The American Society of Newspaper Editors announced that it is canceling its 2009 annual meeting just two months before the convention was to take place, April 26-29 in Chicago. Plans were well under way, but officials decided to cancel it because of low attendance projections and the stress of the economy on members. With the newspaper industry struggling, ASNE leaders concluded that the challenges editors face at their newspapers demand their full attention, said Charlotte Hall, president of ASNE, in a press release. Also, said Hall, attendance would have been significantly lower than normal. The convention typically attracts between 400 and 500 attendees.

CEIR’s Cost Effectiveness of Exhibition Participation study determined that it costs about $215 to make an initial face-to-face contact with a customer at an exhibition. Included in that cost is exhibition construction, storage, exhibit space, transportation, salesperson salary, travel, and entertainment, according to the report, conducted for CEIR by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Travel and Tourism Center at the University of South Carolina. To make that first meeting with a potential customer in the field without an exhibition lead would cost about $1,039. Breaking it down, the researchers found that it costs an average of $596 to contact the prospect in the field and $443 to identify the prospect prior to the sales call.

The co-location plan will provide members of the two associations with better value as well as increased business and networking opportunities, officials said. Even if the economy were not in recession, the associations would be co-locating, said Mark Gedris, UMA spokesman. “It makes great sense for our members,” he said. “There are a lot of synergies between the two associations.”

In fact, it’s getting so tough that according to a New York Times article, “Some event organizers, desperate for delegates, are going so far as to waive registration fees or to offer free hotel rooms to lure budget-minded business travelers.”

I haven’t heard of anyone actually doing this yet, but desperate times call for desperate measures. What are you doing to keep people coming to your meetings? Let us know.

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