CES 'Booth Babes': Women In Tech Oppose Using Models At Technology Trade Show

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70. It also draws traffic to huffpo and bbc

Last edited Fri Jan 13, 2012, 03:34 PM - Edit history (1)

No irony that the pictures of the "babes" (a loaded word) are being used to drive traffic to huffpo and BBC? Are you offended by anything at Ariana's.

Women staff in trade show booths generate more traffic, longer visits, and usually generate more orders. Higher yields from men and women visitors. One model told me that outraged women who wanted to "rescue" her stayed in her booth so long they had more product exposure and had high conversion rates (percent who later bought something).

I have exhibited at about 200 shows over the years, mostly computers, software, communication, ... in the US and Europe. Our people staff our booths.

Our shows are smaller than CES and not packed as full. We dress professionally. Everyone knows products. Women have jobs from VP down. Mostly sales and technical, but also clerical/admin employees. We are a small company, try to include everyone when we can. Working a show or two a year can be fun, hard work, a nice change from the office. Doing 10-15 shows a year is more exhausting and less fun.

We try to have at least one woman on each booth team. Why? Eye contact. Woman seem welcoming, men threatening.

Attendees often walk near the middle of the aisles, scanning the booths asthey go. When they get close enough to make eye contact with booth staff, if the staff is all male, they are more likely to look away or down and less likely to cross the open space and enter ones booth.

When eye contact is made, any move by a male staffer is instinctively taken as a possible attack. I have seen attendees almost run away from booths. Eye contact with a smiling female staffer is inviting, makes men and women more likely to pause and look more closely, and a slight approach made then is likely to bring over ones booth.

There is a lot more going on, it varies by country, region, age, race, eye color, industry, ... It is what it is. We do jokingly call this "hooking" at the booth.