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Zeon Answer Desk Attracts Interest
The Travel Authority's 20' inline: Light as Air
D&M Staff Spotlight: Brian Likens
The Trade Show Coach: Dealing with the Snoops
Be Prepared for Trade Show Emergencies
Search smarter on Google
Just by their nature, trade shows inadvertently foster an overt espionage environment. Where else can you walk right into your competition's enclave, talk freely to them and pick up literature at the same time? Beware of the competition at shows, as you would in any competitive environment. If you're observant and a good listener, you'll find that competitors easily give themselves away by either knowing far more than the average customer, or asking precise probing questions. Make sure that you do more questioning than talking, so that you lessen the chances of divulging valuable, proprietary information. Get into the habit of answering a question with a question. Then you're less likely to say something you shouldn't.
D&M craftsman Brian Likens grew up in a musical family where everyone played bluegrass together on holidays. This early exposure to music prompted him to take up the drums at age 16, but later he realized the drum set was too bulky to lug to Grandma’s and switched to the guitar.
Although he modestly describes his playing as “simple rhythm and chords to assist my singing” he plays and sings regularly at his church and youth group. He stays busy keeping up with his large family (they are expecting their sixth child) with little time to practice, but he enjoys playing with his drummer son when he has the chance.
If you want to get the most out of your Google searches, the Small Business Hub Web site offers these tips to refine your searches:
• If you want to look for a phrase such as employee communications, you might be better off doing a search explicitly for the phrase by enclosing the words in double quote marks like this: “employee communications.”
• If you want to exclude a word from your search, use a “–” sign in front of the word. For instance, if you wanted to search for inspirational, but wanted to exclude the word religious, you would search for salsa –dance.
• If you want to search for a phrase or term on a specific site, you can do it this way. Type the phrase you are looking for followed by site:www.sitename.com. For example, “bathing suits” site:shop.com.
• Want to look up the number of someone who called you? Enter it this way: phonebook:617-555-1212.
• If you want to know where the area code of a phone number is located, just enter the three number area code.
• If you need to calculate something, you can enter the expression in to Google. For instance, 4 * 8, then hit enter for the answer.
• If you need the definition of a word, enter define:someword.
Zeon Chemicals, a leading developer and supplier of innovative polymers and specialty chemicals, viewed Rubber Expo '07 as an ideal opportunity to update chemists, a primary buying influence, about recent product developments and applications. While trade show presentations often include demonstrations and a hands-on environment, Zeon's products go into other finished goods and can't be directly experienced. As a result, the goal became to educate attendees through face-to-face interaction with the experts.
Observing the attendees at previous shows, Zeon noticed that many seemed hesitant to enter an enclosed exhibit space and approach booth staffers.
To make the new booth more approachable, Power Creative and D&M worked together to develop a more open floor plan which includes an "Answer Desk" inviting chemists to inquire about how Zeon products might be utilized for their specific product developments. Qualified prospects were then invited to join in detailed, more private discussions of their specific applications with Zeon chemists staffing the exhibit.
The 23' x 50' custom island booth features an open framework of aluminum extrusion supporting colorful identity graphics. Blue and green fabric banners echo Zeon's logo and define the space. Two kiosks support flat-screen monitors featuring an animated promotion of Zeon's featured products. An elevated conference room with frosted acrylic walls provides privacy and separation from the open "Answer Desk" activity of the show floor.
As a recognized leader in the travel industry, The Travel Authority needed a clean, professional image to compete on the show floor with other large travel companies. Additionally, the exhibit had to be portable, easy to setup and a have a flexible method for branding to accommodate three separate businesses, The Travel Authority, SwiftTrip.com and Champion Tours. The new 20’ inline version of the revolutionary Air exhibit proved to be a perfect fit.
To keep graphic costs down, D&M designed all three graphic packages to utilize common elements creating separate looks for each division with only one set of wings, three headers and nine tension fabric panels. The entire 20’ exhibit packs into only five UPS-able cases. With the purchase of a few extra components and cases the exhibit can be used to create two separate 10’ units to accommodate The Travel Authority’s hectic show schedule.
The Air’s layering of modern materials creates a sophisticated look, and its sturdy construction allows monitor-based presentations and locking storage. The Air offers cost savings over traditional pop-up and custom exhibits. Sets of fabric graphics are more economical than photomural panels, and the exhibit can be set up in under an hour by two people without any tools, saving on I&D. It is also lightweight and packs into small wheeled cases saving on shipping and drayage.
Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." Murphy's Law could have been written by a trade show manager.
The best way to thwart disaster is to live by the Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared." Put together a Trade Show Toolkit filled with remedies for potential problems. Useful items to make your life easier include:
Sharpies
Pens
Scratch paper pads
Paper clips, staples, etc.
Scissors
Super glue
Scotch, duct & shipping tape
Velcro (white & black)
Calculator
Camera
Flashlight (spare batteries)
Spare parts (light bulbs, nuts, bolts, etc.)
Zip ties
Paper towels
All-purpose cleaner
Acrylic cleaner
Carpet cleaner
Goo-gone
Touch-up paint
Gloves
Tape Measure
Ruler
Extension cords
Power strips
Level
Screwdrivers (flat & Phillips)
Pliers (regular & needle-nose)
Allen wrench set
Hammer
Long hours on the trade show floor can take their toll on your staff. To keep them smiling and energetic include remedies for them as well:
Breath mints
Throat lozenges
Aspirin & non-sapirin
Antacid
Visine
Candy, granola & energy bars
Band-aids
Fingernail clipper/file
Shoe insole pads
Tide-to-go spot remover
Sewing kit
- Linus Van Pelt in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown