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Tag Archives: crowd gathering
How To Scream “THANK YOU” (and why you should.)
If you’ve exhibited at enough trade shows, it’s safe to assume you’ve got your own, “Ahh, the show is over” ritual. You add one more Exhibitor Badge to the ever-growing collection on your bathroom doorknob. You peel off your incredibly … Continue reading
A Tip For Exhibitors: Don’t Go To Your Next Trade Show
That’s right. Don’t Go. Don’t go if you’d rather be anywhere else. Don’t go if you don’t like people. Don’t go if you don’t like a LOT of people. Don’t go if you can’t handle the idea that these people … Continue reading
‘GOT SWAG?’
Ever wondered what happens to all that trade show swag after the last day of the show? Well, here’s what SHOULD happen to it. Continue reading
“Smile”
Actual dialogue from a recent trade show: Me: Traffic’s really down this year, huh? Exhibitor: Yeah, a lot less people. Seems like about HALF. Me: Well, it’s not the greatest destination. Exhibitor: No kidding. But, it is what it … Continue reading
“That’s NOT in my Job Description”
This week’s “Hey Newman” blog was to be about ‘going-above-and-beyond, ‘thinking-outside-the-box,’ ‘getting-things-done.’ But instead of speaking about this in the abstract, I decided to invite fellow blogger, Jennifer Canale, to share her recent experience at a small trade show in … Continue reading
Have Trade Shows Made You Numb?
The trade show environment is loud. Bright. Flashy. Full of strange imagery and sounds nowhere to be found in the “real world.” (Well … Vegas aside.) It’s enough to overwhelm the senses and dull them to what you’re actually putting before the attendees on the floor—and how that compares to the choices made by every other vendor at the show. If you no longer hear the incessant beeping of badges being scanned, if you’ve gone deaf to the screams of “WHO WANTS A FREE SHIRT?!” … or if you no longer even register the spandex-clad-brand-ambassadors strutting around the show floor, then you may need to rekindle your senses, one at a time.
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 … 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
What the Royal Wedding Can Teach You About Trade Shows
Viewing estimates for the wedding ceremony of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton, at 11 a.m. British time on the dot, hovered in the three billion range, give or take 500 million. How could you possibly generate this kind of interest in your booth, short of having your Head of Marketing marry your Product Manager? Continue reading
How a Bunch of Has-been’s Took Over Sundance (Part II)
It was definitely the soft sell. We weren’t shoving swag or DVDs in people’s faces. It was a grassroots effort where the attendees became the advocates of our concept. And as the festival went on, the time we had to put into “selling” was reduced every day. It began to feed on itself, so after four or five days, our people were getting recognized for wearing the “Has-Been” logo and people were stopping us and asking if we had any more of those “Has-Been” t-shirts. Continue reading
Sex Sells … or Does it?
The year is 1985: I’m presenting at one of my first trade shows: Comdex. Strolling around the Sands Convention Center, I see more women falling out of their clothes than I’d seen at Caesar’s Palace the night before. I turn a corner and actually see one booth offering lap dances with women cooing high-tech features of products to highly “attentive” attendees. But, of course, that was then and this is NOW, right? We’ve progressed WAY beyond that kind of thing. (Insert ironic smirk, here.) Continue reading