Archived post. Originally published 5.21.2010.

Now, I've been to and exhibited at a lot of tradeshows. A LOT.

And during that time, I've seen my fair share of giveaways and booth gimmicks - pens, bouncy balls that light up, notepads, water bottles, flash drives, and more. I've even seen salespeople dressed like beer bottles, more naughty cops and nurses than I can count, and even actors dressed like dead people. (By the way, that one is creepy - think it through before you do that one.)

For a current client, I've been doing quite a few shows where I give away chocolate samples. Needless to say, I've been a popular girl for the past few months.

However, this past Wednesday at the New England Business Expo, I was lucky enough to be placed next to the team fromAffordableExpertMarketing.com and their partner, Diversity Studios.* 

For this show, I was popular for about 20 minutes, which is exactly the amount of time that my chocolate samples lasted. For the rest of the day, it was the team next door, who was giving away free headshots. Free! Headshots! Because of them, I had a line right in front of my booth for over 4 hours, and therefore, a captive audience.

Later during the show, I spoke with Alyssa, the owner of AffordableExpertMarketing.com, who was surprised and delighted at how popular the headshots were. My response - how could they not be popular? This was exactly what the audience wanted, and could never find the time or the budget to do. Not only are you giving them something unique, you're giving them something they need.

And that, my friends, is good marketing. Do pens create lines to your booth? No. Do bouncy balls create demand? No. So the next time you're considering a booth gimmick or giveaway, think outside of the box. Step away from the casino game or the booth actor, and think about why your audience is attending the show in the first place, and what you could give them to make them truly remember you.

*When I say lucky, I mean the show parked a limo van where my booth was supposed to be, so I dropped my bags in the empty booth next to them. Opportunist? Perhaps. Don't park cars in my booth, and I'll stay where I'm supposed to.

Archived post. Originally posted 1.14.2010.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when event season strikes, I fight the urge to turn off my office light, hide under my desk and hope that the deadlines just go away.

Because let’s be honest, no matter how much plan and prepare, events are entirely subject to Murphy’s Law. Which in marketing-speak means that at some point, your booth will catch on fire. Just prepare yourself now.

The best control in this mess that we subject ourselves to annually is not only to organize yourself within an inch of your life, but also to get your team organized before they hit the show floor. This means involving your team early and often in your planning and promotions process. Make sure they see your pre-show promotions, give them ample opportunity to weigh in on your strategic direction, and also recruit volunteers to help with logistics (anyone know how to order electric?) if they desire.

Another great tool I have in my pre-show arsenal is to build an event gamebook for the sales and executive teams.  Event gamebooks can range from one-sheet documents to full-color, printed and bound booklets, depending on the size of your booth and participation. Presentations also suffice; however, make sure that you have a deliverable that a sales person can take in-hand with them to the show, just in case you’re not there to help (because believe it or not, you won’t always be there!)

Event gamebooks cover the following areas of your exhibition plan:

1. Show snapshot and floor plan
   This is a worthwhile section to invest your time in if this is the first time you’re exhibiting at this event, or if you have a relatively new sales team that’s never attended. Help your team understand what to expect when they walk through the concourse doors by clearly communicating the size and focus of this event.
   
   
2. Marketing messaging and strategy
   This is the area to detail your specific promotion, event theme, or marketing push that you plan to make while onsite at the event. Make sure to spend extra time with your team leading up to the conference to ensure they internalize the messaging, as well as have ample time to ask questions before they get to the show floor.
   
   
3. Event schedule
   Certain conferences allow expo times only at certain hours. Others have open expo hall hours for 3 days straight. Do your team a favor and list out the event schedule from beginning to end, including booth setup/teardown times, expo hours, special events, and other team dinners.
   
   
4. Booth Layout
   This is especially important if you have a larger booth (20’x20’ or more). Help your team familiarize themselves with the booth before they get to the show floor by detailing a booth floor plan, complete with demonstration areas, storage, and other essentials.
   
   
5. Assignments
   If you have demos, you need to make sure that people are in the booth to run them, correct? While adhering to a strict schedule is a losing battle during a show, make sure that you block out enough time for each sales person to run a demonstration, introduce themselves face-to-face to potential leads, as well as walk the show floor to meet partners, customers, and other key people. Because the last thing you need is a booth with too many or no salespeople at all.
   
   
6. Important contacts & Shipment Inventory
   This is vitally important, especially if you know you won’t be able to attend the conference. Anyone who is onsite at the show needs to be aware of who to call in case of emergencies (i.e. – booth burning to ground), as well as what materials are packed in the boxes for them to display.  This way, they will not only know what might be missing from the pack, but will know who to call to help them solve their problem.