One of the difficult things to do in exhibit management is change course when it comes to presentation. Most times, strategy drives these changes. Lately, cost and a realization of what a real ROI is has helped make the decision.

Our colleagues at Aviall made changes based upon both.

At the Paris Air Show, Aviall showed less hardware and product than they have in previous years. They are using more graphics and using storytelling by staff to portray the products as opposed to actually displaying things. This accomplishes several things:

• Sharpens the focus of Aviall’s mission from the product to the process
• Reduces expenses by lowering freight and drayage costs as well as saving time in filing paperwork to import and export displays and products.

This evolution has helped reduce clutter and cost and help tell more of the Aviall story, since it is now not focused just on product, reports Kim Williamson of Aviall. Read More...

Crafting a clear and concise position for your company so that trade shows are effective. That was the key to this session. But I’m not sure it flowed as easily as it should have.

There was a bit of disconnect in the flow from setting up the positioning statement to extracting the messages for use in the exhibit, but I’m sure it will come to me as I re-read my notes. However, Marilyn Kroner’s (Kroner Communications, Boulder, CO) did make a great effort in mapping her process. Read More...