Marshall Yard:

This week was an interesting one for trade shows based in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center in the near future. Apparently, legislation in Illinois proposes to convert tradeshow union laborers into public employees.

They plan to WHAT?

Yes, they plan to make the show more efficient, transparent, and effective, and less expensive to boot. All by a magical transition of changing the labor pools at McCormick into government employees (presumably municipal employees of the MPEA - we’ve mentioned them here before, me thinks…).

Actually, the FIVE labor unions will become THREE, laborers will no longer be able to strike, and contracts will be negotiable on an individual show basis.

One additional mandate was stipulated in the fine print of the legislation*:

All subsequent references to “Union” labor(ers) must hereafter include quotations hitherto delineated ["Union" labor]. (more…)

NPE  will be hitting McCormick Place in June of 2009, start planning your exhibit design,  it is not to early to focus on your exhibit and marketing strategy.

NPE 2006 showed an increase in attendance from previous years, with an expected attendance of 75,000 plus for the 2009 show,  exhibiting at NPE 2009 is a fantastic opportunity for your company. 

New Technology Awards and Technology Conferences are being planned, introducing new products and technologies into the marketplace at the International Plastics Showcase Tradeshow, is a great doorway for companies that want to get in front of industry leaders.

Exhibit design and creating an impact on the tradeshow floor should be a well thought out process and teaming up with an exhibit house early on, can help create a unique and succesful trade show experience. Wrapping your new products and services with a customized rental exhibit can help you focus on gaining the traffic into your exhibit booth.  With a stunning variety of graphic solutions and exhibit design, it will help in every aspect of operation when the trade show opens.

Creating a total experience through exhibiting should focus on the message you are wanting to convey.  Your exhibit should be more than just timber and glue.  Presenting a detailed but simple plan includes a time line.  Smart Detail and Smart Design, planning early will give you an edge to focus on the clients and the audience you want to speak to. 

Looking for the most stunning exhibit for CEDIA Expo 2008? If you are looking for variety, a custom rental exhibit is a great place to begin.  With successful exhibits at CES 2008, Catalyst Exhibits can help. 

Whether you are a first time exhibitor or a seasoned veteran on the trade show circuit, The Catalyst process is to create a noticably different and inviting enviornment for trade show attendee’s to flock to.

Knitting together the elements of your products and services in a display that will dazzle and will drive traffic into your exhibit space.  CEDIA Events  happen year round and the calendar is full, if you are planning on exhibiting at the CEDIA Expo - September 3-7th, 2008 in Colorado, a custom exhibit rental solution could be the best solution.  With several other events throughout the year with the CEDIA Organization, instead of an exhibit purchase, why not invest the time and effort into an exhibit rental that will give flexibility and variety?

Grab your bags, Kevin wanted to go shopping! If you are new to Marshall Yard - The Trade Show Blog - Kevin is our resident Mascot and is a Mississippi Map Turtle.   Often times he journeys with me from trade show to trade show.  

Global Shop is returning to Chicago, March 18th - 20th, 2008, in the new West Hall at McCormick Place.   With over 8,000 new products being showcased, and 900 exhibitors, this is the largest annual retail design event in the United States.   There will be several conferences from scent marketing to woman’s retail rituals.

I wonder how exhibits are perceived from the view points of men and woman?  Is one exhibit booth more aesthetically pleasing than another because of our gender?  Have you ever bought something for the opposite sex that you thought was stunning, and yet they looked at it as if you picked it out of the trash can?  A perfume or cologne you love on a spouse, that they can not stand?

I really think the perception of anything visual does have some sort of gender boundry. 

I belive it takes a diverse team of marketing specialist to create and integrate idea’s and plans for a full impact trade show display.  Constant communication during design and brainstorm sessions can bring alot more clarity and balance to any project.  

Voice your opinion.. 

As the busiest season is just upon us, there are many tips and ideas for your upcoming trade show success.

When you start to plan for your upcoming exhibit, finding a marketing partner that will consider your message is the beginning steps of a successful outcome.  By knowing what it is you are trying to accomplish will make it much easier for the exhibit house to understand the avenues in which to take you; to get you across that finish line with the first place ribbon.

Time is always of the essence when it comes to adding value to your marketing strategy and plans for success.  We all know that there are last minute opportunites that come up and sometimes we may not know that we will be at a particular show until the it presents itself.

Establishing a time line for an exhibit whether it is a , 10’ x 10’s trade show booth or 10’ x 20’ trade show booth, should be approximately eight weeks before the trade show event opens.   If you are planning on larger exhibits the time line should increase slightly.  The last thing you want is to get strapped with rush fee’s for deliveries – which are staggering with the price of transportation and gas.  

Printing time increases as well for graphic banners and turnaround times can become more delayed and leave little time for last minute changes.  With custom trade show display rentals, you have many more options and a lot more flexibility. 

The benefits of trade shows:

Maintaining relationships

Transmitting messages to key accounts

Remedying service problems

Stimulating add on sales

Determine needs

Transmitting messages and

Committing prospects to a callback or sale

Plan early!

Plan smart!

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.

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.

What was that funny word I heard to describe a trade show giveaway? I heard it, I know how to pronounce it, but where did it come from and how do you spell it?  

Chachka - Tchotchke - Giveaways - Trinkets

Definition - A cheap shiny trinket, slang name for trade show giveaways.  I ran across this word several years ago when I went down to Florida with someone attending the Lotus Notes program in Orlando. 

What do you call a trade show giveaway? This question has been ask a few times, and then I realized what it was the people were asking.  This is stated as being a Yiddish word and can also mean an attractive unconventional woman.  Would this be a booth babe? Not likely, but the two do fit well in the world of trade show booths and trade show exhibits. 

So for all of you out there wondering, what is the word for trade show promotional items?  Giveaways, Trinkets - you have come across the world of Chachka - Tchotchke, pronounced CHA-CH-KEY

AWARENESS             

By: Susie Kleiner

Awareness is your perception & cognitive reaction to a circumstance, condition or an event.  You can be aware of emotions, actions, gossip and your surroundings.  Sometimes not even realizing exactly what it is you are aware of.Awareness provides us the substance from which we develop “Qualia”.  (This term was unfamiliar to me, its meaning; the way things seem to us.  By defining a company’s products and services, this creates brand-awareness.  Setting that company apart from their competition, by building trust in your business relationships, with your particular branding  efforts, you reach a higher level of credibility.

Consumers for your products or in the B2B market place, when people make purchase or decisions they rely on their associates or contacts that they themselves have built trustful relationships on to give them advice or steer them to a reputable company for such products or services.  With the ever growing market places throughout any industry that attends or exhibits at tradeshows, a clear focus needs to be to separate themselves from the competitors.  

Reading an online article discussing the branding of cattle, the author noted, that  each rancher would have their own specific brand and allow their cattle to graze in the pastures with the other ranchers cattle, because they could clearly identify their own cattle.  Well, in the ever growing world of competition, the fences on that one have gone up. 

When people speak of branding, you can realize your success when your name comes out for your product category, when you think of tissue, what comes to mind.. Kleenex. Trademarked & Branded.  This is called Top-of Mind Awareness, reaching this type of brand-awareness does not come over night, unless you designed the pet rock. It takes diligence and self-awareness.

Giving clients quality and constant communication is an integral part of this equation.  No matter what situation you find yourself in with a client, if you are aware of it, it will make them more at ease.  Any project will encounter the so-called bumps in the road at any given time.  If a client approaches you in an irate situation, do yourself a favor and don’t put your defense mechanism in fifth gear.  Calmly inform them you appreciate them making you aware of the situation, and let them know you are going to continually keep them up dated.They will become aware that you are there as a partner, seeking out solutions on their behalf. 

In one of the first newsletters, I spoke of client personalities; once again, this fall’s into a category of “awareness”, this is the awareness of emotions and from there, there can be actions taken.  Often times, these actions are not best suited at this point and time, because they are coming from an emotional level.  When we find ourselves in the middle of deadlines, meetings and endless emails back and forth, our emotions run high.These emotions are stored, and we can often react because of them.  Are they stored in our brains? If so, we could just concentrate and make them go away.  That’s not the case.  We feel and store emotional energy and it emanates out of us like a “vibe”. 

ADR = Alternative Dispute Resolution is used by the US Navy, they strongly advice cooperative effort and building bridges through communication.

International Home & Housewares trade show will hit McCormick Place in Chicago on March 16th-18th, 2008.  From cookware, food storage, cutlery, bath & shower and so much more this is just a paradise for home goods and housewares.  Kevin - The Mississippi Map Mascot was surprised to find that so many trade shows have such a variation of promotional items and contests going on, he just looked on in wonderment as some of the trade show attendee’s tried to hit the hole for a prize.

International Home & Housewares has had over 60,000 attendee’s with over 2,000 exhibitors in past years.  With the fact that over 15,500 buyers attend the this amazing array of housewares and the trade show floor is full of interesting and innovative new gadgets, it is a great place to network with decision makers and gather as much information from the industry experts.

Whether you are just starting out exhibiting at trade shows, or are a seasoned pro, you can re-cap some of the programs from the 2007 International Home & Housewares via a CD that is available to purchase at their website. 

I ran across the Ten Trade Show Exhibit Best Practices on About.com - I agree with the many of the points that Darrell Zahorksy points out in this line-up. Stressing in a few of the articles I have written I firmly belive that the “create a buzz” that he speaks of is one that should be at the top of this list. By spending time informing potential clients of your appearance at an upcoming trade show helps them plan accordingly.

Also pointed out in the article is training your trade show team, trade show floors can be like downtown Chicago on Christmas Eve at Macy’s..yes, Macy’s, no more Marshall Fields. The aisles of the convention center are often times packed with prospective clients, not only with buying power but alot of heavy hitters and decision makers. If you don’t educate your booth team and give them the proper mental equipment for proper boothmanship the outcome can be detrimental in a final decision for a prospective client.

Susan Ward says to plan your exhibit in terms of your audience, another statement that I highly agree with in terms of amazing trade show displays and results there from. In order to draw in your potential clients, you must understand what it is they are looking for, and why it is they are attending.

Steve Woodruff from Small Business Branding wrote: Above all differentiate, you are competing for limited time and memory. That simple statement of eleven words gives you a base to build upon when you are entering the ever growing industry of trade show marketing.