Customers / International Association for Identification
Customer story
IAI cuts exhibitor management time in half and grows sponsorship revenue
How the International Association for Identification digitized its annual conference expo, replacing spreadsheets and Word invoices with self-service booth sales and à la carte sponsorships.
~50%
Less time managing exhibitors and sponsors
1,400+
Conference attendees each year
120
Exhibitors at the annual expo
1915
Serving forensic professionals since
The challenge
Manual exhibitor management run on spreadsheets, PDFs, and Word invoices, with declining sponsorship revenue and inflexible packages.
The solution
Interactive floor plans, online booth selection and invoicing, task management, and à la carte sponsorship add-ons.
The outcome
Sponsorship revenue up thousands of dollars year over year, with roughly half the time spent managing exhibitors and sponsors.
Customer profile
A century-old association with a global expo
The International Association for Identification (IAI) is a global professional association dedicated to forensic science and identification. IAI hosts an annual conference that attracts 1,400+ attendees and 120 exhibitors, bringing together industry professionals, vendors, and sponsors from around the world.
Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Hollywood, Florida, IAI brings together forensic science and identification professionals from across the globe for its International Educational Conference & Exposition.
At a glance
- Organization
- International Association for Identification
- Industry
- Professional Association
- Annual event
- IAI International Educational Conference & Exposition
- Attendees
- 1,400+
- Exhibitors
- 120
- Founded
- 1915
The challenge
Spreadsheets, PDFs, and Word invoices
When Bill Schade joined IAI as Exhibits Coordinator, he inherited exhibitor and sponsorship processes that were heavily manual and difficult to scale. On top of the operational inefficiencies, IAI was facing declining sponsorship revenue: traditional packages were becoming less attractive, and exhibitors wanted more flexibility and clearer value.
Everything ran on spreadsheets, PDFs, and Microsoft Word invoices
Booth assignments were a constant struggle to track
Payments collected manually, one exhibitor at a time
Exhibitor communications scattered across email threads
Sponsorship revenue declining year over year
Traditional packages losing appeal with exhibitors
We were doing everything with spreadsheets, PDFs, and even Microsoft Word for invoices. It was a constant struggle to keep track of booth assignments, collect payments, and communicate with exhibitors.
Bill SchadeExhibits Coordinator, International Association for Identification
The solution
Digitized, centralized, and self-service
After evaluating several platforms, IAI selected ExpoGenie to digitize and centralize exhibitor and sponsorship management.
Interactive floor plans
Real-time booth updates that IAI manages directly, without designer and webmaster back-and-forth.
Online booth selection
Exhibitors select their own booths through the live floor plan.
Online invoicing
Invoices are generated and paid online instead of assembled in Word.
Task management and communications
Exhibitor tasks, files, and messages tracked in one place.
Self-service sponsorship cart
Flexible sponsorship add-ons that exhibitors purchase à la carte.
A modern sponsorship model
Targeted, affordable options that expand beyond traditional booth and food-and-beverage packages.
The interactive floor plan was a game-changer. Instead of emailing back and forth with our graphics team to update the floor plan, I can now make changes myself in real time.
Bill SchadeExhibits Coordinator, IAI
The impact
Half the admin time, thousands more in sponsorships
Sponsorship revenue up significantly
A significant increase in sponsorship revenue in the first year, generating thousands more dollars year over year.
Half the management time
Roughly a 50% reduction in time spent managing exhibitors and sponsors.
A more professional operation
Improved operational efficiency, with plans to integrate ExpoGenie with Cvent attendee registration.
Results at a glance
- Sponsorship revenue thousands more dollars year over year
- ~50% less time spent managing exhibitors and sponsors
- Real-time floor plan edits without designer back-and-forth
- À la carte sponsorships more targeted and affordable options
- Cvent integration planned for attendee registration
- Lead retrieval coming to future events
ExpoGenie has really professionalized our exhibitor and sponsorship management. I’m able to provide a much better experience for our partners, and it’s helped us grow revenue without adding more work on our end.
Bill SchadeExhibits Coordinator, IAI
Looking ahead
Lead retrieval is next
IAI plans to expand its use of ExpoGenie by introducing integrated lead retrieval for exhibitors at future events.
“Our exhibitors are always asking about lead scanning, and now we can offer that directly through ExpoGenie. It’s another way we’re making our show more appealing and valuable for our partners.” Bill Schade, Exhibits Coordinator, IAI
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