that can help you figure out how to get the best search results.

There’s also a potential benefit for corporate planners. The free tool can also be used to research technology events and see what shows competitors and partners may have booths at.

In future, Tsanev says, ExpoIQ may extend or even flip the model, offering corporations the opportunity to contact the show organizers. That proactive approach could net wins on both sides: special incentives for the exhibitors and an almost guaranteed sale for the show organizer. We look forward to following the progress.

For more information about ExpoIQ, go here.