One of the best ways to get a sense of what is going on in our industry (and that of our clients’) is to walk a show floor.

I will be at the HeliExpo on Sunday, February 21, at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston. The show opens tomorrow and runs through Tuesday. Read More...

Here’s an update on the Aviall trade show booth branding exercise.

The latest is the addition of a formerly blank booth backwall being treated with a new graphic. This tone-on-tone vinyl image reinforces the Aviall “box” image and graphic look. Read More...

I was at a presentation today that was about communicating with your audience. Within the presentation was a discussion of how to reach the Y Gen’ers in the workforce. Thinking in threes (I like that, you know), the speaker emphasized that communication to this audience should:

1. Summarize
2. Be concise
3. Be written for scanning Read More...

Our trip to Heli Expo in Houston was worthwhile. The purpose for going was to:

• Discover the basic layout and flow of the show
• Learn the major players
• Experience the event
• Discern how our clients fit into the show

The high-level analysis of the show:

• Over 500 exhibitors
• Halls A thru E of George Brown Convention Center (500,000 square feet)
  
• Major players mixed in with smaller exhibitors throughout the hall
• Exhibits open 19 hours over three days

Things to do going forward with regard to this show (or other shows requiring evaluation):

• Analyze the show before arriving

• Attendees

• Competitors

• Marketplace

• Measure attendee’s opinions

• Understand memorability

• Number of leads and classification

• Time-to-purchase decision

This was a good one-day show example and there will be more to learn from as time progresses. Will attedn teh AS3 show in Dallas with this same client later this month. Read More...

It’s a proven formula: targeting and evaluating/prospecting a show in one long day. The latest example is the Heli-Expo Show in Houston.

This annual show moves between cities (including Dallas, Houston and several others). It takes up most of a multi-hall convention center, so Houston’s George Brown and the Dallas Convention Center fill up nicely. The hall is laid out clearly and fairly with the major anchor exhibitors (Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter and Sikorsky) evenly spaced at the right, left and center of the hall, with smaller exhibitors evenly patched in between them all. In other words, just because you bought a 10×10 in-line booth doesn’t mean you are relegated to the back and far corners of the hall. Read More...