Trade Show InsightsNews, tips & tools to expand your knowledge of exhibiting

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If you’ve ever used Twitter, you’re likely familiar with the image of the “fail whale” which appears when Twitter’s servers are over capacity. Perhaps convention centers need a similar warning for trade show exhibitors & attendees …

This weekend marks the 42nd annual celebration of Earth Day. And while the trade show industry has been a bit slow to get on the bandwagon, there are many shows that have made serious strides toward becoming more green.

One of the most impressive examples of a show going green is also one of the largest in the U.S. — the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The 2012 CES took a multi-faceted approach, collecting a record amount of materials to recycle and repurpose (totaling about 75 percent of the show’s materials). Those items included:

• More than 20,000 pounds of magnetic banners

Here are some tips on tech-related design trends (including apps & tablets) that aren’t too difficult to implement. Also check out this list of hot new promotional ideas introduced at PPAI Expo. My faves are #5 – the Tabber wrist band (interesting way to make your promos go viral) and #9 – WOW! Personal Branded Assistance (like a real-life version of iPhone’s Siri). Have you tried using QR codes yet? Read how this experiment the Hilton Hotel did at last month’s PCMA Annual Meeting turned out!

For show organizers:

Lots of news this week!

Smart shows everywhere are learning how to survive in the new economy. Here’s a great article on how Macworld | iWorld is doing exactly that. And while there’s been lots of news lately on shows breaking attendance records, one industry that hasn’t been rejoicing was construction … until now. The World of Concrete expo (held in January in Las Vegas) reported an increase in both exhibit space (40,000 square feet more than last year) and attendance of just over 52,000 attendees.

Tonight on the local news, they announced a school district has cancelled all classes for Monday due to a flu epidemic. While this winter hasn’t been nearly as illness-prone as some years, it does draw attention to some important points that most exhibitors overlook.

1. Be careful with bins of promotional items — especially candy. It’s never a good idea to let attendees rifle through items because everyone ends up touching more than just the item they select. And forget about bowls of unwrapped candy! Placing previously-handled items in your mouth is just asking for trouble.