Fear and Loathing at Trade Shows

Your exhibit partner’s number one job, as a trade show coordinator, is to make you look good to your boss and to your audience at trade shows.

Murphy’s Law tells us that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. While many trade show display installations are free of major mishaps – it is just as common to encounter “issues”. The latter is when fear and loathing sets in for the exhibitor. Fear surrounds how the issue will affect the outcome. And the loathing is having to add resolving an issue to all of the other remaining tasks for the activation.

Exhibitors should include trade show installation management in their trade show budget. Here’s why.

• There are so many more details involved in assembling an island display. Details are a function of service form submissions, engineering certification, special instructions and scheduling to managing the execution on-site.
• Experience and technical expertise are invaluable for installation coordination and oversight. Trade show set-up is subject to local regulations. In addition to different rules depending on the location, different service providers are appointed to each show. Service requisites for freight move-in (aka drayage), electrical, rigging and labor can differ geographically and by vendor. To avoid higher costs, show services should be coordinated among the different providers involved in your set-up. The sequence of the services also needs to be efficiently coordinated with show management.
• Professional supervision offers exhibitors peace of mind. Many of my clients ask me when managing the installation of their exhibit “Why do you always look so calm?”. I tell them that overreacting can result in poor decisions. The truth is, I need to keep everyone calm so they can carry on. When managing an installation, being present is important to solve problems when or if they arise. While there may not be any quick fixes, offering clients options for how to resolve an issue provides value and trust.

Exhibitors can be confident when they have a experienced ambassador helping them generate plans for installations and, equally important, has them follow through on-site with service teams.

Ion Exhibits has 30+ years of experience designing, building and managing trade show exhibits and events. Take a look at some of the recent client experiences and their stories of building brand awareness at their shows and events. https://www.ionexhibits.com/client-experiences/