After the Why - The How. #TradeshowTalk

This Thursday.   March 25th.   Tune into to Clubhouse at 10AM for #TradeShowTalk.

#tradeshow

#clubhouse

#business

#marketing 

#exhibit 

Almost a Day Like Every Other!

 A New Day

It gets over used.  A New Beginning.  "Company 2.0". Re-launch.   

March 12, 2021 was truly one of those days.  

The pandemic, shut downs, family tragedies.   Who has not been impacted?   Restaurants changed. Family Zoom Parties happened.  2020 will be a year no one will forget and the stories of it will "grow" as time goes by.

Sadness comes to mind.   But we have as a country, as a nation and a family we need to move forward.  And at Exhibit Associates one of those days moving forward was yesterday.   March 12, 2021.

You see after shut downs, mask mandates and the complete shut down of our industry.  100% shut down, door shut, events cancelled and no tradeshows what so ever.  But on Friday the light came on.   That light at the end of the tunnel came on.

We shipped crates.

Crates for a tradeshow.

Crates for an event.

Nothing "Amazing."   Nothing "Miraculous." 

Just crates headed to a show.

Just a new beginning.

Design Counts

 With the focus on PPE and Show Services, I do not want to take the anything away from what design looks like.  

It takes time.

It takes questions.

It takes revolutions.

Also known as iterations.

Show Services is where the rubber meets the road, but it all starts with design.

Find out more at Exhibit Associates!

"What are you buying for your place?" or PPE Tuesday

 Wow!

The last year has been amazing.   If you look at the last 12 months no one would have thought that toilet

paper would be in short supply, alcohol would be plentiful and the Tiger King story would be one of the more normal things about 2020.   

And here we are in 2021 ready to get at it again.   Keep in mind that Congress just passed a COVID relief bill ("CARES Act") that has provisions in it to get a Tax Credit for the purchase of PPE for your facility.  

Now we here at Exhibit Associates are awesome at designing, building and executing on tradeshow booths, corporate displays and museum exhibits.  And the way we have positioned ourselves with this "PPE for your facility" is in our corporate displays lane.  

As good as we are at design/build we will leave it to our accountant to tell us what we can buy for our place.  But they say Tax Credits are great!  What are you buying for your place?

Of course you can contact us at sales@exhibitassociates.com 

Show Services Friday

 Time for that Checklist!  

Monday we spoke about The Last Thing!

On Tuesday it was The Rules!

On Wednesday it was Energy!

On Thursday it was DIY Information.

And today it will The Checklists!  

Scan the QR Code, and then you will be on your way.  

So Let's Get Ready for Tradeshows! 

Show Services Thursday!

 

DIY Tradeshow Setup and Strike.

1^st thing: Unless you have a 10x10 pop up – don’t do this.  Hire a crew.  But if the costs are main concern consider this scenario.

You got the key rules, you got the food essentials and you know how important Show Services are to the overall success of your tradeshow as it comes to getting new business.   

Key Point of the Tradeshow:  You are there to get new business.  We at Exhibit Associates call it “Protect & Plunder.”  You are there to protect your current client base from your competition, and you are there to plunder from your competitor.

But let’s dive into your costs of a DIY Setup:   For this example you only need 3 people for the set up & strike.   Let's say it's a Sunday Set, with some "clean up" Monday morning.   Then the show lasts 2 or 3 days.   Doesn't matter for this scenario.  

You will need to come in an extra day early and stay one extra day.   So three people for 2 nights = 6 extra hotel rooms.  Let’s say you are using your sales team and their salary is $50,000.00 or $25 per hour.  We will not consider overtime on Sunday.   3x8 on Sunday, your 2 hours on Monday morning then 3 x 8 on closing night.  (Because the show closes at 3:30 and they want you out, booth and all, by midnight!)  24 + 2 + 24 equals 50 hours of work.  So that is $1,250.00    The 6 hotel rooms at $150 is $900.00.  So, we are up to $2,150.00 in direct costs.  Let us talk about indirect costs.

You will be too tired to acquire new business. 

Your team worked all day setting up the booth, then the 2nd day working all day "tidying up" the booth and then staffing the booth.  Ready for day 2 or 3 of the tradeshow?   The last day of the show, say 3:30PM the show is over.   Your sales staff is tired.   And now the real work begins!

The A/C turns off, the carpet in the aisle get pulled up and you wait for crates.

You get work.   Breaking down the booth so when the crates show up you put the tradeshow booth back into the crates.  You team is tired.  At midnight it is all done.    The next day they travel back to the office.  

You and Your Team.  Why are you there?  To get business.

• So did your team go to the networking on Sunday night - or where they recovering?
• How about the Keynote Speech?  Did you attend or were you finishing the booth up?  
• How about the events on Monday night?  Calling it early on any night will not allow you to “Protect & Plunder.”  
• But trust me - your competition is protecting and plundering.
• Who are you current clients going to speak to if not you?  
• Do you think your competition is got them in their sights?  Hell yes!   

 So besides the $2,150.00 in extra costs, how much opportunity costs did you pay?

(FYI:  To have a professional crew do this, the estimates are just a few hundred dollars more than the $2,150.00)

Show Services Wednesday!

 

Set Up Essentials

What you need on the Tradeshow Floor during the Set Up and the Strike.

This stuff counts if you are supervising a crew, you bring the crew from your sales team or you are the “crew.”   Tomorrow to consider if you are going to DIY the setup and strike.

Setting up a tradeshow booth takes some skill.  The skill is developed only through doing it.  Your 1^st 10x10 Tradeshow Booth set up and dismantled can be “uncomfortable” whereas your 2^nd 30x30 island makes sense.  For a standard show it could be 1 ½ days for the setup and ¾ of a day – actually long into the night for the strike.  More about timelines for DIY tomorrow.

There is a lot to do.  “A Long Way to Go and a Short Time to Get There” as the song says.  The checklists will be of huge help on Friday.   Just scan the QRC code on Friday’s blog.   And this will be on it.

What do you bring personally to the tradeshow floor during set up and the strike?  You need tools.  Yes, duct tape, a blade, allen wrenches, mallet, and your standard screwdrivers & wrenches. 

Ok – enough of the set up – here is the list: Water, Food, Power, Camera and Pen & Paper.

1)      Water bottle/Blender Bottle

a.       If you buy water out of the vending machines it will cost you 2x to 3x your normal cost of a water bottle.

                                                               i.      That’s if you can find the vending machine.

                                                             ii.      Water fountains are by every restroom.  You can refill at any time.

2)      Prepackaged food

a.       Granola bars, Protein bars, potato chips, and nuts.  Anything in a package you have to rip open that can survive a long trip without spoiling.

b.       DO NOT use Tupperware.   Little known secret is the tradeshow is not heated or cooled during the set up or strike.   Food will spoil.

                                                               i.      Let’s just say an egg salad sandwich will not last to 2 PM in the New Orleans Convention Center in early September. 

3)      Power cords for your phone, tablet and/or laptop.

a.       The last think you want is to run out of power.  Your phone is your lifeline.   Charge it early and often.   Because it is at the end of the day that you’ll need to send photos and get emails or facetime – and that is when you will be out of juice.

4)      Paper & Pen

a.       This is critical.

                                                               i.      When did you start?  Write it down.

                                                             ii.      When did you break for lunch? Write it down.

                                                           iii.      When did you finish? Write it down.

                                                           iv.      When did the condor crew show up? Write it down.

b.       What do you need from the Services Desk?

                                                               i.      The Services Desk seems to always be the farthest away from your booth.  If you need something from there by the time you get there you might forget it.  But “The faintest ink is stronger than the best memory.”

5)      Camera

a.       Now we all have it on our phone – but this is important.

                                                               i.      Pictures of the crates before you touch them.

                                                             ii.      Pictures of what is inside the crates before you touch them.

                                                           iii.      What does the booth look like after you are done? On the strike – what do the crates look like all buttoned up?

                                                           iv.      A picture of the paperwork you turn in, just before you turn it in, and then your copy that stamped.

1.       That can save you thousands of dollars!

6)      Paper & Pen

a.       This is critical.

                                                               i.      When did you start?  Write it down.

                                                             ii.      When did you break for lunch? Write it down.

                                                           iii.      When did you finish? Write it down.

                                                           iv.      When did the condor crew show up? Write it down.

b.       What do you need from the Services Desk?

                                                               i.      The Services Desk seems to always be the farthest away from your booth.  If you need something from there by the time you get there you might forget it.  But “The faintest ink is stronger than the best memory.”

And if you want to see how hard you worked wear a pedometer.  Day 1 of the set up on my last show was 14,000+ steps.

Water, Food, Power, Camera, and Paper & Pen – it seems simple enough.  And this is if you oversee a crew you hire, or it’s you and company team that sets it all up.

 

Show Services Tuesday

Just like Road House.

And we will get to Dalton in a minute.

This week is all about Show Services.    And we have ten rules:

1. Communicate
2. Communicate
3. Communicate
4. Communicate
5. Communicate
6. Communicate
7. Communicate
8. Communicate
9. Communicate
10. Be Nice!

And for those who are fans of Road House - you get the Be Nice!   Until it's time to "Not Be Nice!"  Don't be a push over, be firm, know what you need to ask for.   But if you don't know - the people on the floor, remember the ones who speak like Marines/Prison Road Gangs, will see right through you.

Complain about Material Handling.  Complain about the cost of a wastebasket.  Complain about the rates of the Condor Crew.    And watch how long and complicated your set up & strike will be. 

But share your floor plan with the people setting up.  Make sure the electricians have your electrical plan.  Make sure the booth staff know when  and where they are to be during the show.  Set expectations.   

And the only way you can do all that is by communicating.   (Rules 1 thru 9!) 

Show Services Wednesday will be all about what you need on the floor to survive!.

Show Services Monday

The "Last Thing" You Have to worry about!

Drayage, I&D, Forced Freight, "Sparky", Condor Crew, Driver Check-In, CWT.

This is our language.  It's different.  To the un-initiated it is another world.  My 1st time on the floor all I had to do is watch.   "Skinner", long time show services stud, was my guide.   Without him I would have been lost.

My 1st solo trip was to Indy.   Not a large tradeshow booth, but it also was 1 1/2 years into my tradeshow career.   Still the one thing got me worried.  The one thing I wanted to make sure I did right was "Paperwork." 

Yup even in our world, if you don't have the paperwork right - it all can go wrong.  But which paperwork am I talking about?

Of course there is the BOL to get your booth to the show.  The material handling forms you have to deal with.  The electrical layout.   COI is important also.   But that is all pre-show.   Can be fixed and worked around without much pain or penalty.    People will work with you if you follow the rules.  (Stay tuned for Show Services Tuesday!)    Yeah - the pros will roll their eyes, maybe even complain about you - in front of you.   (And the language on floor is a combination of a Marine platoon with a prison work gang - so leave your sensitive ears at home.)    But if you try, if you communicate and if you are "nice" - I've never had a tradeshow professional not work with me.  Hint: communicate, be nice and try!

But the one paperwork I want to always get right is the outbound shipping.   Why?   Two Words: Forced Freight.  If you are paying $1000.00 for your logistics, Forced Freight could be $4,000.00.   Yeah - It's a penalty.   

See at the end of the show they want the freight out of the hall for the next show.   Follow the rules, fill out your paperwork and submit it to the service desk by the deadlines after the show you are all good.  But forget, or be late, or your driver doesn't check in on time - and you pay.

You pay because now they own the freight at that point and they want it gone.  There is no tomorrow.  There is no time.  The exhibit hall wants that show, and all who worked on it out of the building so the very next day they can start on the next show.

So you can do it all right for months - and if you get the very last thing wrong: You are screwed.