Marshall Yard:

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?

Online ads aren’t the only thing that marketers expect to increase over the next year. While an overwhelming 68.7% of marketers expect to increase their Online advertising, 37.6% also expect their Event marketing to increase, with 49.9% seeing no change in that figure. While that isn’t an overwhelming increase in Events, it does reflect an opposing trend to many other forms of marketing. Take a look here. Budgets for radio, broadcast, and outdoor marketing are down significantly, whereas Events, Direct Mail, and Telemarketing are modestly increased.

The trends of modest increases are paired with modest increases for marketing budget through the second half of 2009, and through 2010. Budgets were slashed across many different industries for the first half of 2009. This has greatly affected the trade show exhibit business, with exhibit houses lowering prices and responding with additional services. Even tradeshow organizers and convention halls have responded with stimulai of their own - reduced booth space pricing, and some early indications that services for things like I&D and drayage may be reduced from their inflated levels. Our “The Frugal Exhibitor” segment chronicals online sources keeping tabs on the ebb and flow of tradeshow values.

Consumer savings rates are up in 2009 - do you have any doubt that your company has the very same mindset? Here’s to a leaner budget, and a happier boss!

Stephanie is seeing dead people DISCOUNTS

Deals at Print Expo ‘09 for Drayage

Might Union labor give us a break on exhibit booth setup rates during the recession? Could it be true?

Cut costs on Pre-Tradeshow marketing - boost booth attendance for less money!

Tips for the smaller display exhibitors - make the most of your space

Economic news has been anything but settling this week: Recession is going deeper; no it’s recovering; err… now it’s inflation; actually we were out of the recession as of ‘08Q4; no we’re going to have major deflation; no everything’s going to be fine… In the meantime all we can do is work hard, and save money where we can:

10 Tips to ensure you get a smart booth with a neat budget

Murphy’s Constant: Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value

Can I do that?

Emergency Kit ideas…

What to give away, and to whom, and how!

Trust but Verify - Save money on travel to the show, but justify your bottom line!

Is your trade show entourage saving money on travel?

Quantify your tradeshow booth’s success

Travel savings from a small business person’s book of tricks

Planes, Trains, and Hotels!

MEASURE your exhibit’s impact! Without stats, there won’t be one next year!