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I’ve been working in the area of intelligence for more than 30 years, and in that time I can honestly say that I am continually surprised at the seemingly untapped wealth of data, information, and intelligence that can be gained by a well-considered trade show or event program.

My first introduction to event competitive intelligence came in the late 90s at a SCIP (Strategic Consortium of Intelligence Professionals, formerly Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) conference in Atlanta. I decided to test some elicitation techniques that I’d recently learned and tried my hand at going up against professionals in the space.

I learned a lot doing that - probably the most important thing is that most companies don’t have a program of counterintelligence in place for events, even CI companies at that time - fodder for another blog, however. The point is that the people at these events are primed to provide information and not to protect it, making events and shows a “target-rich environment.”

The other thing that I learned, however, is that even at a comparatively small show like that, there is too much for one person to reasonably have a chance to collect.

Event CI is not for the faint-of-heart. There has to be a lot of planning leading up to the show, not the least of which is defining the CI needs for the show. I tell the companies that I work with that competitive intelligence is neither random nor is it exhaustive. It is not random in that the collector cannot hope that some nugget of importance will fall into his or her lap by finding just the right articles or talking to a lot of people. It is not exhaustive in that it will never be possible to get any intelligence through the curation of every bit of data about a competitor or a market. CI begins when one defines the Critical Intelligence Need(s) of the organization. Once those are clearly defined, only then can the work of collection begin.

These are guidelines that I’ve used in the past and that have worked well. Expect changes up to showtime, however, and anticipate that tasking for anyone’s project will change during the show.

So, how does it work for events?

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Pre-Planning Begins: Show Minus Six Months to Showtime

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Aristotle said, “Well begun is half done.” This is never more true than the collection and analysis of information for the conversion to intelligence - particularly for trade shows or conferences.

Define Objectives - The Critical Intelligence Need(s): Clearly articulate what you hope to achieve through attendance at the show. These needs could include identifying new competitors, tracking current competitors, capturing customer needs, understanding market trends, looking for patent violations, or gathering information on new products or features. It can be useful at this point to story-board the final report(s) to leadership or the various departments.
Identify Key Competitors or Key Contacts: Research and determine which companies will be to be at the show and pose some level of threat or interest to your business. Very often event sites will be provide an online database which includes event sponsors, shows and demos, exhibitors, and a location map. In addition, there is likely to be a lot of industry expertise at the event. Make sure that you are up-to-speed on who will be there and plan accordingly. Also plan on making changes.
Assemble a Team: Select individuals with a diverse range of skills and knowledge. The team should include those who are familiar with the industry, competitors, and the trade show itself. Don’t forget that if your company is presenting at the show to include those who will be staffing your booth / exhibit! Depending on the Critical Intelligence Need, the team may include sales, marketing, engineers, product managers, attorneys, and even senior leadership. Rolling corporate communications into the planning leadership early will also pay huge dividends. Corp. comm. has the ear of leadership and often keeps a close watch on the competition. Getting their input early can help you define your strategy and gain critical buy-in from senior management. In addition, if your company will be exhibiting, make sure to coordinate efforts with Event Planning as well.
Develop a Strategy: Create a plan for how to gather information. This might involve attending specific seminars, visiting competitor booths, or networking with industry experts including media at the event. Leading up to the event, don’t be shy about building excitement for the event internally. Keep your team informed about new developments during the run-up to the show, including new seminars / shows / demos, updates to the exhibitor data base, maps of the exhibit hall(s), and announcements from exhibitors or other event participants.
Assemble Your Data Tools: Decide how you will collect and organize information. Using a combination of methods, such as note-taking, digital recordings, and photography is recommended but don’t try to use too many tools or any tool which is cumbersome or requires a significant investment.

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Digital tools which I’ve used in the past for collection include:

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A screen scraping tool like Octoparse can be helpful if you need to get exhibitor and location data from an event’s website easily. This will help you create maps of the hall(s) and assist your teams in identifying the best routes to complete their various tasks.

Cloud repository. I’ve happily used IntelligencePlaza in the past but I’m sure that there are others that are as good at holding all of the information that your team will collect in a space that is accessible only to the analyst(s). A cloud-based tool housing collected material is indispensable for asynchronous teams of collectors and analysts during large long-duration events like CES, ChinaPlas, or Agritechnica.
Survey tools like Survey Monkey and Survey Gizmo (now Alchemer), though primarily used for market research questionnaires, are easily modifiable to become great web-based or mobile apps for reporting collected material including images, .pdfs, and videos. Spend the time to get the design and layout right, then test, Test, TEST well before the event.
Capture-apps for your phone, including Microsoft Lens, CamScanner, and basic iPhone Notes app, all allow your collectors to capture images, create .pdfs from documents or wall screens (with automatic orthographic adjustments), and save these to either your phone or the cloud.
Show apps, if these exist, are potentially useful. Many will provide hall layouts, exhibitor lists, notes tools, appointment setting, and even “best routes.” Don’t rely on these as your CI tool, however. You will be disappointed. Here’s an example for CES.
Guidance for the team(s) includes:
Specific tasking, when possible, about what information is to be collected or interviews to be conducted. Be sure that the collectors understand the Critical Intelligence Need as well as the sub-priorities so that they keep an eye out for the new and interesting that might not be on their list.
Best methods of reporting different types of information or intelligence.
Route-planning for greatest efficiency for the collectors.
Ethics of collection during the show. Don’t have a guide? Use the SCIP CoE as a starting point.
Nothing goes out to the broader company until it has been processed through the CI analysts. Any exceptions should be discussed. I’ve never known company intelligence so critical that it couldn’t simmer for an hour while its validity or importance is confirmed.

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Building the Playbook: Show Minus Four Months to Showtime

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Actually two playbooks or more are generally necessary - especially for the large shows with a lot of exhibitors, and lots to see. I find it helpful to have teams of collectors, each team with its lead. There is a playbook for the leader and one for the collectors on each team. Why? One playbook can be overwhelming and, if a printed copy is left in the open, the “damage” is limited to only one team versus the entire program.

Every playbook includes:
A note on the ethical competitive intelligence and reference to the company code of conduct as well as corporate counsel’s imprimatur.
A brief discussion of the event and its importance.
Important information about the venue, including event hall maps and travel to and from the airport and hotels.
Appropriate reporting and best practices on capturing useful information
An appendix on counterintelligence.
Leader playbooks include their team’s collection tasking by collector / hall / exhibitor, important contacts, lists of other leaders with a summary of their tasking, and back-up methods of reporting in the event that the main method fails.
Collector playbooks include team tasking for critical intelligence, booth / exhibit / demo for which they are responsible, and a method for reporting information for which they were not tasked but needs to be assessed for importance.

Your team is your company’s lifeline to what is going on at the show. If they aren’t performing at peak level, you may miss opportunities. More importantly, if they are not trained properly in the collection of competitive intelligence, your company is open to reputational risk, at best, and legal jeopardy, at worst. Further, your team, both intelligence and exhibition, need to be briefed on counterintelligence. They need to know when they have become the collection target of a rival.

Ethics and Legal Issues. Competitive intelligence at trade shows can be fraught with areas where ethical boundaries might be crossed. Clear advice from the CI team and corporate counsel should be provided well in advance of the show, including any relevant law for the country in which the show is being held. Hold yourselves and your team to the highest standards.
Counterintelligence. Trades shows and conference events are exciting. We get to showcase our products or services and tell the public about ourselves. Remember that as much intel as we are trying to get about the competition, it is likely that they are trying to gather the same about us. For that reason, a solid program of counterintelligence (different from security or cybersecurity operations) is an important part of the training you give to your team - especially senior management and those who are manning the company exhibit. We will discuss counterintelligence more in-depth in a later post.
Tools and Techniques: We have already discussed a lot of the tech-enabled tools you will use. However, two of the best “tools” that your collectors have is their ears and their curiosity. Listening and eliciting information are going to be the difference between a good event CI program and a great one. Training your collectors to listen to conversations and to gather insights without asking questions will be what sets your activity apart from that of others.
Path to success
Real-time Sharing: Team members should upload the collected information to the repository shortly after collection, along with any notes, so that it is fresh in their memory. Co-located analysts (or those in or near the same time zone) should be available to review the information. This can help identify emerging trends or opportunities and create new tasking, if necessary‍
Regular Meetings: Daily tasking (morning) and debriefing (evening) calls should be conducted. First, team leaders confer with their collectors and analysts with one another. Then the team leaders meet with the analysts. These do not have to be long meetings. Fifteen to thirty minutes should suffice for confirming priorities or re-prioritization.
Distribution: Key findings should come from the analyst team (with appropriate attribution to the collector and team) and distributed to the appropriate departments or individuals within your organization. These finding can take two primary forms:

----Nightly (or morning) recap including event news, analyzed information from the show floor including images, as necessary, and social media regarding either the competition or the industry.

-----Alerts to relevant departments about something unexpected. This should either provide for further tasking / re-prioritization or confirmation that the information is already known.

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After the Event: Show Plus One Week

This is when the real fun begins. Within the next week, the analysts and team(s) should have a series of meetings / calls to discuss the show and the information gathered. The analysts should plan to debrief the collectors on the information that they contributed for any additional insights that they may have. Too often, people do not realize the importance of information that they considered irrelevant at the time.

Complete ananalysis on what the teams collected versus the particular Critical Intelligence Needs requiring answers.
Prepare initial reports to whet the appetites of those wanting responses.
Complete the analysis and distribute or present the intelligence using the story-boarded presentations you completed in the first step of this lengthy process (remember those?).
Don’t forget to thank each member of the team, by name, and provide a “credits” section of the presentation(s). This way, if a department or leader has a particular questions, they will know who may have the information that is needed.

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Does this seem like a lot? It is. So, what else can you do? Consider bringing in a third-party, short-term, to help you with getting your program up and running. Odin’s Eye Intelligence has a lot of experience running event CI. A six-month engagement to get your event program ready is a cost and resource effective way to get the most out of a show. Is your company exhibiting at a show? You are already spending a lot of cash to be there - get the most from your investment by collecting everything you can while you have this opportunity.

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