Prefer to listen to this article? Just click on the play button at the bottom of this entry!
Recently a friend shared with me how a client of hers was frustrated because he wasn’t getting more business. When she asked him to share his 30-second “elevator speech,” he rattled off a bunch of corporate-speak, including multiple uses of the word “fiduciary.” Now if you’re like me, my friend, and most of the population, you’ve heard the word and know it’s a financial term, but not 100 percent sure what it means. Well, guess what? He was marketing his services to consumers, not financial industry people, so his description was going right over most everyone’s head!
If you’re looking for fresh ideas for exhibiting tools and techniques, there’s no better place than at the trade show for trade show people! This year, there were numerous creative promotion ideas, in addition to tech tools that impress attendees or make exhibitors’ jobs easier.
Technology:
As covered in a previous post, the Digital Caricature Artist in the PRMconnect booth provided a clever booth attraction and giveaway all in one. But what wasn’t mentioned before is that PRMconnect also provides a great tool for lead capture, management and follow-up. Their Leadature system uses a customized Web browser to qualify attendees, instantly send e-literature to the customer’s inbox, and forward the lead information to the appropriate sales rep.
After what the trade show world has been through the past few years, it’s amazing now to see so many shows breaking records that it barely makes news. While we can’t mention all of the success stories (a great problem to have), a few do warrant highlighting. There’s no doubt that the construction industry has been one of the biggest victims of the economy, so when the World of Asphalt and AGG1 2012 sets records for attendance, exhibit space, and education sessions, that’s a big deal. As a bonus, those attendees were highly qualified, with 84 percent in managerial roles.
It takes a lot to wow a crowd of trade show industry veterans like those who attend the EXHIBITOR Show. But a few companies always manage to stand out beyond the basic bells and whistles.
This year, one of the most buzzed booth attractions was a 21st century upgrade of an old stand-by: the in-booth caricature artist. PRMconnect, a lead management solution provider, had an artist from DigitalCaricatureArtists.com sketching photos of visitors. But the twist was that he sketched them on a digital tablet, which allowed for not only printing it out in the booth, but also the ability for visitors to download and share the sketch on their social media profiles — which several people have, some even using it as their profile photo. (Want to see all the sketches? Check out the album on Digital Caricature Artists’ page on Facebook.)
This is a preview of
Creative Promotions & Booth Attractions from EXHIBITOR 2012
.
Read the full post (533 words, 3 images, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)
New York isn’t the only city struggling with an outdated convention center that’s lost its ability to draw in major conventions. According to the Miami Herald, the Miami Beach Convention Center is overdue for a makeover and a proposal is in the works to demolish it — along with City Hall and the old Jackie Gleason Theater — to make way for a modern multi-purpose development including a convention center, hotel, condos, office space, restaurants and parks. But like any improvement project, it’s not without controversy and must still be approved by voters.
