Putting Together an Exhibit from Stray Pieces, Part V: It Comes To Life

We finally made it to the NACStech show. The concept is now reality.

The idea of taking truss and enveloping it in fabric is an idea that really has merit. While it still has its challenges, it is a way to revitalize standard-looking properties and turn them into something customized for the client.

By including zippers, this could become even more tailored to specific business units.

Adding lighting gives it all another dimension.

The upside:

• You can achieve a different look with a simple fabric sleeve
• It weighs a lot less than a traditional hard-structure booth
• The size of the shipment is reduced

The downside:

• Lots of small pieces and that can be a trap for crews not used to assembling modular exhibits.
• Limits on where monitors and accessories can be placed
• Can tear if not cut and grommetted correctly
• Have to be cleaned and steamed

The partners on this project include the following people and organizations. These projects can only be accomplished by cooperation and good work done in a timely fashion.

• Retalix, the client, and Dar Hackbarth, their Director of Marketing Communications
• The Taylor Group, Dallas, led by Tim Hampton, for the management of the exhibit properties and the basic idea that was suggested to the client
• FSD, Dan Hughes' company in Denver, who produced the actual fabric "sleeves"
• Zachry Associates' lead designer, Danny Flanagan, for the design concept and translation of the Retalix brand

This was a fun project and one that shows that imagination, even in its simplest form, is alive and well in the exhibit industry.

TTSG

Putting Together an Exhibit from Stray Pieces, Part IV: In the Home Stretch

The fabric enclosures arrived and we fit them to the wall and football shapes. They look like the concepts.

The concept is by the Taylor Group Dallas. The client wanted something to transform the basic Skyline Inliten truss. This accomplishes that.

FSD in Denver took the design and made it into the stretchy fabric pieces. The image design is by Zachry Associates in North Texas.

Working all these elements together takes patience and planning.

Next stop: New Orleans and the NACStech Show, booth 659. The next challenge is assembling this all in one day.

TTSG

Putting Together an Exhibit from Stray Pieces, Part III

We have the basic structure and a plan. Now we need to wrap the pieces up so they look good.

One of the challenges is the design of the graphic panels and how they interact with the hardware they have to fit around. The design of the graphic features some photos and a brand-driven colorful design element. A catch phrase has also found its way into the design.

We engaged FSD in Denver to produce the fabric graphics and Zachry Associates of North Texas to do the design. Careful measurement and coordination is key, along with buy-in from the client on brand direction. The interim sheathing of the booth structure was done electronically to simulate what the finished product would look like.

The next step will be to marry the finished graphic to the frame before it is packed and shipped to show site. Given that we have only one work day to assemble this exhibit and install the technical demos, we know we have to stage all the pieces and parts correctly before they arrive on show site.

One of the critical challenges was fitting the monitors for the demos onto the structure so that they didn't obviously interfere with the graphic design.

Tune in next week as this "loaves and fishes" exercise continues.

TTSG

We're moving to a new location

Please look for this content and future postings at http://www.zachryinc.com/thetradeshowguy.

Thanks for reading and thanks for continuing to follow us.

TTSG

Tradeoffs

When trying to work within your budget, always consider every item:

• Do I really need an internet connection?
• How many days do I need someone on site to support me?
• Do I have to set (or tear down) the exhibit on Saturday, Sunday or after hours (can I do this on straight time?)?
• Can I reduce my shipment to lower drayage and shipping costs?
• Is renting a booth cheaper than buying one?
• Do I really need to continue to go to this show (that's a whole other topic).

Look at the list and be prepared to cut or make trades.

TTSG

On-site support

After all of the prep work to get a show (or program) together, it can't fall apart in execution.

Being on show site is the best move you can make to ensure success. Recently, due to cost constraints, a client was asked if they had to choose between an internet connection and a few extra days of on-site support, they'd chose the on-site. While there may be a workaround for the on-line access for most industries, there are few options of not having an on-site, dedicated professional watching out for things at the show, in the booth and for the staff. For example, here is a short list of things that NOT to burden the rest of your staff with:

• Badge updates
• Set up and tear down supervision
• Service bill collection
• Hotel room changes
• Directing execs and guests to the booth and receptions
• Coordinating receptions
• Ensuring lead collection
• Catalogue description
• Local transportation
• Competitive data collection
• Subcontractor coordination
• In-booth staff meetings
• On-site graphic and exhibit corrections, repairs
• Space selection for next year

This is just a simple slice of what can be had for the price of travel, per diem and a daily rate. Usually a pretty good ROI.

TTSG

Working toward face to face

The recent wave of social media tools lend themselves directly to the trade show experience.

The fact is, social networking leads to face-to-face networking.

Face-to-face networking happens in the trade show selling environment. Savvy trade show marketers will link the two types of media to enlarge their sphere of influence and increase sales. Reaching out to the customer starts with a conversation.

That conversation can be electronic in nature so that when you actually do meet face to face, you know more about each other and the cycle can be shorter.

TTSG

Having a plan and philosophy

A client just shared with me her internal trade show program plan. Great stuff and shows vision.

While it has the requisite charts and graphs showing costs and shows and timelines, it also includes direction, how vendors are managed and a long-term expectation of where the program is headed.

This helps as a directional tool, but also in succession planning.

So, think ahead and write such a document. In subsequent posts, we'll share examples.

TTSG

Knowing more about your client's business

In order for us, as a trade show suppliers, to provide the best solution for our clients, we MUST know their business.

That is, will the exhibit we provide work with the goals the client has set for the show and their company? If we think we are just filling a space we are wrong. From what the exhibit looks like to how it flows to how the staff is trained (let's start with these three), if it doesn't reflect the company brand or how the product is sold or what the messages are that need to be conveyed, it won't work. Period. And we will have wasted our client's precious budget.

Sure, we'll sell them the first time. But when it doesn't work, they won't be back. Simple as that.

So, we need to do our homework and understand the whole of the problem. Maybe they don't need to even go to a particular show. We need to be real with the client and with ourselves.

TTSG

The Trade Show Experience

This past weekend, I was contacted by a former colleague of mine from Honeywell. He reminded me of a conversation we had had a number of years ago about the value of trade shows.

He wrote that over the years he has learned that a trade show was "a place where we could interact with customers and sell them on the benefits of products." My correspondent continued about "how everything tied together to accomplish that objective...."

What my friend was talking about was the trade show experience. No matter how many brochures we rain down on prospects and customers, no matter how many phone calls or web clicks we share with them, it really doesn't come together until you meet face to face. And the whole of the marketing experience must be consistent and on message.

My colleague also took it a step further by saying his career has morphed "from being this technical guy who knew everything about round thermostats to becoming a generalist who could create marketing platforms and strategies that were transferable to other products and companies."

That's another benefit of trade shows: they are the cauldron of business in that everything comes together on the trade show floor: marketing strategy, sales activity, competitive interaction and analysis. Employees benefit from being in this fire as it warms them up to the possibilities of the company, the product or offering and themselves. Another friend in marketing for a software firm routinely promotes his trade show managers into product marketing because they "know the way."

Being visionary isn't always about selling the most product. Sometimes it's nurturing not only the selling environment but the sellers.

TTSG

A colleague reports: Why Exhibit at Trade Shows?

Our colleague, Linda Musgrove, AKA the Trade Show Teacher, posted a recent video on YouTube. In it she outlines the top reasons to attend trade shows:

• Reach prospects. It's the best way to reach more prospects for fewer dollars
• Face-to-face interaction. You can learn more from people in less time meeting them in person.
• Showing off products and services. Your suspects/prospects/clients and touch and feel your products without having to visit a site or factory or have a sales person call.
• Gathering leads. Hey, you get to collect more leads in a shorter time.
• Develop relationships. More time with people means you know them better.
• Scoping out the competition. The show floor is great for this: see your competitors and their presentation within a short distance of your own.
• Media exposure. The trade media and popular press will be at the show and you can get their attention.
• Market research. Learn more about your market and industry in a shorter amount of time, See new products, get real-time opinions from clients or prospects (or industry insiders)

Thanks, Linda, for this good information.

TTSG

Linda Musgrove is The Trade Show Teacher, www.tsteacher.com

At the right show?

Recently a colleague related a story about a client's confusion over a show.

There are a number of shows in several industries that have similar names. In this example, the client thought they were going to the Dubai Air Show, when in fact, they had booked space at the Dubai Airports Show. The former is a defense and aerospace show on a par with the Paris and Farnborough Air Shows. The latter is an equipment and services show for the commercial or civil airport markets.

Fortunately for the client, his trade show service provider was able to flex with the situation and save the day. Appropriate graphics and booth properties were substituted in a 6-hour span and the on-site sales guy was pacified and able to sell in the space.

However, it is important to make sure that, either as a client or an advisor, that the right show for the right audience is chosen before you pay for space.

TTSG

Report from the Field: Trade Show Bob at TS2

Our colleague, Trade Show Bob Milam was at the Trade Show Exhibitor's Association (TSEA) TS2 (trade show for trade shows) last week in Chicago. He filed this report for us.

"I have indeed just returned from TS2 last week, where I had some very interesting conversations with industry colleagues. It was my first TS2 in a number of years, since it always seemed to conflict with another show, or something."

"I was somewhat surprised, yet pleased, to see the difference in the attendee make-up between TS2 and Exhibitor Show. While Exhibitor Show caters to the client-side-based 'Trade Show Manager', I noted that TS2 attracted a much broader (yet sparser) spectrum of the industry. I&D Company principals, transportation guys, designers, show organizers, exhibit builders, etc., etc., were walking the aisles alongside some exhibit managers."

"I was able to have several discussions about current industry 'hot issues' with many of these industry participants - which was the most valuable part of TS2 for me. In listening to their comments, I have drawn the following conclusions:

• Shows are definitely needed - face-to-face isn't going anywhere (I already knew that, but ...)
• Attendance is down universally - with corresponding buying power % up.This isn't helping the health of the shows - down is down = less money coming in to stage the event.
• The two big issues for shows these days are : 1) exhibitor retention and 2) attendee attraction.
• Most shows don't know how to do either one very well.
• Exhibitors continue to show how naively ignorant they are (as a group) when it comes to evaluating a show's potential for success.

"These last few bullets have really got me thinking about how to reach more potential clients for 'Trade Show Bob' while having the greatest impact on the industry. I'm formulating some plans now that I'll be testing out in the coming weeks. If all goes well, I may have new success stories to share."

Thanks, Bob, for your insights and observations.

TTSG

Bob Milam can be reached at tradeshowbob@gmail.com

Revisiting choosing a marketing partner

In an earlier post, we discussed how you should choose a potential marketing partner. With the economic climate being what it is currently, you should revisit this process.

Just because the incumbent is the incumbent doesn't mean you should keep them--or shed them. Ask for regular reviews and to revisit your contract or pricing structure. If they can afford it and you need to make cuts, come to an understanding so you both can survive. You can make it up to each otehr later.

You should also broaden the scope of your view of suppliers. Many times you might be able to get away with one supplier rather than two or three. Can your branding agency handle your trade show program? Can your trade show house support your branding and marcom mix? Do you hyave an outside consultant who can broker all of the above?

Be creative in your approach and consider the many alternatives. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

TTSG

TSEA and the exhibit manager

TSEA's annual TS2 event opens in Chicago today. If you are an exhibit manager and you haven't heard of this organization, take a look at the reports from The Windy City and consider keeping up with these folks.

The Trade Show Exhibitor's Association has been around for years and was my first exposure to a group doing what I did. Being a 3D communicator in an internal marketing communications group led by 2D people made me a bit of the odd guy out. However, when I went to my first Trade Show for Trade Shows (TS2) years ago, I found myself among my own kind and feeling like less of an island.

At TSEA I met those people in my community--the trade show and events community--and learned that what we did wasn't just an afterthought to the brochures and executive interaction that my bosses found so important. What I did learn was that me and my peers at other companies creating the selling environment that directly generated revenue and profit for our employers. Wow, I thought, this job could really make a difference to the bottom line.

Being able to walk the exhibit floor as a potential buyer and interact with my fellow TSMs and our suppliers (some of whom I still connect with to this day) gave me the energy to seek more. More information to make my exhibits powerful selling tools. More information to train our exhibit staffers. More information to justify and support the ROI of my program. It was that great culmination of training, salesmanship and camradarie that we all need as professionals in whatever field we choose.

While Lee Knight's Exhibitor Show draws bigger and is the CEU keeper now, it is always good to know that there is more than one source for information and training. and, for me anyway, the original trade show for trade shows.

Keep up the good work, TSEA. I hope to be back in a future year.

TTSG

From Paris Air: is customer service dead or on life support?

Our colleague just returned from the Paris Air Show with a story that, in this day and age, is a bit unbelievable. But given our source, undeniably true.

Having hired a limo service for cars (for execs) and a bus (for staffers), it seemed that all was going well. the execs had drivers who were on time, knew their routes and spoke when appropriate. The bus, however, was quite a different story.

The first day, the driver not only arrived late, but shut off the bus. Doing that caused further delay in that it couldn't restart without a lot of gut grinding. Finally started, the driver proceeded to take the freeway to the show, causing further delay. This set of circumstances couldn't go without a call to the limo service contact.

Even with the call, the second day the same driver showed up (did I mention he lacked English-speaking skills?), again stalled the bus and had to have a second bus called for back up. More complaining and not a real clear conclusion.

Fortunately, the execs were immune to these problems.

The remainder of the show went smoothly. It's hard to say whether they will be used again.

TTSG

Using space appropriately with your product

It is easy to get caught up in the size of your space and the properties you will use to fill it. However, one of the most effective ways to do space planning is to step back and look at your product (or offering or service).

How will your clients and prospects interact with the product? How do you want them to interact? What is the best use of space to display your product?

As they say, white (empty) space has weight. This can be used to your advantage. Why not base your display around your product rather than a display? One of the best recent examples of this is EBAA Iron's island booth at the AWWA show in San Diego.

EBAA has a distinct advantage when considering this approach: their product is large and dominates most any space.

Rick Rackow, the marketing manager in charge of trade shows, really populated the carpeted space with large pipe and arrayed graphics between them. Then hung a visible sign above it all. Straightforward, simple, but eye-catching and workable.

This also uses the space to their advantage in that conference and discussion space is easy to find. Since a large part of their business is relationship based (distributors, resellers and end customers who are government), having meeting spaces became a paramount consideration.

TTSG

Good old boy networks

OK, the old ways do have a place. But do they?

Loyalty and dedication are one thing. Blindness relating to either is quite another.

A recent experience with a client and an incumbent supplier brought this to light. Just because there is an incumbent, doesn't mean they are the best fit. And from the supplier side, we think about this daily. Yes, choose your suppliers because they are loyal, provide the service when you ask, you like the contact person, and they've been with you since day one and know you and your business real well. However, in today's environment, both suppliers and buyers must be looking for or provide the best value for the effort. In recent times this has been referred to as "value-added" service.

Do you provide value-added service? Are you getting value-added service?

If the selection of a supplier is the responsibility of one of your direct reports, let them make the decision on who to choose. Chances are, your colleague has a great sense of what is needed from the supplier and best for the task at hand.

From a supplier standpoint, do you review your services on a regular basis with your clients? Are you evolving to support their changing markets and needs?

Having old, good friends as suppliers has its place, but we must be judicious, but polite.

TTSG

The convertible exhibit

Trade show program properties many times are engineered to do double or triple duty. That is, can your properties be set in multiple configurations--10x20, 20x20, 30x40--while still maintaining the look and feel of the brand and the company?

A variation of this is a property that can be configured and shaped into different sizes and appearances to support multiple clients. Our friends at Smalley & Associates in Dallas have a custom rental property that we'll use here as an example.


The booth was originally built for a client in the industrial power control business. The kiosks and graphic spaces featured the brand and products in multiple configurations.

The same properties were also proposed for a client in the security equipment and monitoring business.

While the offerings are quite different, the basic booth allowed for demonstration and client-staff interaction (the key to effective sales and marketing). The structure was modified with vinyl and/or graphic treatments to give it the look of the renting client.

The point of this case is to, as an exhibitor, be thinking of how you can direct your exhibit dollars by either having a versatile exhibit built for you or how you can rent someone else's booth and configure it for your purposes.

TTSG

Changing your display approach

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.

This is a great example of a company sharpening the focus of their presentation based upon their key messages and understanding their clientele.

TTSG