August 10, 2009

Interpretive Exhibits Now Represents Nimlok Exhibits

Yeah, yeah, it’s a tough market. And ya gotta have what the people want, right? Of course!

Warning: the following is part plug and part explanation as to why Interpretive Exhibits has now teamed up with Nimlok. Most of my blog posts aren’t plugs (this one is!), but I thought it a useful blog post:

Recently the good folks at Nimlok headquarters in Chicago approached us and inquired if we would be interested in representing them in the Northwest and more specifically, in Oregon.

Given our long-time affiliation with Classic Exhibits in Portland, we were hesitant, but decided to check it out anyway.

Nimlok brought quite a bit to the table. And while their product line does cross over some with Classic Exhibits, there is enough difference between the two (and they are aggressively marketing the brand online to help their dealers), so it made sense to take a closer look.

Classic Exhibits for years has excelled in high-quality, low-to-moderate-cost portable exhibits. In the past few years they’ve expanded to custom-hybrid exhibits.

Nimlok made their bones years ago on quick-and-easy pop-ups and portables as well, but also in recent years have expanded greatly, becoming a leading vendor of high-quality aluminum exhibits and fabric graphics. They’ve invested heavily in state-of-the-art fabric production, which was really the element that tipped the scales. Being able to keep graphic production in-house means having complete quality control. They have new aluminum framing systems and exhibit approaches that are out on the leading edge. When at the Nimlok New Distributor Boot Camp in July they showed us a new truss that’s capable of spanning 30 feet without any support other than at each end. Drop a seamless fabric graphic up to three meters tall below that and you have a dynamite tradeshow back wall.

So even though there are similarities, there are enough differences that to us it makes a good fit.

Meanwhile, back at the Interpretive Exhibits ranch….our in-house talents are geared to ‘one-of-a-kind’ custom design and fabrication that is well suited to museums, visitor centers and unique tradeshow exhibits. Our clients, such as Bob’s Red Mill, Kettle Foods, Nancy’s Yogurt, Natracare, gDiapers, Bi-O-Kleen, Allegheny Teledyne Wah Chang and many others have all been knocked out by the design and fabrication skills brought to bear on their tradeshow exhibits. Not being a designer, I am often amazed too at what our team comes up with.

Classic Exhibits is out go-to-source for the low-cost smaller modular and pop-up exhibits, and we’ll continue to use them.

Nimlok is an added dimension to our offerings at Interpretive Exhibits. Aluminum frames from small to gigantic; from traditional rectangle shapes to ‘I can’t believe they did that with an aluminum frame!’

Truth be told, exhibit-buying is off quite a bit in the industry. But with the economy appearing to turn around, we feel we’re in a great position at Interpretive Exhibits when those tradeshow marketing purses start to open up a bit more.

August 6, 2009

Podcast: Kenji Haroutunian Interview

Kenji Haroutunian, the Show Director of the Outdoor Retailer Shows (Summer and Winter Market) discusses how the recent show went, the state of the show, the upcoming year, and how social media is set to explode as a means of connecting people at the show. If it hasn’t already!

Follow Kenji on Twitter: @OutdoorRetailer

Follow @ORShowLive to receive hour-by-hour notices of exhibitor and show events

Follow @ORSM09 for the unfiltered “buzz” of the industry. Tweeting from the show? Use #OR09 for your feeds to aggregate to the @ORSM09 feed.

July 27, 2009

Outdoor Retail Summer Market 2009 – Thoughts from a 1st-time visitor

I was in Salt Lake City last Monday the 20th through Friday the 24th attending the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2009 show, thanks to Dean and the great guys at Lifelines. Now if I can only convince the powers that be that I need to be there in January to review the same show. Just because I’d…uh…like to see the area with snow on the mountains. That’s it! Got nothing to do with the fact I’ve been a skier since the age of seven…nope.

Unfortunately I was unable to blog during the show, so I made notes to gather my thoughts for a post-show post. Did manage a few tweets from the show from the busy bank of PCs at @tradeshowguy.

Twitter

First thing at the show was to respond to several of the tweeters that were doing things to draw people to their booths, like Sole Shoes, who were offering a pair of ‘platinum sandals’ to the first dozen people to come to the booth to say ‘It’s Your Sole!’ Which I did, and they did. Also chatted with some great folks at @ENDFootwear from Portland…not sure who is the Tweeter there, though.

Other Twitterers I ran into over the course of the show include: April at @naturallybamboo; Stephanie at @merrelloutside, Brandi at @itsyoursole, Andy the @aquapac designer, Karen and others at @HidesRetainer, Ze’ev at @Zensah, Byron and Davidson of @ecologicdesigns and @greengurugear… Others I couldn’t find as they were never at the booth, or were just too damn busy to come talk to @tradeshowguy! Ah, well, it was great to connect with a handful. And of course at the Tweetup hosted by @PembaServes where I chatted with – among others – Sara Lingafelter (@theclimbergirl) and Fitz Cahall (@dirtbagdiaries) and more…enjoying terrific food and libations at Cedars of Lebanon in downtown Salt Lake City.

Promotions

Impossible to keep up with all the promotions; you can’t be everywhere at all times. But there were some standout in-booth events/promotions that caught my eye (as well as many of the attendees):

Keen Shoes of Portland: taking photos of people and pinning them to a large bulletin board where they answered the question: where would you like to travel in your Hybrid Life (promoting their hybrid life shoes)? My answer? Jamaica. After collecting names and handing out buttons for three days, Keen gave away $1500 to someone to help them make that trip. No, I didn’t win! During the same time period they gave away the grand prize, Keen also sold a couple of styles of their sandals for $35 (about half price) with all proceeds going to a fund-raiser.

GoPro sport camera did a rather loud promotion several times throughout the show, which I stumbled across twice. The founder of the company (don’t think he mentioned his name!) is a natural promoter, getting his crowds to shout out the product name several times. Of course, handing out a couple of dozen GoPro cameras over the course of a few days doesn’t hurt, either!

Aquapac had several great nature photos on display and ended up giving a handful away on Thursday afternoon before the big run-up to the grand prize of a Baja Mexico whale-watching trip.

Booth size and layout

Not having been to Outdoor Retail before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But after walking the floor for an hour, the most obvious thing is that large companies here like LARGE booths, enclosed walls on 3 or 4 sides, second stories and lots of display space. A 100′ x 60′ was not uncommon.

Green exhibit construction was also at the forefront, with graphics printed or mounted on cardboard; recovered wood used as booth walls (from barns or old houses); cardboard tubes, and even booths cobbled together from wire fencing, bike frames, small trees – you name it, this show has it. I came away with a strong impression that most of the companies involved are very aware of the impact on the environment of their booth-building choices.

Dogs and Kids

Yes, ORSM09 is a dog and kid-friendly show. Lots of dogs and lots of friends. Even ran across a post from @theclimbergirl as she highlighted the ‘Dog of the Day.’

July 15, 2009

Staying in Your Prospect’s RADAR

Trade shows are a great place to stay in touch.

Let’s say you sell a product that has a long sales cycle of several years. How do you keep on those company’s radar screens so that when they are ready to buy, they think of you?

Trade shows happen to be an excellent and low-stress way to stay in touch. Let’s say Prospect Company A is exhibiting at seven shows in the next year. If you can get to two of them and greet the principals you’ll be making face-to-face contact on average every six months. This gives you an inside track on other sales folks pitching them with a similar product. And the good thing about trade shows is that you have several dozen (if not a hundred or more) potential clients at the same show.

Company managers, CEO’s and movers and shakers will attend the bigger ‘expo’ type shows, so that’s a good place to introduce yourself. Come up with an objective for meeting them – even if it’s as simple as “Hey, I was attending the show because I wanted to meet some potential clients.”

Don’t try and pitch them at the show, but do try and ask a few questions to get a feel for their interest and needs for your particular product.

Follow up with a thank you card within a few days, clip an article of interest a month or two later and before you know it you’ll be on a first name basis with your prospect.

That’s how sales are made.

July 10, 2009

Give me an “H”. Give me a “Y” . . . . What’s That Spell?

Guest article by Mel White of Classic Exhibits

Perhaps no term is more hyped and less understood in the exhibit industry than “Hybrid.” System manufacturers and custom builders are describing their latest and greatest designs as portable hybrids, modular, hybrids, even custom hybrids. Why the emphasis on this term? The answer is simple: value. More than ever, exhibitors are demanding displays that do everything – assemble quickly, look custom, ship light, and reconfigure. Just a few years ago that was impossible, but not now.

If you’ve spent any time walking a trade show recently, you’ve noticed the profusion of aluminum and tension fabric graphics. In a nutshell, those are the building blocks of hybrid displays. Aluminum is attractive, structural, and lightweight. Tension fabric is vibrant, durable, and cost-effective. Together they serve as the creative backbone for displays priced from $4,000 to $250,000.

But what makes them hybrids? Putting them in context with traditional displays will make the explanation clearer. For the past 30 years, the world of portable or modular displays has been dominated by pop ups, panel displays, and modular laminate exhibits. These are “systems” with defined configurations, components, and accessories. Custom exhibits, on the other hand, have offered endless design possibilities since they were built primarily from wood.

Hybrids merge those two worlds and are less systems than concepts. Hybrids start with aluminum extrusion (such as Octonorm or MODUL) and tension fabric. Beyond that, the design can be anything and can include anything. There are portable hybrids consisting of an aluminum extrusion frame and tension fabric graphics, which pack in roto-molded wheeled cases. There are modular hybrids which add modular laminate components and pack in roto-molded tubs or small crates. And there are custom hybrids which combine extrusion with just about anything else – metal, wood, plex, glass, and sometimes even portable or modular systems. As with all custom exhibits, it comes down to whatever fulfills the design and marketing requirements for the client.

Hybrids may not be the ideal for solution for everyone. For many exhibitors, a basic pop up or full custom makes more sense for their exhibit marketing goals. However, hybrid exhibits are here to stay until there is a replacement the versatility of aluminum extrusions and the bold impact of tension fabric graphics.

Mel White, VP of Marketing and Business Development, Classic Exhibits

July 7, 2009

Top 10 Lessons on Tradeshow Marketing I Learned from Loud Rock ‘n’ Roll

Yup, I love marketing. And tradeshows. And loud rock ‘n’ roll. And I take inspiration from rock ‘n’ roll (and all sorts of other music – reggae, new age, grunge, punk, thrash, jazz, folk, etc…) so I thought it about high time to post a list of tradeshow marketing inspirations from my rock ‘n’ roll catalog.

Let’s see if you can find some of the same guidance by cranking up these tunes:

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd. If you don’t market properly who the heck is going to show up at your booth? You don’t want to be standing in the booth humming this song while your competitors are cleaning up.
“Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” by The Beatles. Transparency is one of the major currencies available for companies today. This means blogging about your company, answering all questions honestly, and not trying to hide things. It may have worked to cover up a flaw in your product 20 years ago, but in today’s connected world you’re better off dealing with it.
“Heart Full of Soul” by the Yardbirds. When greeting people at your tradeshow booth give a genuine smile, a warm handshake and offer an engaging question. Your ‘heart full of soul’ will come through loud and clear and make you an attractive company to do business with.
“Treat Me Right” by Elvis. Do you treat your visitors right?
“Wanna be Startin’ Something” by Michael Jackson. Okay, technically it’s more pop and dance music than rock, but if it’s loud it sounds great. And your potential business partners appreciate the attitude of this song. If you wanna be startin’ something with a new client show them your willingness to step up to the plate. Warmly greeting people at a tradeshow booth shows that willingness.
“I’m Free” by The Who. What a great way to entice visitors to your booth – by offering something of value for free. If it’s the right giveaway it introduces your company to visitors and invites them to stay in contact with you with the possibility of doing business in the future.
“Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Yes, you’re in a far-away big city. Yes you can stay out late and party. But the bottom line at a tradeshow is: you’re there to take care of business. Do the business first and then save time for fun.
“Rock Steady” by Bad Company. By exhibiting at the important shows year after year you’ll establish your presence and grow a business that people will love and respect. So keep rockin’ steady.
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M. While everyone else is cutting back on marketing budgets, trimming personnel and cutting corners, they’re leaving a lot of money on the table. A savvy marketer can use the opportunity of a recession to grab a wee bit more market share. When the recovery comes, and it will, you’ll be in a better position to become a market leader.
“Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison. Nothing like persistence to get what you want. This cover tune by George Harrison hit Number One in January of 1988 demonstrates that if you want it bad enough, you can get it. This applies to more than tradeshow marketing of course – but it’s a great way to approach your next tradeshow appearance. Just follow these lyrics:

Its gonna take time
A whole lot of precious time
Its gonna take patience and time, ummm
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it,
To do it right child

Next time you’re planning your marketing strategy, sit back, crank up the tunes and let the inspiration flow. And of course, come up with a few of your own (add ’em to my list if you like!)

July 6, 2009

How Important is Booth Staff Training?

Tradeshow Staff Training - is it important?

You’ve no doubt arrived at a tradeshow booth wanting to find out more about the product or service being offered. Maybe you even scouted them out or found them on a recommendation.

But when you arrive you find that the staff greets you with indifference. Or worse, you find yourself ignored, and not because the staff is busy with other customers but because they’re chatting with themselves.

What do you do? Turn and walk away? I’ve seen it happen.

It’s a missed sales opportunity that will likely not be regained. All because your booth staffers didn’t have the presence of mind or proper training to greet you.

When you arrive at the tradeshow with a well-trained staff, you communicate a subtle message to visitors and fellow exhibitors: We Came Prepared. We’re Ready for You. Bring It On.

It’s all part of your bottom line: a well-trained staff can increase both the quality and quantity of your take-home leads. Team meetings every day can keep your staff focused and on task. A well-trained staff will invite visitors in by smiling and asking pertinent qualifying questions. They’ll determine who’s a quality prospect and who’s not, and effectively move the prospects into the sales funnel and the non-prospects out of the booth.

By taking the time to train your staff in engaging and qualifying your visitors, you’re investing in a valuable resource. And that investment will reap dividends in the real world – your tradeshow marketing ROI.

June 30, 2009

Using Music in Your Tradeshow Booth

Have you ever been walking through a tradeshow only to be diverted by the onslaught of a loud steady hip-hop beat from a booth three rows away? It’s happened to me a few times.

Typically, if music at a booth is too loud, neighbors will complain and it won’t take long for the music volume level to drop to acceptable levels, whether voluntarily or through enforcement by show organizers.

So does all music at a show rub people the wrong way? And with thousands of exhibitors won’t low-volume music get lost in the hustle and bustle?

Perhaps, but there are ways music can be used effectively. At a recent show I was drawn to a light reggae beat emanating from inside a small structure. When I stepped through the door I was treated to Bob Marley’s ‘Jammin’’ and I was treated to a small art display that enhanced the exhibitor’s image.

Across the show floor at another booth my ears detected new age music that was barely audible from ten feet away – but it sounded perfectly appropriate for the product on display and added to the overall booth ambiance.

In both cases the music was unobtrusive and supported the client’s image. If you’re going to consider music as a background for your tradeshow it should do both.

What About the Legalities?

Not being a lawyer, but at least being familiar with the licensing requirements of ASCAP and BMI, it’s my understanding that any event or venue that features licensed music is required to pay a fee. For instance, if you play a radio over your on-hold system, technically you’re required to pay a licensing fee. Same at a restaurant, bar or other gathering place where pre-recorded music might be played – or a live band for tha matter. If you play music in your booth at a tradeshow, often the event organizers or convention operators will have a license to cover that performance.

If you want to play music at your booth, check with the show organizers first and see if they’re covered. If they’re not, check with your company legal advisor. If they determine you should cover your legal you-know-what, purchasing a performance license is relatively cheap.

June 26, 2009

Moving Out of Your Comfort Zone

No matter what the circumstance, moving out of your comfort zone is not easy. But busting that comfort zone is often a key step to growth.

Most clients I work with on new custom tradeshow booth projects are on the verge of moving out of their comfort zone. Why? Because they’re moving from simple pop-up type exhibits to full custom designed and fabricated booths. In other cases they’re moving out of the comfort zone of not doing tradeshow marketing to appearing with a small pop-up a regional shows.

That means they’re stepping into dealing with a larger plan that involves shipping, storage, drayage, show labor and more. Most of that stuff they haven’t had to deal with – at least not on the scale that a larger custom booth demands. It’s not as easy as shipping a small booth case with a few graphics. Now you’re dealing with common carrier shipping lines, larger storage spaces, and coordinating a set-up staff that you may have little communication with or control over.

A recent prospect made the decision to move into a larger 20×30 booth from a 10×20 in-line booth. They were ready to step up and break through that comfort zone as a company. But something happened on the way to the tradeshow. They started adding up the cost of drayage, storage, shipping – not to mention the cost of design and fabrication. Then the economy started to slide, so they regretfully sidelined the new booth project. Not because they didn’t want the new booth, but because the realities of all of the ramifications hadn’t been fully calculated. They were not quite ready for the new reality of living with a larger booth.

But there are many more examples of companies I’ve worked with that have made the step successfully. All contingencies were examined, all costs were vetted, and the decision was made to proceed. Bob’s Red Mill, of Milwaukie, Oregon, is a good example of this (see photo). When it was time to move up they made the commitment, and are extremely pleased with how the new booth has helped their marketing efforts at the larger tradeshows.

From my vantage point, all the folks I work with are more than happy to have made the change, no matter how uncomfortable it may have been working through the process. They have a nicer, larger booth that proudly shows off their brand and help bring in more business. Clients rave about the new booth and everyone goes home happier.

And dealing with all that stuff – show labor, shipping, drayage, etc. – becomes the new norm. So it doesn’t take long before you’re back in your comfort zone again.

June 23, 2009

20 Dumb Things Exhibitors Do

Are you wasting money with your tradeshow exhibiting?

Last week I put up a blog post that poked fun at tradeshow visitors with the “Top 10 Annoying Things Tradeshow Attendees Do” – so this week I thought I’d turn the mirror around with Dumb Things Exhibitors Do.

No, don’t think anything of the fact that this list is twice as long as the other list! I just happen to see if from the exhibitor’s point of view – and it’s my job to point these things out, anyway.

So…the list, sir?

Show up understaffed.

Neglect to train your staff.

Show up with nothing more than a booth and some people – and no plan.

Forget to update the graphics to reflect new products or services.

Fail to keep the booth as clean as possible.

Ignore visitors.

Stand in your booth with your arms folded (body language says – ‘stay away’).

Wait until the last minute to call your graphic production company with a change of graphic plans.

Wait until the last minute to do anything – exhibit planning and execution usually takes more time than you think.

Being indecisive and letting time slip by and being forced to make quick decisions that may not be the best for the company.

Think that the tradeshow and convention is your time to party, baby! 3 am? Sure, why not?!

Bring a generic brochure to a show where you should be promoting a specific product or service.

Think there’s only one way to do things – and remain inflexible to possible changes. Even in the midst of a show.

Fail to listen to your customers. A tradeshow is a perfect place to do mini-polls and customer research.

Failing to take a break when you clearly need it.

Failing to collect pertinent information for each prospect: just enough and not too much.

Neglecting to confirm with your prospect exactly when your next contact will be and what that contact will address.

Not taking advantage of early booking for next year’s show before you leave this year’s show – it usually saves you some $$ and gets you a decent spot.

Fail to watch every nickel and dime – so you can plan next year’s show taking into account this year’s cost savings!

Debrief your staff at the end of every day while it’s fresh on their minds – and implement good suggestions the next day!

Feel free to add to the list of course. Just take a moment, sign up as a blog user and leave your comment. It’ll make it easier to add comments to the next post.

To see a list of 101 things a tradeshow exhibitor SHOULD do, check out the e-book “101 Rules of Tradeshow Marketing.” (PDF link)

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