Story ID: 
Engaging exhibitors and attendees
By: David A. Lombardo
Caption: NBAA more than doubled the number of exhibitors at the Maintenance Management Conference from last year, increasing the number from 27 to 63.
Word Count: 184
NBAA more than doubled the number of exhibitors at the Maintenance Management Conference from last year, increasing the number from 27 to 63. Kevin Smith, chair of the exhibitor working group, attributed that success to hard work. One interesting addition to the program was an audience response system provided by Gulfstream and operated by Tim Steinhauser, Gulfstream’s senior manager of technical training and customer relations. “Exhibitors had the option of putting $50 into the pot and writing two questions,” Smith explained. “All the questions were then put on a sheet of paper and handed out to attendees at the beginning of the conference. They had to talk to the exhibitors during the breaks and lunches to get the answers to the questions.”During the conference there were two quiz periods during which questions with four possible answers appeared on the video screens. The questions were worth different points and each person had a handheld response device to record an answer. The three highest scorers in each quiz session received $200. “Everyone seemed to enjoy the game and it encouraged attendees to interact with the exhibitors,” Smith said.