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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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 →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 →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 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 →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 →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 →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…
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