Recent presentation

I was invited to make a presntation to the folks who will soon be exhibiting at the Cleveland Boat and Waterlife Expo in January...a little piece about the importance of having your booth designed by a pro, especially in this day and age....happy consuming fearless readers!



Over the weekend, as I spent countless hours trying to put together the perfect presentation...a combination of the perfect quotes, perfect statistics, and perfect wit, the absurdity hit me...right about the time that the last of the caffeine from my morning coffee was abandoning me, that I was wracking my brain for the perfect logic, while addressing you about a tropical tinged tradeshow, in the heart of December...here at an African Savannah slash water park...in Sandusky Ohio.

But really, that's what it's all about, isn't it? What is a tradeshow if not a tiny sliver of a bigger universe, cut away from itself and placed in a surreal environment of glass and metal, displayed for the world to see. And what is a trade show EXHIBIT, if not a way for you to transport people from the day in/day out of their world, into the colorful and exciting atmosphere of YOUR world?

20 years ago , a trade show looked and felt a heck of allot different than it does today. Nearly extinct are the miniature models, monotone backwalls, and autographs hawking former child stars. In their place, gracefully sloaping translucent arcs, interactive "creat your own" stations, and structures straight out a science fiction utopia dot the landscapes of convention centers, and ballrooms across the country.

Perhaps no other industry faces as many trade show design challenges as yours does.

While Acme Sparkplugs is in Michigan, showing off their newest spark plug in the heart of car country USA, you face the challenge of transporting a winter weary Ohio audience to the sun soaked high seas , mere momments after they just tredged through subzero temperatures on the way to the door from their salt coated SUV's.

The good news is though, that the trade show world has never been so custom tailored to the nautical world as it is now.

From new, fresh, and exciting designs, to more durable, and cost effective materials, exhibits of note are no longer available to just the biggest spenders.

Combinations of light weight aluminum and fantastic fabrics are brought together to make shapes, looks and feels once thought impossible for a portable structure not only possible, but even more impressive in design and scope than anyone could have imagined even five short years ago.

This is no longer a world accessible to just the elite minority...and in the end, isn't that a theme that resonates with the nautical industry as well? That even those who might not realize just how open the world really is to them, can find that door opened wider than they would have ever dreamed?

All in all, the world of the modern tradeshow is really open to everyone...but SUCCESSFULL trade show exhibiting is much less universal. At the end of the day, there are two things that will make you or break you in terms of your trade show experience- Message, and design.

Your message is up to you. At the end of the day, nobody knows your message better than you, and really, nobody else can really take full responsibility for the success or failure of that message.

Design is such a different creature though...the old adage has it that the man who acts as his own lawyer , has a fool for a client. That is a lesson that translates to the trade show exhibit design process perfectly- sure you know what you want people to take away from their time at your exhibit, but chances are that you probably don't really know what all has to happen during the exhibit design process to get people to that point.

Why should you know everything that goes into a successful exhibit anyways? The industry has changed so much in recent years that if would take a full time position to even try to keep up with it...just to try.

If you were up on even half of the design tricks, tips, and pitfalls, chance are you haven't been sending enough time on your expertise- providing the best products and services that the nautical industry has to offer.

Now, for years, ever since I first boarded the neighbor's powerboat at their summer house at Lake Mowhawk, I've wanted a boat. It's not just the feel of freedom that comes along with charting your course without the claustrophobic confines of asphalt and concrete...though let's face it, that doesn't exactly hurt. What really got me was the sense of detachment from your worries that you leave at the dock.

That's what a successfully designed booth is all about- making the rest of the world disappear as easily as they step from one color of show carpet to the next.

For the same reason that I would never design my own boat, I would never suggest someone design their own exhibit. I assure you if I designed my own boat...it might look pretty cool...in my head it's actually allot like the old Adam West BatBoat...but, I know it wouldn't float...and it sure wouldn't win any races. Something’s are just better left to other folks to worry about.

And how do those new materials I mentioned before factor into things? Well, if you were to hitch a ride on ol' Doc Brown's time traveling DeLorian and head back, just to a more recent mid 1990's, I'd ask you to run a couple of terms past that 1990's trade show coordinator.

Tension fabric...plasma screens....interchangable truss system, and composite exhibit.

These are the tools of the modern exhibit designer. Aluminum truss providing solid structure at a fraction of the weight of it's wooden fore bearers. Fabrics, both opaque and translucent stretched in any number of shapes and colors replacing heavy, costly, and more easily damaged masonnite materials of yesteryear. Light boxes with static images of one product- done away with in favor of flat screen monitor's showing multiple benefits of many products...and showing them in use.

And the kicker of it all? In shipping and handling savings alone, modern design, using these durable and light weight materials will pay for itself, often on it's first trip to the trade show floor.

Modern professional design isn't just about making your exhibit look good- which is definitely very important- but it's also about making sure that every dollar spent, is strategically designed to save you more money in use, and then to MAKE money.

Good tradeshow exhibit design pays for itself, and that's what separates it from "do it yourself" efforts.

So let me, in closing just let me reiterate... There has NEVER been a better time for an industry like yours in the Trade Show world…The technology and philosophy of good design are so easily accessible to everyone. You need not spend blindly on bigger and bigger to trump the competition…just smarter and smarter. Make every last dollar count, and before you invest your time and money on gadgets, give aways, and fads, spend sometime getting to know a good designer. In the end, it will make all the difference between investing in a successful exhibit, and just bailing out water without plugging a leak.