Recently a colleague related a story about a client’s confusion over a show.

There are a number of shows in several industries that have similar names. In this example, the client thought they were going to the Dubai Air Show, when in fact, they had booked space at the Dubai Airports Show. The former is a defense and aerospace show on a par with the Paris and Farnborough Air Shows. The latter is an equipment and services show for the commercial or civil airport markets. Read More...

Our colleague, Trade Show Bob Milam was at the Trade Show Exhibitor’s Association (TSEA) TS2 (trade show for trade shows) last week in Chicago. He filed this report for us.

“I have indeed just returned from TS2 last week, where I had some very interesting conversations with industry colleagues. It was my first TS2 in a number of years, since it always seemed to conflict with another show, or something.”

“I was somewhat surprised, yet pleased, to see the difference in the attendee make-up between TS2 and Exhibitor Show. While Exhibitor Show caters to the client-side-based ‘Trade Show Manager’, I noted that TS2 attracted a much broader (yet sparser) spectrum of the industry. I&D Company principals, transportation guys, designers, show organizers, exhibit builders, etc., etc., were walking the aisles alongside some exhibit managers.” Read More...

In an earlier post, we discussed how you should choose a potential marketing partner. With the economic climate being what it is currently, you should revisit this process.

Just because the incumbent is the incumbent doesn’t mean you should keep them–or shed them. Ask for regular reviews and to revisit your contract or pricing structure. If they can afford it and you need to make cuts, come to an understanding so you both can survive. You can make it up to each otehr later. Read More...

TSEA’s annual TS2 event opens in Chicago today. If you are an exhibit manager and you haven’t heard of this organization, take a look at the reports from The Windy City and consider keeping up with these folks.

The Trade Show Exhibitor’s Association has been around for years and was my first exposure to a group doing what I did. Being a 3D communicator in an internal marketing communications group led by 2D people made me a bit of the odd guy out. However, when I went to my first Trade Show for Trade Shows (TS2) years ago, I found myself among my own kind and feeling like less of an island. Read More...

Our colleague, Micheal Edgren VP of Marketing at Renaissance Learning, just returned from the National Educational Computing Conference with this report.

“NECC has been on an upswing for years now. There was a time when shows like FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) were a national draw for educators interested in technology, but the attention has clearly moved to NECC. Reported attendance was 12,850. Although this is down 4% from 2008 attendance they’ve done significantly better than other educational conferences. Some, like IRA (International Reading Association) had horrendous years due mostly to the necessary belt-tightening on the part of our public school systems.” Read More...

Our colleague just returned from the Paris Air Show with a story that, in this day and age, is a bit unbelievable. But given our source, undeniably true.

Having hired a limo service for cars (for execs) and a bus (for staffers), it seemed that all was going well. the execs had drivers who were on time, knew their routes and spoke when appropriate. The bus, however, was quite a different story. Read More...

It is easy to get caught up in the size of your space and the properties you will use to fill it. However, one of the most effective ways to do space planning is to step back and look at your product (or offering or service).

How will your clients and prospects interact with the product? How do you want them to interact? What is the best use of space to display your product? Read More...

OK, the old ways do have a place. But do they?

Loyalty and dedication are one thing. Blindness relating to either is quite another. Read More...

Trade show program properties many times are engineered to do double or triple duty. That is, can your properties be set in multiple configurations–10×20, 20×20, 30×40–while still maintaining the look and feel of the brand and the company?

A variation of this is a property that can be configured and shaped into different sizes and appearances to support multiple clients. Our friends at Smalley & Associates in Dallas have a custom rental property that we’ll use here as an example. Read More...