Networking, education and all things exhibits and events takes place this week. Today starts the formal classes (many started yesterday with some introductory classes) and events.

First up for me: Candy Adams (The Booth Mom) on Show Operations. Look for summaries and reports all week at this site and at my other portal, http://texastradeshowguy.blogspot.com/.

TTSG

I’ll be reporting from the classes and events via this blog and it’s brother (The Relentless Networker). Let’s compare notes and maybe share project ideas.

Lee Knight and his team from Exhibitor Magazine have done a great job on this meeting of industry minds since they turned it into an educational venue for TSMs just starting out or needing mid-career guidance.

The event is held annually at Mandalay Bay and includes continuing education classes and an exhibit floor. It is a quality interaction between suppliers and buyers.

Learn more at www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitorshow

See you there.

TTSG

In the past week I have received no less than four Exhibitor Show guides, two in one day yesterday. Now, I really do intend to register and go to this event, but I really only need one book.

Maybe I should be keeping track of the priority code on the back of the book?

TSG

Not one to hype things, I do have a soft spot for this event. You can be certified and network all in one place–and that place is Vegas, the ultimate trade show city.

The 2010 event is at Mandalay Bay, March 14-18, 2010. Lee Knioght and his team at Exhibitor Magazine (www.exhibitor2010.com for the event or www.exhibitoronline.com for the magazine).  Lee turned this event a few years back into one of the best training opportunities for trade show managers and marketing people.  And it has grown significantly since he made that decision.

Classes and roundtables along with networking events, make this one of the best opportunities out there for teh dimensional communicator. The trade show floor, too, gives access to a broad brush of suppliers and services.  Kind of practices what we in our industry preach.

A couple of years back this event gave me a great opportunity to bond with our largest client’s new trade show manager.  We attended classes together and apart and met between and after classes to discuss and network.  The result was a better, more trusting relationship between us.  Both company’s benefited.

Be sure and put Exhibitor’s show on your Christmas list.

TTSG

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.

At TSEA I met those people in my community–the trade show and events community–and learned that what we did wasn’t just an afterthought to the brochures and executive interaction that my bosses found so important. What I did learn was that me and my peers at other companies creating the selling environment that directly generated revenue and profit for our employers. Wow, I thought, this job could really make a difference to the bottom line.

Being able to walk the exhibit floor as a potential buyer and interact with my fellow TSMs and our suppliers (some of whom I still connect with to this day) gave me the energy to seek more. More information to make my exhibits powerful selling tools. More information to train our exhibit staffers. More information to justify and support the ROI of my program. It was that great culmination of training, salesmanship and camradarie that we all need as professionals in whatever field we choose.

While Lee Knight’s Exhibitor Show draws bigger and is the CEU keeper now, it is always good to know that there is more than one source for information and training. and, for me anyway, the original trade show for trade shows.

Keep up the good work, TSEA. I hope to be back in a future year.

TTSG

The latest news from the 2009 Exhibitor’s Show in Las Vegas as reported by my colleague, Jeff Vanden Hoek of Imagecraft Exhibits, reports that there are some notable trends in the exhibit world of which to take note.

“I did notice is that LED has taken over the lighting applications – thin is in. Several companies promoting super thin backlit graphics – probably 1/8″ thick.”

“Also, technology has made a huge push this year, vis a vis, animation, interactive games and presentations.”

“It seems as though the lines between exhibits and private events have blurred considerably. A good thing, I think.”

Thanks, Jeff. Great observations on a changing industry.

TTSG

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year, but the package (actually, the latest one) came in the mail yesterday. It was like Christmas for exhibit people–lots of options for training and interaction. The crowd who attend are really a who’s who of the trade show and exhibit industry, both from the supplier and the customer side.

Before you dismiss this as a shameless plug, remember this: every time management and self-help guru out there says we all need time to regroup and “sharpen the saw” or something similar. Don’t neglect your training and certainly don’t neglect your network.

Lesson Learned: always be open to learning something new and meeting new people–your career depends upon it.

TTSG

Each trade show program and calendar are unique, but many milestones are common. When is your keystone show? That is, what are the two or three large shows that anchor your calendar and help you shape your planning and revenue (and sales)? Let’s try a few examples:

If you are in retail technology, you probably start the year at NRF (National Retail Federation) at the Javits Center in January. Fact is, if you are headed to this show, you better be ready, since it opens on January 11. FMI-Marketechnics is probably next in up May (this year in Dallas). The rest of the year is probably populated with medium-sized and smaller shows where you reach out more vertical segments of your market. Kind of a front-loaded year.

Healthcare technology probably is centered on HIMSS in February and AHIMA in October. Many smaller vertical shows fit in in March and the fall season to round out the slate.

Aviation and defense suppliers are at the Navy League (April), AUSA (October) and international air shows (Paris this year in June, Dubai in the fall and Australia in March).

Technology and data storage types rely on SNW Spring (April) and Fall (October) with Brainshare (March) and Oracle Open World (September) as pegs on the board. Add in the Microsoft TechEd series and the plan starts to flow.

Security providers and suppliers use the March Vegas-based ISC-West and September’s ASIS (American Society of Industrial Security) as landmarks of horizontal business and fill in with ISC-East (August) and CardTech-SecureTech in between (along with regional ASIS’ events).

So, look over your year and plot–your exhibit partners will appreciate the foresite and the projection. July and August are slow for them and for conferences and trade shows in general. Don’t forget to plan a vaction for yourself and training, too (Exhibitor’s show in Vegas in March and TS2 in the summer).

Lesson Learned: plan your work and work your plan. Make time your friend.

TTSG

It gave me the opportunity to reconnect. Thanks, Joel, Steve, Skip, Jeff and others for taking the time to converse. Renewing friendships and connections are incredibly important in this industry, as it is elsewhere.

It gave me the opportunity to learn. Thanks Katharine, Ed, Corbin, Jim, Scott and the others for reinforcing that I need to understand my business (and that of my clients) before I can craft messages and delivering and measuring credible results. I’m glad to see the concepts of brand, measurement, messaging, engagement beside the industry buzzwords of logistics, I&D, drayage, design and fabrication. While they have always been there for many, it wasn’t always the case in days gone by. At least not at the pervasive level I saw here.

It gave me the chance to meet new people. Thanks, Donna, Karen, Luise, Lauren, Kim and the others I met in classes and at parties and receptions. Thanks for talking with me and I hope our paths cross many times in the future.

It gave me the chance to renew and recharge. I learned again the passion I have for communication and translation of ideas. It was fun to talk about how to craft the message, how to measure the result, what product would work in that application, who can get something done in time and all those other things that make this a fun and interesting industry and career.

Lesson learned: this business, business and life are about relationships.

TTSG

Ed’s presentation centered around measurement as had others at this conference. The difference was Ed layered over statistical justification and facts to give them method statistical credibility. Ok……

I did like his Thinking in Threes approach (wouldn’t you guess). Early on he outlined these three reasons to measure:
1. Justify
2. Improve
3. Grow

They are not just reasons, they are a process. I could have stopped right there. While his statistically analysis was credible and important, it seemed a bit of overkill and far too complicated. I’m a keep-it-simple kinda guy, so don’t weigh me down with too much stuff to make your point.

His payback ratio was a good thing, but could it simplified? I’ll have to re-read.

One of his best lines: he lives in “the Estrogen Ocean” as just about everyone (wife, daughters, employees, colleagues) are women. He used this line to illustrate a point about product (Leggs panty hose) value implied.

Lesson learned: measurement should be statistically valid but credible and understandable.

TTSG