To start out the New Year, we gave thanks for the people we love, the things we enjoy and made the obligatory resolutions for the New Year.

Now, let’s get practical and give thanks to the people who make our industry function, make us look good and help us make money.

1. We thank the Show Sponsor who has the marketing vision and takes the financial risk to put on the event. Without both the will and the way, there would be fewer successful shows.

2. We thank the Show Organizer who, with the Sponsor’s vision and financial support, puts all the pieces together, draws the contracts, supervises the nitty-gritty and gets us all through the door for the show and out again.

3. We thank the Exhibitors who invest time, money and manpower to present their products to the world in this unique environment. It’s how we find out who’s who, what’s what and become attuned to what’s going to happen in our industry.

4. We thank the Attendees who also invest time, money and manpower to attend the trade show and who look, listen and learn about our firms. With the golden hope that Attendees beget Leads beget Clients, we give them much thanks.

5. We thank our Exhibit Managers who make it all go so smoothly. These detail wranglers handle minutia with a smile and professionalism unfathomable by most marketing types.

6. We thank the Exhibit Designers who take our many “..but I think...” and “I wanna...” and turn them into dynamic, attention-grabbing and profitable conveyors of the right image at the right time.

7. We thank the Unions - yes, we do - for their dedication to their crafts, their ability to take boxes and cases and crates, and make them the magic we need for the show - and then pack it all up again.

8. We thank the Freight Folks, from the local courier to the big guys in trucks, trains and planes. We appreciate their understanding of “time critical” and “fragile”, and we especially thank them for customer service courtesy and online tracking. Bah Humbug to those who haven’t gotten the message yet.

9. We thank the Creatives, those promotion folks who run the gambit from defining the marketing experience for each show, selecting goodies to hand out, and pulling it all together so we’re successful on both sides of the aisle.

10. And, last but not least, we thank the Exhibit Staff. There’s no job description that says “stand in the booth and hand out brochures”, so staff is drawn from many disciplines throughout the company. Trade shows are hard work. They make you physically tired because of travel, long hours and a compact agenda. They drain you emotionally because you get more rejections than acceptances. And, they compound the amount of work you have to do because there’s still your “real” job back at the office which you’re still at the show.

Make this your New Year’s Resolution - a salute and a Thank You to all who make your trade shows successful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julia O'Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of Trade Show Training, inc, now celebrating its 10th year, she works with companies in a variety of industries to improve their bottom line and marketing opportunities at trade shows.

Julia is an expert in the psychology of the trade show environment and uses this expertise in sales training and management seminars. Contact her at 804-355-7800 or check the site => http://www.TradeShowTraining.com

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