Trade Show Tips to the Beat of the 1950s

The Keys to a Successful Trade Show: Pre-Planning

Advicertainment by M. Christine Delea

What’s the biggest mistake that exhibitors make? They wing it rather than plan. It could happen to you. Maybe you don’t know what to expect, or you just need a refresher. Here is some friendly trade show marketing advice with a few entertaining music videos along the way. Enjoy!

Put the same time and effort into your booth as you do with the clothes you wear. Orange sneakers with pink shoelaces? Perhaps. Short shorts? Probably not. A LBD by Coco Chanel? An Italian suit? Much better.

Only You

Give yourself enough time before the show to think about your message and your audience. Only you know how long this will take, because only you know what has already been done.

Worried about what to say? Put your ideas down on paper and practice them but don’t over-rehearse. You don’t want to sound like a robot. But you do want to make yourself comfortable as you review your products and services with attendees.

How To Make Your Trade Show Backdrop Stand Out!

Many exhibitors assume a backdrop is a simple two-dimensional graphic along the backwall of an exhibit. But it can be so much more. A backdrop in a 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 booth space doesn’t have to be basic. Modern inline displays come in various shapes, heights, and configurations.

Is Your Trade Show Display an Oreo or a Fig Newton?

As an adult I can rate just about everything on a cookie scale. For brevity, I’ll limit this article to Oreos, Fig Newtons, and Nilla Wafers, but be assured that the “science” behind my methodology includes Frosted Animal Cookies, Pepperidge Farms (as a collective group), Girl Scout Thin Mints, and Chips Ahoy.

Does Your Trade Show Exhibit Have To Be Clever?

That’s not to say your trade show exhibit shouldn’t be attractive. It should, but I would encourage you to focus on more practical matters the next time you design or rebrand your display. What do you need in the booth space to conduct business? Make it less about showmanship and more about conversations and information.

What Cats Can Teach Us About Trade Shows

We are a nation devoted to pets, whether they’re on the farm or in a purse. They learn from us, but we learn from them as well. The other day while watching Animal Planet with a cat in my lap, one on the sofa, and another puking upstairs ( it sounded like the world’s worst ventriloquist), I realized that we could learn a thing or two about trade show marketing from our feline companions.

Gravitee One Step — The World’s Easiest Modular Wall System

Gravitee — The World’s Easiest Modular Wall System. Unlike traditional modular wall systems, Gravitee has no loose connectors. The frames are constructed with durable engineered aluminum extrusion and the system uses time-tested patented technology.

Who is Our Biggest Trade Show Competitor?

Recently, I’ve been on the road, visiting Classic Distributors in the Midwest and South. We chat about industry trends, new products, and challenges in their market. Occasionally, they will ask me about competitors. That’s a topic, to be honest, that makes me uncomfortable.

3 Essential Trade Show Marketing Questions

These are questions every designer should ask their client before designing the ideal trade show display. If the client walks in just thinking about the nuts and bolts of the project, they may miss an informed conversation on why they are exhibiting in the first place and that can fundamentally affect the design of a booth. The Why can greatly impact the How in Exhibit Design.

What You Should Know about Exhibit Marketing

Exhibit marketing is all about marketing your products or services to buyers at expositions, conferences, and trade shows. A successful exhibit marketing program will be rewarded with increased revenues, referrals, and industry networking. The goal is to understand how exhibit marketing differs from the other types of marketing.

Managing Your Trade Show Budget

Trade shows are expensive, and some costs are often puzzling to exhibition newbies, but there are multiple ways to manage those expenses with a little planning and some assistance from an experienced trade show professional. Don’t be afraid to tap into that expertise.

Why Are Trade Shows Important for Business Growth and Branding

With the rise of online meetings and ecommerce, business experts have predicted the death of trade shows and live events for 40 years. Yet, the benefits of trade shows and events have never been more important for businesses. There were over 13,000 separate events in North America in 2025 alone.

Best & Biggest Convention Centers in the US for Trade Shows

What are the biggest and best convention centers in the United States? And does overall size and location matter when it comes to a convention center? Unless you’re a trade show nerd (like me), you’ve probably never wondered if the Las Vegas Convention Center is bigger than McCormick Place in Chicago. Or if the Orange County Convention Center is in FL or CA?

People’s Almanac of Trade Show Knowledge

We all love working with an informed client about trade shows and trade show marketing. They ask our advice. We give it. Sometimes we state facts. Sometimes we offer opinions. And sometimes, we should send them to an expert.

Life as a Traveling Sales Representative

Snake Oil Salesman or Snake Charmer. The traveling salesman has always had slightly negative, slightly shady reputation. If you’ve ever seen The Music Man, particularly the opening scene on train, you’ll know what I mean. I would like to think business has changed from the days of the “snake oil salesman” to what we now refer to as a “manufacturer’s rep.

10 Online Tools for Classic Exhibits Distributors

At a recent Shared Knowledge University, we reviewed ten online tools available to all Classic Exhibits Distributors. The attendees told us that these tools are invaluable to their sales, marketing, and customer service teams and are unique within the exhibit industry.

Why Small Businesses Fail to Grow by Jay Goltz

Excerpt from the “Art of Running a Small Business.” Many, if not most, Classic Exhibits distributors fall into the small business classification as defined by the Small Business Administration. Small businesses have challenges that larger businesses do not.

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