Then again,.....(more swine flu news)

The E-3 show seems to be pushing on despite the flu.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/29/despite-swine-flu-fears-e3-progressing-as-planned/

It's a case-by-case basis and should be judged by those who are local and can tell best what the local health situation is.

TTSG

thanks to Joystiq

FMI Marketechnics Trade Show Postponed (correction)

This news just out: because of the swine flu outbreak in Texas, the FMI-Marketechnics trade show, scheduled for the Dallas Convention Center next week (May 6-8) has been postponed to a later date:

http://www.tradeshowweek.com/eNewsletter/CA6655588/2664.html

TTSG

thanks to TradeShow Week, FMI

Choosing appropriate giveaways

Choosing giveaways for used at trade shows is an art. Or, at the least, a well-developed skill.

At the recent MRO trade show in Grapevine, Texas, Aviall chose a couple of items that fit both the industry and the tone of the times.

Aviall is good at using branded items. With airlines cutting back on services, including offering pillows and blankets on most flights, the aviation parts supplier fashioned a branded airline pillow as a giveaway (in an ironic twist, most are Aviall customers). Packaged with the printed tag bearing the phrase, "The Aviall difference," the pillows are held back and offered only to selected guests.

Secondarily, a more mass giveaway was a hard-case luggage tag. Branded with the logo and phrase, the tag is a sliding unit that protects the ID included, making it a bit more high end.

The moral of this story is to know your audience and tailor a memorable giveaway for them to take home and use regularly (and see your name regularly). If they like it well enough, the may even send you a thank you, copy the idea or re-gift it.

Talk about giving a pillow legs.

TTSG

Finding the right keynote speaker

At a recent conference I attended I was struck by something that we should all consider when planning an event:

Choose the right keynote speaker.

Now, I'm talking about the person who opens your event. The event I attended was a single-day event and build around a theme. However, after all the hype to attend, the opening guy lacked the energy or content to keep me around. I'd spent my $200, so I was going to stay. And I was collecting some great leads. But they didn't get me off on the right foot.

The closing speaker was great, however. She got me energized, moved around, used great visuals and was really excited about her topic and being with her audience.

Hmmmm. I feel a list coming on. If you need to choose a speaker for your conference, sales meeting or one of your people is speaking to a conference, remember these ideas:

• Be energetic. People want to be involved and, if they are the opening speaker, charged up.
• Move around. Does the speaker stand behind a podium (or need to)? Consider their speaking space and platform.
• Use engaging visuals. Are the slides or videos stilted or dry?
• Be on topic. Fit the theme and relate to the audience and the conference.

There are a number of other things to consider. Just don't forget your audience.

TTSG

Collaboration Pays Off, Part II

The photos are in on the Australian Air Show from early March so we can now show off the real thing we discussed in an earlier entry.

To refresh your memory, the client, agency and the exhibit company got together and produced an exhibit that reflected the cohesive image, brand and messaging of all media presented by the company. The result is an exhibit that shares an image and brand values with print ads, collateral, internal communication and spoken messages.


This consistency is vitally important to maintaining your brand image as well as controlling the equity. Being consistent in front of all customer sets (internal, external, multiple channels) means that there is less explaining to do when it comes to values that the company embodies.


TTSG

Report from the HIMSS show

Our colleague, Jeff Vanden Hoek of Imagecraft Exhibits, was in Chicago this past week at the HIMSS trade show. Jeff reported a few observations to us:


"Just wanted to give you my observations from HIMSS. Seems like the number of large exhibitors was down. However, there were a surprising amount of first-time exhibitors. My feeling is that there were many more smaller exhibits than in the past. There were also a large number of rental exhibits, both small booths and island exhibits. Again, direct-to-surface printing and fabric graphics were a large part of the exhibits I saw."

"The busiest booth appeared to be Microsoft's. They were showing off some very cool applications via their partners, through the use of the Microsoft Surface (touchscreen) application."

Thanks, Jeff. New trends in sizes, numbers and techniques are always good to hear about.

TTSG