Business, Trade Show
Trade shows can get expensive. I have been working on a booth recently where I am spending most of my budget outside of the trade show floor. I have been looking for ways to save money on the booth design. I wanted to share how I am cutting into my budget.
Booth Design
The booth design that I have includes two tables, a TV, and the potential for a custom backdrop. I will be showcasing multiple items from different businesses in the booth so I will be creating tiered levels to give the booth some height and dimension.
1. Bring Your Own Items
- I am using two tables in this booth design. My booth comes with one 8 foot table. Rather than paying the $40 for the second table, I will be bringing in my own. I will also being using file archive boxes as my tiers. I could rent shelves for $100 but that would not work with the booth design.
- Savings: $40
2. Rent Outside of the Show
- I need at least three white table cloths and some colored overlay. I will rent the white table cloths at $8 rather than that $20 from the show.
- Savings: $36
3. Use the Early Bird Discount
- I start the basic planning for my booth at least 6 months ahead of the time. Most shows offer an “Early Bird” or “Advanced” pricing. This will often be 10 – 20% discount on the pricing. I am a big believer of carpet in you booth as a way to elevate it. I will save $25 by ordering early. I am also ordering electricity and will save $32 with the discount.
- Savings: $57
Total savings: $133
Now, I know this is not a huge dollar amount, but it is 10% of my $1,000 budget (after booth space purchase). These savings will grow as your booth size grows and your budget. I will use these savings towards my paid advertising budget and boost the marketing campaign that is happening outside of the booth.
Now, there is one huge caveat to this, please read the load in or set up rules. Some shows do not allow you to use a cart (or rolling suitcase) to bring items in so you will have to carry everything. Other shows state you cannot bring certain items in from the outside. Please make sure you have read the rules and if you have any questions, ask the General Services Contractor for clarification.
Business, Events, Trade Show
People love to travel to events and see new places. Most large conferences choose big metro areas because they have the hotel capacity and the draw for attendees. These huge cities also offer a great way to entertain customers and leads. The drawback is you are hosting an event outside of your home city – and that comes with a host of pitfalls. Here are the top 6 tips for hosting a destination event.
1. Do a site visit whenever possible.
No pictures, no second-hand account, will give you the kind of impression as being on-site yourself. You are able to walk the space, get an idea for flow, smell, parking, and all the little details that can get lost in images and videos. Learn more about site visits here.
2. When not possible to do a site visit – get an expert and knowledgeable second-hand account.
Yelp and Google are great for restaurant reviews for a night out with friends. I do not suggest using them exclusively for your out of town evnet. Every major city will have at least one Destination Management Company (DMC). These companies help you find the best venue for your event, entertainment and act as a sounding board for all of your ideas. They will help you to schedule, negotiate, plan transportation and more. They are the next best thing to being on-site.
3. Pack / Ship your Event Box
I have a box that travels with me to every event. It has the basics of duct tape, zip ties, pens, pads of paper, small first aid kit, scissors, screwdriver and a small hammer. I have fixed almost everything with this particular kit. Other items go in and out of my kit as the event call for it but that is my core and it travels with me. Make sure you have your basics. Learn about what I keep in my trade show box.
4. Arrive to the event at least 24 – 36 hours ahead of your event.
Arrive at your destination and do a walkthrough of the venue as soon as you are able to. It is amazing what an extra 4 – 10 hours can allow you to do in case of unforeseen events.
5. Always be nice to every on-site staff member at the venue before, during and after your event.
I have a policy of arriving at a venue with a small thank you gift and giving it during or before set up. I let the venue know that this is a thank you for the crazy request I know I will end up having. This can be a basket with snacks or a case of beer. If I have not been to the venue before I will stick with the snacks. I then say my please and thanks you’s every time I interact with the venue. The venue staff has the ability to make or break your event. They can have the thing you need or even solve a problem before you know it is one or they can sit back and watch you sink.
6. Roll with the punches
All events have hiccups. When you are away from home and your safety net – small things can feel huge. When things go wrong; take a step back, take a breath, and find a plan.
I had one event where I had specified that the tables should be in a square. In my mind, this meant the tables along the outside edge with an empty space in the middle. When I got onsite, I had 6 tables all pushed together to create a very large square – that I suddenly had to decorate. I redid some of my other decorating plans and had the time to work with the hiccup. If I had arrived later, I would not have had the time to make the table look amazing.
Out of town or destination events are a great way to build customer loyalty or extend the reach of your trade show booth. Have fun planning them!
Events, Trade Show
I was putting together an event at work last week and a single thought rang through my head.
“I hate putting events together.”
Now, this is a scary thought for a person who has built her life and career towards putting together events. I did an event internship in college. I have gone through certification training for events. My blog is about events!
So, I took a day, ran to the beach to work out what had gone wrong and how to fix it. The beach is one of my calm places and has very few distractions. I put my feet in the sand and worked through this.
So what has gone “wrong”. I had 4 main points that I came up with.
1.My personal life has been intense lately.
For various reasons, I had to cancel my bachelorette party. (I am sitting about 100 yards away from the house that had been rented for that weekend as I write this.) My bridal party has had some shake ups, due to no fault of the people involved but life in general. Plus, working a full-time job, running a blog, and creating an online course about trade shows that will be released in the next two months. Oh, and wedding planning (with help). It has been a lot and your personal life spills over into your work life and vis-a–versa.
2. I have been focusing on the negatives of what people say about my events.
Before my above scary thought, I was running through the litany of complaints that I was sure would be aired because they had been aired at previous events. Complaints about location, decorations, food, the choice of drink, etc. Now, none of these complaints have been stated about one single event – but about events over two and a half years. But that was all I heard in my head.
3. I have done enough events that they have started to become routine.
With over a decade of events under my belt, I have learned a ton and I am able to put together simple events with ease. I now have an instinctive knowledge of what needs to be done and no longer get excited about the company happy hour or other events that I have done dozens of times. It is the same basic items, just the minute details change. I can plan, set up, and tear down on autopilot.
4. Events are hard work.
Events often require long days with very little breaks. Often, setting up the tables and chairs is the least strenuous part of the day. If you do not enjoy the events, it just makes the days longer.
Now, how am I going to turn this around? I refuse to give up. I love events too much to walk away from them but I obviously need to refocus.
My first step was to ask myself why I love events so much? What drew me to them, even after I knew the long hours and hard work needed?
I believe that my purpose in life is to make someone’s day.
Events have always been a great vehicle for me to do this. A great party can put a light in someone’s eyes as they let the worries and cares of a crazy world fall back and enjoy the moment. That feeling of enjoyment can carry on for weeks and the memory of a great event can last forever.
This holds true with business events as well. I want to provide content that will allow the attendees to grow their business or career. Helping people to reach for the next level – or just giving them the knowledge to protect their business is what I love to do.
With this answer the next step was to find my new areas to focus on.
I need to focus on the impact I am making on 80% of the attendees at any event.
I will never make everyone happy – even if I had a candy store I couldn’t make everyone happy.
I need to focus on the outcome of the event, not the set up and tear down.
I need to focus on the details and let the routine happen.
I am grateful for the years that I have spent planning and running events. I have wonderful memories from so many events – and all of those great memories correlate with the outcome.
So, when you look up one day and realize you hate doing your passion I would suggest doing the following
Ask yourself what has gone wrong?
Ask yourself why that was your passion? What was your driving force?
Can you refocus or is it time to find a new passion?
I wish you the best of luck on all of your journeys and hope you never come to the point I did but wanted to share my story to help those who do reach that fork in the road.
Trade Show
There are three reasons to exhibit at a trade show. Sell your product or service, gain leads for your business and to gain brand awareness. All other reasons fall under this. I want to walk through these reasons in detail and show how to make them work for you.
Sell
Selling at trade shows works if you fall in one of the below categories
- You have small items that people can impulse buy such as soaps, pillows, jewelry, clothes, etc.
- You are at a show where your specific products or services are needed such as wedding shows or home and garden shows
- You can give large discounts on big-ticket items or sell the “floor models”
elling at trade shows can be a hard prospect. Make sure the attendees match your target audience and that you have multiple ways to accept payment. Wifi or cellular does not always work.
Gain Leads
Leads are the main reason that service providers or large ticket item sellers go to a trade show. Leads can be gained in the form of business cards, badge scans, or written leads cards. One of the best ways to gather leads is to give something away in return. You can create a large basket to give away or have small items that people receive if they give you the proper information.
Brand Awareness
Getting your name out into the world is important for your business. Trade shows give you the opportunity to be in front of hundreds if not thousands of people in one day. Create an eye-catching booth and work on gathering leads and/or social media followers to extend your brand awareness past the show.
I would suggest picking two reasons to be at a show. Doing all three can become hectic in a 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 booth.
If you are going to sell your items, have a show special running. You can also gain brand awareness with a promotion where if they like your social media pages, they receive an extra amount off or a free product sample.
If you are going to gain leads, focus on your great giveaway (that still ties into your company’s voice and values). Do an added social media give away to encourage people to like and follow your pages.
A reason not to exhibit at a trade show is “Because my competitors are there.” Trade shows are too expensive for you to be there solely because someone else is. That will make for a miserable show. If you feel that you must attend, focus on one of the three reasons above and build your booth and show experience around that.
Trade Show
Your trade show giveaways should have a purpose and a strategy behind them. Walk through the 5 W’s to ensure that your giveaway will have the greatest impact.
I know the last W is why but how does have a W in it. But seriously, take a moment to think about your giveaways and think about avoiding the trick-r-treating crowd. The people that walk around shoveling all of the free items into their bag – or wagon. I will often put out candy to please this crowd and leave the other giveaways in a closet or under a table for my target attendees.
Your giveaways are a part of your booth and you whole booth should revolve around the strategy and your show goals.
