Personal contacts are always the best sources. Second best may be your existing exhibitors and attendees, who experience your competition on a daily basis. But the competitive information comes, nonetheless, through Chalden's audiences. If someone else in the industry is offering a new educational program or an exhibitor thinks we could strengthen the show by adding some other new feature, then we hear about it directly from our constituents. Analytical details Information is one thing.
Analysis is quite another.
You need to ask questions about their strategies and moves as though you're playing kind of a chess game. By looking at where they are and using competitive information to predict where they're going, you can anticipate their responses. Anticipating moves is a very important part of the process. From such exercises, you should be able to evaluate, shape and direct your own show's efforts. Discover the unserved market niche and fill it.