In Case You Missed It: September Meeting Recap

On September 19, Manning Selvage & Lee hosted a Learn the Secrets of Success at Trade Shows meeting. The speakers included Ellen Davidson from Manning Selvage & Lee, Paula Adams from THQ Inc., Krystal Lynn from Events in Motion and Shauna Stafford, a media training expert. Each speaker drew from her perspective of working trade shows to share their top "secrets" of success for planning for and working trade shows. Below are a few words of wisdom they shared with the group of over 20 young professionals.

DO:

Prepare a comprehensive event binder ahead of time including your client's media appointment schedule, contact information, travel itinerary and trade show maps
Ship a "mobile office" to your hotel with office supplies to use at the trade show
Give yourself a one-day event lead time to make sure your client's booth and press room are ready
Be assertive by approaching and speaking with media about your client's offerings
Check out your client's competition's booth, including their press materials
Put your client's names on the back of your business card when you hand it to media
Bring a "war box" of munchies because you may not have a break to eat a meal
Wear comfortable shoes!

DON'T:

Bad mouth your client or any journalists from the moment you arrive until you depart the airport. Usually, your flight is packed with people on their way to or coming home from the same trade show
Wear the same uniform or branded shirt as your client, if you can help it, so that you can scout out the competition incognito
Forget to always have pen and paper handy

MANAGING YOUR CLIENT’S BOOTH DESIGN:

Understand the client's needs and goals when crafting the booth's design, which can be experiential, informational, consultative or media based
Ask for and track the costs of the booth's entire production, including loading fees
During the first hour of the booth's opening, evaluate booth flow in case minor tweaks need to be made

MEDIA TRAINING 101:

Always have a spokesperson on hand to speak with a journalist promptly
For on-camera appearances, instruct spokesperson to be mentally acute and relaxed so that their body languages suggests that they care about their topic
Instruct spokesperson to never repeat a negative question or comment back to the journalist