Announcing TSNN eventFriend™: A new free Facebook application to maximize trade show participation and exposure

TSNN (Trade Show News Network) – the ultimate event resource – launched a new innovative Facebook tool called TSNN eventFriend™ to help event professionals attract more attendees and increase show awareness online. TSNN eventFriend™ can also help attendees and exhibiting staff promote their involvement in the show and organize meetings in advance of the show.

Trade show professionals can now take advantage of the massive social media phenomenon, Facebook, through the TSNN (www.tsnn.com) in order to add incremental attendees and generate free advertising for their event. The TSNN eventFriend™ is now available for the entire event industry to leverage this enormous viral marketing opportunity at www.tsnneventfriend.com.

“We developed a new and free Facebook widget for trade show and event professionals, and the percolating interest is absolutely amazing,” says RD Whitney, CEO of TSNN’s parent Caroo Media (a division of Tarsus Group plc). “There is a massive contagious effect to what we are doing, and very simply, trade show producers who utilize this tool will have a new competitive advantage over those who don’t. Over 20 major trade show organizers have already agreed to utilize TSNN eventFriend™.”

“TSNN eventFriend™ is a cutting-edge opportunity to promote yourself in the trade show industry. More and more social media opportunities are critical to promote business these days. Making the leap into social networking and social media are imperative for business, and eventFriend™ permits that in a big way,” says Christopher Spencer, Vice-President of Immersa Marketing, e-Commerce author and subject matter expert.

Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder of BlogWorld and New Media Expo, agrees, “I think that TSNN’s new integration with Facebook is a terrific step in the right direction connecting web 2.0 tools with face-to-face event marketing. It is just the latest example of why TSNN is a leader in our industry. Some show managers might wonder why this is important to their business, and the simple answer is, this is what future attendees are using to decide which events to attend.”

Millions of professionals from around the globe have been using Facebook to stay linked to friends and colleagues. While there has been a lot of hype, conscious adoption in the professional markets has been limited until now.

“This is a no-brainer,” asserts Stephen Nold, President of Advon Technologies and recognized meeting technology thought leader. “What’s not to like? Here’s a tool to cause a viral marketing infection about your trade show. The more it gets picked up, the more visibility for your show, the higher your show gets ranked in Facebook. This application is a win-win all around – for trade show producers, the attendees, the venue city and the show’s exhibitors.”

“This is the employee/business intersection social media sites have been waiting for,” states David Larkin, CEO of New York-based Loft Group. “We have been talking to major players in the trade show industry, and this has the potential to catch on like wild fire. Of particular interest, the various events that send this widget out to attendees will be ranked as a top show in Facebook. The more attendees use it, the higher the rank, the more visible the show.”

With a $15 billion valuation, traffic numbers that have grown 12-fold since 2006 and a rapid international adoption rate, Facebook is becoming a forum where more and more business professionals are connecting with colleagues. One of the ultimate points of connection affinity (untapped until now) is around business events and trade shows.

“80% of our attendees are apparel retailers who own their own businesses,” says Julie Ichiba, Executive Show Director of the Off Price Specialist Show. “We encourage them to take advantage of the free social media sites like Facebook to promote their stores. eventFriend™ will be a great resource for us to show them how to realize the opportunities of online networking and promotion.”

“Trade shows are face-to-face networking as Facebook is to virtual connections. We are just the conduit that completes the circle,” comments Whitney. “We encourage every trade show producer to invite their event attendees and exhibitors to maximize their time by making the networking connections and meeting appointments prior to the event. There’s nothing to lose, and massive incremental, free viral marketing to be gained. TSNN eventFriend™ will make you the office hero if you tell management that you’ve increased traffic without spending extra marketing money.”

Notes for the Editor

2. TSNN is part of Caroo Media USA, the online marketing and publishing division of Tarsus Group plc. Other Caroo products include:

a. CVBHotRates.com (www.cvbhotrates.com). The first of its kind, one stop shop for short-term meetings inventory.
b. OnRec (www.onrec.com). The magazine for online recruitment around the world.
c. PromotionalMerchandiseUSA.com (www.promotionalmerchandiseusa.com). Aimed to meet all your promotional products needs with over 1,000 categories.

3. Caroo Media USA is headquartered in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The parent company Tarsus is a publicly traded firm that specializes in exhibitions, conferences and online publishing. Headquartered in London, Tarsus has offices in Paris, Dusseldorf, Shanghai and Milwaukee.

4. Interviews are available by calling Don Browne, Marketing Director at 262.754.6910 or dbrowne@tarsus-inc.com.

TSNN.com is the world’s leading online resource for the trade show, exhibition and event industry since 1996. The “Trade Show News Network” owns and operates the most widely consulted event database on the internet, containing data on more than 17,500 trade shows, exhibitions, consumer events and conferences worldwide. It also offers free RFPs (requests for proposals) for members to source from over 10,000 venues and 1,900 industry suppliers. In addition, information is available on 360,000 seminars through a strategic partnership. TSNN helps facilitate the exchange between buyers and sellers to achieve a successful venture with over 137,000 registered website members, 35,000 newsletter subscribers and LinkedIn groups.

TSNN.com
16985 W Bluemound Road, Suite 210
Brookfield, WI 53005

Don Browne, Marketing Director, Caroo Media, Tarsus Group USA
262.754.6910 / dbrowne@tarsus-inc.com

Seng Weiland, Product Manager, TSNN 262-754-6920 / sweiland@tsnn.com

This release was published on openPR.