Trade Show Tips #6: Essential Components of Power-Packed, Pre-Show Mailings

1. Plan your strategy
Planning is the key to the success of your pre-show direct mail campaign. There are many facets in the planning process, including the product/service, the offer, the media, the communications format and an evaluation of the results. Your direct mail campaign should be used in conjunction with other pre-show promotional activities such as advertising, telemarketing, press relations, etc.

2. Select the product, service, or event to promote
Decide which product, service, or event is most likely to attract visitors to your trade show exhibit. For the best response, keep your promotion simple and easy to understand.

3. Establish objectives
Write down the objectives for your promotion. Make sure they tie into your established trade show objectives and marketing strategy. Think about the response you want as well as the result you can realistically hope to achieve. 

4. Target your audience
Target the people you want to respond to your mailing. Think about their interests and concerns. If you are promoting to different markets, you often have to reach multiple buying influences within each company. Consider tailoring your message to the appropriate audience.

5. Locate qualified mailing lists
Your mailing list is the most important factor in determining whether your mailing will be successful. Often, who you mail to is equally, if not more important, than what you mail. Your very best mailing list is your own in-house list made up of current and past customers, and interested prospects. If you consider buying a list, consider your secondary, as well as your primary markets. Merge the registration list from show management with your in-house list to avoid mailing duplicates.

6. Choose a format, tone and style
Your goal should be threefold: to get your piece opened, to get it read, and to get the reader to take action. Think about using envelope teasers, attention-grabbing headlines, offers, testimonials, benefit charts or response coupons. Consider size, color, whether it will contain a reply mechanism, or be just a simple postcard. Distinctive color and shape will improve your mailing’s effectiveness.

7. Highlight your uniqueness
Successful copy focuses on one key message. Highlight your uniqueness and competitive advantage by stressing the benefit that is most important to your customer. When writing copy, use the Who, What, Where, When, and How exercise. Five times as many people read headlines as read body copy, so say something important.

8. Create an incentive
An enticing offer will give prospects a reason to visit your display. The incentive will only be meaningful and irresistible if it is:
a) Linked to a direct benefit for your prospect
b) Only made available by redeeming the offer at your stand.
Often two-part mailings entice attendees to visit your trade show exhibit. This usually consists of a premium item that is sent in two parts. The first half is sent prior to the show. If the visitor wants the second half of the item, they must collect it at your booth, during the show.

9. Schedule your mailings
Timing is critical to your show mailings. Consider the need for a single or a series of mailings. Plan a realistic timeline for your campaign. Use pre-sorting to save on postage. Take advantage of show management’s promotional materials. Purchase pre-printed postcards for pre-show mailings.

10. Track your success
The best way to measure your mailing success is to establish a tracking system. Use a code on each mailing. As part of your incentive offer, encourage visitors to bring the mailing to your display in exchange for a gift.

11. Alternatives to direct mail
Some additional ways to promote your show or event include email, web banners, and magazine advertisements.

http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/?a=4201&z=11

Our own Kelly was recently interviewed for a national women's radio show. Give it a listen and learn a thing or two about domestic violence, and what we can all do to help!

http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/?a=4201&z=11

Trade show Tips #4 - Creating graphics that work

Here are the basic principles our award-winning designers use to create graphics that work!

 

1. Make them stop and look

In just three to five seconds, graphics should communicate who you are, what you do and how customers can benefit. Graphics are the first impression an attendee has of an exhibitor at a trade show, so it is important to make the right statement.

 

2. Consider your show goals
Consider how to convey your show goals graphically. Aim to grab attention with full-blown, interesting and vibrant graphics. Make graphic images life-size or greater for the highest impact.

 

3. Project the right image
Understand what image you want to project: traditional, hi-tech, dependable, etc. Your company's image will dictate choices in typefaces, artwork, color, etc.

 

4. Design for the audience
Design your graphics to your target audience. Focus on customer benefits. Use your graphics to show how your company differs from the competition. Design images to stimulate your viewer's imagination to think beyond the con- ventional. Avoid designing down to particular audiences, e.g. white for doctors, diagrams for engineers. Convey technical information using good design principles and carefully planned graphics.

 

5. Use different types of graphics
There are a variety of graphic solutions available including front and backlit photographs, digitally printed images, murals or detachable signage.  Your trade show consultant can also show you how you can build dimensionality into your graphics, using standoffs or spacers.

 

6. Have an integrated approach
Plan to use your graphics on other collateral material for a thematic, integrated look. For greater memorability, use color rather than black and white.

 

7. Use light
If you don't adequately light your graphics, you may as well not have done them.  Lighting is one thing that's hard to overdo in a trade show display.

8. Include special effects
Pull in your audience with graphics coupled with other effects. Attract attention with movement. Consider adding an LED message sign to your display, adding motion or using 3-D imaging.

 

9. Limit copy
Limit the total amount of copy as people rarely spend time reading a mass of type on a graphic panel. Use simple language. Write copy in short sentences and keep your paragraphs short.

 

10. Avoid...
Superlatives, or the "brag and boast" syndrome, clichés and overused metaphors, superimposing copy on your illustration or reversing out large amounts of copy (white type against a black background), and periods at the end of headlines as they stop the reader from reading any further.

Keeping Trade Show Costs Low

1. Proper planning

 

Planning is the most important cost cutter. In the trade show business, late fees are very expensive, so avoiding them is crucial. Start by writing down all the dates and deadlines, then move them all back a couple of weeks to give yourself some cushion. This isn't cheating. A fundamental truth about trade shows is that something WILL go wrong, so give yourself some extra time to allow for that inevitability. Order all the products, supplies and services that you need in advance. Most contractors will give you a small discount for prepayment. By ordering early, you not only save money, but you can also avoid delays, costly errors and compromises.

 

2. Promotional production

 

Produce all of your pre-show mailings, brochures and logo giveaways at the same time to save on printing expenses, rather than printing several times throughout the year. Doubling the quantity of a small print order often only adds a few dollars to the price compared to a reprint which will double the cost because it's printing the same job at two different times.

 

3. Display graphics

 

Take a moment and consider what it is that REALLY stops a prospect from walking right past you at the show. Is it your cool literature rack, your cute logo squeeze balls or the locking conference room built in to your backwall? While those things may be nifty, here's the real scoop: Attendees are walking along consciously or subconsciously asking one thing over and over up and down every single aisle: "What's in it for me?" Prospects are interested in how you can improve what they're doing or how they're doing it. Can you save them time, make their lives easier or help be more profitable? If a prospect looking at your exhibit  can answer that question from a distance in about five seconds, you won't be able to keep them away. That means that graphics are way more important than the backwall, the lighting, the promotional products or any of the other "things" that you've got in your booth. Hire an experienced professional to help you develop a visual message that's a real show stopper, then decide how much backwall you can afford to hold it up.  Remember: message first, then hardware.

 

4. Buying a display

 

Three words: COST OF OWNERSHIP. Burn that phrase into your mind. The purchase price should be secondary to cost of ownership. Typically, cost of  purchase accounts for only 10% (or less) of a display's annual budget. The invisible other 90% are setup, drayage, shipping, handling and repair fees. Many an exhibitor has "gone cheap" up front, only to find that the display is too expensive to actually use! An exhibit vendor worth dealing with will happily provide you with information regarding the cost of ownership of any display being proposed. Double-check the math and make your decision by choosing the best exhibit for your long-term needs. Consider one that packs compactly to save on storage, lightweight to save on shipping, portable to transport by car, courier or as airline baggage, sets up easily to save on installation fees and adapts easily to different spaces by adding or removing components.

5. Packing supplies

 

Create a "show box" containing handy items that are often not available at the show site. Include a stapler, packing tape, Velcro, scissors, Swiss army knife, pens, markers, paper, extension cords, extra light bulbs, Windex, paper towels and rags. Remember to re-stock the box after each show.

6. Literature

 

Over 90% of literature passed out at trade shows never makes it home. Yikes! Take only enough literature to distribute to highly qualified leads. Offer to send literature to less qualified prospects, and then make sure it's in their in-box or on their desk by the time they're back from the show. How do you do that when you're attending the same show? Send the day's leads home every evening, and have someone in your office send the literature out the very next day. Not only is this a really green thing to do because it prevents so much paper from ending up in the landfill, it also impresses the heck out of your prospects. You look uber efficient. But wait, there's more. This strategy also saves you money! Those brochures and catalogs aren't cheap, and you've just saved a ton of money by not giving them to people who will throw them away 90% of the time, and you've saved money by not having to ship so many back and forth from the show. 

 

7. Transportation

 

When you consider a display, investigate how you're going to ship it. Lightweight, durable systems save on shipping and drayage. Keep an accurate record of actual weight, content and number of containers. Specify the weight on your bill of lading. Do NOT let the shipper do this because they will estimate high. You can also save a ton of money by consolidating materials in one tub or shrink wrapping individual items onto one pallet. Don't scrimp on shipping containers. Redoing damaged graphics can be expensive.

8. Travel

 

Investigate reduced rates or special deals with the airlines for ten people or more traveling to and from the same city. Book early and ask hotels for any specials or corporate rates. Explore Saturday night stay-over rates. An extra night at the hotel may be less than the extra airfare. Use airport shuttles instead of taxis.

9. Show services

 

Pre-order show services -- electrical, phones, cleaning services and so on -- at least 10 to 30 days prior to the show. The floor price is often 10 to 20% higher that the pre-order rate. Order more wattage than needed so you don't risk an electrical breakdown and then have to pay a higher floor price. If you use show labor, consider contracting with a national labor management company who treat you like a customer, will be more familiar with your exhibit and consequently faster at setup and tear down, and may be willing to negotiate a lower rate based on how many shows there are in your schedule. Talk to your exhibit house. A good one should be able to manage this for you. 

The Tao of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

The Tao of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

By Kelly Sargent

Before I married Paul, I dated a man from Long Island for four years, definitely one of your longer long distance relationships since I live in Iowa.  Ken loved working the New York Times crossword puzzle almost more than anything in life except flying planes.  Personally, I wasn’t interested, but because he took the puzzle so seriously, I felt moved when we were together to join him in his hobby as best I could as a gesture of solidarity, if not concrete help.

It seemed to please Ken when I participated, and he always strove to be as diplomatic as possible in telling me that my contributions were totally bogus.  He explained that there was a certain knack to working the NYTCP, jokes within jokes and clues within clues that only someone who’d solved a great many of them would catch.

We had one final and memorable puzzle mishap.  It was a beautiful, fall Sunday afternoon and Ken was once again working THE PUZZLE as I tried to assist in some small way.  After hacking away at it for a long time, we reached an impasse, a kind of a clot.  At the center of it was a clue word that neither one of us knew the meaning of.   We had tried to get at the answer from the clues that crisscrossed it, but we were getting nowhere.  My brain began to permanently cramp, so I resigned my position as co-puzzler.  However, in the struggle to solve the thing, I had gotten darn curious as to what that mystery word meant.

Little did I suspect on what dangerous ground I trod by wanting to know.   Ken, you see, had definite rules about how the puzzle could and couldn’t be solved.  The most important one was that absolutely no reference materials were ever allowed under any circumstance.  I knew the rules and abided by them, and I had no intention of spoiling his game.  I just wanted to know what that word meant for my own edification.  I promised, cross-my-heart, not to tell him.  He could continue to assault that puzzle ad infinitum exactly in accordance with his rules, no harm, no foul.  

Unfortunately, I was caught consulting the dictionary and Ken was furious with me.  This wasn’t a relationship that was meant to be.

Fast forward to my present life, happily married to Paul.  Somewhere along the line during our ten years together I had begun dabbling with the New York Times crossword which appears in the Des Moines Register.  I have no idea when or why I began fiddling with it sans Ken.  It certainly wasn’t fond memories of golden hours spent arm in arm unraveling puzzles together.

Despite my unsuccessful tandem-puzzling past, without necessarily intending to, I got Paul involved.  It probably started by my asking him if he knew a four-letter word for heraldic shade or what the official tender of ancient Babylon was or some such other obscurity.  Since there isn’t a lot we don’t share, this wasn’t a remarkable turn of events, except that Paul had what I would call an aversion to crossword puzzles.

It’s not that he wasn’t capable of solving them per se; he’s well and broadly read, a science whiz, trained musician, geography buff and blessed with innate linguistic ability.  Despite being so gifted, Paul dwelt under the misapprehension that he wasn’t a person who was capable of “finishing things,” a label that had been pinned on him by his family when he was young.  All of us tend to live up or down to the expectations of the important people in our lives, and that was no less true for Paul.  As a result, he had spent the time before we met avoiding getting started on life because he didn’t want to take on anything he might not be able to finish, including a crossword puzzle.

My M.O. was just the opposite.  Equally distrustful and perjorative of myself, I compensated by purposely taking on things because they were difficult and then forcing myself to finish them not because I necessarily liked what I was doing, but because I’d started it — whatever IT was.  Although such dogged persistence perhaps sounds admirable, it was really just plain nutty, like anything taken to an extreme.  There I would be slogging away at a book I loathed just because I’d read the first chapter.   A saner person would realize that one really can’t judge a book by it’s cover and give herself permission to try it and decide to read it — OR NOT!

When we started dabbling with the puzzle, we didn’t often finish one.  This not-finishing was progress for me, only slightly mitigated by the fact that I saved all the unfinished ones for later completion — recently I found a drawerful — and tackling one at all was new behavior for Paul.  We kept playing with the puzzle every now and again, without particularly noticing that as the months rolled by, we were getting decidedly better at it.  Of course, our rules were different than Ken’s — we didn’t have any.  We’d work on the puzzle together or individually, and reference materials were allowed anytime either one of us reached our personal frustration limit.

Over time I gradually became aware that we had gotten to be rather whiz-bangish at solving them.  Paul said he knew we’d achieved a new level of puzzlehood when we brought the thing with us on a trip and, moreover, solved it from start to finish during the two-hour wait for our connecting flight with no references available.  

Late one night not so long ago, Paul and I were working on the puzzle in bed.  I was rapidly fading, but Paul kept urging me onward.  “Come on, we can finish this!”  Finally I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, and as I drifted off to sleep I marveled at how markedly Paul’s interest in and attitude toward the puzzle had changed.  He had gone from being creeped out by it to being loathe to put it down.

This thing he had avoided because he didn’t believe in his ability to finish it, had become an enjoyable, invigorating challenge which enabled him to appreciate his own intelligence and mastery.  Paul had changed how he felt about the puzzle, but much more importantly, the puzzle had changed how he felt about himself.

Since this realization, I’ve been wondering what I might have gained from the puzzle besides a larger vocabularly.  This is my list of what I’ve learned about life from THE PUZZLE.

1)  People can get better at things.  

Paul and I improved dramatically at solving the puzzle without specifically setting out with that as a goal.  I find that hopeful and comforting because it allows me to imagine that right this very minute I might be getting better at other things without realizing it and so might everyone else.  Collectively, maybe that will make the world a better place to be.

2)  Perseverance pays off.  

Paul and I got better at the puzzle simply because we kept at it.  It’s like driving to California — it’s a long way from Iowa, but if you point yourself in the right direction and keep going, eventually you get there.  An awful lot of what gets done in the world is the result of putting one foot in front of the other, instead of the exercise of genius.

3)  Things that seem insoluble and hopeless aren’t necessarily.  

Boy howdy, did that puzzle seem completely impossible when I first tried to “contribute” with Ken.  It seemed like a conundrum which could not be solved by anyone, most especially me.  Every once in awhile when I pick up the new puzzle, I still look at it and think, “Well this is impossible.“  But it isn’t; Paul and I eventually crack each one.  Maybe that means the human race can figure out how to cure the incurable, resolve the unresolvable, and problems which seem to go on forever, won’t.

4)  Small achievements add up.  

Sometimes when I run through the puzzle for the first time I hardly know any answers at all, and I wonder how we can possibly unravel it with so little to go on.  But then Paul goes through it and finds that my three small answers have given him enough of a hint to solve one or two more clues and bit by bit from such humble beginnings we solve the puzzle.  The world we live in so complex that often it seems as though there’s little any one person can do to make a positive impact because we feel too insignificant to the sum of the mass.  The puzzle reminds me that small actions can be added layer upon layer to yield meaningful results.

5)  No matter how much you know, everyone knows something you don’t. 

Paul is great at geography, math, music, science, and foreign language questions, and I’m good at art, architecture, history and pop culture.  Every week we prove that pooling our knowledge and experience gets us farther than we would get individually.  Every single person on the planet knows some you don’t which makes humility not only a realistic worldview but an important survival skill.

6)  There’s more than one way to look at almost everything.  

Sometimes Paul and I arrive at the end of the puzzle lacking a single letter — and it’s apparent that the missing letter is a vowel!  Now how could this be anything but a slam dunk?  If you’re down to filling in a single vowel, let’s face it, you’ve only got a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y to choose from!  Nevertheless, there we are stymied.  Sooner or later, however, the dawn breaks and we realize that the problem is how we’d been interpreting the clue.  We’d been thinking of it only as a noun instead of an adjective or a verb instead of an adverb, or we had defined it in the way we were most familiar with, instead of considering the other five definitions.  It’s so easy for all of us to think that how we see things is the way things ARE, but everything in life depends on your perspective.

7)  Trust your instincts.  

Now and then there’s a puzzle that I literally don’t know where to begin because I don’t seem to know anything at all about anything in it.  I’ve learned though, that if I let my mind relax, hunches begin to percolate up from my subconscious.  I’ll get a glimpse, or a fragment, or a sort of fuzzy idea — almost more feeling than thought.  If I allow those feelings to go their own way unhindered and undirected, often the answer presents itself.  Our subconscious minds usually know way more than our conscious minds do, if we can just get quiet enough to listen.

8) If you wait until you’re sure about everything, you might not ever do anything.  

Paul and I eventually get to the place in every puzzle where we’ve filled in everything we know and the remaining questions are either things we don’t know or things we’re not too sure about.  A five-letter word for overfill might be “crowd” or it might be “flood,” but without any intersecting answers to literally clue us in, we can’t tell for sure which it is.  We can remain frozen in uncertainty and ultimately not finish the puzzle, or we can take a chance and make our best guess.  Not knowing exactly what to do is never an excuse for making no effort at all.

9)  When you’re frustrated and tired, step away.  

Paul and I often reach a point where thinking harder just isn’t going to help, so we put the puzzle away for awhile.  When we pick it up later, I’m always amazed at how many answers we get after having been completely deadlocked.  There’s a difference between being persistent and beating your head — or someone else’s — against the wall.  Stepping back helps everyone think clearer.

10)  It’s okay to get help.  

Sometimes Paul and I come to a section of the puzzle for which every remaining clue is something we’ve really never heard of before and the result is a knot we cannot untie by ourselves.  If we’ve tried all week to get at the answers from literally every direction on our own and nothing is forthcoming, we prefer to enlist the aid of reference materials rather than not solve the puzzle.  It’s better to own up to not knowing all the answers, get information from sources that do and as a result actually learn something instead of remaining ignorant.

11) Mistakes are part of going forward.  

The only person who hasn’t scratched out, marked over, whited out or erased on a New York Times crossword puzzle, is someone who hasn’t done one.  A “mistake” is the recognition of having found a better way to do something.  The only way to avoid making them, is to never do anything in life at all.

12)  You can learn something from every situation.  Who imagined that there were so many life lessons contained in a crossword puzzle?  I didn’t start fiddling with the New York Times crossword because I thought it would lead to greater widsom and self-knowledge.  It just worked out that way.  If we’re paying attention, there’s something to be learned evey moment.  How much, is up to us.

Trade Show Tips #2 - Working with Show Services and Labor

Dealing with show services is probably one of the least attractive aspects of exhibiting, yet it’s a real necessity. Lean on your exhibit house for more info regarding these issues.  It's our job to stay current on how things are done!

1. Read the exhibitor service manual

The exhibitor service manual is the official guide to everything the exhibitor needs to know about the show: all the relevant information, rules and regulations, service forms, registration, show promotions, contractor and shipping information. Remember to observe all deadlines.

2. Know what services you need

Know which products you are planning to demonstrate and display, and what utilities are required (and how much), make decisions on carpeting, furniture, colour schemes, cleaning and security services. Services ordered on the show floor could result in 50% additional costs.

3. Understand the floor plan

Carefully evaluate your display layout on the floor plan in relation to traffic flow and how your display will be effected. Understand every marking, however small and insignificant, as it indicates ceiling heights, pillar locations, etc.

4. Identify utility sources

Always order more utilities than you think you’ll need so your products perform at their optimum level.

Call the electrical department to find out how much power to order and where the utility ports are located in relation to your space. Display your products where they are least affected by unsightly wires or pipes. Always order more utilities than you think you’ll need so your products perform at their optimum level.

5. Understand drayage

Drayage involves delivering your display materials to the assigned space, removing empty crates, returning the crates at the end of the show and delivering the re-crated materials to the carrier loading dock. To save money,consolidate all shipments and ship one time.

6. Have enough carpeting

Make sure all your utilities are installed before laying the carpet to avoid the frustration of having to cut the carpet for electrical outlets. Order enough carpet to cover the bare concrete strip between the display and the aisle.

7. Allow extra time for customs

If your company is shipping products to overseas locations, allow extra time for various customs clearance procedures. Items will need the correct documentationand will often need to be physically inspected. Always use a customhouse broker or freight forwarder to coordinate all arrangements and keep you informed.

8. Get to know the show services representatives

The show services representatives can be your best friends. They often have the answers to many of your questions or problems. Remember, their job is to help you.

9. Work with union labor (where applicable)

Every city/country is different regarding union rules. Read the service manual carefully to familiarize yourself with what is and is not permissible. Any questions should be directed to show management or the service contractor. Consider hiring your exhibiting display house to provide set-up supervision.

10. Carry all relevant paperwork

Remember to bring copies of all relevant paperwork, especially plans, service orders, tracking numbers for all shipments, as well as important contact names, phone and fax numbers (when the original arrangements were made by another staff member).

Trade show tips #1 - picking the right show

Selecting the right trade show to attend can make a big difference to your success level, qualified leads and sales versus spending money, time and energy with no return.
1. Ask Questions
The first questions you should be asking are "who do you want to reach at the show?" and "what do you want to have happen?"
2. Identify shows
There are two groups of shows you should be evaluating: the shows you are presently attending, and the shows you want to consider for future participation. Who is your target market and which shows do they attend?
3. Match your objectives
Selecting the right shows means matching your show exhibiting objectives with the right target audiences, the right timing to meet buyers' purchasing patterns and the ability to show and demonstrate your products/services.
4. Do your homework
When evaluating a shows potential, gather as much information as possible show statistics/demographics and review lists of previous participants. Verify information provided by show management. Speak to past exhibitors and attendees.
5. Visit the Show
Whenever possible, personally visit the show prior to exhibiting to assess its value. Evaluate the supporting events and/or educational seminars around the show.
6. Consider location
When evaluating a shows potential, take geographical location into consideration. Usually 40-60% of attendees come from a 200-mile radius of the show location. Consider your distribution area and target audience.
7. Consider timing
What other events are scheduled for the same time as the show and will they impact attendance?
8. Evaluate opportunities
What other marketing possibilities could the show offer? Are there opportunities for sponsorship, showcasing new offerings or participation in the educational seminars?
9. Play it safe
Be cautious about participating in a first time show. Promotional material may be extremely persuasive, but a show without prior history is a risky venture.
10. Choose your space wisely
Every trade show is unique and there are many variables affecting direction, volume and quality of traffic past your display. Be familiar with the floor plan and how your trade show booth fits. Consider how close you want to be to the main attractions, industry leaders, competitors, restrooms, food stations, entrances, exits, escalators/elevators/lifts, windows or seminar sites. Avoid obstructing columns, low ceilings, dead-end aisles, loading docks and freight doors, dark/poorly lit spaces, ceiling water pipes, late set-up areas or "black spots" on the floor plan


Ask your tradeshow consultant for advice on all these issues before designing your booth. If they're experienced, they'll be able to plan ahead with you - and you'll save money as a result!

Of Hammers and Nails

Ok, so I'm addicted to "The Closer". Is it Kyra Sedgewick's ducklike cuteness? Or the secret addiction to chocolate? Beats me, but there are some well-drawn characters on this show, and it's fun to get to know them. A recent episode had Brenda's boss telling her "When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail!" in an effort to get her to back off about something or other..... and that line has had me thinking. In what ways am I a hammer, too?

Many customers, when we are searching for ways to promote their widgets, for example, insist on a photo and specifications. It makes sense that as the manufacturer, their focus is on the product and the products specs - and that seems like the really important thing to them. They're being a hammer! We need to remind them that their prospects have a different perspective... a perspective that asks "How will this improve MY life?" and to be relevant to them, we must focus on benefits, not features.

In my daily experience as a small business owner, I'm pulled in every conceivable direction by this business and it's needs. Printer doesn't work? - get Paul. Customer needs an estimate by 2:00? -Paul will need to do that. Whoa! We need to build a crate by 4:00, I'll go get the saw!

The result of all this is sometimes that each new item starts to look like a problem, and that includes things that really are great opportunities. I have to make sure that I don't become a hammer, so that I can recognize a GOOD thing when it pops up. If I've spent the day on technical details regarding my computer network, I have a tendency to treat the next creative challenge as an exercise in lining up features in neat little boxes, instead of finding out what my client really needs!

The bottom line is: Learn to shift viewpoints. When the printer needs its IP address reset, be a nerdy tech head - but don't let that carry over to your phone conversation with a prospective client. If you spend most of your time on one sort of task, remember that some adjustment may be called for when approaching a new and different project.

How does a big project go right?

Diamond V had some designs on the table from a competitor of ours who really hadn’t shown them anything impressive from a design aesthetic point of view. Brainstorm’s vast design library served as a springboard for everyone’s creativity, and we soon settled on a general configuration to begin with. Kudos to the Diamond V design staff for their clear directions... and kudos to Brainstorm’s designers for their color 3-D renderings! The finished display - 20 x 30 footprint includes tower with personnel door and storage, 8 x 18 conference room with locking doors, cool fabric graphics complemented by maple laminate, 2 workstations with locking storage - low ship weight and easy setup, all for under $45,000, ALL INCLUSIVE.

•So why did this project go so right? First of all, the client had put serious thought into their likes / dislikes / needs / wants and goals. Here’s what I (display designer) got at the first meeting:
•A list of things that they felt were wrong with the previous booth.
•Photos of displays from a recent show they had attended showing some elements they found interesting.
•A laundry list of “must haves” like how much storage, literature and counter space.
•Some ideas of future needs, in Diamond V’s case we know that at some point we’ll need to add a big screen to the tower... and I’ve designed that expectation in already.
•Some goals. In their case, the goal was to look modern, clean and cutting edge, to reduce cost of ownership, and to keep the cost of refreshing graphics to a minimum.
•A budget. A booth designer needs to know a realistic budget up front if he’s going to work efficiently. Try not to think of an exhibit as a commodity, where low price rules. Find a designer / builder that you feel you can trust and give them the information they need to succeed. Look at past projects they’ve done, interview their customers and visit their offices. Shop for competence, not price, and require them to stick to your budget – you’ll do much better!

When a client puts this kind of thought and preparation into the purchase, two things always happen: they get a better exhibit, and they spend less money! Diamond V gave me such a clear picture of what constituted success to them, that it was far simpler for my team to put it all together.

-Paul Bridson, Exhibit Designer