We had two great seminars yesterday entitled “Maximize Your Trade Show ROI.” We covered a lot of great information and our audience members were very involved and enthusiastic. All of us at Skyline Metro Chicago would like to give special thanks to our presenter, Jerry Gerson, for yet again giving everyone an educational and entertaining day. We hope to have him back for another day of seminars soon.

The tradeshow floor is a bustling place during the show for the exhibitor, but at the close of the show when the excitement dies down there are a few things that the exhibitor needs to have taken care of before they leave the show floor. Most importantly, Freight!

I recently rented some small exhibit properties to a customer exhibiting locally. They picked up the freight from our warehouse and took it to the exhibit hall, set it up, and when they were finished slapped the provided labels on the cases and then left. This sounds like it would have worked except for one thing, they did not turn in a bill of lading to the show! The show management companies require a bill of lading from the client in order for anyone to pick up and ship out show materials. This often gets overlooked by exhibitors with smaller properties who assume FedEx is going to pick up their cases from their booth space. For the most part, FedEx or UPS are not allowed on the show floor, and does not have the capabilities to have a driver wait in line to be loaded with your freight. So unless you plan on taking your exhibit cases to a FedEx drop off, they will remain at your booth space and at the end of the show be FORCED off the floor. This results in what is know as FORCED FREIGHT. Exactly what happen to my client.

Forced Freight is when a carrier does not check in on time, there is no bill of lading, or the cases are labeled with a carrier who is not allowed to pick them up from the show floor. The freight is then routed, or FORCED to the carrier being used by the show. The rates for FORCED freight are much higher than normal, and they will not release your freight, or deliver it until the bill is paid in full. This can screw up timelines as well as cost the exhibitor money, and the exhibitor can even have his exhibit wind up in another state if that is where the freight companies facility is.

In this case the freight did not end up in another state, but the freight bill was over 3 times what it would have normally been, and the properties were not received back at the warehouse for 3 weeks after the show. Avoid this at your next show, by simply asking for a bill of lading from your exhibiting company who can arrange the freight for you, or by asking for a blank bill of lading from the show and filling it out yourself. A few extra minutes on the show floor may save you a ton of money 3 weeks later.

I mention this all the time when it comes to exhibiting, but it needs repeating…it’s all about the details!

In my extensive search to find the perfect exhibit space, I found these truths to be self-evident, that not all trade show exhibits are created equal. There is no ‘one’ perfect exhibit space! There are however exhibit spaces that fit the client and product perfectly. Let’s examine two key elements of a successful trade show exhibit.

Ceilings: A sometimes overlooked and unappreciated design element, ceilings give the viewers eye a beginning and an end; a starting and stopping point. They establish boundaries and provide a pseudo shelter. Entering a booth with an appropriate ceiling structure is like entering into the architecture of the company itself. If done well, ceilings are the icing on the metaphorical exhibit cake. Click here for a great example of a trade show booth with interesting ceilings.

Excellent Marketing Collateral: Consider the following situation. I’m a potential client strolling about the trade show of your particular industry. You have a beautiful booth, an amiable staff, and what appears to be an excellent product. I collect your marketing collateral and continue on to the next stop. (Pause)

So, what if your marketing collateral, for lack of a better term, just kind of sucks? Your booth has done its job and your staff theirs, but the literature and marketing materials just doesn’t represent your company’s capabilities. An unfortunate situation to say the least as this may result in not only lost leads, but also portraying your company in an unprofessional manner. As you begin planning for 2008, be sure your collateral is in sync with your booth.

One of the questions we ask during a discovery meeting/fact-finding session before we begin a design is this: “Are you going to have any clowns in your exhibit?”. This question is met with mixed responses; some suggest a member of the sales team that is over the top, some seem annoyed that this type of question is being asked, but after explanation it becomes clear that it is necessary to answer.

The point of the question is not to really find out if you are having clowns in your exhibit, but rather to get you thinking about traffic flow, minimum space needed for personal space, and how traffic can or will be driven into your exhibit. Clowns in this question can be a number of things from models hired to demo your product, a magician who draws a crowd or professional traffic drivers versed on your services; there are a number a services that can bring people to your booth, and they all need space.

Spacing comes into play when the client starts talking about where semi-private meetings or one-on-one conversations will take place. This also comes up with placement of products and literature in getting the ideal space for those items for maximum exposure to qualified show attendees, not just anyone who likes magic!

So the next time someone asks “Are you are going to have any clowns in your exhibit?” - listen to what they have to say, it might be a serious question.