Imagine if all tradeshows considered a woman's perspective: Women's Day at the Auto Show

So what do I think of women's day as a theme for the Chicago auto show? I think now they've really internalized the fact that women influence car purchases significantly that their business strategies are starting to change. They've realized that 85% of car buying decisions are influenced by women, women buy just over 50% of cars, and yet only 25% of the attendees at the show are women (Foxbusiness). If this is a show to excite the market of potential purchasers then they need to increase that percentage. They've dropped the price of entry by 50% for women on Women's day which was Tuesday, and booths presented seminars, trainings and sessions for women on buying, leasing and car maintenance, and thought of additional attractions to improve the environment which included things like spa treatments. The nail treatments might be a bit obvious and almost tacky, but heck, honestly sometimes we do fall for such things, it's. Also the event actually deserves some credibility by collaborating with Motherproof.com which is a website that supports women in the purchasing of cars (awesome site by the way).

Even though its being entered into because of the business and not out the goodness of equality of their hearts, I'm going to say - Good for the auto show planners, an improvement over last year. I hope the event is an appropriate increase in support, and I sincerely hope they keep trying to figure out how to appeal to women.

Imagine if every large tradeshow or event truly understood the power of the economy of women and thought about how to reach out to tap the market how different business would be. It's not just women as buyers, but it's that female chain reaction of having more women in industry, in businesses, in decision making positions, to influence product creation that appeals to the audience. Do we need to have formal women's days at events? It makes me feel uncomfortable having always been in male environments in school and work to want a 'special' event, however considering how women at work benefit from formal networking opportunities versus casual relationships, the idea of formalizing an event that appeals to women offers the same benefits as formal networking opportunities in that it creates a safe environment with known expectations of what to do, and what's expected of you.

I want to see more attempts to engage with women - remember it's all about moving dollars from our pockets to their business pockets, it's not about equality, I simply want them to earn their money and for me to enjoy the spending experience and be happy with what I get. Win - Win - how hard can that be?