About two weeks before the exhibit shipped to the show we had another planning meeting, as we really needed to make some final decisions about the exhibit look and get some things done. We addressed the side wall extensions and decided that the contrast between the dark colored sides and the gold backdrop wouldn’t work. We didn’t want people sitting in front of different colors in the interview chairs, so we decided to make the side fabrics match the back wall. Also, as the show date was approaching, our account manager was able to narrow down the ship date.
So now it is major trade show checklist time. On the checklist is:
- Build 5 risers to get the backdrop up to the show drape height. We did not want to see the show drape above the exhibit and we also wanted the logo as high as possible.
- Cut the frames for the sidewalls and figure out how to attach the frames to the stage floor.
- Create the logo for the shot glass giveaway.
- Build a form fitting shipping pallet to transport the stage and keep the shipping cost down as much as possible.
- Determine all the supplies needed for the show and start a checklist.
- Decide to take a laptop for signups and get a bracket to mount it to the counter.
- Bring in a second counter and mount a monopod for the video camera instead of using a tripod.
- Determine the literature that will go and how it will be displayed.
We had a bit of a curve ball as someone mentioned the idea that a shot glass may not be a good giveaway. The idea was to switch to a nice ceramic coaster. The thought was that the coaster would be something that would stay on someone’s office desk, while a shot glass may just go in someone’s cabinet at home. The cost was over budget for the coaster so the shot glass won. The square shot glass was reconfirmed and the reasoning was that it would have a better shot at staying on someone’s desk to store paperclips or something as it was nicer than a regular shot glass. Now we just needed to finalize the logo design.
So you can see that a lot goes into the planning of even a 10’ exhibit. We made great progress and felt good about the look and feel of the exhibit for the show. Next week we will look more at the marketing side and talk about the pre-show interviews that we set up for the event. We wanted to generate lots of interview action in the exhibit space so we filled interview time slots ahead of the show.