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50 Essential Tradeshow Tips in 50 Minutes or Less (video replay)

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Not a bad way to kick off June! I sat down with Mel White of Classic Exhibits, along with a few dozen viewers, for a presentation on tradeshow tips for newbies and wannabes. He invited me as part of their ongoing “Fast and Furious” webinar series, and I was grateful to be asked and glad to join. We nicknamed the presentation ‘From Tradeshow Stupid to Tradeshow Smart in 50 Minutes,’ but whatever you want to call it, I jammed a lot of stuff into the presentation. Take a look – hope you get something out of it, and thanks to Classic Exhibits for inviting me!

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Some cool #reggae posters from the 80s in Portland. https://instagr.am/p/CdPnuf3OwVU/

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Five years now with Scruffy! https://instagr.am/p/CdPniUZulAZ/

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Bush Park. You know, when it was sunny. https://instagr.am/p/CdFWzc_ueU3/

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Ken Newman LP Review: What Am I Afraid Of?

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I think this is a first for this blog, which focuses (mostly) on tradeshow marketing: an album review. I’ve done book reviews, but the album review, of longtime tradeshow presenter Ken Newman’s new LP, makes perfect sense.

I’ve known Ken for over fifteen years, back when he tweeted out some kind words about me and I picked up the phone and introduced myself. Since then, we’ve been friends, albeit from a distance, but we have gotten together a few times over the years to hang out.

And we’re both big music fans, and both musicians. Ken told me about his plans to record and album of original songs several years ago, so I’ve been following his progress, which was somewhat upended by the pandemic. But it’s finally here!

“What Am I Afraid Of” is a collection of rock and ballads that is packed with great hooks, solid songwriting and performances, and is topically about as on-point as one can get here in the third decade of the 21st century.

Ken’s shared numerous reviews of his LP on his Facebook page, including Must Have Media’s take which calls it ‘rough, raw, and revealing’; and an interview of Ken on Musical Notes Global in the lead up to the release, in which Ken digs deep in to the making of the album.

Cover of “What Am I Afraid Of?” by Ken Newman

The opening track, “What Am I Afraid Of?” wastes no time kicking into high gear with a rollicking rock and roll beat and finishes off with some Tom Petty-like grunginess. From there into “Nothing to See Here,” about the common response people have to hard-to-handle events in the world.

Other standouts include a rock version of an earlier song “I Can’t Breathe,” which came out of the phrase that George Floyd said over twenty times as a Minneapolis police officer held him down, knee on his throat, and “We Should Do This Again,” about what it’s like being homeless in America. It was originally featured in the Blanket the Homeless collection that was released in 2019 and is also highly recommended.

The whole album is strong from start to finish, and Ken’s voice and playing capture a wide emotional range. Yes, Ken’s a good friend, but I highly recommend the album. It’s really good.

Ken’s been featured on my vlog/podcast TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee several times.

Find the album and more here: Ken Newman Music

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9 years ago vs today. Gibraltar vs Salem. Love this girl! https://instagr.am/p/Cb_woPdLB8N/

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Traditional Advertising Methods That Are Still Effective Today

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This is a guest post by Emma Grace Brown.

Despite what many people think, offline advertising is not dead. Traditional marketing methods still have their place in the digital age! At the Tradeshow Guy Blog, we know that long-forgotten advertising strategies can be just as effective as their online counterparts, particularly for local businesses with a community presence. Used in combination with digital marketing strategies like email and social media, you can create a powerful marketing plan with the help of old-school advertising methods.

Phone Calls

Phone calls are great both for promoting your business and learning about your target audience. It’s important to understand what your customer wants before you spend good money on advertising and calling up members of your target audience is a great way to extract this information. Call up your customers—or cold call potential leads—and ask them what they think of your product or service. Their answers will help you determine the best approach for your marketing, including what content will resonate best and on which marketing channels you should focus your efforts.

Tradeshows and Events

Events are fantastic opportunities to promote your local business. For example, Retail Insider explains that you can use trade shows to raise brand awareness, educate your customers, and expand your sales channels. Trade shows are also great for keeping an eye on your competitors! There’s a good chance that your top competitors will attend the same trade shows as you, so take advantage of the opportunity to see what they’re doing and learn from them.

If you want to get the most out of each trade show, you must plan ahead. Reach out to industry experts and vendors who will be attending and schedule quick meetings with them during the show. Make it easy for potential customers to provide their contact information so you can get in touch after the show. You could even print a poster with a QR code linking interested guests to your website!

Flyers and Brochures

Printed flyers and brochures are another cost-effective traditional advertising strategy. Because brochures hold a lot of information, they’re great for educating people about your product or service and spreading awareness about your business. Brochures can also give your business a sense of credibility and authority. You don’t need to limit yourself to mailing lists—remember to hand out your brochures at events and trade shows as well!

Take advantage of digital tools to make your brochure design appear sharp and professional. For example, Canva is a popular tool for designing graphics for websites, social media, and print materials. And if you really want to give your brochure a professional edge, don’t hesitate to hire a graphic designer!

Billboards and Banners

According to HubSpot, billboard advertising can be a powerful way to build brand awareness. When you rent space on a billboard, you get to broadcast your business to as many people as possible. The best billboards tell a story, which can be tough with a single image and one or two lines of text. Consider hiring a professional copywriter to ensure your content is captivating and engaging!

Similar to billboards, banners are great for advertising your business at local events. Consider sponsoring an event, like a sports game, festival, or fair, and printing banners to promote your company. This is a great chance to showcase your logo and build awareness around your brand. Don’t overlook traditional advertising methods! When done right, offline advertising methods can be great for getting the word out about your business and directing interested consumers to your website. Look for ways to bridge your online and offline marketing strategies, boost your conversions, and grow your business!

Emma Grace Brown lives her life by her rules, and it works! When she’s not snuggling puppies, Emma promotes female empowerment through her website. Her mission is to help those who live with self-doubt to realize they don’t have to mold themselves to conventionality.

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TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee, March 21, 2022: Dave Brown

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Coming off a busy and successful week in Anaheim for the Natural Products Expo West, it’s the perfect time to get back into the podcast/vlog game.

Former TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee guest Dave Brown is now with Tive, a company that tracks shipments in real-time. That technology is now being applied to tradeshow shipments, which as you can probably imagine can offer great utility to tradeshow exhibitors and logistics managers.

Take a look:

Check out Tive.com.

This week’s ONE GOOD THING: Station Eleven, both the book and the TV series. Good stuff.

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Some street art in Venice Beach Sunday. https://instagr.am/p/CbOK0pahHPq/

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Natural Products Expo West 2022 Re-Cap

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The thing I was most curious about while walking the floors and halls of Natural Products Expo West 2022 earlier this month in March was this: how many exhibitors and attendees showed up?

It was a question that kept coming up as I would turn the corner at the rear of one of the halls and instead of seeing rows and rows of small exhibits against the wall, I saw lots of empty space. Throughout the hall, instead of large island exhibits everywhere, you’d occasionally see a gathering spot with tables and chairs instead of a large island.

Which got me thinking about the final totals. On day one, I figured attendance for both exhibitors and attendees would be around 85%. On day two, after seeing more empty space, I revised that downward to about 80%.

On Monday, New Hope Network released numbers: over 57,000 registered attendees and over 2,700 exhibitors. Based on numbers in 2019 (which I’m dredging up from memory, but still, they’re close), which showed attendees at about 80,000 and exhibitors at about 3,400, the numbers this year showed a significant decline. Attendees were about 71% of 2019, and exhibitors came in at about the 79% level.

So, yeah, respectable. And people I spoke with, both exhibitors and attendees, found it a worthwhile show. Days One and Two were the best (no surprise), with all of the exhibitors I spoke with saying they’d had good conversations with a LOT of people. Day Three, of course, is more of a rush not only through the shortened day, but once two or three o’clock rolls around, a rush to the door.

A few observations:

There was a masking requirement in effect. Almost no one observed it. Maybe one in twenty. Given the pre-show health check confirming vaccinations or proof of negative tests, and the declining cases throughout the country, and of course, COVID fatigue, it didn’t surprise me that masks were mostly a no-show. Besides, with nearly 60,000 attendees, how do you actually enforce something like that?

But: QR Codes are back! If you search this blog for QR Codes, you’ll find an assortment of posts, ranging from how to use QR Codes at tradeshows, to posts questioning their validity anymore. But this year, QR Codes were back in full force. By the hundreds. I spoke with a number of people about it, and most either suggested, or agreed with the notion that one reason they’re so prevalent is that phones no longer need code-scanning apps. The ability to scan codes is built-in to the camera software. I lost count at over a hundred QR Codes.

Big Names Missing. Again, no real surprise that some brands chose to skip this year’s show. I tweeted about a handful of them that were missing: Kashi, Kettle Foods, Enjoy Life, Clif Bar, and Silk, all of which have previously appeared numerous times with large island booths. Not this year. I’m sure a few slipped my mind.

TradeshowGuy Exhibits’ client list also was reduced, but it was the busiest year I’ve ever had at the show. I spent a total of 9+ days at the show, supervising the installation and dismantling of two long-time clients, Bob’s Red Mill (30×40) and Mountain Rose Herbs (20×30). The Bob’s Red Mill exhibit is the iconic mill-like structure that captures their brand to a T. It’s been around since 2013. Mountain Rose Herbs, which hasn’t been at the show for nearly a decade, returned with a 20×30 new design focused on promoting new lines of essential oils and teas, and much more. The two main pieces of the exhibit are a 13’ tower/conference room and a 10’ tall display unit that was filled with herbs in a stratified style onsite prior to the show. It wowed. Great to work with both clients. We also had other clients at the show, including Greater Knead and Wildbrine, but like many exhibitors, some of our clients chose to sit this one out.

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs – large herb display unit

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill

Some celebrity I was told…

A few final words. I always approach Natural Products Expo West with both anticipation and a little dread. It’s a big show and can be stressful. But it’s always worth it. It was great to get back to seeing people in person, saying hello to people I’ve met over the years, and meeting new people.

And hey, there was even that celebrity siting! Jason Momoa popped in the North Halls for a short time and I managed to get his picture. He’s tall.

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Another nice day on a rapidly dwindling ski season at Hoodoo Ski Bowl. https://instagr.am/p/CbLWU2HJ_Je/

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Having an extra day after a long week means a bit of sightseeing. https://instagr.am/p/CbG3we_LcvG/

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That’s a wrap for #expowest2022 . My stomach is happy. https://instagr.am/p/CbBbdO8vgtd/

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More sights and tastes and smells from #expowest https://instagr.am/p/CbBBDz8Pzof/

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More cool tradeshow booths at #expowest 2022 https://instagr.am/p/Ca-1Oyiv5Oo/

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#expowest2022 in the North Halls. Including first celebrity sighting! https://instagr.am/p/Ca7_HDVvfwP/

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#expowest the work plods on. https://instagr.am/p/Ca0TvNTPtTX/