Managing Your Trade Show Activities

Planning and managing trade shows can be quite complex especially when you look at the amount of information needed for just one show.  Multiply that data by the number of shows you attend each year and you quickly realize why having an effective software program can make like simpler.  Below are two such programs that can help you manage your trade show activities.

Exhibit Force – ExhibitForce is the most comprehensive exhibit and event management web-based application on the market today. It offers online real-time inventory of assets, budgeting tools, ROI calculators, links to tradeshow resources, event calendars and all necessary features to assist your tradeshow/marketing program. Being web-based, it places all event management on one platform thus bridging the gap of communication and creating a virtual file folder, available 24/7 from around the world.

TRAQ-IT- Tradeshow management software by TRAQ-IT, makers of TRAQ-IT Online and TRAQ-IT Desktop software. TRAQ-IT provides exhibitors with the state-of-the-art solution for planning, organizing, managing and reporting their event and tradeshow activities.

The Trade Show Tracker- Complete trade show exhibit and event planning software that uses and is written in Microsoft Excel.
Trade Show Booth Product Highlight
With today being Valentines day I though I would highlight all the various color options for pop up displays.  Why, because all I’m seeing today is RED!  You see lots of Black, Gray and Blue exhibits, however we do offer 54 colors for pop up displays, including two shades of red so don’t be afraid to use color.  Click here to see all the various trade show fabric colors.

Congrats to our American Idol Elliot Yamin

Yes, I’ve become an American Idol nut, I’ve watched the show on and off since the first year because of the love for music that I have, but ironically I never voted. I didn’t vote until I learned that one of our own, that is, a Richmond, VA native, was in the competition. Many of you may now know of Elliott Yamin and his souful voice and incredible performances. I personally think Elliott represents the best of what a person should be. Elliott is humble, very talented and very appreciative of those who have helped him get to where he is today. I have a feeling that he’s one of those kind of guys who would never let you down. I don’t think anyone showed the grace, appreciativeness or celebrated his accomplishment after he was voted off the show much to our demise. In the end, all of the top five contestests were extremely talented, however, I’ll venture out on a limb and say that our Elliott will have the biggest impact on the music industry for Season 5 of American Idol. That trend and the recognition of talent has already started. For example, just read the reviews of the compilation album on Amazon! Everyone comments that Elliott’s song hands down shows how talented he is…FYI: for those of you who don’t know Elliott is 90% deaf in one ear which can dramitically affect how well you can sing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000FIM2EO/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/102-0177256-6082517?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=5174

All in all, we are very proud to have Elliott represent us Richmonders! Way to go you “Funky White Boy” as Paula Abdul so aptly said!

P.S. – In order to give this post some relevance of display related content. American Idol uses LOTS of pop up displays with Mural Graphics as backdrops when they hold auditions all across the country.

China ready to compete in US?

I just received the first of many possible calls in the future. Many of us view China as a place where things are produced at highly competitive prices, but lack the customer services available to make enrods in selling directly to US companies. Most Chinese products are purchased by wholesalers who then add on that “Customer Service” component and make a profit. Today I received a call from a woman in China who spoke very good English and the company she works for is looking to sell display products to us. They would produce and ship the display directly to our client. These companies will have a challenge in selling to the US market. I have no idea the quality of their display, which is utmost importance, nor do we know how problems are handled or shipping times and costs, but when Chinese companies start cold calling US companies the market will change. Most impressive is that this company plans to offer customer support during the hours we are open in the US. That means they will be open from 8 PM to 5-8 AM depending on which US coast your on. The world just got a whole lot smaller!

Really Cool 3D “Star Wars” Projection System

Remember when R2D2 played back that famous recording of Princess Lea pleading for help in mid air way back in 1977? Well, that technology exists and can be used as a unique way to showcase products or brands in your trade show booth. The company is called IO2 Technology they can be found on the following website http://www.io2technology.com/. Their technology even allows users to move objects within the projection area reminiscent of the movie Minority Report where information was grabbed in mid air and moved around by operators.

Hey, do you think George Lucas and Steven Spielberg get royalty checks? Those guys have active imaginations. Hey, you ever wonder if they are really aliens sent here from an advanced world to help us inferior humans to develop new technologies. I’m guessing that their “prime directive” (ala Star Trek) is they can only show examples on new technologies in movies, not actually make them for real. Whoa, I’m way off on a tangent now.

Hurricanes and Web Traffic – How Relational Are They?

Originally posted in October 2005

Natural Disasters, like Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita, reek havoc not only the specific geographical areas but the rest of us as well. Though traffic for your site might be at the same levels as before the Hurricane’s devastation; that hasn’t translated recently into direct sales. Take for instance the month of September. One would have thought after the first two weeks, September numbers would have blown away same store sales the year prior. But, business dropped off the map the last two weeks of the month which speaks volumes for the repercussion forces of mother nature. The Hurricanes kept trade show display customers at bay. Traffic to sites remained high but the sales did not. That was in direct correlation to Katrina and Rita. One would speculate in the next couple weeks the forces of both storms would dissipate and customers would appear again in the form of orders. But, until that time we are all in a wait and wonder situation.Natural Disasters, like Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita, reek havoc not only the specific geographical areas but the rest of us as well.Though traffic for your site might be at the same levels as before the Hurricane’s devastation; that hasn’t translated recently into direct sales. Take for instance the month of September. One would have thought after the first two weeks, September numbers would have blown away same store sales the year prior. But, business dropped off the map the last two weeks of the month which speaks volumes for the repercussion forces of mother nature. The Hurricanes kept trade show display customers at bay.Traffic to sites remained high but the sales did not. That was in direct correlation to Katrina and Rita. One would speculate in the next couple weeks the forces of both storms would dissipate and customers would appear again in the form of orders. But, until that time we are all in a wait and wonder situation.