As founder and president of Red Cedar Marketing, Traci Browne has long worked with healthcare companies on tradeshows. When she and a colleague saw a sports complex in Bucks County make an attempt to draw non-sports conferences and events to its facility, they saw another kind of opportunity.
Browne and Debbe Anmuth-Hunt, owner of Eventive Productions, formed Live Well Expos, which will make its debut with Bucks County Health and Fitness Fair April 17-18 at the Bucks County Expo and Conference Center which is housed inside the Sportsplex in Feasterville. The idea is to hold these types of fairs regionally at smaller venues in an effort to give smaller health-related businesses–from chiropractors to spas and karate studios–more bang for their marketing buck.
Once you do something on the national level, prices get high and that eliminates a lot of the businesses that might participate, says Browne. With a smaller business, customers are coming from a smaller radius. By keeping it regional, people coming to the event are their neighbors and customers.
The Fair, sponsored by Philadelphia-based Aria Health, will have a standard expo floor with booths and table, but will not feel like a trade show. The Fair includes an activity zone with Wii Fit and rock climbing, healthy cooking demonstrations, and free health screenings. There are close to 75 vendors signed up, and the Fair is still accepting exhibitors.
Were making people see they can make a difference in their life and the thing were stressing is health can be fun, too, says Browne. We want people to see that gardening is a way to keep fit, or walking your dog, or maybe karate is for you.
The Sportsplex has grown in popularity since its inception more than a decade ago thanks to recreational sports leagues like roller hockey. But with the recent closing of the nearby Fort Washington Expo Center to make way for office space, the Sportsplex seized the opportunity to host large events. The Fair will be the facilitys first official event and the Sportsplex is literally knocking down walls for it–to make a connection to an attached building–as well as sprucing it with a paint job.
Source: Traci Browne, Live Well Expos
Writer: Joe Petrucci