2008 Wisconsin Lakes Convention

Join us April 17-19th at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay for the Wisconsin Lakes Convention. This year marks our 30th Convention!

The Convention is action-oriented and focuses on helping local Lake People get things done for their lake, which includes meeting and selecting businesses that can help them achieve their lake management goals.

Exhibiting and sponsoring the Convention is a great way to increase your company's name recognition among Wisconsin lake people while making personal contact with potential customers.

Online booth and sponsor registration is closed. Please call our office (608-661-4313), fax (608-661-4314) or e-mail (tdjackson@chorus.net) booth and sponsor information.

Download PDF (542 KB)of our 2008 Business Partner Packet

Download PDF (64 KB) of paper registration form

Exhibit opportunities

Display your products and services while interacting with local lake leaders! A Wisconsin Lake tradition, the Convention brings more than 600 lake enthusiasts together to celebrate and learn about Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes. Convention attendees include lake organization leaders, lake users, lake management professionals, agency personnel, and local decision makers.

All our exhibit booths are visible, accessible, and receive excellent traffic flow (booth information). The exhibit hall is the center for many Convention activities, including all meals and breaks, and attendees who visit all our exhibitors will be eligible for a grand prize drawing (more information)!

All exhibit booths receive one complimentary registration; additional representatives receive a discounted rate. We encourage exhibitors to enjoy the Convention program and sessions and network with potential customers away from their booths.(Convention schedule)

Early bird deadline is March 3, 2008!

Become a Convention Sponsor

Becoming a Convention Sponsor is a great way to support the event that keeps Lake People coming back year after year while increasing your company’s name recognition!

Convention Sponsors receive special benefits with their level of support (sponsorship levels and benefits). We use Sponsor funds to provide educational materials for attendees, bring great plenary speakers to the Convention, and support Convention events designed to enhance attendee traffic to exhibitors (more about use of sponsorship monies).

If you can’t make it to the convention as an exhibitor, support the convention as a Sponsor! We’ll include your information in our Business Partner Guide!

Detailed exhibit booth information

Each exhibit booth is located in the Exhibit Hall, which serves as the hub of the convention for meals and breaks. All booths are accessible and visible, and traffic flow is excellent. Each exhibit booth includes:

• One full registration for a booth representative (includes all meals). Additional representatives may register for a discounted rate.
• Space in the Business Partner Guide, which is included in each attendee’s registration packet to describe your business, products, and services, and list your contact information.
• One 8 by 10 foot booth with one 8 foot (30 inches high) draped and skirted table, one 8 foot backdrop with 3 foot side drapes and 2 chairs.

If you need additional chairs and tables or a different size table, please call our office (608-661-4313). Electricity, phone lines, and internet access are available for an additional fee.

Reserve your booth online!

Business Bingo!

Business Bingo! is a fun way we help increase traffic to exhibit booths and interaction between our business partners and Convention attendees.

A Business Bingo! card is included in every attendees Convention packet. Your company’s name and booth number will be listed on the Bingo card. Attendees who get their Bingo cards stamped by all of our exhibitors will be eligible for a grand prize drawing. This popular program draws people to your booth and is a great conversation starter.

Each business partner representative nametag will sport a forest green nametag, so you’ll be easily recognizable even if you are away from your booth. We encourage exhibitors to enjoy the Convention program and sessions and network with potential customers away from your booth. Ask attendees if they’ve had their Bingo card stamped as a conversation starter!

Booth Assignments

Exhibit booth space will be assigned on a first come first serve basis (in order of payment received).

Booth Set-up and tear down

Exhibitors can begin set-up at 8:00 PM in the KI Convention Center on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008. Set-up must be completed before 9:30 AM on Thursday (the Exhibitor’s Welcome reception begins in the Exhibit Hall at 9:30 AM). We encourage exhibitors to stay until the end of the Convention, especially since the final luncheon is held in the exhibit hall. All booths must be taken down by 3:00 PM Saturday, April 19th.

Shipping and receiving is coordinated through Green Bay Exposition Services, Inc. 3637 Mighty Oak Trail, Green Bay, WI, 54313. Please contact Rob at 920-434-0815 (phone) or 920-434-0819 (fax) for shipping and receiving information.

Questions

Contact Tami Jackson, at 1-800-542-5253 (in Wisconsin only) or 608-661-4313, or e-mail info@wisconsinlakes.org.

Sponsoring the 2008 Convention

Becoming a Convention Sponsor is a great way to support the event that keeps Lake People coming back year after year while increasing your company’s name recognition! The Convention is action-oriented and focuses on helping local Lake People get things done for their lake, which includes meeting and selecting businesses that can help them achieve their lake management goals. Topics covered at the Convention include lake management planning, aquatic plant management, shoreline restoration, aquatic invasive species prevention, identification, and management.

We use Sponsor funds to provide educational materials for attendees, bring great plenary speakers to the Convention, and support Convention events designed to enhance attendees interaction with exhibitors (refreshment breaks in the Exhibit Hall, networking receptions, and the Business Bingo! grand prize).

Special thanks and recognition will be given to our generous sponsors throughout the Convention.

Even if you can’t make it to the Convention as an exhibitor, you can still be recognized for your generous support of the Convention as a Sponsor! We’ll include your information in our Business Partner Guide.

Inspirational Speakers

We are excited to welcome Chad Pregracke to this year’s Convention! As CEO and Founder of Livings Lands and Waters, Chad has learned to navigate political as well as physical landscapes, facilitating change and responding to challenges and opportunities with grace and precision. He has emerged as a strong, articulate and passionate voice for making a difference, one person at a time. Chad will share his personal story and the beginning of his grassroots organization, Living Lands & Waters, which has captured America’s imagination and motivated thousands of people across the country to clean up our country’s rivers and waterways. What started as one man’s crusade has become an ever-evolving worldwide movement to educate people and connect them with their environment!

Your sponsorship support will also help local lake people present and share their lake stories at the Convention.

Convention field trip

This year’s Convention field trip will tour the unique features of the Green Bay west shore wetlands! The west shore of Green Bay is home to some of the finest remaining coastal wetlands along the Lake Michigan shoreline. These coastal wetlands provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, enhance water quality by filtering rain water running off of urban and agricultural lands, and support commercial and recreational fisheries. This area is unique because the gently emerging land supports plants, fish and wildlife that depend on both land and water for parts of their lifecycles. Field trip participants will tour these large wetland complexes, river outlets, and other natural areas.

Educational materials

Help lake enthusiasts take what they’ve learned back to their lakes! Sponsor support will help provide the 2008 Convention CD to all attendees. The CD features Convention proceedings, a compilation of convention presentations, supporting materials, additional resources, and Convention sponsor logos and weblinks.

Learning about lakes and having fun while doing it!

The Convention is a great opportunity for attendees and business partners to meet new people, greet old friends, and build relationships. Evening entertainment is a popular part of our Convention, and an important place to network. Everyone is welcome on Thursday evening to our Lake Leaders hospitality. More than 175 lake enthusiasts have become Lake Leaders Institute graduates; this hospitality celebrates all the dedicated Wisconsin citizens working to improve our lakes. Friday’s Business Partner Reception—held in the exhibit hall—puts a spotlight on our business partner’s commitment to lakes and their essential role in helping keep our lakes safe, clean, and healthy for everyone. These networking opportunities are made possible by support from our business partners.

Sponsor recognition

Special thanks and recognition will be given to our generous sponsors throughout the Convention (see level of support table below).

Convention Exhibitors and Sponsors included in our Business Partner Guide

Many of our Business Partners tell us that meeting and making connections with Lake People is an enjoyable part of the Convention. But after a handshake, business cards can get lost.

Making sure your potential customers remember your company’s name, logo, professional skills and resources, and your contact information is an important and ongoing part of effectively promoting your business.

Our Business Partner Guide is included in the conference materials provided to all attendees. It’s a handy take home reference of lake businesses that serve Wisconsin. We also provide the Guide throughout the year to Lake Associations and Lake District members who are searching for consultants for their lake management projects. We have gotten positive feedback from our members about the usefulness of the Guide.

Each Convention Sponsor and Exhibitor can include the following information to list in the guide:

• Company logo—Help increase your brand recognition among Wisconsin Lake People!
• 100 word description—Describe your business, products, and services.
• Contact information—Include your contact person’s name, e-mail address, phone number, web address, and your office location.
• Additional logos to recognize generous Business Partner support—All Convention Sponsors, Wisconsin Association of Lakes Corporate members, and Silent Auction Contributors will have additional logo(s) inserted below the company logo to acknowledge their business’s generous support of the Convention and WAL.

Download the 2007 Business Partner Guide (PDF 1.33 MB) as a sample

Wisconsin Lakes Convention schedule*

* Schedule subject to change. Detailed schedule is on the UW Extension Lakes Program website.
**Bold text indicates time when attendees are encouraged to visit exhibit booths.