Finding the Right Shows
Show selection is probably the most important part of trade show marketing—and it is the part most teams skip. They go back to the same old shows because the booth already fits the crate, the dates are on…
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Strategy, booth craft, and floor-ready advice.
Behind the Scenes: How a Custom Booth Gets Built
From the aisle, a custom booth looks like a finished idea. From our Cincinnati shop, it is a sequence—and skipping a step is how show-site miracles turn into show-site invoices. 1. Design against a goal We start with…
Read article →How to Read an Exhibitor Manual Before You’re Hit with Fees
The exhibitor manual is not bedtime reading. It is the price list for mistakes. Read it like a contract—because the surcharges will treat it that way. Deadlines and advance pricing Find the order deadlines for material handling, electrical,…
Read article →What Show Labor and Electrical Really Cost
The booth crate is only part of the bill. Installation labor and electrical are where many 2026 budgets quietly break—especially when advance rates expire and overtime starts. What the national benchmarks say The Exhibitor Advocate’s 2025 Annual Survey…
Read article →Designing for the Attendee: Your Booth Is Not About Your Company
Most exhibit briefs open with what the company wants to say. The better brief opens with what a tired attendee needs in the three seconds they give you from the aisle. Booth design is not a shrine to…
Read article →Rental vs. Purchase: Which Trade Show Booth Makes Sense for You
Clients ask this before almost every build: should we rent or buy? The honest answer depends on your show calendar, not on which option sounds more “serious.” Rent when footprints change show to show, when you are testing…
Read article →Freight and Material Handling Costs Are Out of Control in 2026: How Exhibitors Can Understand and Manage Them
If your 2026 show budget feels like it got hit by a forklift, you are not imagining it. Material handling on the show floor and LTL freight to get there are two of the fastest-growing line items in…
Read article →Confuse or Lose: 3 Keys to Avoid Trade Show Confusion
Posted in Articles, Before the Show, During the Show, Tips & Resources on 30. Sep, 2010 In a recent coaching session, my client started telling me all about the different products he was going to be showing at…
Read article →Exhibiting Magic: 13 Awesome Quick Trade Show Fixes – Part 2
Posted in Articles, Before the Show, During the Show on 16. Sep, 2010 In the wonderful world of exhibiting, and as the trade show season starts up again don’t you yearn for that magic wand to give a…
Read article →Exhibiting Magic: 13 Awesome Quick Trade Show Fixes – Part 1
Posted in Articles, Before the Show, During the Show on 09. Sep, 2010 In the wonderful world of exhibiting, and as the trade show season starts up again don’t you yearn for that magic wand to give a…
Read article →Is the New iPad a Good Trade Show Giveaway?
Posted in Articles, During the Show on 02. Sep, 2010 A resounding “yes” if you are Apple or are an Apple supplier. If you’re anyone else, “definitely not.” Why am I so against this new and exciting addition…
Read article →Virtually Attired: 7 Tips to Dress for Cyberspace Success
Posted in During the Show, Tips & Resources on 25. Aug, 2010 First impressions matter, virtually or in-person. “Your appearance, makeup, hair and clothes are as important as your smile. When you project an image of confidence, you…
Read article →Putting a Human Face on Virtual Trade Shows
Posted in Articles, During the Show on 12. Aug, 2010 There is little that charms us more than a warm smile, and a strong, friendly handshake when we greet someone. Even more so when that someone is a…
Read article →Virtual Trade Shows: Are You on Board Yet?
Posted in Articles, Before the Show on 04. Aug, 2010 During the last decade the virtual world has transformed how we do business. Trade shows, once believed to be a physical realm in which suppliers and customers could…
Read article →A Meaningful Memento at Your Next Trade Show
Posted in During the Show on 28. Jul, 2010 Business headshots make a hit trade show giveaway In chatting with you about trade show giveaways, I’ve encouraged you to get your money’s worth by placing value in whatever…
Read article →How to Use “The Marshmallow Principle” For Your Trade Show Success
Posted in Before the Show on 22. Jul, 2010 I’ve just returned from attending this year’s National Speakers Association convention in Orlando. What I love to do at this event is to listen to the speakers and presenters…
Read article →Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History
Posted in Tips & Resources on 16. Jul, 2010 David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan present the most compelling case study in the history of social media and inbound marketing based on the band that pioneered it all.…
Read article →The Tradeshow “All Star” Team Missed the Show (or at least some of them)
When you attend the tradeshow for the tradeshow industry, you expect to see and experience the best of the best. It hurts to admit it, but however exciting the products and activities on the TS2 trade show floor…
Read article →Total Marketing Solutions at TS2 – The Tradeshow for the Tradeshow Industry
Posted in Tips & Resources on 08. Jul, 2010 In just a few short days the “who’s who” of the exhibiting world will be gathering in Boston at the Boston Convention Center for the major trade show for…
Read article →Tradeshow Exhibiting & Job Interviews – How to Avoid the Red Flags!
Posted in During the Show, Tips & Resources on 01. Jul, 2010 A recent Gillette Survey of 500 HR professionals revealed that 84% agree that well-groomed employees climb the corporate ladder faster than those who are not well-groomed.…
Read article →How to Tune into the Most Popular Tradeshow Radio Station: 3 Steps to Pump Up Your Success Volume
Posted in Before the Show, During the Show on 24. Jun, 2010 WII-fm plays everywhere all the time, but on the tradeshow floor listenership is at its peak. WII-fm, better known as “What’s In It for me,” resonates…
Read article →The Ultimate Trade Show Lead: 4 Keys to Exhibiting Success
Do your booth staffers know what information they need to collect for a quality lead? How do you define a quality lead? Yesterday, in a brilliant webinar, (sponsored by iLeads and Leadature), “Trade Show Follow-up: The Ultimate Competitive…
Read article →Do You "Think Different" on the Trade Show Floor? Part 2
In Part 1 I talked about three of the six senses or “right-brain directed aptitudes,” that Daniel Pink refers to in his best-selling book, “A Whole New Mind” – namely, design, story, and symphony. This week I’ll share…
Read article →Do You “Think Different” on the Trade Show Floor? Part 1
Two weeks ago, I offered you a challenge – “how to avoid being invisible on the trade show floor.” One of the three ways I shared is to “be different.” This week I was re-reading one of my…
Read article →Benefitting from a Regular Trade Show Workout: 3 Fitness Levels Every Exhibitor Must Practice
Posted in Tips & Resources on 20. May, 2010 Spring is a time when we brush off the winter blahs and just feel the urge to be active. It’s a time when we wake up our body, mind…
Read article →3 Ways to Avoid Being Invisible on the Trade Show Floor
Posted in Articles, Before the Show on 18. May, 2010 I recently read an article in Newsweek about being invisible in different cities around the globe by just fitting in with the locals, in the way you dress…
Read article →3 Trade Show Lifesavers When You’re Down to Your Last Brochure
What do you do when you’re down to your last brochure? While it’s true that the vast majority of marketing materials distributed at trade shows and conventions wind up in the trash long before the attendee gets on…
Read article →Are You Really Listening? 6 Trade Show Booth Staff Habits to Avoid
We’ve all been given two ears and one mouth. The question is, “do your people know how to use them in a 2:1 ratio on the tradeshow floor?” Here are six habits that really upset visitors to your…
Read article →3 Ways to Overcome the Price Objection On the Trade Show Floor
“Our products cost so much more than our competitors. How in the world do we convince attendees to check us out, when everyone’s so focused on the bottom line?” The question could come from any industry, and it’s…
Read article →"Sinister Six" Body Language Habits: How Many Do Your Tradeshow Staffers Have?
How many of your booth staffers realize that the most important message they send is communicated without a single word being spoken? Body language is a critically important element of communication. The way we hold ourselves, from posture…
Read article →3 Foolish Things You're Doing Bad Mouthing Your Competition on the Tradeshow Floor
Remember the old saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?” It might have been good manners while you were growing up, but does the same hold true in the cut throat business world…
Read article →3 Reasons Why You Should Speak the Universal Tradeshow Language
Did you know that there is a universal tradeshow language, and, almost everyone of you reading this knows how to speak it, even though you, perhaps, don’t recognize it as such? Regardless of language or culture, we learn…
Read article →3 Ways to Avoid Social Media Suicide On Or Off The Tradeshow Floor
A few weeks ago I watched on Twitter as a marketer committed social media suicide. Within hours after someone tweeted about having a severe, nearly fatal allergic reaction, she received a marketing message from a company that sells…
Read article →Get Your Tradeshow Message Across in 10 Words or Less
Are you part of a unique group who can share what you do in ten words or less? The one-liner, elevator speech, company pitch, call it what you want, nonetheless, it’s a powerful way for you to deliver…
Read article →Prevent Virtual Event Nightmares: How Producers Prepare Speakers, Exhibitors & Attendees
On February 23rd I’m going to experience another first. Dennis Shiao, Director of Marketing at InXpo, and I will be presenting together at the Virtual Edge Summit, to be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, February 22-23,…
Read article →7 Passionate Ways to Fall in Love With Your Tradeshows
Let me ask you, are your tradeshows getting enough of your love and attention? As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, love and affection is in the air, and it makes me wonder how much heart exhibitors really put into…
Read article →7 Steps to Tradeshow Crisis Management
The 21st Winter Olympics are about the start. The buzz of activities and all the arrangements are reaching a crescendo in preparation for the Opening Ceremony. However, all is not exactly as planned. The weather is causing havoc…
Read article →Scripting Your Way to Tradeshow Success
In my tradeshow training programs, I’ve always encouraged my clients’ exhibiting team to be 100% scripted and 100% flexible when it comes to interacting with booth visitors. What I mean by this is, you need to know what…
Read article →How to Tune into the Most Popular Tradeshow Radio Station: 3 Steps to Pump Up Your Success Volume
WII-fm plays everywhere all the time, but on the tradeshow floor listenership is at its peak. WII-fm, better known as “What’s In It for me,” resonates loud and clear among tradeshow attendees as they walk up and down…
Read article →Five New Rules for Trade Show Technology
This the fourth and final part of our Trends for 2010 tips. Today, I’m focusing on five rules to help you leverage technology to add to your trade show success. 1. Online is not an add-on. The virtual…
Read article →The 3 Types of Tradeshow Exhibitors
I was inspired to write this blog today after reading a chapter in Carmine Gallo’s book “Fire Them Up!.” In it he talks about three types of communicators, “the blah, the mediocre and the inspirational.” The first thing…
Read article →6 Questions to Ask to Integrate Social Media Apps into Exhibit Space
These days when you’re comparing trade shows, you have a new factor to consider: whether the show offers an integrated platform for social media. These platforms, such as GoExpo and ChirpE, help link exhibitors and attendees in a…
Read article →Good News on the (Trade Show) Marketing Budget: Trends for 2010 – Part 2
What’s ahead for trade shows and other marketing efforts in 2010? Last week, I referred you to the StrongMail “2010 Marketing Trends” survey which polled more than 1,000 business leaders across a wide range of industries about their…
Read article →Good News on the (Trade Show) Marketing Budget – Trends 2010 – Part 1
In November the StrongMail “2010 Marketing Trends” survey polled more than 1,000 business leaders across a wide range of industries about their marketing plans for the upcoming year. For the next few weeks, we’ll be discussing those trends…
Read article →5 Ways to Leverage Real-Time Social Media Search for Your Trade Show Marketing
For years Internet search engines ignored Twitter and Facebook. But now Twitter and Facebook are indexed as rapidly as they are updated. This makes social media an even more important tool for you to use for your trade…
Read article →5 People to Thank At Your Next Trade Show
In the fraught atmosphere of a trade show, your booth staff may not always remember to thank service people or complaining customers. According to a recent study through the American Marketing Assn., it states that customer gratitude enhances…
Read article →3 Follow-Up Tips for Your 2009 Trade Show Leads
In the end-of-year summations, the one statistic that rankles most is the lead not followed. You developed the lead at a trade show, handed off the information to the Sales department, and they did nothing with it. According…
Read article →Trade Show Training Tips: 3 Ways to Organize Your Trade Show Connections with Twitter Lists
Twitter is a fast way to reach thousands of people, but it has some issues. One is that a single tweet can easily get lost in the flood of new information. (Following Twitter has been likened to trying…
Read article →4 Ways to Multiply the Impact of Your Web Video After Your Trade Show is Over
Streaming a video on your company web site is just the beginning. Long after the trade show is over, you can use that footage in creative ways to market your business. Use these four tips to help plan…
Read article →Tradeshow Tip: Broadcasting from Your Booth to Maximize Tradeshow ROI – Part 1
For years, keynote speeches and major product announcements have been shown live to audiences who cannot attend a trade show. Now you can use cutting-edge technology to create streaming video from your trade show booth—and you don’t need…
Read article →Tradeshow Tip: 3 Ways to Have Virtual Events Work with Physical Events
With the rise of virtual events in the marketplace, many show organizers and meeting planners are wondering how they could work together with their current physical event. Realize that virtual events are here to stay, and you should…
Read article →Tradeshow Tip: 5 Ways to Cope with Trade Show Attendee Rudeness
“I’ve never seen so many nasty attendees,” said one client, fresh from a trade show. Others have confirmed that complaints and rude remarks are up. Whether this is a general cultural trend, a product of economic stress, or…
Read article →Tradeshow Tip: 4 Ways to Defend Your Trade Show Budget
When times are hard, most companies trim unnecessary spending. All too often, marketing and advertising go on the chopping block, and trade shows, together with trade show training, are considered an expendable luxury. Wrong! To fight this trend,…
Read article →Tradeshow Tip: 4 Ways to Use Twitter at Your Next Trade Show
Do you know what do trade shows and Twitter have in common? Both allow you to make personal connections with potential clients while building their confidence in you and your brand. Neither one is an appropriate place for…
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