Marshall Yard:

The greatest lessons I received from the elite public school system in suburban Illinois involved understanding the importance of knowing what the rules are, how exceptions are made, and how they are enforced. Knowing the rules helped me out of quite a few binds!

In the tradeshow world, it’s very much the same way (yes, I’m comparing convention centers to public schools - would anyone blame me for the comparison?). Understanding the technicalities that surround your exhibit, where and when to ask for variances, and what variances show management can or cannot accept, can define the success or failure of your tradeshow booth.

I recently had a client call me with a list of 5 shows that they wanted to exhibit at in 2010. They wanted to do a 20×20 exhibit that was 16 ft. tall. Maximizing visibility and utilization of cubic footage that they pay for has always been of utmost importance to them. (more…)

Everyone knows that the colors involved in a marketing campaign are of immense importance. Imagine a Coca-Cola or Marlboro ad that lacked the color red! Sometimes, however, it’s not only the COLOR that matters, it’s the exact shade or hue that a company depends on for a consistent campaign.

If your company uses a special “blue” that separates itself from the menagerie of garden variety “blues” in the marketplace, then this can present an immense challenge when working through a sophisticated marketing campaign. While this isn’t news for companies that are seasoned in working with their branding properties, it can become a major obstacle for newly unveiled marketing initiatives. There’s a simple solution which might not get mentioned by your ad company - but it matters for your exhibit company! (more…)

The blogosphere provides some tasty solder fodder for the Marshall-Yard to report on…

A client that we’ve enjoyed working with over the years had some very gracious things to say via their company blog - the B2b Marcom Blog. Check out Rick Short’s blurb, which also includes a very good explanation of our rental capabilities. Check it out…

I’d say more, but it would spoil the ending.

After a swift and positive experience with show management’s approval of a prospective client’s design, I was ready to glide through another approval. After all, getting the approval of show management is a mundane, routine aspect of life as an exhibit house - it’s not as though we don’t know the rules, and we design to these rules on a daily basis. Further, we have experience in every exhibit hall in North America - it’s tough to surprise us with unexpected stipulations. But getting the ‘a-ok’ from show management is important to getting a project completed for a client - and we get things in writing in the event that a variance is needed for a design, and to protect against convention hall staff that decide to make up their own rules!

When we approached show management with this second client’s design, we were caught a bit off guard by the emailed response we received [names have been changed 'cause I don't mean to spread ill-will]:

Sorry for the confusion – it appears portions of the posted rules and regs reflect general industry rules vs. show specific rules.  The [name omitted] Show’s height limit is 16ft. with no height variance allowance (unless it was by a foot or two at the most).  Therefore, no exhibit at The [name omitted] Show will exceed 16ft in height.

This was a slip up on our part – not sure how it happened – I’ll take the blame.

Unfortunately, we cannot grant a height variance for exhibits at The [name omitted] Show.  We’ll be sure to correct the information posted on the website right away.

Needless to say, my response was that of shock. The structure, as presented, was unbalanced and awkward as a 16 ft. booth. Luckily, so our competitors’ designs were in the same situation, since the client wanted us to maximize the height of booth [we were the only ones who checked with show management, of course].

With a tight timeframe before the show starts (less than 2 months away…), we had to go into redesign immediately. Ultimately, we presented a strong design that worked well for the client’s needs - though it may lack the commanding impact that a 20 ft. booth has over a 16 footer.

Lesson learned was that of the process we follow. It’s a reinforcement of why we do what we do. If you don’t get an approval in writing, you don’t have something you can actually sell to a client. Even if it follows the “letter of the law,” such laws exist at the whim of those running the convention hall. It’s better to reconcile a design with the actual rules before a contract is inked than to scramble through redesign, reprice, and reapproval after an agreement has been reached.

A great exhibit is only great when it garners the attention and favor of tradeshow attendees. Like a tree falling in the forest…

The past few weeks we’ve been hard at work consulting with our clients who are in search of a reasonably priced rental trade show exhibit that delivers a powerful marketing impact at their upcoming show. [cheezy statement, I know... I'm in sales, could you tell?]

Dealing with trade show management can be a smooth experience, and it can be anything but. In my own recent history it has been both. We’ll start with how the experience should have gone, and follow up with a horror story later this week.

I had been working with a new prospect for over a month - yet we had not inked the deal. I wanted to get confirmation that the booth conformed to the show rules. We designed it as such, but we had not received something from show management in writing. After a very cordial phone call, and a brief email exchange, wherein I sent the design off to show management with an explanation of the details therein, I received my written confirmation, along with a compliment about the allure of the design. Still awaiting review by the Fire Marshal, I sent him a certificate of the Power Net canopy we were using. The certificate details the fire retardant qualities of the fabric, as well as the mesh of the netting, and how permeable it is for a convention hall’s emergency sprinkler system. With all of these details, I received my final approval from the Fire Marshal. - I had a booth I could really sell!

With this upbeat experience under my belt, another client was at a similar stage in the game - we had designed to the show’s posted rules and regulations, they were considering our design and two competitors’. Time to run it by show management for an approval in writing. Business as usual in the exhibit industry - or so I thought…

The Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association hosted their annual meeting this past week - June 13-16 in Tampa, Florida. This year’s focus was on budgeting, marketing trends, and healthcare industry codes. Catalyst’s exhibit featured new display tables, and our revamped 10×20 custom exhibit.

As the industry deals with the challenges posed by the current recession, we’ve found a niche in a custom rental marketplace that is underserved, and growing in its ranks. We look forward to many exciting opportunities with Healthcare Exhibitors in the years to come.

This year’s show was highlighted by our European and International representative, who helped tie together our capabilities beyond domestic tradeshows - offering exhibitors the confidence that they can not only exhibit in Chicago, Orlando, and Las Vegas; but also Shanghai, and Dubai. Having a partner to help us facilitate those needs has proven essential in the flat world of 2009.

I’ve recently begun work with a trade show coordinator who has a very astute perspective with regards to the design of his company’s trade show booth. It was with very little surprise that he revealed to us (during the design input meeting) that he’s been designing trade show exhibits for much of his career. Only recently had he begun coordinating exhibits for his company.

As a designer, he understands how the trade show exhibit space functions - the balance between aesthetics, function, and marketing message. He advises his team on how to value the various designs that exhibit houses have created for an upcoming show. In this case, it’s for the Worldwide Food Expo, held in October at McCormick Place. The WWFE is largely an equipment and product show for restaurateurs of various stripes. The demands placed on exhibits are similar to other shows where product and equipment demonstration rules, and visibility, marketing message, and architecture must all revolve around the placement of a large machine, or a number of smaller products. In order to get attendees to see your widget, you need to separate yourself from the crowded “skyline” of hanging signs, towers, and video monitors. Something exceptionally pleasing needs to draw the eye of those passing through, and this coordinator understands that. (more…)

Some advice worth heeding, and some you might find amusing… Your weekly “fix” of the frugal exhibitor:

Get your Exhibit Program out of a Rut!

Desperate sales people may DESTROY the success of your trade show booth: What to do to PROTECT it!

Anything you can do to please the union labor at a show - DO IT.

And who are these people who think tipping doesn’t happen on the convention hall floor? There must be people who actually believe this snippet.

Coping with the stress and strain of exhibiting at a major trade show… Couldn’t all of us use a little of that?

I have a checklist that I go through before I’ll ever bring an exhibitor into a dialogue with one of our trade show exhibit designers. The checklist isn’t without exceptions - sometimes special situations merit special treatment of prospective clients - but the checklist is not intended to preserve the schedules of our designers, but to improve the effectiveness of the booths they create. One of the most important questions I ask is where the booth is located on the tradeshow hall floor.

Booth orientation has serious implications for the success of your trade show. Factors to consider include  the location of entrances, internet stations, concessions, main aisles, competitors, partners, large exhibitors, and pop-up/portable “mazes.” Ceilings heights, the character of a particular hall’s “scale” of exhibits, and the presence of any natural light (versus harsh show-hall lights). All of these factors play a distinct role in how your exhibit should be designed. Is your designer weighting these issues, or are they merely interested in how many widgets they need to fit into your space, versus how many you can afford? If the focus is on the widgets, do you think you exhibit will be a success? (more…)

Sorry for the awkward humor, but I’m heading to the second game of the White Sox’ double header today (weather permitting). The main pitch [sorry] of today’s trade show blog post hits at the three distinct business models present in our industry. First, there are design agencies, who design home run exhibits, and must broker out the manufacturing of the exhibit to various other vendors. Next, there are exhibit companies, who also create championship booth designs, but who possess the internal capabilities to create the displays that have been rendered for clients. Lastly, there are companies who are neither of the above: They contract with design firms - who then design exhibits for the exhibit company’s clientelle, later to be built by the exhibit firm. What are the advantages or disadvantages of these three business models?

Let’s consider the cost of designing: The agency will likely bill the exhibitor for design time. The exhibit company with in-house designers will [sometimes] consider design part of the exhibit overhead. Buried in the price of your exhibit is the time spent on your custom design, but based on a very rough estimate of how many hours any project of a certain scope would take to create. Other companies with in-house capabilities will still charge hourly for design time, so this second group is actually varied with how they handle design time. The third group - who contract their designs through a third party vendor - is similarly varied. Some may handle the design cost in the price of the exhibit - likely marked up to account for the risk therein. Others may charge up-front for design. When it comes to how designing is charged to exhibitors, it would be a smart idea to get clarification of this detail up front (like on the FIRST conversation with an exhibitor). In some occasions I would even try to get this information in writing. With a sour trade show economy, there are floundering firms whose behavior leaves something to be desired. What do you think the best business model is for your needs? Up front design charges, overhead treatment of designing, or direct billing, after the fact? More importantly, how do these business models affect execution or implementation of your exhibit design to a working, walking, talking exhibit booth? (more…)

Trade show exhibit trends are, like all trends, always changing. The idea of being on the leading edge of a trend is SCARY to most exhibitors. TREND=EXPENSIVE in their minds. Why?

To many trade show attendees, especially those who rarely visit the conventions and expos that we see month in and month out, most of the exhibit booths that they see are impressive - not just the latest and greatest. A friend of mine attended a show this past October and marveled at the cheap rented trusses on the show floor. Yuck! Those are so 1992. But with a jury of amateurs, why should one have such high standards?

I would argue that trendy exhibits need not be expensive. You can have IMPACT at a reasonable budget [and trusses rarely have an IMPACT on those of us who go to more than 1 tradeshow per decade...]. It has everything to do with the business model of the exhibit company, since the physical components are not the largest cost centers involved. Here’s what I mean:

The components involved in a trade show exhibit are only one of the many costs involved in the process. The beams, the fabric, wall panels, the plexiglass- or whatever your exhibit may be made out of -are not as expensive as the designers, graphic artists, engineers/detailers, account managers, and fabricators required to deliver a high quality exhibit to the tradeshow floor. Consider, then, why you would sacrifice on materials, when the cutting edge in styles is only a minor increase in costs. But trends are more than just materials - it’s the designers, stupid.

A busy design team, paired with an engineering, graphics, and overall operation that is geared towards large scale, cutting edge exhibit booths, actually costs less than a low quality, slow design team, error-prone engineers, wasteful graphics, and a sloppily managed overall operation. If paid based on productivity, the trend-following, top-notch-team earns more. But they produce more. It can even be argued that if the sales team sells/leases enough booths, and if operations are run with an efficiency of scale, employees will produce a higher quality product regardless. Quality improves with the busier the team becomes. Trends are easier to introduce when you do so many exhibits. Trends need not be followed because you heard about them, but because you are experimenting amidst a large scale, custom rental exhibit program - i.e. constantly innovating with existing clients.

Trends aren’t expensive. In prosperous, overheated economic times, an exhibit house will raise its prices if demand merits this. In leaner times, when every nickel and dime is squeezed out of any exhibit budget, the busy company is likely the best. Trends included, they may be working at the same price as the less efficient, wastefully under-utilized company. Which sounds like a better value?

This post has been deemed “salesey” (classic overt, self-serving sales pitch that lacks humor and/or self-defecating), but is approved by the Blog Master.

RSNA wrapped up this week - Surely you know, since we referenced it here, here and here. The horse is dead, I know.

Siemens‘ booth, sized 110′x220′, was located in the south hall. At McCormick Place, the South Hall is the absolute least-trafficked and smallest hall. Even though we were all excited about the design, you never know how a show will go until it’s all said and done. The verdict is in!

For the first three days of the show, leads were well above 2007 numbers! Spend less, get more. I like the sound of that. They did, too. Happy clients are good clients.

Ok - Enough of this rubbish. It feels very “propogandish.” I forwarded the professional photos to a friend of mine who is in the medical field. I had gushed to her about the Siemens booth over the past few months.

Her reply:

>>WOW! that IS huge!!!
>>
>>
>>
>>p.s. That’s what she said.

In the 1990’s and early-to-mid 2000’s, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler survived based on the unbridled success of the Sport Utility Vehicle. Heck, Chrysler acquired AMC, who built the first “SUV,” the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which then became the Jeep Cherokee. And the Tahoe/Suburban and Ford Explorer are still synonymous with our concept of what an SUV “is.” What’s my point?

SUV’s have been a largely successful enterprise. They captured the rugged individualism that many American’s espouse, and made it into the “BIGGEST” automotive fad ever. The big 3 were successful in developing, producing, marketing, and selling their SUV products to consumers. They may have suceeded in spite of themselves, but one can’t deny the stated premise.

The SUV wasn’t the sole cause for the peril that Ford, GM and Chrysler are exhibiting- there’s the economic slowdown, and greater challenges that I wont get into here - but the continued reliance on SUV and light truck sales, amidst competitive and market forces that demanded a new strategy, contributed to their present woes. SUV’s shouldn’t have been their “bread & butter” product in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. $4 gas, remember?

So what on earth does this have to do with Trade Show Flexibility?

Let’s suppose that you find the perfect design for this year’s BIG SHOW. Should you try to sell the same SUV at next year’s show? What if all of your competitors come to next year’s show with a copy-cat booth? (it happens!) What if your business changes and you radically change how you’d like to approach the show? Important questions.

Here’s one: What if you make a big impression with show attendees - they’ll be looking for you at next year’s show. Do you want to DO SOMETHING with all that attention? Or bore them with “oh, they did that last year… What’s new?”

Are you sure you want to build another SUV?

This morning’s blog is not about push-up bras. I’ve had a few people email me asking me to blog about female supportive garments, but this is not the correct forum (the “Bro” or “Manzeer,” on the other hand, can be covered in future posts).

I’m actually going to talk about carpet padding.

Wait!! Don’t leave yet!!! I know that sounds like a ridiculously boring topic, but at the RSNA yesterday I experienced a first in trade show errors - WAY TOO MUCH CARPET PADDING.

I’ve never been in a home that had so much padding, much less an exhibit booth. It was to the extent that it was laborious to walk normally. I never really thought about too much pad being an issue, and I can’t pin down who would have made the error. Was it a client who insisted they wanted the super-upgrade, or was it the exhibit company that suggested they “set their booth apart” and really outdo themselves.

It was one of the biggest exhibits at RSNA, and you felt like you had 5 pound bricks tied to your shoes as you walked through their village of highly unimpressive mini-booths. Has anyone else seen this in practice elsewhere? Or am I the only one who found this so cumbersome and annoying?

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of driving down to McCormick Place with some of my favorite co-workers. The cast for the drive included Midnight Michigan, senior designer; Sasha Grove, manager extrordinaire; and Linda Railroad, working the oldest profession, sales. Update: I’ve finally received permission to clarify the origin of my coworkers’ names. These are porn names: Derived by the combination of our first pet’s name with the first street name that we remember living on (I will continue utilizing my McCormick Place psuedonym, since “Lucy Barton” makes for gender-confused blogging). With this crew, it’s always guaranteed to be quite a trip. The RSNA trade show was in day 3 of exhibit set-up, so let’s recap the day’s events:

When we realized that walking would have taken us over 17 hours that we decided to drive. Linda’s directions were denounced as “the long way.” Commute time: 1 hour, 15 minutes. We covered a lot of conversational ground on the way downtown: Trade show exhibit booths, obviously; how-to-drown skunks and other suburban pests; approved alternatives to watching football over the Thanksgiving holiday; and, finally, the potential drayage costs of parking on the convention center floor, versus the parking garage ($8,000 versus $15).

After arriving, we had a very stimulating time previewing the RSNA show. The Siemens rental exhibit booth is, as expected, surreal and impressive. Midnight seemed very pleased at seeing his 3-d renderings put into corporeal existance.

Other highlights from the trade show floor: One of our competitors, expected to fold within months, builds out one of their last exhibits; and our biggest “competitor” freaks out when we walk around their largest client’s booth. Name badges and company insignia can be quite intimidating, it seems. As innovators in the rental exhibit booth business, we were pleased to see them doing a mediocre job of imitating our custom rental system (ours utilizes custom built components that… well, just go to the website). They can try to imitate, but you can’t beat the real thing.

We took my way home (2 hour drive). It was a far more scenic route, and the subject matter was far less appropriate. Drowning dogs, Linda Railroad taking the “Midnight train,” and things got worse from there. H.R. will be busy sorting out who said what!

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.

Somewhere else in the blogosphere, I’ve heard some interesting ruminations about what should and should not be driving forces behind why a company should undertake a trade show effort. One of these rules struck a nerve with me as pertaining to the present credit crisis and rampant recessionary fears.

Reason #3: To correct a misconception.

In a business environment where everyone thinks everyone is at risk of going totally Lehman, what a better way to cure that paranoia than through your exhibit booth at your next trade show. Of course, if you own an expensive custom trade show property, you might lack the flexibility to actually change your design to accomplish any particular change in directive. Hopefully 2006’s business plan will keep working for the next 2 years while you amortize your custom built booth. Even better, maybe your company’s just too big to fail.

Meanwhile, your competitor has a new look, is effectively launching their new product, adapting to the product life cycle of their existing product, and reinforcing the belief that they are constantly growing their market share. Oh, and surely this sort of thing never happens in industries other than ours.

One more thing: I’ve picked up on two ways in which companies have tried to combat wild speculations about their fiscal strength in moments of extreme doubt- Press releases and employment solicitations. If we’re offering jobs, and telling the press that things are GREAT despite headlines to the contrary, then everything’s supposedly “all good.” Apparently, people are starting to see through this sort of rubbish…

By: Susie Kleiner 

I recently pulled up Make your Business Stand Out  and I found some profound statements written.  Brand Awareness continues to be at the fore-front of many marketers minds as it should be in the competative arena for any business.  Award winning trade booth design has always been the approach that has worked in our industry.

Being Different as stated in the article written by Nikole Gibbs in the marketing section caught my attention, because if you leave an impression and give your potential clients, something different, they will not only become repeat clients, but they will become loyal clients. 

When you give your clients solutions they will remember the product and service that you have provided.  3D marketing can speak to an turn your company into a trade show superhero.    

One of our clients was questioned, in a pre-show survey, and stated they thought that just 26 percent of attendees considered the company a market leader. But after the CEO was in the booth at the exhibition talking about the industry, and the research and development staffers were talking about new products during the show, 96 percent of those surveyed post-event perceived the company as a market leader.

Rule number one in any marketing plan should be questioning your clients and gathering feedback from potential and current clients.  People in general love to hear themselves speak, and they also love to hear that their opinion is wanted.  Without information, and in the information age, if you don’t..shame on you. 

If for a moment you forget that on the other end of the phone, email, conference call or contract is a human being, you could have lost a potential project.   27 Exhibiting Do’s and Dont’s by Susan Friedmann has some very valid points, and I enjoyed #10-Don’t” “throw up” on attendee’s, it made me laugh, but it validates my point, ask them questions, let them talk.  They are going to be the one’s using your product or services.  Do not tell them constantly what you can do for them, let them tell you what they need done, and collectively come up with a solutions.

Designing exhibits for upcoming trade shows, can be a challenging task, listening to our clients, and understanding what they are trying to convey in their industry can only be learned by hearing what the client has to say.  

I would like to engage anyone in conversation that has exhibited at trade shows in the past year or two.  I would like to know your disappointments with your custom exhibit, rental exhibit and anything that you found frustrating on the trade show floor.  Is there a certain element missing from your exhibiting experience? Was there something you needed while on the show floor that you couldn’t find? Was there a lack of traffic during any specific time period?

I would love to hear from you.

Have success at trade shows and beat the challenges. When trade show marketing is approaced early, you develop a formula for success, but the race does not stop there for winning that potential client.  Turning your leads into clients, is one of the largest goals and challenges of trade show marketing. 

Don’t let that lead fall into the post trade show marketing cracks.  Be active, and be smart.  Continuous follow up will put your name and your brand in front of a potential buyer. 

Keep careful notes on the trade show floor, often times, when a conversation ensues on the trade show floor, you can pick up pieces of personal information on your prospects, and that can help lead into a successful conversation post show.  

Trade show attendees will often see hundreds of exhibitors at large trade shows, make sure you give them something to remember you by, whether it is in a post show follow up call or even a short hand written note thanking them for their time.

I read a great article by Adrian Miller at The Blatant Truth! No matter what it is you are purchasing, either a service or a product, the dedication of the sales staff, support staff and anyone involved in your project should exceed expectations.  That is the true meaning of customer service, the story she told about getting her tire changed, shows that there are companies out there that are willing to go above and beyond the scope of what most people think is good customer service.

When it comes to the decision of exhibiting at Trade Shows, it is very helpful to find an exhibit house that is full service and has the capability to assist from the inception of your project to the return of the exhibit properties, along with post trade show follow up assistance.   An exhibit house that can offer you an assortment of exhibiting and trade show display solutions.  With rental exhibits, the option of exhibit customization is much easier and can give you a slightly different look and feel, if you are attending multiple trade shows. 

Finding the correct team that can convey your trade show message should consist of experienced and dedicated, exhibit designers, graphic designers, project and account manager and a team of coordinators to help you every step of the way. 

By choosing an experienced exhibit house team, you will portray your service and/or  product in an astounding 3D exhibit display, with the use of a variety of structural materials and fabric, you will watch as your trade show display booth comes to life. 

Whether you are exhibiting at a trade show in Las Vegas, Chicago or New Orleans an established well versed in the market place exhibit house can deliver no matter the location, and deliver flawless results. 

K/BIS - KBIS - Kitchen & Bath will hit Chicago on April 11th, 2008, have you started the water boiling for your exhibit yet? Preparation is the key and a well thought out recipe for your exhibiting success!  With over 900 exhibitors expected for the 2008 trade show, plan early and plan smart.

With a custom trade show display rentals, you can change the frosting for each trade show event.  Why stick with the plain old vanilla frosting for every trade show, when the trends say go chocolate,   custom rental exhibit displays give you the option to change and create a fresh look.

With three clients at K/BIS 2007 and over 8000 square feet of exhibit space consisting of exhibit booths of 60 x 80, 40 x 50 and 40 x 40, we are prepared to assist with a complete marketing strategy for the upcoming 2008 season.

Exhibit Displays & Tradeshows!

Why are people doing it? Why should I spend the money?  I have six valid reasons that your appearance at trade shows can benefit and build your global business marketing plan and strategy.

Build Brand Awareness

Increase Leads

High Customer Visibility

Increased Market Competition

Launching a new identity

Launching a new product

No matter what market you are in, medical, automotive, gift market, landscaping,  electronics, multi-media, gaming, photography, there is a trade show out there for you.  There is also a whole bunch of competition.  There are enormous opportunities waiting for those who get it right.  Opportunities not only for your company, but for you within the company.  Opportunities to capture leadership within your business, or business position. 

Ask yourself a few questions?

Why Exhibit?

How do I do it successfully?

When should I exhibit?

Where should I exhibit?

Know your market place and know your competition!  Success in a trade show program is about focus and targeting resources and energy.  If you are unsure of some of the above questions, we can direct you to the best strategy fit for your given situation.

Custom Trade Show Exhibit Rental

Whether it is called an exhibition, fair, expo or just good old fashioned trade show.  These events  can bring you extraordinary results when it comes to forming relationships with prospective clients.  With the never ending coast to coast conference calls, webinars, emails and the growing use of internet based meetings, tradeshows can be a place where you get back in the ring of personal contact and customer service.

The necessity of exhibiting at trade shows and actually reaching out to shake the hand of clients can add high credibility to your companies products and services.  Giving the prospective client a comfort zone of who they will be dealing with on the other end of the phone, will help them form their opinions early and get them one step closer to their decision making process.

If you are launching a new product or service, consider exhibiting at a trade show.  Research and planning will be a key to making the trade show a success.  When decision makers are able to touch and feel your products, they will remember it better than if they saw it online or via a web conference.

NAB 2008 will be taking place on April 14th, 2008, think early, think smart! Trade Show Display Rentals can help you give a voice to your trade show experience.  Innovative Booth Design can draw attention to your service and products, you need your trade show rental exhibit to do its own job, so to speak. 

Catalyst Exhibits, Inc. had three clients that had great success at NAB 2007, this is an audience that spans the globe. The NAB Show focuses on, content, creation, management, commerce, distribution & delivery.  There are 161 days left to get into the game and start planning your trade show rental exhibit.  Having a client at NAB 2007 that was wanting to introduce their product to the US market, the idea was to come up with something memorable.

Working on the lines that this was a European Company, the trade show exhibit display had to have flare, and be very synonymous with high design.  The outcome of intertwining various elements from high design color and precision created an outstanding exhibit rental.

NAB 2008 will be offering over 500 educational events, and super sessions from keynote speakers that are leaders in broadcasting industry offer a phenomal platform for boosting your level of knowledge and will allow you access to a network of leaders.

With over 111,000 attendee’s, 1600 exhibitorsand 1100 members of the press ,now is the time to start planning for an interesting booth design &  exhibit rental planning.  Giving you a six month time-line to get your pre-marketing strategy in place, and being able to follow up with your prospects before the event can ensure true success.