#1.  I wish the show decorators would standardize the show rules and books.  Seems like every show decorator has a sneaky item hidden and if you only work with shows a couple of times a year it can be difficult to catch all the rules.  If you miss a rule they will charge you for it.  My clients who do the show management themselves spend hours pouring over the show book.  We offer this service a la carte and we do it daily.  Even for us it is hard.

#2.  The easiest way to save money is to ship slow as much as your schedule allows.  A general rule of thumb is that art is not finished until time is up.  I wish we could have enough time to slow ship all the time.

#3.  I wish that I had a display for my clients that fit into a shoe box and was mailed with a stamp.

#4.  I wish more clients would invest in Pre and Post trade show marketing.  Heck, let's skip this one sign and put 5k into digital pre and post marketing.   You will get better show traffic and as a bonus  you get digital data that proves the importance of your marketing.  (if you are interested- call me, we can arrange this for you)

#5.  I wish more people went with simple design.  I had a client once who made custom tooled parts. He brought crates of custom parts with him to the show, he had pictures of all his custom parts on his 20' booth.  He even had a giveaway calendar done with a custom part pictured on every day.  But no where-  no where-  did his exhibit say the word "Custom". 

These are my top birthday wishes for exhibits. (as of right now).  Do you have some more?  Is there something you would like us to provide?  Is there a different method you would like us to use?  Please let me know

Happy Exhibiting!

The exhibit is important in that it meets your goals; does it do what you need it to do? Communicate and provide an architecture that reflects your company AND is the layout conducive for your goals?

Another important part of your trade show program is your trade show marketing.  Pre and Post. The onslaught of digital has made this easier with a multitude of options.  Great- but who has the time to handle all of this when marketing staff has been cut during these economic times? 

I can help.  I would much rather you have more leads than design you another hanging sign.  A benefit of professional trade show marketing is that it comes with statistics.  Wouldn't that be nice to have during your planning meetings. 

Let's talk about it-

LOL- there is so much to choose from, any suggestions?

The show was smaller this year but they had more exhibitors.  Most everyone went with a smaller foot print.

We walked the show about 5 times to make sure we saw and touched and talked to everyone.  My feet hurt.  Hmm, if your feet do not hurt after a show then you might need to go again.

My earlier posts goes over some impressions of the show and the exhibitors and here I will do some more.

My favorite booth was Champion.  *see picture below.   Because exhibitors went to a smaller booth space they had to get creative with how to keep as much floor space as possible.  A lotof exhibitors hung truss and draped fabric from the ceiling.  The Champion booth uses two towers and a fabric sign to claim it's foot print.  Very nice.  And it had some color.  There sure was a lot of white at the Exhibitor Show- too much.  A sea of white.  Can I officially declare white to be over?  I understand that people think that white will stand out at a show.  The absence being the drawing feature but, dude, it's so over.  This year if you had color than you stood out.

Another good example is the Exponents Booth.  Lots or bright, saturated color to draw your eye.  They have a new version of the Lumiture that has angles.  The kiosks sweep and arc and do not require a base plate.  There is a lot that we can do with this hardware. I am looking forward to incorporating them into designs.  The company was bought last year by a company from India.  I expect growing pains but we shall see.  Exponents has some great product but you also need a big ole' dose of patience when working with them.  The new owners have some new ideas and I look forward to seeing how it goes.

I was disappointed that there wasn't more social media incorporated into the event.  Freeman was there (in a white booth) and they had a twitter feed going. The staff did not know their hashtag so I think a bit more training on useing twitter -as opposed to just having it, would have been good.   I did get to meet @JohnDLindsey from Moss.  We have been twittering back and forth and I really enjoy his blog.  Blogs can add so much more to a company website.  I made it a point to tell the bigger wigs in the booth what an asset he is to the company.  Moss bought Nichols a few years ago and Nichols was not a favorite in my book.  Mostly because they were a PIA to work with on a project.  Really?  Why do some companies make it so hard to buy?

There was only one company there with a QR code or something like it but I found it hard to use and that is kind of the point with QR codes- that it is easy.   First time I tried I could not get it to work at all and I asked the guy in the booth what reader it used and he did not know.  Turns out that was the president (no, offence here- it is still new).  I came back later and talked to the one person who knew how it worked.  Turns out it is more of a text message.  Take a picture of the code, text to a #, then wait for response with link, then open the link that leades to an animation that I could not hear.  All to find out that the animation told me to go to the booth that I was standing in to register for an iPad.  Hmmm- the code is in the booth dude. 

I have more but I will save it for another day. I want to comment on the awards that were given out at the show.  I will also load up my pictures for the world to see.  I know you are waiting with baited breath.

Trends:  My first big statement:  White is dead.  Or maybe is should be.....  The trade show floor is a sensory overload and standing out is the challenge.  Many companies feel that by going white you will set yourself from the crowd of color vying for your attention.  Well, the opposite has occured.  There is so much white on the Exhibitor2010 floor that now that all blends in.  Not kidding there is a one isle that has 8 booths in sight that are all white.  The booths that are standing out are the ones with rich, vibrant color.

Booth Models:  I haven't seen so many in a long time.  Pretty girls, cartoon characters and look alikes.  Maybe they are cost effective- not sure why this is happening.  Could just be that there are two companies exhibiting at the show and they brought a lot of staff. 

Booths are smaller this year.  Companies have downsized their space.  The smart ones are taking the booth and lifting it.  Big high signs are hanging over the booth to establish and own the space.  Good ones do it so well that there is no doubt what company it is.  Lights and items are draped from the signs  or truss to set the foot print.  By doing this you open up the floor for cozy sitting arrangements and sales space.  I think the furniture rental people are probably doing well. 

Rental Furniture:  Because of the lifiting of the booth there is a lot of space available and a lot of furniture even in a small 20x20 booth.  The Furniture rental companies have replenished their stock of furniture with new versions.  The new furniture is up to date, mostly white and very cool looking.  Welcome to the new century.  The furniture is very curvey.  This makes it easy to configure. 

I expected more social media at the show but there is very little.  One big exhibit house has QR codes but I could not get it to work for my Verizon Storm.  I was talking to one staff member about it and he had very little knowledge on how they worked.  There was no support info on what QR reader to use.  Turns out the staff I was talking to was the Company Pres!  lol.  They could buy and sell me many times- I hope I did not piss him off.  There are 3 companies on the floor dealing with advanced software and social media type things.  I hope to investigate more.  One company does Augmented Reality- Looking forward to talking to them. (they do work for NASA). 

These items are my opinions. I am going back shortly to finish the show and go back over it one more time.  I will report again.  I have pictures but forgot my cord (dang).  Will post when I get back.

We are off to Exhibitor2010, the gang and myself. We go for our benefit and for our clients.  Pictures can only tell you so much.  We really need to feel and touch an exhibit to see the quality.

The second part is meeting with our vendors and talking.  In the exhibit world Due Date rules and sometimes you really need a relationship to pull the client through to a happy show.

And like we say at Lindsay Exhibit Group-  It's all about a successful show.

Ain't it just so?

For detailed information click here

Do you have a web location strickly for your show?  Include a picture of your exhibit and happy smiling people working the booth.  This would be a great place to insert a live stream.  Go farther and incorporate a chat also.

Also highlighted are Apps- Did you know you can stream from your phone.  Holy smoley-

To help out Lindsay Exhibit Group, (that's us) created this video- I am so proud.