Portable, Modular & Custom Trade Show Exhibits

President Working the Trade Show?

by Brian Keobke CME

If you have ever watched the TV show Undercover Boss you will know that the interaction with customers will often educate and challenge a company President’s perception of their place in the market and encourage them to make positive changes.

This is why working in the corporate exhibit at a Trade Show is one of the best activities for a company’s President and/or other Senior Management.

It’s unlikely that your company President could ever take the time to visit with hundreds of customers across North America but he can certainly meet and interact with a great number of clients at a Trade Show. The gained information can often make a big difference in the approach to new products and service levels the company offers.

When you let your customers know that the President will be at your booth you may well see an increase in traffic as customers put you on the “must see” list.

Drink up at the Nightclub & Bar Convention

Top of Form

"The Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show, the most important annual beverage and nightclub industry event, saw attendance rise 21 percent in 2010 over 2009's 26,000 attendees." As reported by Helen Holzer.

For those of us trying to accurately gauge the economic tides, this report is promising at first glance. After all an increase in attendance at any tradeshow, especially one in the 20+% range is quite an accomplishment. But after looking at the type of show it is, one might question the reason for the increase i.e. are more people depressed about the economy so the bars are doing well? I guess it depends whether your glass is half-full or half-empty. Ultimately, I guess if you sell your wares to this industry it really does not really matter much.

 

Genesis and Tradeshows

A few Sunday's ago, I went to a fairly large church in Downtown Vancouver. I don't normally frequent churches but since this is a church where I will be married in, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. The sermon that day was centered on an Oscar theme i.e. The Social Network (since it received Oscar nominations). The sermon was very insightful and started me thinking of humans as social creatures that crave personal interaction.

In Genesis 2.18 "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" These early records point to our need for interaction with like-minded company. Since we are in the tradeshow business, I started to think how tradeshows and other gathering places are perfect opportunities to engage with colleagues and catch up on the latest trends. The term misery loves company, once again speaks to our need to commiserate with individuals in similar situations.

During the economic downturn, the ability to discuss ideas and opportunities with peers was invaluable to me and our company. I attended a number of tradeshows and through various discussions we were able to introduce new product lines that are going to be fruitful for the company in the long-term. Social networking digitally has its place, but nothing beats face-to-face meetings where tone, facial expressions, and body language convey so much more than anything the written word can ever hope to convey. ''It is not good for the man to be alone...'' I think that this is one message that we should all take heed of.