Trade Show Insights – Details, episodes & analysis

As attendees navigate a trade show floor they're bombarded with sights, sounds, and activities vying for their attention. So in this whirlwind of stimuli, how can your exhibit rise above the chaos and leave a lasting impression?

Experience design expert Mat Duerden teaches both college students and corporate marketers how to craft memorable, meaningful, and transformative experiences. (He literally co-wrote the book on Designing Experiences!)

In this episode, he shares strategies to transform your trade show exhibit into an experience that resonates long after the event has ended by:

• Recognizing the intersection between storytelling and experience design
• Captivating and engaging trade show attendees (like a boy with a hummingbird)
• Starting with the desired reaction and work backwards
• Shaping the experience by mapping it out
• Understanding the importance of micro-experiences

Lately I've been having a lot of conversations around booth staffing.

Exhibit managers tell me they're frustrated about how their team behaves in the booth – or whether they even show up at the appropriate time.

Attendees are annoyed that staffers pounce on them or shove materials at them as they pass by the booth.

Now these aren't new challenges by any means. Bad booth staff may be an ongoing problem for many exhibit team leaders (even you) – but it's not unsolvable.

Over the years, I've worked with many exhibit teams to improve their booth staff behavior. I've also done a number of previous blog posts and podcast episodes with booth staffing tips.

So for this episode, we're diving into the Trade Show Insights archives for some booth staff strategies.

Certain topics are getting lots of buzz these days: staffing challenges, budgets, sustainability, AI. But too often that’s all they are – buzzwords.

So for this episode of Trade Show Insights, I invited one of my trade show BFFs to join me for a conversation that goes beyond the surface of these topics to what should be on everyone’s radar.

You see for several years, Rich Vallaster and I have scheduled frequent touch-base calls to analyze what’s happening in the trade show industry, what’s working, and what needs to change. Now you have the opportunity to listen in as we discuss:

• How staffing shortages at all levels can affect exhibitors
• What show managers can do to make things easier for new exhibitors
• Why shows need to reward loyalty for both exhibitors and attendees
• How there’s a big disconnect around the topic of sustainability
• When and how to put AI tools to use

If you’re a follower of Trade Show Insights – or you’ve attended any of my workshops – you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance of rewarding your team. Celebrating your wins not only results in happier teammates and reduced stress, but it also helps to build a feeling of community and camaraderie among your team. Now that doesn’t mean you should only reward those who work your trade show booth. It also isn’t just about celebrating the big wins. You’ve got to find ways to show appreciation and allow a little time for kicking back at every stage of

Admit it … how many times have you attended conference sessions or webinars excited about all the great ideas, but yet you haven’t implemented any of the things you learned? I get it! I’ve got notebooks full of notes – many of which I’ve never looked at since the workshop. Prefer to listen to this article? Just click on the play button at the bottom of this entry! And tools? I’ve got software sitting on my hard drive that I may have never even opened since it was purchased! (I bet you might have some of that too.) Some people

As 2017 winds down, you’ll likely begin focusing on what to do to kick off the new year and set yourself and your team up for success. But too often, that means big things in January that dwindle as the year goes on. Don’t let this happen to you! It is possible to create an atmosphere of ongoing successes and wins. Here are a few key strategies to help you do that. Prefer to listen to this article? Just click on the play button at the bottom of this entry! Reframe your goals. There are two kinds of goals: realistic

Just because the trade show has ended doesn’t mean your job is done. Actually, that’s when the relationship with all those newly-gathered leads truly begins. Contrary to what many exhibitors assume, it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive to build that relationship. Guest expert Sandy Martini shares insights on: What lead nurturing is and how it can be a win-win for both you and the lead What forms nurturing could take (including one simple thing almost no one does!) When to send cards and gifts (it’s not when you might expect) How to keep leads engaged without feeling overwhelmed

It’s a sad fact of our modern culture that many things with little to no value receive a high percentage of attention, particularly in the popular media. But just because reality TV and do-nothing celebrities take over our national spotlight, that’s no reason to let gimmicks take over your exhibit marketing plan. Here are four areas of caution for exhibitors: Designing a display for shock value alone that makes no sense and doesn’t connect with your audience is a recipe for frustration. I’ve seen so many examples of this! For example, there was the giant brain spinning on a pole

It’s a hard truth: most exhibitors aren’t as successful as they could be. Do they realize they’re setting themselves up to fail? Probably not. The irony is that almost every single exhibitor could easily improve their results by ditching one or more of the following bad habits and strategies. Hopefully you don’t see yourself in these examples, but in case you do … now is the time to make a lasting change! Prefer to listen to this article? Just click on the play button at the bottom of this entry! Your booth looks like a flea market. Let’s face it

It seems last month’s post on Reinventing the Trade Show Floor touched a few nerves. First, there were a handful of unsubscribes from my monthly ezine. Then there were some heated comments in social media. It’s always amazing how pointing out the obvious can get people so fired up. You’ve got to wonder where the root of all that defensive ire is coming from. Sometimes I think it’s because facing change is painful. Prefer to listen to this article? Just click on the play button at the bottom of this entry! Oh sure, there are valid points among the foot