Last week at EXPO EXPO, I was in line for the bus back to the hotel after the show and I met Rob Hamlin. He was relating to me very positive remarks about the great show he just had!! As we were talking I let him know that I was the CEIR blogger. Then he shared the story of how CEIR information helped him with funding from an investor. Here is his story:
MarketArt builds and implements an interactive map, directory and sponsorship system called You Are Here, and we’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the best events in the industry since we started in 2007. Late 2008 and 2009 was a tough time as the industry experienced significant upheaval. Even worse, right in the middle of that storm we decided to start searching for an investment partner to help us grow to the next level.
Some said that finding investment would be impossible, and indeed, we met a number of closed doors along the way as many investors virtually stopped funding new ventures. We have a great story however, and with a great deal of persistence we met our current investors who liked the company and our record of strong success to date. They were very concerned, however, with the market. Accordingly they asked us to provide details and projections on the state of the exhibition industry .
In response we immediately provided them with the 2009 CEIR Report, and - long story short - we received our funding , have been able to add five new senior members to our staff and had a great launch of our new product suite at EXPO EXPO.
Obviously it wasn’t that the report was overwhelmingly positive about the market – we all know there are still significant challenges out there. The report was, however, comprehensive, authoritative and perhaps most importantly, completely professional. In reading it our investors were able to truly “understand” the market , took comfort knowing it was being professionally followed and analyzed, and felt good about making the investment.
In short, thanks for the outstanding work you do for our industry.
Sincerely,
Rob Hamlin
President
MarketArt Inc.
This is CEIR statistics in action! What a great story. So how have you used CEIR reports for your company? We would be pleased to tell your story too.
