Marshall Yard:

Trade shows are like a parade in reverse - you have about three seconds to capture an attendee’s attention. Your exhibit, ideally, should be an accurate - and aesthetically pleasing - representation of the quality your company embodies.

Getting Started

As you ponder the size, type and functionality, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your marketing objectives for this show? 
• How is your organization perceived in the industry? Do you hope to change that perception?
• Will your marketing objectives change for each show?
• What’s your ideal marketing environment (ie. private meetings, demonstrations)?
• At how many events do you exhibit nationally?
• What type of exhibit space will you reserve (island, inline, etc.)?
• How much are you able (or willing) to invest in your display?
• What’s most important to you - design or cost?
• Who is your audience? Does it vary by show or region?

Choosing a Trade Show Exhibit Display Company

It’s vital that you research the exhibit houses with which you’re interested in partnering. What is their reputation? Do they offer a full range of services? Will you get a dedicated account management team? What does their Website look like? Believe it or not, a Website - like an exhibit - can be quite telling with regards to marketing expertise and overall quality.

The best place to begin researching suppliers is to visit a trade show and chat with exhibitors. Ask about their suppliers’ level of service and ability to materialize what the exhibitor hoped to communicate.

When you’ve chosen one - or a few - potential exhibit partners, make sure to provide all information necessary: budget, time line, decision-making process, marketing objectives, etc. Try to avoid sending a general RFP or another form of “stock” invitation to bid. You’ll get the best results from direct, personalized communication.

As a trusted expert in trade shows, and a major contributor to America’s favorite trade show blog, I’d like to offer a special blog topic today:

GREAT TRADE SHOWS FOR 2009
(please comment on any shows I may have left off of the list)

Newspaper & Print Journalists Expo

Polar Bear & Caribou Convention

Chicago Auto Show

The Annual SML (Subprime Mortgage Lenders) Conference and Exhibition

Wahabbi Terrorist Symposium and Exposition*

The Private Jet Show and Client Appreciation Luau (in sunny Maui!)**

The Bipartisan Politicians Luncheon and Bailout Expo (huge exhibits, but don’t expect any substance)

Adam Smith’s Capitalism Exhibition and Wake, visitation begins Wednesday, and continues indefinitely

IDEAS 2010 - Internation Defense Exhibition & Seminar in Pakistan (very real)

*women should be sure to shroud their faces, and men should wear long beards. 

**scheduled one week after, and in conjunction with, Chicago’s auto show

This week, the buzz around the office is all about the RSNA show (the Radialogical Society of North America’s annual meeting & expo). We have a multitude of outstanding clients at the RSNA’s. They range from Imaging on Call, who has a 20 ft. x 20 ft. custom rental booth, to the other extreme, Siemens, with a whopping 110 ft. x 220 ft. exhibit. Building a miniature “village” of different structures in a matter of a few days is fun to watch.

Word on the street (perception) is that trade shows will have fewer exhibitors in 2009, taking up less convention hall space, and with smaller exhibits, as the broader economy heads into recession. I think that’s true, by and large, but there are individual companies that are exceptions to this rule. Which side of the coin is your company on?

Tails:

Revenue is declining, profits are tighter (or in the red), and the marketing budget has a large “blip” that is “Trade Shows/Events.” In order to survive, your company decides to cut back everything, and the exposure and opportunity that a well executed trade show can offer gets thrown out with the “bathwater.” Hopefully these companies do not own their trade show exhibits - else they are wasting big marketing dollars that were invested when the economy was more favorable. In addition, there is a continuing expense of storing their exhibit property. This is a reality many companies are facing. Either scale down, or kill the program entirely.

Heads:

Your company has continued gobbling up market share, or may even be consuming competitors’ businesses via acquisition or attrition. I have a number of clients who are in this position: They are GROWING their tradeshow presence in order to undertake some major corporate agendie- Rebranding, launching new products (perhaps integrating their new acquisitions’ product line), or merely establishing their role as industry leaders. Sometimes they’re doing preventive work on potential misconceptions of who is struggling, and who is surviving, in the new economy. An effective trade show exhibit can allow a company to accomplish all of these goals in one space. A custom rental booth can be designed for each individual trade show, to ensure that the message that is conveyed is timely and precise for todays trade show audience, not last year’s.

Heads or tails, it seems like the company that rents their exhibit is better off. If you can’t afford to exhibit, you can cross off that expense for FY09. If you can afford to exhibit, you can do exactly what you want for 2009’s exhibition (e.g. - Siemens and Imaging On Call can build totally different designs for every show). It depends on what the reality is for your company, but at least you get to decide on how you’ll be perceived.

Wow..this is right up old Kevin’s alley, by accident we stumbled upon the Underwater Intervention 2008 website and the amazement in this technology really intriqued our little mississippi map.  Taking place in New Orleans, January 29-31st, at the Morial Convention Center. 

I honestly have to say, I never even realized there was such a convention.  Kevin got a bit of an education in welding when he investigated the FABTech trade show coming to McCormick Place later this year.  Can you imagine welding structures underwater?   This is the job of what they call a commercial diver, getting paid to work underwater.  (No Kevin - we are not increasing your exhibit house salary)

ROV’s = Remotely Operated Vehicles, are used for various tasks for diving contractors as well as some various programs that have gone on in the past.  EPA funded project for the environmental education, what a great opportunity for those wishing to be in this field. 

The conference will cover many topics, concrete rehabilitation, marine construction, workshops and discussions.  Commercial divers have to work in a variety of conditions, not only in water that is drinkable, but wastewater as well. 

Kevin - The Mississippi Map Turtle Mascot, was not real happy I shared his post about being depressed yesterday, so I got him online and we wanted to share some information the  MDM - Medical Design & Manufacturing Trade Show.  Coming to Aneheim California on January 29th-31st, 2008 at the Aneheim Convention Center.  Whether your business is designing of equipment for cardiac care, respitory, or surgery, this is the place that new product previews and launches are anticipated. 

Two great conferences will be taking place for any VP or Director level medical manufacturing executive.  If you are attending the MDM Expo, you are also invited to the industry related trade shows: Electronics West, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, WestPack, Plastec West and Automation Technology Expo.  With an increasingly competative healthcare market place these trade shows are informative and continue on with great advancements in our medical needs. 

While you are  thinking of your exhibit strategy for MDM West Trade Show, keep in mind the comfort of your exhibit for your prospective clients that will be reviewing the product launches all around you.  Promotional pre-show strategy can also give you an added advantage over your competition. 

So many medical advances have taken place over the years, it is quite amazing, while reading about some of the technology that is present at these shows, I thought of a process called plasmapheresis - a word that I had never heard of until my mother was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. It is the removal, treatment and the return of blood plasma from the circulatory system.  The medical device that is used for this is called a cell seperator, it is quite amazing, it’s a process that literally washes the blood of the impurities that your system can not eliminate on its own. 

I was astounded at all the new medical devices and instruments that will be present at the MDM Expo, from Sterilization Equipment to computer aided devices.