Booking Virtual Booth Space at Online CEDIA Expo Can Cost Up to $7,500, Says Owner Emerald

Online “booth fees” for 2020 CEDIA Expo Virtual Sept. 15-17 are $750-$7,500, said an Emerald X presentation titled “CEDIA Expo Exhibitor Discussions,” a PowerPoint it's using to pitch prospective exhibitors. Companies have a choice to opt out of the virtual show and get a refund over the next 30-60 days for registration fees they paid for the physical 2020 show.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the physical CEDIA Expo from its September run in Denver. Companies also can have a portion of their 2020 funds applied to the mid-September virtual show and the remainder toward the next scheduled physical show, Sept. 1-3, 2021, in Indianapolis, Eric Bodley, CEO of Future Ready Solutions, told us Thursday, calling the options "fair."

The annual CEDIA trade expo is being held online this year due to COVID-19, after show owner Emerald canceled the September physical event on May 28 (see 2005280053). CEDIA Expo 2020 was scheduled for Denver Sept. 8-12; its virtual counterpart is Sept. 15-17.

At the base level, for $750, virtual CEDIA Expo exhibitors get a “featured booth” with contacts page, custom header, content, live chat, booth engagement report, product category listing, keywords and “priority points” for 2022, said the presentation.

The Silver booth ($2,000) adds 75 guaranteed qualified leads, a news release in the digital newsroom, personalized meeting calendars and 25 prescheduled meetings with attendees through “matchmaking.”

The $4,000 Gold booth doubles the leads, news releases and prescheduled meetings; adds one product showcase entry, a “graphics rich” web page, “Zoom room,” event calendar, one live or recorded video, a preshow interview with an editor of Emerald-owned CE Pro magazine and appearances in pre-, mid- and post-show newsletters, it said.

The top Platinum booth ($7,500) adds a banner ad, virtual swag, primary placement within the virtual expo hall and event calendar access; doubles the number of Gold leads, prescheduled meetings, and product showcase entries; and expands videos and news releases to three.

Among the sponsorship options Emerald is offering for the online expo are eight tech talks ($7,500 each) covering lighting, the 5G ecosystem, resimercial (residential commercial), home office, wellness, artificial intelligence and the future predictive home, skilled trades and outdoor tech. One or two keynote sessions will be limited to three brands at $5,000 each. Dollar amounts weren’t assigned to design+connection sessions.

Available sponsorships under brand awareness are registration ($5,000), list rentals ($3,000), five rotating home page banner ads ($2,000 each), retargeting ads ($1,000), tech bites ($1,500) and a la carte pricing for a brand or product ($250) and an additional new product showcase entry at $250. Other networking sponsoring opportunities are $1,000 apiece for Zoom rooms and $750 for a batch of 25 leads, it said.

The Emerald presentation also included rates and fees for the 2021 show, starting at $32.50 per 100-600 net square feet for members, plus a $125 marketing fee and co-exhibitor fee ($1,000 for members, $2,100 for nonmembers). The payment schedule starts Sept. 14 with 25% due at contract, then 50% due for a booth on Oct. 16 and the balance due May 7, it said. Emerald didn’t immediately respond to questions.