When Your Bucket List and Your Job Converge: Word on the Street — August 15th thru August 19th

Trade Show Blog

When Your Bucket List and Work Converge

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Thursday, August 4 at 1 p.m.

I was returning to the office from a lunchtime doctor’s appointment when I got the call. The call came in on my cell phone and was from one of our newer and most consistent Classic Exhibits Distributors. To be honest, my first thought was, “Oh boy, I hope nothing went wrong on our recent project.” The owner normally doesn’t contact me on my cell. Usually their project management staff works directly with our Customer Service team.

So, I answered the phone. And if I told you that the conversion that ensued blew my mind, it would be the understatement of my life. This call was an offer to personally work on a project that I could never have imagined would ever come across my desk. So much so that I literally told our customer that I had to call him back. Then I immediately called home and told my wife, which was hard because I was seriously hyperventilating.

Now let me be very honest about one thing. Aside from family and close friends, this project touches on something that I am passionate about. And, it’s not just something I have a passing knowledge about. I literally know enough to talk about it for weeks on end.

If it sounds like I am being coy or avoiding telling you what this project is — I am. I will tweet about the project as we begin the install on August 31. But nothing before that. 🙂 Personally, this is the project of a lifetime for me. And I will be eternally grateful to our distributor who brought this to me. It’s just one of those things in life that honestly, they could have not picked a better person to project manage.

I have been spending most of my work and free time thinking about this project since August 4, wanting to make it perfect for the end-user. And it’s not like I or we don’t try to do that on all projects, but truthfully, we all know that every once in a while something comes along that hits so close to home that you find yourself going much further with your efforts than you ever even knew you were capable. Purely out of a desire to truly honor the recipient.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been such a huge admirer of something or someone and then been literally given the opportunity to “memorialize” that person, group, or company? Please share your story. And I will do the same over the next two weeks.

I look forward to hearing your stories when you landed the project of a lifetime.

–Kevin Carty

https://twitter.com/kevin_carty
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-carty/3/800/32a

Filter by Category

Filter by Year

Recent Posts

Trade Shows and the Desire to Change

Are trade shows are relevant? Is there a future for industry trade shows? Are companies willing to spend their valuable marketing dollars building a temporary structure just to attract new customers or meet with existing ones?

Buying a Trade Show Exhibit? Ten “Must Ask” Questions

It’s common to express remorse after a big ticket purchase. Typically when the purchase is infrequent, such as a home, car, or expensive equipment. Buying a trade show exhibit is that type of purchase, especially an inline or island exhibit for a large trade show. .

Trade Show Rental — Mullets, Trapper Keepers, Pagers, and Rentals

Recently, what I thought would be a simple, straight-forward conversation left me scratching my head. I was meeting with exhibit industry colleagues, and the topic turned to rentals. Admittedly, rentals shouldn’t be puzzling. Rentals have exploded at a rate 3 to 4 times faster than exhibit purchases. What surprised me was the perception and the language used to define the exhibit rental landscape.

What is Your Trade Show Kryptonite?

We shouldn’t but we do. We hope hope hope that the next attendee who walks in our booth is Superman. Not Superman Superman, but the sales equivalent of Superman. Faster to sign a contract than a speeding bullet. More powerful than the VP of Purchasing.

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.