In-house, post-trade show surveys have given me invaluable feedback and great ideas. I ask each salesperson and booth staffer to complete my quick 5 – 6 question survey. People who were just attendees at the show to complete the survey as well. It gives a slightly different perspective from the booth staff.
I introduce the surveys in my pre-meetings. We discuss why we are going to that particular show and I ask each staffer and sales person to write down their objectives for the show. I keep copies in my event box at the show and ask them to complete the surveys as they are walking the floor.
Here are the questions I ask:
Show Name
Show Dates
Your Name
Competitors Exhibiting
Competitors Sponsoring the Show
What stood out at our competitors’ booths?
What stood out at other booths? What tactics should we adopt?
What did you like about our booth?
What would you change about our booth?
Should we attend this show next year? Why?
Did you achieve your show goals?
These questions fit front and back on a half sheet of paper and can be used for any trade show. If I am not able to attend a show, this gives me insight and I scan all of the answers into my event folder. The first thing I do when the show comes back up on my calendar is to look over the surveys again. It helps me remember if the show is worth attending and how we can improve.
The booth staffers can be wary about giving honest feedback. I have combatted this in a few ways. The first is to incorporate their advice and ideas into the shows over the years. I also give them credit for the ideas. News like that spreads fast. For new staffers, I explain how I want their point of view because they are in the trenches and have better access to information than I do. The last is that I work hard on being gracious about the negative feedback I receive.
The trade shows are my baby and hearing criticism can be hard. I continually work on listening and accepting it – and improving.
Chairs. I have a love/hate relationship with the chairs that often come with your trade show floor space. The basic booth package for a 10 x 10 space is the pipe and drape, one 8 foot table, and two folding chairs. I often hide or give away the chairs that come with the booth.
Why? I want my people engaged with the attendees. Chairs can bring comfort but they also tend to bring out cell phones. And cell phones often mean that the booth staffers are not talking with the attendees.
Think back, did any booth draw your attention have a staffer sitting in a folding chair? Most of the ones you skipped by had a table placed in the front, with two chairs behind it and the staffer staring at their computer or phone.
For shows that I am unable to attend, I send a diagram of how the booth should be set up and request pictures. My booth staff and sales team understand my motives and why I keep the chairs out of the booth. They do not always agree with me but they understand. In the smaller booths, they have also seen an increase of leads by shifting the table to the side or the back and removing the chairs.
Here are the instances that I allow chairs in the booth:
The booth is bigger than 10 x 10.
The objective of the booth is the have attendees sit and talk with you.
The show is longer than 2 day or 10 hours.
Health reasons
If the objective of the show is to have attendees sit and have a long conversation with you – I upgrade the chairs and I always make sure that I have 3 – two for customers and one for a booth staffer and a table for them to work on.
Chairs are welcome and can provide a place for prospects and customers to sit and stay a while – keeping them away from your competition. The expectation needs to be that the chairs are for the customers and the sales team and booth staff is at the show to gain more leads – not sit and do normal work.
Do you have a take on chairs in your trade show booths?
I loved the movie Oceans 8. It has a great cast but from an event planning standpoint – it has a great moment. The scene where Sarah Paulson’s character is talking about the need for a nutritionist on hand because of all the special request foods made me think of all the pitfalls that feed a large crowd can bring. I wanted to highlight the 3 main pitfalls that I have seen at events.
Food Allergies – Peanuts and Gluten are the most common food allergies that we hear about. I will often ask for food allergies in my event registration and then work around them as I can. Most adults with food allergies take responsibility for themselves. I worry about this more with children. In a buffet line, I will post the ingredients under the dish title.
Cultural Restrictions – Beef and Pork are the cultural issues that come up most often. This is easily solved by having a chicken or fish option. This is why beef and chicken are often the main dish choices at events. It covers 80% of the average population.
Vegetarian and Vegan – Vegetarian is often an easy item to fill with a pasta dish. Vegan is harder but not impossible to accommodate if you have enough of them. I look closely at the target demographic of the event that I am hosting before choosing to eliminate these option.
One thing to remember that unless you are hosting the Oscar after party or the Met Gala – you cannot please everyone. Work within your means to accommodated who you can and apologize when you can’t. Showing that you have made an effort to include everyone will go a long way.
What is the biggest food issue that you have faced at an event?
I love brainstorming sessions. I love to stand in front of a huge whiteboard and bounce ideas off of others. To build on ideas. To think up wild ideas. Some of my fondest memories of afternoons at work have been huddled around a white board and dragging random people into the brainstorming.
Below is an example of the questions I ask myself and others when brainstorming.
What are my objectives and goals? This is obvious. Your booth design must work around your objectives and enhance them.
Does the show have a theme? I exhibited at a show with the theme of Alice in Wonderland. I created hundreds of paper flowers as a backdrop.
Is there a holiday nearby? The World Ag Expo always falls on the week of Valentine’s Day but I have never seen anyone take that and run with it.
What hot trends are out that you can capitalize on? Photo booth? Bell Bottoms? Unicorns? Mermaids? Will any of the major trends work with your objectives?
How can we make it interactive? What will draw your customers in?
Does your company have an anniversary or milestone that it is hitting? These make great themes and get to celebrate your companies longevity.
What constraints do you have? Booth size, budgets, materials, staffing.
What would I do if my booth was half the size?
What would I do if I had half the budget?
What has worked in the past? You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Use what has worked and build on it.
I use words, doodles, and images to capture the ideas that come out.
I like questions 8 and 9 because it helps to distill your ideas down to their core essence. I ask these at the end of a brainstorming session. They strip away all excess and fluff to bring the objectives to the front.
What are your best brainstorming tips and tricks? What questions do you ask your team when building your ideas?
Engagement is the big buzz word in trade show planning. Getting people into your booth and creating a memorable experience can be daunting but there are great places to gain inspiration. Below is a list of places that I look to for ideas and concepts to push my booth ideas to the next level.
Zoos and Aquariums – everyone loves to look at the exotic and graceful.
Theme Parks – the excitement and thrill. Nearly everything is interactive.
Art Installations – your booth is a work of art, what ideas can you get from others.
Casinos – very few places are as good at getting people inside and keeping them.
Museums – they are built to be living exhibits.
If possible, I do two walk throughs, the first to see what grabs my attention and the second, at a slower pace to see what catches other peoples attention. Find a bench and watch the people flow around you. I am watching for the following things
What causes people to stop in their tracks?
What do people stare at the longest?
What do people stop to read?
Watch for people in your demographic, where do they stop?
Take a sketchbook with you, you can doodle your ideas and insights. Take photos of what inspires you. Jot down notes. However you collect your thoughts the best. Then scan them all into your file system to pull ideas from as you need them. I keep my thoughts in a folder on the cloud so I can get at them at any time.
Where do you get inspiration for your trade show booths?
