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. Oh sure, there are valid points among the foot stomping:
Of course the ideas being successfully implemented at certain shows may not be right for others. Just because one show has found success with product theaters doesn’t mean that another might not end up keeping attendees too busy to walk the floor. It’s all a delicate balance that involves some degree of experimentation, and also a risk of failure.
If you go back to the examples in the previous post, you’ll see that most of them involved sponsorship opportunities for exhibitors to participate in all of these add-on special features. How is that bad? (Other than the fact that exhibitors must take action and make the investment … but then isn’t that why they’re exhibiting – to get a bigger ROI?)
But the key to accomplishing all of these things is for exhibitors to be better educated and prepared to deliver can’t-miss, knock-your-socks-off experiences. (But that’s a topic for another day …)
A far-too-common thread in all of this is the fact that the trade show industry is not exactly the most cutting-edge, always-trying-something-new kind of community. In fact, often during weekly ExpoChats, an innovative comment thread often evolves into questions like “why aren’t more shows doing x?” or “has anyone tried strategy y?” So with that in mind, here are a few tips to help you navigate the sea of change … which is inevitably coming, like it or not:
Guest Blogger: Marlys Arnold. With experiences as both an exhibitor and a show organizer, Marlys Arnold has a unique perspective on trade show exhibiting. As an exhibit marketing strategist, she travels the country consulting and training on how to create experiential exhibits that produce significantly higher numbers of qualified leads. She’s led workshops for events ranging from local consumer expos to some of the largest trade shows in the U.S. She hosts the Trade Show Insights blog/podcast, and is the author of Build a Better Trade Show Image, the Exhibitor Education Manifesto, and the ExhibitorEd Success System. She’s also the founder of the Exhibit Marketers Café, an online education community. To request an “Extra Shot of Exhibit Success” go to www.ExhibitMarketersCafe.com.