Your exhibit serves many purposes; it’s a three-dimensional commercial, a meeting place, a product display and has other functions as well. So make sure that you take all of these roles into account when you go through the exhibit design process. Some key aspects to consider:

- Make sure your exhibit architecture is an appropriate carrier for your graphics. You want to make sure visitors can feel welcomed and are able to identify and learn about your products and services.

- You should have a space where your staffers can record their leads. This can be a small table for a small exhibit, or an actual reception counter for larger exhibits.

- Plan for storage. You need to have a place for all of the staffers’ personal items, extra literature and giveaways, and other things that happen to accumulate.

- If you decide to do a product demo (which is always a smart decision) then you will need a place for the demo to take place. Will you need a counter or table? Will you need floor space, or a computer kiosk?

- Speaking of products — you’re going to need some sort of tables, counters, shelving to display your merchandise. Try not to bring everything in your product line, though. Stick with the big sellers or your newest items.

- Is your goal to have lots of one-on-one time with customers and leads? If so, you may want to think about setting aside some kind of meeting space that is private or semi-private.

- If you’re planning on having a live presentation of some sort, you need to take audience seating into consideration.

Not only is your trade show exhibit a billboard for your products and services, it’s your work space for the span of the show. Plan your design on the different roles your booth will play and you are to be sure to have a smoother show experience.

Many companies these days are looking to get competitive bids on everything from Tradeshow Exhibit Purchases, to Installation and Dismantling and Online Asset Management. The way that most of them do it is through an RFI or Request for Information, or an RFP or Request for Proposal which is an overview of what the company is looking for based on past purchases and future needs.

These general requests often lead the company to secure a purchase or service, but most times do not have all the information they need in them. This can lead to purchases that do not accomplish goals that may be set for the future, or purchases that are focused only on the information provided, as incorrect as the information may be. Skyline Metro Chicago is promoting an initiative by the Trade Show Exhibitors Association and the Exhibit Producers and Designers Association, to help companies who are writing an RFI/RFP get to the bottom of what they are looking for, and take into consideration the whole program, and future investments.

This has culminated in a “Best Practices” document that walks you through the process of writing and RFI/RFP and also has a mock version done for a fictional company. This document is available here. The better requests you have to potential vendors the better the answers. Remember, its all about the details!

While a great display will grab attendees’ into your exhibit, it’s your staff that reels them in and holds them there, getting the important leads. In order for them to be successful, they have to be invested in what they’re doing. A staffer that is giving it their all will be much more effective that the lackluster salesperson who does not want to be there in the first place.

But finding this kind of gung ho staffer is harder than it might seem, which you know if you and your sales force have been in the game for a while. It’s hard to get people excited about 6-8 hour days on their feet, 6-8 hours of constant smiling and cheer, 6-8 hours of cleaning other’s messes. It’s a hard job, but as they say, someone has to do it—and do it well.

Dan Lumpkin of Exhibitor Magazine has a solution. Instead of trying to come up with ways to please your staffers—bring them into the problem solving process. Just because you think something would be a great incentive to work the show floor doesn’t mean your staffers agree. Set up some brainstorming meetings with them starting at least 3 months before the show. Ask them these two questions to start off:

- What do they feel they gain when they staff a booth?
- What do they feel they lose when they staff a booth?

After they’ve hashed out these questions, ask them what they think would help in compensating for the losses. What would be appropriate compensation for getting behind in their daily work? What would reward them for the long hours of hard work?

In booth staffing, as in life, people are more inclined to do a job if they’ve had a hand in the decisions that crafted it.

If you are in any way involved in your company’s event or trade show program, you should definitely attend Exhibitor 2008. This show, at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, is especially for trade show and corporate event marketers. The conference portion of the show takes place March 9-13, and the exhibition is March 10-12.

Join 6,000+ tradeshow and event professionals, from all 50 states and 10 countries, and discover ways to impact your program. Here are some highlights of this year’s show:

Conference
- Choose from over 200 sessions including hands-on workshops, case studies, author presentations and more.
- Take advantage of Peer-2-Peer roundtables and off-site Field Trips.
- Six sessions on environmentally friendly practices to help in the push towards greener exhibiting.

Exhibition
- The most exhibit and event products are launched here.
- A bigger exhibit hall with more of the industry’s most impressive, innovative resources.
- Over 300 exhibitors
- The newest, hottest, and most cutting-edge solutions specifically for face-to-face marketers.

So don’t miss out on this year’s show and the chance to become a better exhibitor. For more information, go to http://www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitorshow/2008/overview.asp.