Marshall Yard:

Design process for trade show booths should be an integral part of everything an exhibit house does.  One of the founders of Catalyst Exhibits, Inc. is a designer.  A substaintail percentage of our team are designers.  Design is important when it comes to trade show booths.

It boils down to each trade show is different.  There may be a different audience, different messages, different products and even different intentions (trade show strategies and trade show priorities).  The focus should be on adding impact to each particular exhibit floor…and not just make items fit.   This is where a great trade show booth design team comes into play.

Creative teams.  Marketing teams.  Design Teams.  And yes, engineering teams.  An trade show booth design should pass through this process for every show.  If your trade show booth design needs to be different, it will be.  If your trade show booth design needs to showcase different products or function in different ways, it will be. 

Developing strategies to support different messages in the most cost effective ways, will continue to enchance your exhibiting experience.  If you do not like what you are seeing, the trade show booth design team should be involved to modify it or start over. 

Trade Show Booth Design does not end with fabrication.  In a way, event design begins there.  The point here is that trade show booth design is part of the entire exhibit process. 

It is important to make a distinction between “art” and “design.”  Trade Show Booth Design exists to solve business problems.  There can be no effective trade show booth design without an understanding of the challenges your business faces.

This post was highlighted in September 10th Edition of Carnival of the Capitalists hosted at About.com: Entrepreneurs

The SEMA Trade Show is hitting Las Vegas October 30th, 2007 - November 2nd, 2007! The event will be taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the showcase of exhibitors spans over two million square feet.    Las Vegas alone has over 9.5 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space city wide.

SEMA 2006 drew in over 50,000 Domestic and International buyers. 

The demand for performance automotive products has taken on an entire new attitude since the Fast & Furious craze began.  Performance products will not be alone on the trade show floor, among exhibitors are automotive accessories, restoration products and motorsports.  The exhibitors this year will fall into eleven different categories.

Finding educational programs to further enhance your automotive needs will also be part of the SEMA Show, with demonstrations and seminars for any enthusiast, as well as many other opportunities for networking with automotive industrial leaders.

“How to Win & Keep Customers” is among one of the events that will be taking place at the beginning of the show.   Learning to communicate with your potential customers is part of exhibit etiquette and boothmanship.  When you decide exhibiting is the market strategy that is best suited for you;  an exhibit house that helps you portray your company and helps the launch of new products in a dazzling and creative way, will allow you to focus more on the potential client.

AHR Expo is coming to New York, for the first time in 17 years, the AHR Expo for HVAC&R Industry Professionals will be at Javits Convention Center.  January 22nd-24th, 2008 will bring forth a wealth of information at AHR Expo, buy, sell, network and learn is what Kevin & I read on the website.  (Kevin is sleeping under his heat lamp right now-ain’t he the cutest) Before his nap, he said he loved the heat lamp, and would I investigate anything related.   Actually, I need a heat lamp, its like the arctic back here!

With the AHR Expo being housed in the Empire State Region, the attendance is supposed to climb.  This is the biggest residential and commercial HVAC&R area in the market in the U.S.   With hopes of drawing in many more attendees and exhibitors who have not had a chance to attend in the past.

With 1500 Exhibitors already signed up, there are many more international companies from over 30 various countries.   According to a survey from AHR 2007, 95% of the visitors said they found products & information to improve their business operations. 

Planning and preparation of your trade show exhibit can improve your effectiveness, and give you a better edge after the show ends.  Involving management shows a deep support team and the process of setting trade show goals can come full circle and your achievements can be astounding.

HVAC equipment is expected to grow to a 14.5 billion dollar buisness by 2019, planning to exhibit at AHR Expo could be of great value in trying to grow your business, with new and exciting features being offered at this years AHR Expo, education in new technologies and networking are among several possibilites.

Kevin dug out some pictures of Catalyst Exhibits, Inc. annual Dog Day from a few years back and wanted to share a few tid bids on Pet Care and the Global Pet Expo Trade Show 2008. This year the trade show will be taking place on February 14th-16th, 2008 at the San Diego Convention Center.   In 2007 there were over 760 Exhibitors that attended and took up over 230,000 square feet of exhibit space. 

If you are attending the expo as an exhibitor, keep in mind that this is over a 41 billion dollar business.  With pet’s becoming part of our families, and being subjected to many more environmental issues, you will want your exhibit to make an impact, you’ll want your exhibit to be what you want your products to be.  Build a better trade show image with a great marketing program, attending trade shows can be time consuming, finding an inspired exhibit company can help make that process a bit more simple.  Allowing you more time to focus on the your prospects, and making them feel comfortable with your knowledge of the products & services you are exhibiting. A innovative exhibit company helps you intertwine the details of your product, services & knowledge blending them together for you in an eye catching, creatively cool trade show display.

Kevin wanted me to share with you his excitement from the other day.. WORMS! He loves eating worms, trust me, we have no shortage of rain so the pickings in the parking lot are great.  The more plump the better in his book.  He asked that I share with you some things not to feed your pets;

Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pet
- Alcoholic beverages (Stanley my cat would be very upset at this one - he finds open beer delightful)
- Avocado
- Chocolate (all forms)
- Coffee (all forms)
- Fatty foods
- Macadamia nuts
- Moldy or spoiled foods
- Onions, onion powder
- Raisins and grapes
- Salt
- Yeast dough
- Garlic
- Products sweetened with xylitol

Kevin took a little trip into my office yesterday while his 40 gallon habitat was cleaned of turtle dookie, a chore that the girls need to do about every two weeks.  Yeah..yeah.., I will get to CES Trade Show 2008  in a moment, but for all you turtle surfers, I’ve gotta give you a little tip; I thought you needed to completely empty the tank, but one of the ladies..(haha) if you could hear her mouth..you’d understand, told me that you actually don’t empty it completely, it does need to have some level of bacteria left in it.  

CES Trade Show 2008 will be held January 7th-10th, in Las Vegas with Bill Gates kicking off as the keynote speaker.   While Kevin was in my office, he took a liking to the keyboard, and the questions about technology started flying out his little muppet mouth.

Catalyst Exhibits, Inc. represented four clients at CES last year, the custom exhibits that were designed for CES ranged from 30′ x 30′, 55′ x 60′ and a meeting room that was 4200 square feet.   Exhibitors at CES range from Home Networking, Gaming, Audio Visual and Wireless Technologies, just to name a few.  Emerging technolgies are coming forth at lighting speed, and as we sit at our computers its not surprising in the least that they are outdated, and considered dinasours.  Actually, the moment they shipped from the factory, they have been put on the endangered list.

With the ever changing needs of marketing, tradeshow display exhibits are one of the profound marketing pieces, when you are in the process of your exhibit decision when you keep in mind some of the following, your experience in the tradeshow market will be better enhanced.

Your exhibit environment should communicate excellence and focus, keeping clean lines and spaces are critical.  Creating comfortable and organized spaces - organization is essential, it is important to realize that we can sell retail ideas without duplicating the retail experience. Tradeshows should not be a retail experience.  Wanting the exhibit space to transcend retail parameters.  It is about the brannd, and that’s about the feelings.  This is important too, while its abstract, it is nonetheless real. 

Create the feeling of brand, leverage what you have done so far, and take it further. 

Engender a feeling of hospitality beyond that which some might expect.  Do not think in terms of clients, think in terms of guests.  You want them to feel comfortable, confident and cared for.  Your tradeshow display should reflect leadership, in products, service and ideology.

Kevin was digging through some old files and found this amazing.  The funky trade show display that went up at RSNA 2006 for Siemens Medical, (Kevin was watching old time tv, hence “funky” he thought he could start a trend and bring back some of the old phrases) anyhow,  he couldnt belive the transformation before the doors open at the trade show.  Siemens Medical ups leads by 32%!

Giving you a before and after - it is amazing the hours of preparation that go into the exhibit building and the process.  Not only do trade show displays need to go up at the convention center - but they also need to be built in the exhibit house to make sure everything is exactly where it is supposed to be.  Just don’t give Kevin any power tools, he may end up putting holes where they shouldnt be.

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