If you're in PR, or marketing -- or if you are in someway
involved in spreading the message of your company, face the
depressing news now -- at some point in your life, you're going to
have to deal with a trade show.
A veteran of way too many of them, I offer a few secrets, on the
off chance that it might improve the three or four days of your
life that you're going to enter with the best of intentions and
leave wanting to buy shares in Excedrin. So here are five tips for
avoiding a headache when you hit the trade show circuit.
1) Prep, prep, prep, but not only by the book:
If you are tasked with managing the show, then make sure you and
only you do it from beginning to end. The reason I say this is
because the trade show people know how hellish it is, and will try
to help. They usually send along a manual the size of a Volkswagon,
with everything you could possibly need, from phone numbers of the
convention or hotel caterers, to pre-printed shipping labels so you
don't lose your stuff on arrival. Use this book - but make sure you
get it. Don't let it go to the client, or to a subordinate. Don't
let it out of your sight, or you'll never see it again. Make sure
it has your name on it, offer a reward if it's returned, and really
go through it - it actually does have some valuable information in
there.
2) Cities are very big places; do your homework before you book
your hotel:
A PR colleague of mine once booked a block of rooms at a local
Sheraton because, on the map, it seemed to be only three blocks
away from the convention center. She scheduled the meeting room
there, had all the meetings lined up with all the press, and was so
psyched that it was so easy. Well, the hotel WAS three blocks away.
Unfortunately, three other hotels were closer, and those three
blocks happened to be directly through -- you guessed it -- a major
freeway with no pedestrian access. A total of one reporter showed
up for her meetings, because he happened to be staying in the same
hotel.
Be very careful where you book offsite - it's a great idea to do
it, makes it much more relaxing and less stressful on all involved,
but call first - a visual map is not a good idea. Just ask the
concierge. I'm also a fan of calling up a local taxi service and
asking to speak to the dispatcher who's not on duty. (They usually
have two.) They'll give you great advice from the standpoint of how
long it'll really take you - not how long the hotel or brochures
say. "A few blocks" from the hotel could be a mile or more, and in
hotel- rush hour traffic, you're nixing an extra hour of sleep that
you'll surely miss when you wake up for an 8 a.m. meeting following
the festivities the night before.
3) How overnight shipping works:
Overnight shipping is an interesting beast. You see, 99 out of
100 times, your stuff will arrive, in face, overnight. That's
usually the easy part. The hard part, however, is figuring out
where it arrived. The convention centers and hotels are very picky
about how your stuff is addressed. If it's off by so much as one
letter, you're not getting your packages, at least not without one
long-ass fight. In fact, I was just at a trade show last week,
where I saw a company with absolutely no marketing materials
whatsoever. Why? Because they got lost in transit. Always send a
batch to your hotel, using a different shipping company, and keep
an extra backup supply in your office. If everything gets lost, you
can have another shipment sent to you. Finally, keep copies of
everything you send on a USB Flash drive - worse comes to worst,
you jump to Kinko's, pay through the nose, and have them
reprinted.
4) Setting up your appointments:
We already talked about placing yourself near the convention
center if you're going outside of it - but what if you're inside of
it? Get a map of the convention center for the specific show at
which you're exhibiting the second you get there (which should be
at least two nights before the show starts), and figure out the
best way to get to your booth or meeting room from any entrance.
Then plot it out and send it as a follow-up to all your reporters,
or whomever you've set meetings with. There's nothing worse for
your headache than the client not having his meeting with
BusinessWeek that you've been promising him all week because the
reporter couldn't find you in hall C-2. Sending out clear
directions is not only appreciated by the reporter, but it also
makes for a nice "Just confirming our meeting on Tuesday" e-mail,
and let's you confirm under the guise of "helping," (which you are,
so it's cool).
5) OK, one more bonus tip:
Do a recap when it's done, but not only for media appointments.
Make mention of everything you might have noticed - the booth, the
booth babes, you name it - whatever you noticed that you think
could be improved, or was great. Clients love getting feedback like
that because it shows that you care about more than the last
placement. OK. I'm done now. Really. I'm actually close to landing
on this flight anyway... From, natch - a trade show.
By Peter Shankman, CEO of The Geek Factory Inc., a full service
PR firm based in New York, NY. He can be reached 646.522.9234;
[email protected]