CeBIT to address shortage of booth babe attire

By Brett Winterford on May 26, 2010 3:52 PM
Filed under Oddware

Stallholders go a little too skimpy.

Haymarket's stand at CeBIT 2010.	The iPad pulls the crowd to Haymarket's stand.	Competition registrations ran hot for Wester Digital and Kingston devices.
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Hannover Fairs, organiser of this week's CeBIT IT trade show in Sydney, is to monitor the attire of "booth babes" in future exhibitions to address concerns that the show floor of the business-focused event has strayed into trashy territory.

'Booth babes' is convention-industry parlance for young, attractive women hired by standholders to attract male delegates.

They are also commonplace at automotive trade shows.

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In an ICT industry struggling to attract women to its ranks, concerns were raised at this year's event over a small number of exhibitors that were seen to have taken the booth babe concept too far.

Attendees took to Twitter to express their disappointment (and in other cases, delight).

"How exactly are Booth Babes not incredibly offensive to every man and woman at #CeBit in Australia?" asked Aaron Quigley, Director of HIT Lab Australia. "It's 2010 people!"

"Why do IT companies still think booth babes are a clever marketing trick?" asked Rachel De Sain, vice president of the Victorian branch of AIMIA. "Trashy and so last century."

Another attendee noticed that the Booth Babes looked both "bored" and "worried" as they talked shop with "dirty oldies".

"Walked past the Crazy Domains stall at Cebit... Very awkward," noted web designer Andy Hobbs.

"Holy crap! If you like skanky, this year's CeBIT is for you. Super-skimpy gold bikinis? Doesn't make me want to buy, sorry," said blogger Benjamin Cowell.

Time for a crackdown?

In past years, the prime concern for Hannover Fairs was whether booth babes remained on their stands rather than walking the floor to spruik products. The organisers' vigilance paid off at this year's show - with no reports of delegates being hassled in the aisles.

The organisers nonetheless noted some slip ups in the dress code.

Customers were surveyed to get the full range of opinion on the issue - only to find a mixed bag of responses.

"CeBIT Australia is a business show and it is everyone's interest to participate according to expected standards," said Jackie Taranto, CEO of Hannover Fairs Australia.

"With regard to the attire worn by stand personnel, our exhibitor agreements do specify appropriate business attire.

"Clearly we will need to be more strict in the future."

What's your take on booth babes? Harmless fun? The dull reality of trade shows? Or sexism? Comment below.

16 comments in this discussion

"I have seen Booth Babe, it is pointless to have them they dont sell themselves. It is the Booth that sells products. One stall there is quite lots of Booth babes sitting on their bum on the high ..."

By kevvy2010

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Comments: 16

Treb May 26, 2010 5:19 PM	If you have to resort to this sort of marking ploy is show very little faith in the merits of your product.
Treb May 26, 2010 5:19 PM	*marketing
Ll0yd May 26, 2010 6:57 PM	They looked fine to me, as did the other booth babes. However my female business partner thought it all looked too much, and so did some of the other booth babes. As a businessman, whilst I thought the young ladies looked great, I couldn't see how the stand would lead to any new business or justify the expense. Does that always have to be the case though?
Ll0yd May 26, 2010 7:02 PM	A further comment ... on one of the stands was a really nice young lady (late teens?) dressed up as a booth babe. She said her Dad owned the business she was representing. I thought that was great thing!
anonymous May 26, 2010 7:14 PM	Don't worry about all that marketing flim-flam. That nice Senator Conboy will fix all that libidinous activity with his magic government filter. Trust him.
nate.cochrane May 26, 2010 7:56 PM	Kaspersky's meter maids at AusCERT this year were told to stay on the stand and cover up by conference organisers. As these photos show there's a grey area between seductive and skanky, and everyone will have different opinions on what is acceptable, but many exhibitors don't understand this. The worst case was a distributor many years ago who had strippers on their stand. When thrown out of the show (it wasn't CeBIT) and told never to come back, he was genuinely bemused. He didn't see what was wrong with using sex and naked women to sell his products. Or perhaps he was confused and just a bit early for Sexpo?
Mr Blad May 26, 2010 9:21 PM	Don't you dare take away the booth babes attire! Kaspersky can do what they like because their software just works and works well. The girls with the Z logo look very uncomfortable except for the young lady in the middle who seems to be enjoying being photgaphed. This is all gratuitous sexual exploitation but they don't have to do it if they didn't want to. All I can say is that it must've paid very well
johnpro@hotmail.com May 27, 2010 8:06 AM	Booth babes should stay at the beach where I actually can right click their properties more legitimately Asking questions from a person who obviously is no teckie makes me feel as if I'm there to view their devices Jp
Digger11 May 27, 2010 9:44 AM	Booth Babes go with IT like Curry goes with Icecream.
Digger11 May 27, 2010 9:47 AM	and I've just checked out the photos (purely in the name of investigative journalism) and my detailed analysis of this situation is that the blonde has a nice smile.
dennisp1 May 27, 2010 10:06 AM	Booth babes are simply not appropriate to this kind of event. They do nothing to help win business from serious buyers. A sales or marketing expert who is attractive, AND who knows about what she/he is selling, is going to represent a far better ROI to the exhibitor company. QED.
Bazwalt May 27, 2010 11:42 AM	If they're going to be there, they should know what they're helping market and be able to talk about it. Their dress code is a tad excessive but otherwise, a man is more likely to talk to an attractive woman so long as the woman has something to say...rather than stand there looking worried.
Ace May 28, 2010 1:07 PM	It seems pretty harmless to me. I'm pretty sure they all majored in IT related sciences at uni and are simply doing their time as interns. Good luck to them all.
Jerry May 29, 2010 1:29 PM	Looks like we are falling into the Conroy prudery trap. All the international trade shows have booth babes and this sort of prudery will make us a laughing stock in Europe and the U.S.
johnpro2 May 29, 2010 2:30 PM	Maybe, how about a compromise between a full burka and shorts so tight that the girls look uncomfortable. Jp
kevvy2010 Jun 2, 2010 9:42 AM	I have seen Booth Babe, it is pointless to have them they dont sell themselves. It is the Booth that sells products. One stall there is quite lots of Booth babes sitting on their bum on the high stools hand out flyers. Tell them to move to Sexpo.