Beginning in mid-July, Classic Exhibits and ClassicMODUL will run a series of banner ads in the ExhibitorOnline weekly e-broadcast. Most of you receive this email every Thursday or Friday from EXHIBITOR Magazine.
We’ll showcase a new banner ad each week (for 18 weeks). We decided to mimic the Urban Dictionary, but with exhibit industry terms and definitions. We call it the Urban Exhibitionary. To prime the pump, we reached out to some industry friends for ideas, and some of their clever definitions are listed below, but this is merely the first step to creating a comprehensive exhibit dictionary. We want your witty ideas and would love to use the best ones in the ads.
Here are some of the more interesting ones so far.
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Blink: Special effects lighting that’s often used to compensate for a not-so-great display. Blink rules the dance floor, but isn’t quite as flashy as its rapper cousin, Bling.
That company’s got so much Blink on display, I couldn’t even read their sign.
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Masterwaiting: Realizing you’re going to have to “go it alone” on the big presentation when your boss is delayed.
Please check on the flight status for Mr. K’s arrival, I’m in the hallway just Masterwaiting and the customer looks pretty anxious.
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TTWN: Too Tired for Wednesday Night.
I know it’s the last night of EXHIBITOR, but I’m TTWN.
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Port-not-able: Unwieldy, overweight exhibits that carry the claim “portable.”
At 300 lbs., that display goes in the Port-not-able Hall of Shame.
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Face-to-Space: Used to describe “virtual” events and teleconferences.
Trade shows will always be the place to be seen. It’s impossible to close the deal when you’re working Face-to-Space.
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Assertain: When someone wastes your time with small talk or jokes instead of providing factual information about pricing or warranty. Often used as a tactic to stall. (Alt.) Slang: What happens when an unlikable person attempts to entertain.
It took me two weeks to get the pricing info I requested, but the sales dude called everyday just to assertain me. (Alt.) Slang: He may think he’s an Elvis impersonator, but it’s really just assertainment.
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Trinketeer: A show attendee whose primary focus is to gather as many trinkets and trash as possible. No giveaway item is too small or insignificant for this exhibit hall swashbuckler!
Did you see the two Trinketeers fighting over the last promotional Stress Ball at Booth 2234?
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Arch-ritis: The pain from wearing new shoes at a trade show.
I told Sally not to wear those new pumps. Now, she’s got a serious case of arch-ritis.
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CuervoSweat: Literally perspiring alcohol after a very late night entertaining clients.
You need to move away from me Jack, or I’ll be hammered by noon from your CuervoSweat fumes.
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Booth Zombie: The comatose exhibitor who doesn’t like to talk to strangers, make eye contact, or stand for seven hours straight.
The Booth Zombie sat behind the table and stared blindly away from attendees, stopping only to check her emails, file her nails, and drink coffee.
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Annie-halled: The realization that you’ve been abandoned (orphaned) in the exhibit hall while dismantling your display.
I was tearing down the exhibit when I realized I’d been annie-halled by my co-workers. Leapin’ lizards!
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Ban-boozled: The “too good to be true” $99 banner stand bargain . . . that wasn’t.
I knew I’d been ban-boozled when the directions were sturdier than the banner stand.
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Guttastrophe: The SUDDEN realization at a trade show that eating and drinking too much while wearing last year’s belt size has consequences.
He was in the middle of a very large exhibit hall when the telltale signs of a major Guttastrophe were upon him.
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We’d love to include your terms in the Urban Exhibitionary. You’re a creative bunch. Post your terms and definitions. We’ll use the very best ones and collect the rest into a dictionary.
. . . Frankly, I’m a little frightened of what you’ll share. 😉
–Mel White
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
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Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100.