And your booth better be the best damn billboard you’ve ever seen!

Imagine your trade show attendees weren’t just fast-walking down the trade show aisles; they’re traveling at 65 mph right past your booth—that booth where you’ve invested so much time and money. The reality is, you don’t have to IMAGINE it. If you’ve ever witnessed that staring-at-the-carpet, “don’t-even-TRY-to-talk-to-me-I’m-busy,” look, they might as well be going 65 mph, ’cause they sure ain’t stopping to talk to YOU!

So what do you do?  What can you put on a sign? What single message will make people slam on the brakes and cause a nice little pileup right in front of your booth? It has to convey: The most incredible thing in the world, THIS exit! But how in the world do you come up with THAT?

You want a showstopping billboard? Lead!

PUSH your marketing people. PUSH your sign designers. PUSH for something that’s not like everything else. Evoke unusual graphics. Demand a distinct style. Reinforce that your brand is more than just a marketing message with a large typeface and some clip art … Then, trust your team to execute without feeling like the Sword of Damocles is hanging by a thread over their heads, ready to drop if something doesn’t match the typical exec-approved aesthetic. If they don’t truly believe they have the latitude to create outside the box without getting smacked down, they’ll simply recycle the type of nondescript signage that soars through approvals.

There are really only two criteria: Does it favorably reflect your brand? And … does it make people STOP?

Those attendees are whizzing by at 65 mph. Make them pull off at your exit.

Author’s note: What’s worked for you at past trade shows? What’s been your signage showstopper? Let’s put together an awesome list for everyone to leverage in their next brainstorming session!

Here’s an easy example: Try a magic trick at a trade show for a small group of adults. If it’s the right trick with some sort of natural segue to your product or technology, it may very well be a helpful mechanism to drive further discussion. But try that same magic trick for the kids, and woah! Now we’re on to something! Before you know it the kids are out of their minds with excitement. Next thing you know, you’re performing for a captive audience of 40—kids and adults—who have gathered around. It’s a simple mantra: Once you have the kids, you have the parents. And once you have the parents, you have everyone.

It’s the fundamental difference between trying to get the rapt attention of a businessperson fast-walking down the aisle staring at their Blackberry and getting the attention of a wide-eyed youngster in a stroller who can’t believe you just pulled ten thumb drives out of your left ear.

There’s a Child in Us All

Unless you’re in a specialized niche, the vast majority of your trade shows will likely NOT be kid-friendly. In those instances, they key is to find that inner child in the adults surrounding you. Your booth presence needs to feel kinetic— movement, sound, bright, visually appealing colors and a centerpiece that deserves and demands attention.  And yes, that could even be a professional trade show presenter.

It’s going to take a lot to stop that Blackberry power-walker in their tracks. But we can all be distracted. Think of all those YouTube videos with a gazillion views. You think all those views happened after work hours and on weekends? No, my friend. Someone who was working productively got an email and got distracted. And then that person stayed because the content was compelling. A trade show booth has strong similarities. When looking for the inner child in adult trade show attendees, think Walt Disney. Think about not just creating a booth, but creating an attraction! What is the thing that will make the little kid in you put your hand on the stroller and say, “Daddy! Stop here!” When you’ve found that, you’ve found the heart of your trade show presence.

P.S.: When my son was in a stroller, he never ONCE asked me to take him to “PowerPoint World.”

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

Well, in some ways, there is!  Although it might mean having to be a bit brutal with your booth.

The trade show floor gives you the best possible opportunity to see what works and what you can change. It’s a virtual Petri dish of booth experiments taking place—and someone has just discovered that trade show booth breakthrough. You just have to step far enough out of your own booth to find out what it is. That’s the beauty of it: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just have to cruise the floor and see if there’s a better one out there.

Here’s what to do at your next trade show:

1) Get away from your booth. Literally back yourself against a wall if you have to, but get far enough away to be able to objectively observe attendees interacting with (or walking away from) your booth space. I know you spent a fortune on that booth or at least put a lot of love into it. But for a moment, disconnect yourself from your own brand. Imagine you’re just a random person walking the floor. Look at your booth. Do you have a clear idea what these guys do? Would you want to go in there? What are the people around you doing? Why?

2) Now walk around. But walk around differently than ever before: You’re not cruising for clients and prospects; you’re just an attendee strolling the grounds. Again, look objectively. Which booth looks most inviting? Where do you want to go? What’s pulling you? Is it interesting or entertaining? Is it a catchy message or flashy graphics? Is it a magician submerged in a water tank? What is grabbing you?

3) Keep walking. You’ll likely blow past lots of small booths with dispirited folks staring at their smartphones. No problem. Channel your inner tradeshow attendee.  Imagine you’re on a quest for the ultimate giveaway. But, in this case, the “giveaway” you’re looking for may be the one brilliant idea that will make your next booth better.

4) Return to your booth, reflecting on your experience. On the way back, pay special attention to traffic flow and location. Now, granted, you may not have your choice of the prime real estate at the show, but you should still do some reconnaissance. Does the booth by the main entrance get the most traffic, or do people blow right past it to get deeper into the hall? Check out the booths near the bathrooms or Food Court. How are they doing? Is it worth considering positioning yourself next to some of the biggest players at the show? Or just to get as close to the Starbucks as you can??

5) Review this checklist, circling anything that really leapt out at you during your journey:

•  Visual appeal (circle all that apply): The booth was eye catching. The lighting was visually stimulating. The activity drew me in. The live presentation was captivating.

•  Flow: It was as if I accidentally strolled right into the booth and stayed there … or once I was in, something about the booth kept me there.

•  Personnel: The booth staff members were engaging, smiling at me from afar, were interested in what I was saying and asked interesting, open-ended questions that kept me talking and learning.

•  Location: I ended up in the booth because of what it was near. What was it near?

•  Clarity & power of messaging/signage: The message made me stop in my tracks. It was as effective and memorable as a great highway billboard.

Go through this exercise.  Pay attention.  And you just might walk away with something that will make your next trade show the best one you’ve ever done.

I’m going to end this post with asking something of you: Post comments with your booth observations here. What did you see that worked? What can you change next time? What have you changed already that made a difference?

It could be after trying this exercise or just based on past experience. My goal is to compile a list of your responses and post it for everyone’s benefit. With your help, we’ll create a magical list of specific ways to improve your next booth.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

In the vast majority of the posts on this blog, you pose a question and I do my best to give a coherent answer. This week, I’ve decided to switch it up by asking the questions of friend and colleague Tim Patterson — better known by many as the Trade Show Guy. Tim is Interpretive Exhibits’ VP of Sales and Marketing, which means he knows how to build a better booth.

Newman: How do you bring sustainability into your trade show presence while still being successful?

Patterson: When people come to us and want sustainability, we can offer them anything and everything that’s out there. The main question that really gets answered before anyone moves ahead is: “What does it cost?” We did a booth for a company in Eugene that was very green-conscious, and they wanted to use wheat board and a whole host of other sustainable materials. But for them, the cost was more than their budget could handle. So, we went back to other good, largely sustainable materials. It was just not quite what they originally envisioned. A lot of the times, the choice comes down to cost vs. budget — as well as new booth vs. refurbished.

Newman: I have also heard you talk in the past about utilizing found objects and materials. Could you go into that more?

Patterson: A year and a half ago I was at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. It’s an amazing show packed with outdoor retailers of all kinds. Because of the relatively low cost of booths at this particular show, you see very large and highly creative booth design. These booths incorporated the outdoors and outdoor lifestyle in a very effective way. Some booths used tree limbs, bike frames, and all sorts of fascinating stuff to create a visually interesting backdrop.  And, of course, it was all recycled.

Keen Shoes had an amazing booth that was almost entirely made out of recycled materials. I got a tour of their corporate headquarters a couple of months ago and virtually everything in there is repurposed and reused. Even their gathering place for lunches and client meetings utilizes a row of bleachers that was saved from an old high school that was being torn down. They had old car seats on pallets with wheels on them, and they’d take these contraptions to trade shows and use them. So, they didn’t have to spend money on a brand-new booth and they successfully repurposed things that would otherwise be thrown away. They’re very environmentally conscious, and their headquarters speaks to that attitude of reduce, reuse, and recycle.

One of the biggest things a company can do is have that attitude: What can we do, starting from scratch? How can we utilize what’s out there to not have to spend money on a new booth? But it’s not only attitude; it takes a company that’s willing to shift from ideas to action—and spend some money. You have to look around and find things. You have to pay people to design and cut and build. But if your materials are reused or rescued, not only does it save money; it presents a great image to your audience. And the people at Keen obviously know their audience really, really well.

Newman: If you have a company — perhaps in the tech field — that is going to be totally new to this attitude and this green trade show approach, what would you say to them about going down this road?

Patterson: What it really boils down to is the image of the company. If you have a really high-tech company, does it fit for you to have a booth that’s made of a lot of repurposed wood from an old barn, for instance? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on what your company is promoting. If you have software that fits in that market — if there’s a relationship between the technology and sustainability — then that might be appropriate.

It can be done, but it really has to be driven by what management wants, and then that has to filter down the management chain and compose a viable approach. Once those decisions have been made on how to approach the objectives, then you start talking to trade show companies that can execute that vision in a realistic manner: Do those designs, help source the materials. Obviously, it’s a collaborative effort. The client may bring materials or even have a designer on hand, but they might not have the skill to actually build something in their trade show space.

Newman: My natural next question is: If you have a company that’s tech-based that has determined that what might work for Keen isn’t going to work for them, what else can be done on the sustainability front? But let’s hold off and pick this back up in Part II.

In Parts II and III, we’ll discuss green trade show booth materials, sustainable packaging and graphic production and green face-to-face meetings (a fascinating topic that deserves more attention). You can learn much more from Tim Patterson in his two new e-books: “Twittering Your Way to Tradeshow Success” and “101 Rules of Tradeshow Marketing,” which are both available at http://tradeshowguyblog.com.

2) Make sure your booth staff is ready to talk to attendees
That means don’t sit down. Avoid standing in groups of two or more fellow staffers. Stand near the aisles.  Look out at the crowd and make eye contact. Smile. Don’t say, “Can I help you?”  They’ll say, “NO.”  Instead, look at their name tags.  Use their name. Ask them what their company does. Invite them into the booth. Now you’re getting somewhere.

3) Quickly follow up on leads
Three-quarters of the leads generated at trade shows are never followed up on … and when they are followed up, it tends to be way too late. Those 2,000 leads you got don’t mean anything if you don’t do something with them. You need a way to categorize your leads as “HOT,” “warm” and “cold” — and with hot leads, there’s no such thing as getting in touch too soon. First contact should come within days of the trade show’s end. When weeks or months go by, you just end up lumped together with all the other SPAM.

4) Use giveaways to build booth traffic
BUT, don’t just give stuff away. USE that giveaway item to quiz the audience on what they’ve just heard. Use it to get them to ask questions. You can also use higher-priced giveaways (from thumb drives to HD TVs to wads of cash) as an incentive to get people to the demo stations and get them into the booth. And consider “green” giveaways. Cheaply made swag just ends up in the trash and then in landfills. You want your giveaways to last … so that attendees hold onto your branded item as long as possible.

5) Keep product demos short
Seven minutes is ideal. Ten minutes is the limit. Fifteen minutes … Get the hook! Trade show attendees have a lot of real estate to cover. Don’t feel you have to tell them your entire story. Pique their interest. Get them to want to know more. Get them into the booth.

6) Limit your seating
A seating area with 50 chairs is intimidating. Few people want to be the first to sit down. Also, if you have an audience of 25 people, it still looks half empty. But with a dozen or so seats, you’re looking at a standing-room-only crowd. People walking by will be more interested in what’s going on if all the seats are full. It’s only natural to wonder what could be going on over there.

7) Have at least one crowd gatherer
We are not talking about scantily clad eye candy for your booth. We’re talking about warm, engaging, gregarious greeters. We’re talking about men and women who know how to chat up people in the aisles, ask them questions, invite them into your booth, introduce them to your knowledgeable (and well-trained) staff. These crowd gatherers will continue to invite people to stop and listen even after the presentation has begun. If you skip the crowd gatherers because of the stereotypes, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

8 ) Insist on an “open” booth design
Think about the lines. Think about the traffic flow. And think about how much you enjoyed the last time you couldn’t find your car in a parking garage. Try to design your booth in a way where there are virtually no impediments in any direction for someone coming in or someone going out. Make the booth’s architecture as open as possible to create maximum flow. You want people to just stroll through and almost accidentally find themselves in the booth. Booth layout and thoughtfulness has much more to do with success than booth size and “impressiveness.”

9) Do your pre-show work!
Promote in advance using social media. Send e-blasts to prospective attendees. Offer up a promotional tease to get people into the booth before the show even starts. Tweet from the trade show floor with your latest news and special offers. Utilize video. Do a “Live from the Trade Show Floor” spot and a daily wrap-up. Announce news and promotions with all the fanfare a live recording can offer. Make it short, interesting and something to get people excited in anticipation of your event.

10) Utilize a professional presenter
Bippy the Mime making a workstation out of balloons may be impressive, but it’s not likely to ensure you qualified leads. Have someone represent your company who is engaging, knowledgeable and will interact with the audience. Most trade show demos seem to be staged readings of marketing white papers. Whether you hire a professional presenter or not, don’t do this … under any circumstances.  Everyone talks about “24/7, valued-added solutions.” Your audience will tune out. Say it in layman’s terms, and say it with passion. Find a reason to truly care about your subject matter.

This article originally appeared as a guest contribution on the ChoiceVendor.com blog. We’ll return next week to the usual Q&A format. If you have an industry-related question, send “Newman” an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

As part of our ongoing dialogue with the green marketing experts at The Good Mix, we’d like to turn our attention this week to the incredible toxicity of trade show carpeting. You can smell it when you walk onto the trade show floor. Some people have allergic reactions. It emanates from the backing materials and carpets themselves. Breathing in the fumes for three days is bad enough for trade show attendees — and for those of us who make a living on trade show floors it’s an even bigger issue. Inhaling VOC (volatile organic compounds) can absolutely give you a headache. But far more seriously, those VOC’s have been linked to asthma and cancer. And when that carpeting ends up in landfills, it becomes an environmental problem that affects us all. Trade shows should be about the fun of dynamic presentations and the excitement of new products; it should be about the “atmosphere” of the event … not the actual atmosphere.

The good news is the trade show floor is an environment that’s controllable. It’s temporal (built and shut down) as opposed to the L.A. freeway. We can change the materials at these events. We can even change the trade show culture, and with it the “default” materials and products used.

There are companies that create carpet squares made from 100% recycled materials, lowering the amount of carpet that ends up in landfills releasing toxins into the air. There are low- and no-VOC paints for booths. There are plenty of alternatives to using vinyl, which is one of the greatest toxic offenders in the industry (and most industries).

Management companies pride themselves on giving out presentation awards such as “Top New Product.” What if they created incentives for their exhibitors buying booth space along with a “Top Green Exhibitor” award? What if the following year that exhibitor got a discount on booth space or better yet, preferred exhibit space in a prime location for having the greenest booth, most sustainable giveaways and smallest carbon footprint?

There are ways to have a friendlier trade show environment and incentivize the process to keep all parties happy. It will just take a few good ideas and a lot of commitment.

And if you’re looking for some information on how to “green” your trade show presence, please contact Janet at The Good Mix. She’s a great resource.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

Tom, you don’t have to pay a fortune to get people to pay attention.

You can re-skin your booth. You can have a smaller trade show footprint (and in doing so have a smaller carbon footprint). You can use a small space to reduce your costs while keeping your booth packed with people, which looks better anyway.

Too many companies choose large booths because it’s a status thing. Look how big we are! That model just doesn’t work anymore. It’s not essential and it’s not cost-effective. Think about it like this: People will always cram into the smallest room at a party. The same psychology exists at a tradeshow. There’s nothing more depressing than a 50×50 booth with four people walking around … and three of them are the exhibitors. When you have a 10×10 and people are bumping into each other and crowding around a single kiosk or a single monitor to watch a demo, that creates a wow factor and the impression that “there’s something really exciting going on here!”

I say use a small footprint and then put more money into what’s going on IN your booth.  Consider a three-hour training session for your staff.  Then, create real excitement in your booth with a live presentation.  I’m seeing more live presenters than at any time in recent memory performing in the smallest booths at the show. At a recent trade show, the big players had 60×60s and 80×80s—enormous footprints with 12 kiosks. But there were a considerable number of big companies with booths as small as 8’ X 10’.  One had a magician. Another, a juggler. A third had a professional speaker on a podium telling a half-dozen different stories in rotation, with each mini-presentation lasting just a few minutes. Each one played to consistently large crowds.

At this same exhibit, our client had one of those 8’ X 10’ booths.  With a registration desk and two demo stations, that left virtually no room to spare.  I did my presentation on a small riser at the very edge of the booth, stopping attendees as they walked by.  I delivered a short, entertaining pitch to anywhere from 10-60 people per show.  Those people would then come into the booth, get their badges scanned and many would hang around and talk to our booth staff.

Our client for this three-day event got over 2,000 leads. Considering the size of the booth, they paid a heck of a lot less for their leads than the large booth next door.  And, they got much bigger bang for their buck.

So, no, you absolutely don’t have to have the biggest footprint at a show. If you make the biggest splash, create the most buzz and get the highest value for your investment, then that’s a success.  A big success.

Note from Ken: If you’re interested in booth re-skinning or a smaller,  more efficient booth design, a great resource is Tim Patterson with Interpretive Exhibits.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

We all know the “Three R’s” of green responsibility: Reuse, Reduce & Recycle. As it relates to trade shows, there’s a “Fourth R” you can remember to enhance your trade show (and overall marketing) presence: Rebrand. Find opportunities to tell your company’s story in ways that create a positive association between attendees and your company.

I came across a rising star rock musician who instead of giving out CDs at industry events and conferences, hands out biodegradable download cards that actually sprout flowers when you plant them in the ground. How’s that for telling a positive story while self-promoting and greening your public presence?

Start simple. Instead of giving out landfill-destined water bottles at trade shows, give away health- and eco-friendly Klean Kanteens branded with your company identity. Provide a water source and you’ll be a hub of activity with an item that people will use for years instead of days or hours.

As for marketing materials, instead of expensive four-color brochures, provide thumb drives that can contain far more marketing information than an attendee would ever otherwise take home—including video, Web site links and anything else you can think of. And if you must have some printouts, just make sure it’s 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based (nontoxic) inks. Water bottles = landfill. Paper = trees + landfill.

Rebrand Through Re-Skinning

One of the best opportunities for green rebranding is booth re-skinning, a technique for which I’ve already professed my love in this blog. Just think of all the resources that go into constructing a new booth every year and for every show. You can save a boatload of money recycling an already-built booth and giving it a “fresh face” with your company and product identity.

Lastly, ask the show decorators to provide recycling and composting. It’s possible to recover about 95 percent of tradeshow waste simply by having recycling and composting available. In some cities, the facility will actually spend less money by recycling and composting than by hauling waste.

Forty percent of what most people consider waste is food or food-related products. Suggest compostable flatware made from corn-based products and compostable paper plates. Trade shows look great when they take these steps; it’s a marketing message that can really be used in public relations and outreach … while diverting a lot of unnecessary waste from landfills.

Once again, if you’d like more information on eco-business strategies (or anything green), please visit Janet at http://thegoodmix.com.  Or follow her on Twitter at @thegoodmixer .

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

Bob, in this economic climate pretty much all companies are trying to save money. So, what are they doing in regards to their trade show presence?

Well, if you can’t afford a 10,000-square-foot house, you don’t buy a 10,000-square-foot house, right? You buy a 3,000-square-foot house, and if necessary, you rent some storage space.

In stark contrast, companies have been totally consumed with “bigger is better” at trade shows and having the biggest possible booth. But the real estate you rent from the management company is one of the biggest expenses … and then you have to fill up that large space (more $$$).

At Magnet Productions, our argument has always been to prioritize filling your space—not procuring the largest one. If you don’t need a 50×50 booth, don’t rent one. If you can get away with a 30×30, then get a 30×30. Frankly, having a small booth completely overrun with people makes a much stronger statement than having a large booth that’s half-empty.

As an experienced trade show presenter, I advise not to have the maximum number of seats because you’re not going to fill them. And if you don’t fill them all, it will give the impression that the presentation going on isn’t very interesting. Now, if you have 10 filled seats and 40 people standing and watching, that conveys a very different impression: Your product is so compelling that you have a standing-room-only crowd.

So, booth size is a great way to save some money. Booth design is another area where the savvy spender can achieve great results for far less money than other companies are shelling out. Magnet Productions partners with a number of booth designers who “re-skin” existing booths. That’s the process by which the designer will strip the signage off a booth and repurpose the existing design to save the client a fortune.

For more information about booth design consultations, feel free to contact us.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

John, way back in 1960 there was an experiment called the “Visual Cliff.” It was a study on depth perception where psychologists Eleanor J. Gibson and Richard D. Walk designed a runway for infants to crawl across, “ending” with a sheet of plexiglass that created the appearance of a precipitous drop. It was really a perfectly safe surface to crawl on, but it didn’t look that way. Most babies would crawl really, really close, but they wouldn’t go “over the cliff”—even with their mothers beckoning them from the other side.

That’s kind of how people are at trade shows.

If visitors feel like stepping into your booth is like stepping out onto that plexiglass, it might not matter what you do to try to beckon them in. Let’s take your booth carpet color, for example … yes, the carpet color! If there is a dramatic difference between the color of the carpet in the aisle and the color of the carpet in the booth, lots of people won’t step over it. They see that carpet and it’s like they’re falling into the abyss. As soon as that carpet changes from the blue or gray that runs down the aisles of the trade show to the green or red that’s in your booth, people stand there and lean but won’t go any farther.

As a trade show performer, I’ve been on stage actually seeing this happen. I’d say, “Come a little closer; we have a couple of empty seats,” and they’ll respond, “No. I’m okay right here.”

They just don’t want to make that commitment. It’s as if there’s something about stepping into the booth that’s suddenly opening themselves up to the possibility of being descended upon like the wrath of God by an army of booth salespeople.

So, when I do booth consulting, one of the things I always tell people is to make the process of entering the booth as easy and seamless (literally) as possible. So, make the booth’s architecture as open as it can possibly be to create maximum flow. You want people to just stroll through and almost accidentally find themselves in the booth. Try to design your booth in a way where there are virtually no impediments in any direction for someone coming in or someone going out.

I ran a “Visual Cliff” experiment of my own—one of the trade show kind. I told a client to find out well in advance what the color of the convention hall carpet was going to be in the area of his booth. Then, I told him to get his booth carpet in the same immediate color family. A little softer blue (or gray, etc.) would be fine, but keep it close.

Now, I’m not Eleanor J. Gibson and Richard D. Walk, so I can’t tell you the quantifiable difference. But it sure felt like it mattered because trade show attendees were wandering around and then, “Oops! Oh, my gosh. I’m in your booth! Would you look at that?”

The key point is that booth layout and thoughtfulness has much more to do with success than booth size and “impressiveness.”

It’s not about trying to blow someone away with the architectural beauty of your design. That’s really not the point. Qualified leads will say, “Wow! What an incredible booth” … and then walk right by it. That’s because it doesn’t have flow. It doesn’t invite you in.

At one recent trade show I attended, there was an elaborate booth with kiosks all around the perimeter. It was fancy, but because of the kiosks there was literally only about a 5-foot-wide entryway. So, it was like pulling teeth for people to get into this expensive, extravagant booth. Yikes!

And to think, all they really needed was a little thinking into the flow of booth traffic—and perhaps some blue carpet to get those leads to jump off the “Trade Show Cliff.”

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.