Any creative endeavor requires more than just inspiration or an idea and a burst of activity. If it’s to be seen through to a successful end, the creative act must be wrapped up in discipline. In this week’s TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee, I riff for ten minutes or so on creativity and discipline:
The average tweet lives for 18 minutes. At least, that’s according to the AWeber blog, the platform that hosts my newsletter. Which means that most people never see your tweet. I mean, what, a million tweets a second pour out of the platform, right? Actually, I checked. It’s less than that – around 6,000 per second. But that adds up to about half a billion tweets per day.
Which means you probably missed most of my tweets. That makes me…sad? Disappointed? Hard to say. I mean, social media is what it is. But hey, I’ve had some fun and informative and hopefully useful tweets. Thought I’d re-post a few and give you a second chance. And of course, invite you over to my Twitter page here.
In speaking with industry veterans, consultants and experts, I’m starting to get the feeling that normal may not return for a long time, if ever, on the tradeshow floor.
First, let’s admit that the tradeshow world is a continuously evolving entity, and that what’s normal in one year may look a little odd just a year or two later.
Social media exploded over a couple of years. Now it’s common for companies to post photos and videos of their tradeshow experiences on social media. In fact, it’s just one of many ways that exhibitors leverage online presence.
In 2019 at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), an experiment was under way to shift how exhibitors understood and paid for show labor and drayage. For all we know, that might have been the start of a new way of looking at tradeshow logistic costs and how they are calculated. Time will tell.
Now with social distancing appearing to be the norm for the foreseeable future, some show locations may insist (as might the exhibitors and attendees) that new protocols come into play, such as temperature checks, masks, distancing, limited attendance, greater space between booths, wider aisles. All of this will put pressure on profits and incomes; with fewer people and fewer exhibitors, it’ll be harder to show a profit.
And it’ll also put pressure on marketers, those creative types that are competing for attention along with every other exhibitor. Just showing up, setting up your exhibit, doing a few in-booth activities and giveaways, like many exhibitors have been doing for years, simply won’t cut it. In a recent interview with Marlys Arnold of Exhibit Marketer’s Café, she observed that disruptors will be the ones who get noticed. She also said that with shows coming back and audience attendance down, it’s likely that the quality of the visitors will increase. They’ll absolutely want to be there because it’s important. There’ll a higher percentage of buyers than in the past. And one other change that Marlys felt was important is that pre-show marketing will be even more critical than before.
Virtual tradeshows have blossomed in the past few months. Keynotes, break-out sessions, exhibitor presentations and more are taking the place, at least temporarily, of physical shows. And most observers I’ve talked to seem to believe that the virtual aspects of shows will stick around, even when we’re back to the physical world.
But here in the interim, marketers and tradeshow industry companies have time on their hands – time that is likely being used to adapt, learn new skills and reinvent themselves. With COVID-19 still coursing through the world, physical tradeshows will come back in fits and starts. Some observers have said that “normal” business may not be back until 2022 or 2023. We hope that is not the case. Sooner is better than later, because many people’s livelihoods are on the line.
Before we get to the insightful interview with Marlys Arnold of Exhibit Marketer’s Cafe, I test out a new Kimafun wireless microphone and explore my backyard. Because, why not? Then in the interview Marlys and I test the waters on what it will take to get back to a quote-unquote normal tradeshow world. Take a look:
In numerous conversations with office managers, facility managers and safety coordinators in Oregon (and a few out of state, to be sure), it’s clear that there are not a lot of common denominators for how and when offices will deal with the return of WFH employees.
Many state agencies and professional offices still have a large number of employees working from home. Others have brought everyone back, but with closures still upcoming, some are going back.
Some companies I’ve communicated with aren’t even going to think about bringing back employees from WFH until September at the earliest.
Like I said, all over the board. Some people have older-style fabric/metal cubicles in place. Others have nothing. Many have employees spread out in large rooms, or in separate office.
But they’re all doing their best they can to adhere to CDC and local or state guidelines to keep employees, clients and visitors safe.
Given all of that, some are still looking at solutions to how they might deal with the return of employees and keeping them safe and their anxiety levels low.
Our manufacturing partner, Classic Exhibits, has shared a handful of new sales and information sheets on the PlaceLyft Modular Office dividers and desktop safety dividers. Let’s take a look:
PlaceLyft Office Divider and Desktop Safety Dividers
To save, either right-click and save the images above, or download PDFs:
TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee is a weekly video business diary, although sometimes we veer into personal stuff. Hey, all business is personal, right? This week, I explore music and what it’s meant to me all of my life.
Exhibitor Magazine just sent out a pair of reports detailing research on how tradeshow attendees view the coming return to “normalcy” for tradeshows, events and conferences.
In the first report, Enigma Research polled 2000 live event attendees to gauge their level of comfort or anxiety in the potential return to live events. ExibitorOnline’s report is here, along with a link to the full report. There’s no op-tin or cost for the report, but you may need to register at ExhibitorOnline.
Some of the takeaways include:
Over a third polled say they would immediately return to shows, but most indicate they’re okay with waiting.
Over two-thirds say they’d be likely or very like to travel to another city for an event.
While most attendees agree that safety measure such as hand-washing and hand sanitizer and cleaning are necessary, they’re split on other measures such as who should or must wear a mask.
Next, Exhibitor’s senior writer Charles Pappas recently discussed the World Health Organization’s recommendations for tradeshows and events in a webinar. The discussion included takes on a potential vaccine, how the virus is transferred, having asymptomatic people at shows and more. Check the article here and download the full report or watch the webinar at the same link.
Our main exhibit design and fabricator, Classic Exhibits, offers up four new galleries with what looks like a significant addition to Exhibit Design Search. Here are the four new galleries:
PlaceLyft Office Solutions
Hand Sanitizer Stands
Office/Retail Lightboxes
Safety Dividers
There’s also a new Interactive Gallery, further down the front page. I asked Mel White, VP of Marketing and Business Development with Classic Exhibits, to characterize the changes:
COVID-19 has forced most businesses to review their work environments as they plan for their employees to return. What they’ve realized is that most, if not all offices or retail spaces, do not protect employees from airborne or surface viruses. Deciding on next steps, however, can be confusing (and expensive) for many organizations.
The Contemporary Office and Retail Solutions galleries in EDS are designed to make those decisions easier. The four galleries show attractive and cost-effective solutions for any office or retail environment. They include office partitions with easily sanitize-able surfaces, protective safety barriers, durable hand sanitizer stands, and customizable LED lightboxes. There are no hidden prices, and the designs can be customized to any situation.
All the products are designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA by a 27-year old Portland-based company.
Check out a brief look at the layout here, or by visiting TradeshowBuy.com:
