If you have a phone, you have a camera. If you have a laptop, you have a camera. And of course, if you have a decent camera … well, you have a camera! So there’s no excuse not to record something compelling.

So, when you have it, what do you do with it?

Last year, our client wanted us to preview their trade show presence with a pre-show video. They wanted something that could be posted on their YouTube channel and distributed to everyone in their database. The concept was that the hero of our short film was looking for love … and perhaps he could find it at an upcoming trade show.   (Spoiler Alert: He did. He got the girl (well, the girl’s TECHNOLOGY, anyway).

Granted, this was a bit more over the top than some of you may feel comfortable with, but it proves that you can shoot a basic, effective video with virtually no production values. There’s simply no barrier to entry to say: “Hi, here’s who we are. Here’s where we’ll be. Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s why you should care. And here’s the free thing you’ll get just for stopping by to visit.” Put your company logo at the end, drop in the booth number and post it on YouTube. Then, distribute the link to your database, or make it part of your signature line in the weeks or months leading up to the show. (If you’d like, you can even create your own YouTube channel.)

Another option is to use something called BubbleComment. This is a small video that literally pops up on your Web page in a small circular bubble, then disappears. This can be produced on your own, again with a minimum of production value. You can read more about this and other trade show Twitter uses here.

If you want to go the extra mile and produce something highly professional, then use the professionals. Consider working with Andy Saks of Spark Presentations. He’s done tons of Bubble Comments for his clients and driven a lot of traffic to their booths.

What you can do with trade show video is only limited by your imagination. Next time, we’ll talk about using video as a “roving reporter” on the trade show floor. In the meantime, how would—or should—you use pre-show video?

And yet, we put on our (trade) shows each year without making use of this essential tool. Can you imagine moviegoers arriving at the theater—their minds blank—learning about films and deciding which to attend from the posters on the walls?

Can you imagine a studio that has staked its year on the success of a blockbuster, doing nothing more than sending a flyer to a few thousand past customers?

You have all the tools you need built right into your smartphone.  Got a laptop with a camera in the lid?  Then, you’re a producer.

Whatever you do, don’t think of your next trade show as anything less than a feature film.

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Have you ever used video to promote your trade show presence?  If so, I’d like to hear about it.  What did you do?  How did it work?  Would you do it again?  Next week, I’ll share a few amazing tools that will enable you to produce your own “preview of coming attractions.”  Stay tuned!

Stand in front of your own booth and close your eyes. Focus on the sounds from your own personnel and electronics. Focus on the voices and the words of the crowd you’ve gathered. Think about what you hear. Think about what it means for your company and your trade show presence. Next, try a noise-canceling headset and just observe in silence.

Do you want to engage your customers in a conversation?  Or do you just want to add to the noise? There’s much you can learn from your own senses …

At a trade show, does the perception of your company matter more than your message?

And your booth better be the best damn billboard you’ve ever seen!

Imagine your trade show attendees weren’t just fast-walking down the trade show aisles; they’re traveling at 65 mph right past your booth—that booth where you’ve invested so much time and money. The reality is, you don’t have to IMAGINE it. If you’ve ever witnessed that staring-at-the-carpet, “don’t-even-TRY-to-talk-to-me-I’m-busy,” look, they might as well be going 65 mph, ’cause they sure ain’t stopping to talk to YOU!

So what do you do?  What can you put on a sign? What single message will make people slam on the brakes and cause a nice little pileup right in front of your booth? It has to convey: The most incredible thing in the world, THIS exit! But how in the world do you come up with THAT?

You want a showstopping billboard? Lead!

PUSH your marketing people. PUSH your sign designers. PUSH for something that’s not like everything else. Evoke unusual graphics. Demand a distinct style. Reinforce that your brand is more than just a marketing message with a large typeface and some clip art … Then, trust your team to execute without feeling like the Sword of Damocles is hanging by a thread over their heads, ready to drop if something doesn’t match the typical exec-approved aesthetic. If they don’t truly believe they have the latitude to create outside the box without getting smacked down, they’ll simply recycle the type of nondescript signage that soars through approvals.

There are really only two criteria: Does it favorably reflect your brand? And … does it make people STOP?

Those attendees are whizzing by at 65 mph. Make them pull off at your exit.

Author’s note: What’s worked for you at past trade shows? What’s been your signage showstopper? Let’s put together an awesome list for everyone to leverage in their next brainstorming session!

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.”

Okay, here’s today’s point and it’s a simple one: It is absolutely critical to your success to know what to say when someone comes into your booth.

Let’s face it, if you’ve got a great booth design, solid branding, a compelling message, maybe even a world-class trade show presenter, it’s very likely that there will be a whole lot of potential leads standing right in front of you. The key to keeping them there is to have an arsenal of excellent open-ended conversation starters. (If the question you’re asking will elicit a yes/no response, it’s a conversation ender!) The initial questions should always be light and friendly, and then go deeper from there. But the underlying question-asking principal still holds.

Your Cheat Sheet of Effective Questions

These will get you started (not necessary to ask in this order):

Look at their badge and say: “So ___________, what do you do at [company name]?

“How did you get started in this field?”

“What would you say is the biggest challenge you’re facing?”

“How have you addressed that issue in the past?”

“How did THAT work for you?”

“What kinds of things are you looking for at this show?”

“Great show so far. What have you seen that you’ve really liked?”

“How have you been dealing with challenge of _______________?” (online security, identity theft, etc.)

Listen, then follow up: “That’s interesting. One of our customers had the same issue. Let me show you what we did for THEM. …”)

“How familiar are you with our company’s product / service / etc.?”

“You’ve heard about some of the features in our live demo. Which one makes the most sense for what YOU’RE doing?”

“What feature DIDN’T you hear about that might be something you’d be interested in?”

“What is your timeline for implementing this type of solution?”

Trade Show Exhibits Are Intended to Serve a Purpose …

… and that purpose, when you boil it all down, is new customers/more revenue/success. Why build a booth … why book the travel … why even rent the space, if you’re not willing to engage with the people you’re paying to attract?  If you can’t get a good conversation started, all the booth whiz-bang in the world isn’t going to help.

So, start with the some of the “openers” above, customize them, make them yours and I promise, you WILL get better results at your next trade show.

Author’s note: I’m sure a lot of my readers already know how to ask a great opening question. In fact, I’m counting on you to help me. So, for the benefit of everyone, please comment and share your best conversation starters and let’s put together the most powerful list possible!

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.

How about this time, you start over. From scratch. I’m talking 4-5 months before the show, get those marketing directors, department managers and corporate personnel in a room around a table and find a completely different, utterly fantastic way to deliver your message and present your brand. Yes, easier said than done. But here’s your roadmap …

A New Trade Show Approach is Only an Improvisation Away

Imagine you’re sitting at that meeting table. Some people you know well. Some faces are relatively new. Some extroverts are champing at the bit to share their ideas, and some others are looking for a potted plant to hide behind. But you’ve got to come up with something all together. The biggest danger to the best ideas is the issue of intimidation. Group leaders (either by personality or rank) will always let you know what they think. But oftentimes the best ideas are in the heads of those who are too shy to share or those who no longer speak up because they’ve been burned in the past when they’ve tried. It’s essential you tap the brainpower of the entire team, and improv is a tremendous way to do so.

Try this exercise I learned from improv guru William Hall: One person shares an idea, and the next person MUST say, “Yes, and …” (no matter how outrageous or objectionable the prior statement). See where it goes. Keep playing for 10 minutes or however much longer it takes to get fully around the table. Make sure someone (in addition to playing along) scribes the key concepts on a whiteboard. People will say some crazy things, but there’s always a genius idea in there somewhere from which an entire trade show presence can launch. And don’t be surprised if that idea emerges from a really quiet person finally emboldened by the notion that every idea has equal validity!

Now, the biggest buzzkill to this lovefest is when the manager with true approval power isn’t involved in the exercise and subsequently shoots it down. So plan ahead, and make sure all the key decision-makers are in the room and participating. If you’re a part of the solution in real-time, it’s transformative and melts the hearts of even the most rigid mangers.

This exercise can work to develop all the elements of a trade show—from the theme to the message to the giveaways to the booth layout and flow. But make sure that when the meeting wraps, you’ve developed a rock-solid 30-second elevator pitch of what you want to communicate to your trade show audience. From that, it’s easier to craft a catchphrase, billboard tagline and anything else.

Get out of that rut! This is your clarion call for more creativity, more fun, better ideas and better results! Because as Coach Torts would say, “Safe is Death.”

Think twice before you "turn it up to 11."

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.

Here’s the backstory: I recently worked a high-tech trade show in Las Vegas and was doing a presentation for my client at the opening reception. This event was billed as a tremendous soft marketing opportunity—a chance to meet with potential clients in a more informal setting with food and beverage … and best of all, no competing events. Just a nice stretch of quality time before all the trade-show craziness begins.

And you know, they delivered: The food was great. The drinks were flowing. The people were receptive. And just when I was in the middle of a presentation with a large crowd of interested and attentive guests, just when our booth staff was having some meaningful one-on-ones with potential customers … BOOM! Rock music begins roaring from our end of the hall (where, ironically enough, the “preferred” booths happened to be). CONVERSATION? Not a chance!  It was unfathomable. People were furious and trying to find the show planners to complain. Meanwhile, this 10-piece rock band was blasting away … and blasting away any opportunity to do business. And yes, they played for an hour, virtually hijacking the evening.

This was supposed to be a soft-marketing opportunity; a chance to get together and connect with people. It was not meant to be a rock concert.

Sure, have a jazz quartet. Have an acoustic guitarist. Or, tell people there’s going to be a fantastic rock performance after the reception, “so stick around!” But don’t charge people a ton of money for preferred booth location, provide everything they need to conduct highly valuable discussions … and THEN make that completely impossible by cranking the band up to “11”!

When planning an event—especially a client reception—be very careful that your entertainment doesn’t prevent business from getting done.

We were there to do business. They were there to rock our socks off. And they wondered why folks complained …

Coming Soon: Attack of the RFID Scanners!

The only problem, as we know, is these are light-years from true qualified leads. Sure, you can make yourself a nice little certificate touting your lead total, print it out, frame it and mount it on the wall. Sure, you can win the pissing contest with your other scan-crazy colleagues. But what are they planning to do with all those names, and better yet, WHO’S going to sift through them all, if at all? It’s the trade-show equivalent of those sadly horrifying “Hoarders” reality shows. Too much “stuff” is just as paralyzing as having nothing at all.

And like any sickness, you begin to experience unwanted side effects. All that emphasis on acquisition (and theoretically on processing) leaves a vacuum in corporate intelligence. Say your company makes a multimillion-dollar sale. Well, where did that sale originate? If you can’t answer THAT, then how can you be sure to do more of what worked? Most companies do not have sophisticated mechanisms for connecting those dots and tracking all the way from “lead” to “sale” years later. In fact, bringing home 40,000 names from a trade show only pollutes the quality of that data. At that point, you may have the right name buried on a list, but did you do anything with it? What happened after that trade show? Did someone actually find that needle in the haystack, or is it mere coincidence while something or someone else entirely initiated conversations with that client?

Ultimately, beyond the manpower and brainpower needed to make sense of all that auto-scan data, what happens when everyone jumps on the bandwagon? One suit pushes a button, and a massive RFID shockwave roars through the entire show floor. Seconds later, the details of every attendee are transmitted to every exhibitor. It’s Minute 1 of Day 1 of your trade show, and you and everyone else already has “all” the leads. Based on that line of thinking, you might as well all just pack up and go home.

Here’s an easy example: Try a magic trick at a trade show for a small group of adults. If it’s the right trick with some sort of natural segue to your product or technology, it may very well be a helpful mechanism to drive further discussion. But try that same magic trick for the kids, and woah! Now we’re on to something! Before you know it the kids are out of their minds with excitement. Next thing you know, you’re performing for a captive audience of 40—kids and adults—who have gathered around. It’s a simple mantra: Once you have the kids, you have the parents. And once you have the parents, you have everyone.

It’s the fundamental difference between trying to get the rapt attention of a businessperson fast-walking down the aisle staring at their Blackberry and getting the attention of a wide-eyed youngster in a stroller who can’t believe you just pulled ten thumb drives out of your left ear.

There’s a Child in Us All

Unless you’re in a specialized niche, the vast majority of your trade shows will likely NOT be kid-friendly. In those instances, they key is to find that inner child in the adults surrounding you. Your booth presence needs to feel kinetic— movement, sound, bright, visually appealing colors and a centerpiece that deserves and demands attention.  And yes, that could even be a professional trade show presenter.

It’s going to take a lot to stop that Blackberry power-walker in their tracks. But we can all be distracted. Think of all those YouTube videos with a gazillion views. You think all those views happened after work hours and on weekends? No, my friend. Someone who was working productively got an email and got distracted. And then that person stayed because the content was compelling. A trade show booth has strong similarities. When looking for the inner child in adult trade show attendees, think Walt Disney. Think about not just creating a booth, but creating an attraction! What is the thing that will make the little kid in you put your hand on the stroller and say, “Daddy! Stop here!” When you’ve found that, you’ve found the heart of your trade show presence.

P.S.: When my son was in a stroller, he never ONCE asked me to take him to “PowerPoint World.”

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