Trade Show Events - Do's and Dont's

Before you plan your next trade show event, be sure to follow these guidelines.

You can love it or you can hate it but there is no escaping trade shows in a business environment. If you happen to be in the Sales and Marketing division in an industry where tradeshows are a part of the marketing plan, it is more than likely than not that you will be involved in them sooner or later.

Trade shows have been an excellent forum for generating awareness of the products and services of a company as well as generating leads in the short run. If you are an entrepreneur or a sales professional entrusted with the task of participating in a trade show, you should consider two major points while choosing the perfect trade show booth: Location and neighborhood. The perfect mix of these two criteria is likely to get you the maximum bang for your buck.

Location is everything. Try and get in early in the tradeshows which features regularly in your company's calendar to get good exhibit spots. Corner booths with two sides open are the ones that are snapped up the fastest. Location is probably the most critical aspect to consider in a trade show and it is really a no-brainer when you recall all the trade shows which you have been to as a visitor and have skipped most of the booths placed at the end of aisle.

Some of the don'ts while choosing the location are:

Don't choose the booth next to food outlets or conference hall entrances as none of the people heading in these two directions are usually interested in the booths. They are most likely making a b-line to the food court to beat the lunch crowd or are running late for a conference. It is a sad sight to see visitors rush past your stall headed.
Don't pick the booth near equipment areas or loading bays even if you are getting a two-sided open booth. Need I elaborate this? Audio equipment put near your booth is likely to drown your voice most of the times and nearness to loading bays will result in mostly seeing men in overalls rather than 'real' tradeshow visitors.
Make sure you're not in a "freight" isle. These rows are dedicated for the machinery used to set up booths, lay carpets, etc. Companies who have booths in this isle are forced to set up last minute before the show opens.

Consider thy neighbor. Well this logic can work both ways, if you are next to a large multi-tier display, then you can attract considerable footfall during the trade show. On the other hand, if you have a reasonably small booth next to a large display space, then you might get completely dwarfed.

Let's take another scenario. If you choose to be part of a section of similar style booths, the visitors are likely to pace their speed down the aisle in a manner that would allow them to spend some time to see all booths and they are not likely to be in a hurry to get to a larger display. You need to decide this on a bit of gut instinct. Who your neighbor is also might influence your decision.

Some of the don'ts while checking out the neighbors are:

Don't choose the booth next to your competitor. The result is going to be a waste of time is trying to check out what is happening in their booth and agonizing about each and every visitor who stops by.
Don't choose an unrelated industry segment display. If you are dealing in networking, it might not be a great idea to choose a stand in an e-commerce space.

Personally I tend to hang around the center of the trade show where most of the action is. Thus the aim should be getting to the section where we can see most number of displays and decide what interests us most. One of the best inputs to choose the tradeshow booth location and not listed above is previous experience. A number of trade shows have their peculiarities which might only be realized by previous participants so it is suggested that you speak to colleagues who have attended the show before you. I hope that the above suggestions help you find the perfect booth in the next trade show!