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Category Archives: Trade show news & trends
Create a Traffic Jam at Your Booth
You’re driving down the highway. You see a billboard. You glance at it. Then, your eyes are back on the road. You don’t slow down and read the fine print. You don’t pull over and climb the ladder to get a closer look. You just glance at it and it’s gone. Those advertisers know what they’re doing. They KNOW their audience is a moving target with a very small window for impact and success. So, that message has a powerful graphic. It’s simple, with a memorable message. It brands the company and it’s evocative. It’s the classic example of effective high-speed advertising.
And your booth better be the best damn billboard you’ve ever seen! Continue reading
‘Hi. Can I Help You?’ … And Other Guaranteed Ways to Kill a Conversation at a Trade Show
A few weeks ago at the Supercomputing ’11 trade show in Seattle, I decided to conduct an experiment. I took off my headset microphone, borrowed an attendee badge, and started cruising the show floor. And unlike many trade show attendees, I actually walked into most of the booths. And what I experienced could very well have served as a crash course on “The Top Ten Ways to Get People To Run Away From You.” Continue reading
Want Better Trade Show Results This Year? Improvise.
Be careful that you’re not on autopilot with trade show planning, presentations, marketing and booth design. If you’re just going through the motions and making the safe choices you know will get through the approval process, the specter of “trade show death” is already hovering. I mean, if you’re bored, don’t you think that’s reflected in your trade show presence? Don’t you think attendees can pick up on that tedium and strut right on by? Ennui isn’t exactly a trade show aphrodisiac. Continue reading
How To Piss Off Your Exhibitors
I almost didn’t write this. I wasn’t interested in simply firing off an angry rant about a bad trade show experience. I told myself, “If I’m just venting, I don’t have to do that in a public forum that’s meant to be for the benefit of others.” So, I waited a bit until I had something constructive to say—something that might save a Company planning a trade show from having a whole lot of their preferred guests screaming at the top of their lungs (literally) for an explanation. And that something is this: No matter how awesome you think something will be—no matter what brand or company image you’re looking to present—you cannot afford to lose sight of the intention of that event. Continue reading
Auto-Scan Hell – When Knowing ‘Everything’ is Worse Than Knowing ‘Nothing’
They’re at it again. I can personally report from a recent large and well-known trade show that this time they’re armed with massive mounted RFID auto-scan receivers. Yes. It seems that many trade show exhibitors are still on that ill-fated mission to capture the details of EVERY attendee at the show. Sure, right now they’re “only” capturing every attendee in the vicinity of their booth … but why stop there? Just a little more wattage—a little more juice—and you can return to Headquarters touting 40,000 leads from your last show. You. Can. Have. Them. ALL. (Insert diabolical laughter, here.) Continue reading
Are You Being ‘Kid Friendly’ at your trade shows?
Many trade shows don’t allow children. But if you happen to be working one that does, you simply cannot afford to ignore that fact. When children are attendees too, all the rules change for the better. It’s easier to grab a group’s attention. It’s easier to start a conversation. And it’s easier to advance that conversation into rewarding territory. Now, your immediate reaction may be, “Hey, you can’t take advantage of the children!” I wouldn’t dream of it. No, my intention is to always captivate the children: Get them excited. Get them having fun. Get them paying attention. Because you know what? The parents will (and often must) follow. Continue reading
10 Tips to Turbocharge Your Trade Show Booth Staff (Part II)
I sat down with Andy Saks, Chief Sparkler at the presentation design and delivery agency Spark Presentations, to discuss booth staff performance. From our conversation came the Top 10 Ways to Radically Transform Booth Staff Effectiveness, and last week we presented Nos. 1-5. The conclusion includes some incredibly valuable and concrete ways to get more out of your staffers and get better results: Continue reading
10 Tips to Turbocharge Your Trade Show Booth Staff (Part I)
So much money and time and creativity is spent getting trade show attendees into a booth. Yet a shockingly large percentage of those same exhibitors fail to put equal thought and resources behind what staff should do when people get there. Continue reading
What if You Were the Hottest Thing on the Trade Show Floor?
If you were truly the most important company on the trade show floor (and everybody knew it), you would walk differently. You would talk differently. There’d be a certain swagger and authority you’d bring to every interaction. Even contemplating that notion and conjuring the mental image creates a bit of a shift. It just feels different. And if carried through to the exhibit hall, it’ll look different to everyone around you. Continue reading
What if You Were Googled & it Came Up, ‘Never Heard of ‘Em’?
If no one knew who you were, how would you present your brand? It’s a powerful question for anyone to ask, but it’s especially potent for companies that have been around a long time. What if this was your very first trade show … What if no one knew a thing about what you do or what you stand for. Everything is brand new and shiny: The slogan is new. The identity package is new. The product positioning is new. Consider it a corporate time machine, and you’ve got the key. Continue reading