This is unbelievable. Walking through a trade show last week, I couldn’t believe how many exhibitors were eating lunch at their booths. None of these individuals were our readers, of course. But wow! You would think the show had servers bringing the food to each exhibit even though there was a designated eating area. And even though this is one of the commonly known “things not to do”, exhibitors were still munching away. So this month I am going to list five exhibitor do’s and don’ts, all of which I observed in action last week.

Trade Show No-No’s

• Eating at booth – never ever, ever (yes two evers) do this
• Hiding behind counter slouched over and inattentive
• Messy booth (i.e. bags, luggage and such in plain site from isle)
• Sloppy giveaways – flashlights, pens, mint cases in a pile on a counter
• Graphic panels not properly aligned – why spend so much money to have them look unprofessional?

Yes, do this:

• Smiling and attentive exhibitor – after all, you are representing your company
• Clean, neat booth with no clutter
• Free chocolate – always a good thing
• Large, colorful graphics – visible from far way
• Booth attendant identifier – logo on shirt, logo name tag – something to distinguish exhibitor from show attendee

So please, do not forget the basics of trade show exhibiting by behaving in a manner that detracts from a great booth.

Gabe McIntosh
Marketing Director

Please send your trade show stories, comments, or suggestions to gabe@onesourceexhibits.com.

USEFUL LINKS
Find a tradeshow for your company at one of these sites:

http://www.jetro.go.jp/j-messe/e/ - JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
http://proshows.com/pro/index.po - Premium industrial trade shows
http://www.expo24-7.com/default.asp - List of international trade shows