Having a “draw” at your exhibit is an important part of the lead-gathering process. Whether it’s a serious presentation or a live-action dance team or entertainer, it’s all about the lead–and the attention on the show floor.

The Buzz. Read More...

Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails….chances are somebody has made them into a foam stress item at one point in the trade show world. In an effort to reach out to trade show and event attendees, many exhibiting companies are resorting to the old squeeze play. OK, so I’ve overdone the analogies. The truth is the world of foam stress balls has grown beyond stress balls. And some of the participants are using the little foam guys in an integrated fashion and to great advantage.

At the recent NACS show I saw a variety of things in this category: foam giraffes, cars, sumo wrestlers, gasoline storage tanks (really), footballs and wrist bands. Anything that you could want in a foam shape, you could have to take home. In fact, one of my colleagues said he’s been collecting these things are several years and has hundreds of them. Read More...

The just-completed NACS show was a great exercise in being prepared and having measurable results at the end of it. My client, Retalix, did all of the things you need to do to make sure that the staff is prepared and knows what’s going on before, during and at the conclusion of a show.

One of the critical pieces of preparing a booth staff for a show is the pre-show meetings, including the opening day standup meeting. Doug Fick, the VP of Sales for Retalix’ Convenience Store business segment, gave one of the best, most complete captain’s speeches I’ve ever heard. In his Sunday morning speech, Doug hit on the important things he wanted his staff to know:

• What to do when a client approaches.
• Who to refer prospects to in the booth.
• How to collect and qualify leads.
• Which key customers would be visiting the booth during the show, when to expect them and to whom to refer them.

Doug spelled all this out to the staff as they stood around him. It was conversational in tone, professional and imparted useful information to the team. What’s more, and beyond the staff training part of the show, Doug knows what to do with the leads and how to classify and distribute them at the show’s conclusion. On the last day of the show, Doug was able to tell me who the key players were who visited the booth, could target and quantify the potential business from the show and was moving on to changing leads into business after the show. To Retalix’ credit, they have a central customer/prospect database and use it to further classify, qualify and track the progress of a sale. I wish more people who use trade shows would use the tools that Doug and people like him use and implement to get the results that they truly want. The result of all this was a lead count and collection of gathered data that met the expectations of the sales team and executives and can be tracked. Read More...

Laying carpet and pad may seem like a simple thing, but executed accurately, it can save you time and money, make your staff comfortable and improve the appearance of your booth immensely.

At this show we did several things:

1. Notched the pad for the cables so that the carpet on top laid flat
2. Measured from one lead corner
3. Covered our finished work with visqueen

The guys started by taping off the lines of the 20×30 space with double-stick tape. This defines the edges of the booth and will eventually hold the carpet in place.

Next, the pad is rolled out. Usually, the pad is rolled in the opposite direction that the carpet is rolled. Since we have 4 rolls of 5 x 30-foot pad, we choose to roll the length of the booth to minimize seems. Once the pad is down, we notch it to accommodate the large electrical cords that will beneath the booth. Here in Chicago, the electrical power and internet/phone come from floor boxes, two of which are within the perimeter of the space. The large flat supply cords and round extensions are cut around and taped to the floor. The pad is taped together, but not to the floor, except in a few key places with gaff/duct tape to keep the edges from sliding. Read More...

I stand corrected. My copy of Trade Show Executive arrived today and in it was their annual “Gold 100″ of top trade shows.

NACS is number 52. I had my stats wrong. Read More...