The Low Down on Trade Show Exhibit Layouts

There are ins and outs and pros and cons to all the various types of trade show booth layouts, and determining which layout will deliver the best results for your company can be a difficult task. Evaluating your company’s needs and objectives will be your first step in determining which exhibit floor plans will work best for you. More from Alexis Exhibits

Booth Babes: Killing Your Brand One Tradeshow at a Time

Unfortunately, the practice of using scantily clad women at business tradeshows is still ever present. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the companies using this tactic don’t understand the damage they are causing to their brand. When I walk by a “Booth Babe”, my first thought is “this company must not have anything interesting to say or showcase if they need to resort to using barely dressed models to create buzz.” Assuming that the company does have something interesting to show, I have yet to meet a “Booth Babe” that was able to articulate the brand message or purpose of the company they were hired to represent. This is by no means the fault of the “Booth Babe” but rather a common result of using a hired model that has no affinity towards your brand. Full Article from B2C

EXHIBITOR Research Shows Virtual Events Unlikely to Soon Replace Face-to-Face

Marketers Not Adopting Virtual Alternatives to Live Events as Rapidly as Previously Expected. Link to article

How To Use Video At Trade Shows

Tips For Making A Better Video For Your Trade Show Exhibits

Optimizing your videos for use at conventions is much easier if you follow these easy steps:

1. Incorporate client testimonials and product or service reviews from real clients.
2. Clearly explain your company's mission and goals and detail the different ways your company is able to help its clients.
3. Use evergreen topics and promos so that your videos are relevant whatever the season.
4. When using graphics, choose up-to-date styles that appeal to your audience.
5. Use your video for more than just background noise by making it a part of something bigger, like a product unveiling or business expansion.
6. Don't just drop a video monitor in the middle of your trade show exhibits and let your video play on a continuous loop. Effective trade show booths incorporate the video expertly, making them a part of the larger design and the overall presentation.
7. Develop several videos if you have the budget for them, and rotate them throughout the duration of the event.
8. Make videos that will stay relevant. Avoid fads and trends that will soon be outdated so that you can reuse the media at upcoming shows.
9. Hire someone to do professional voiceovers to ensure that they are of the highest quality. Full Article.
   

Biggest Exhibitor Mistakes at Trade Shows

Powerpoint presentation on Slideshare. Link.

8 Tricks of the Trade Show

Slide show from Inc.com

Boost Trade Show Attendance with Video

For Exhibitors:

Nothing will attract more attendees to your booth than showing them why they should be there in the first place. Interview your staff and make sure to capture any activities you have at your booth (a preview of a presentation, games, magicians, giveaways, etc) If people can see with their own eyes what festivities are taking place, they'll be more prone to get in their car and drive to the event just to see your booth.

Post videos while at the trade show by bringing a camera that can easily connect to a laptop like the Flip Camera. If you don't have a laptop with you, you can take them on your cell phone as long as you are able to upload them to the Internet. Full article from Trade Show Advisor

Lightening the Paper Load

Conferences and trade shows seem to generate vast amounts of paperwork — booklets, programs, handouts, guides. But as increasing numbers of business travelers carry smartphones and tablets, organizers of these events are responding by developing mobile applications.

Most bundle a scheduling tool, floor plan and maybe information about local restaurants or a social networking link on their apps. But a handful of organizers have begun to use apps to reduce or even replace the vast amounts of paper they once carried to events.

Without so much paper to produce for conferences, planners said they were saving time and money. Not only that, business travelers do not need to carry around cumbersome and often heavy printed copies. More from the New York Times

42 Fresh Facts About Twitter & Facebook

42 fresh and new facts about Facebook and Twitter that are presented in a truly simple and straight forward manner. Link.

Manage Your Logistics AND Marketing to Get the Most Out of Tradeshows

To master the deadline-driven world of trade shows depends on great planning.

Yet all too often, important marketing planning gets overshadowed by urgent logistics planning. Because of the flood of deadlines, we get more distracted by the “what to do” rather than the “why to do” it.

Yet it’s just as essential to plan marketing things. Things such as your goals for the show, your marketing messages for your graphics and staffers, and creating a promotional campaign that will get more of the right people to your booth.

Here are some ideas for your plan, either for a single show or for your entire program. Marketing and logistics steps are mixed together, as you need to do both to truly succeed. More from BizBash

Marketers Want More Virtual Events

VentureBeat reports that virtual events company Unisfair released its annual marketing survey, showing that even more advertisers will be advancing their brands through virtual events this year, with 62 percent saying they would be increasing spending on that medium in 2011, and 42 percent saying they will cut down on how much they budget for physical events. More from Plus Point