16 things to make your trade show even more fun and exciting

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16 things that can make your trade show even more fun and exciting!

A company invests billions of dollars on conducting and strategizing trade shows. They invest a lot of money to come up with creative ideas for exhibition stands Trade shows are a serious marketing medium to build a client base and maximize profits. In order to achieve business results, we often talk about getting the highest ROI (Return on Investment) and even about ROO (Return on Objectives). But what about ROF (that’s right, Return of fun)?

Trade shows enable industries and companies to meet people. They can be unpredictable, emotional beings to trade with. To engaging them, you need to be having some fun, because if you are bored or too serious, that puts up an invisible barrier and you wont be able to sell anything to the masses no matter how useful or innovative your product is. After a few days per show, and many shows per year endorsing your company and the product it manufactures and sells, how can you keep yourself entertained?

Here are a few suggestions that you can do when not conducting or attending trade shows.

Look up on the show city’s Visitors and Convention Bureau website that elaborates on all the fun activities you can do outside of show hours (If you are in the United states, and in Las Vegas, try indoor skydiving it’s a fun indoor sport).

Talk to different booth staffers about creative ideas for exhibition stands and exchange your ideas with them so that you can come up with even better booths.

Go to dinner with the funniest sales person and the team that are staffing the exhibition stands.

Walk along the trade show, and note down any creative ideas for exhibition stands that you come across.

Count how many exhibition stands you can walk by before a booth staffer tries to engage you.

When at the trade show, visit your competitors at engage in a conversation with them. If you are lucky, you might be able to find their weak links which you may use against them and in your favor.

When you meet attendees at your exhibition stands, don’t treat them like numbers on the sales chart, treat them instead as if they are going to be your new best friend. This will certainly help you in building a reputation.

Drinking game: Walk down the trade show aisle carrying a bottle of water (unless you are at a European show). Whenever a booth staffer from another exhibition stand greets you, reply accordingly, take a swig, and keep walking.

Pick up giveaways and goodies from your fellow exhibitors, and then give them back to different exhibitors from different exhibition stands.

While this may sound a bit offbeat, go to lunch with the second-funniest sales person who is staffing you exhibition stand.

Look up old friends you haven’t seen in ages that live in the show city, via Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media, and relive the glory days. This activity will certainly help you vent off some work pressure.

Create a fun activity in your booth that helps get your message across to visitors. This will indirectly in engaging with the visitors in a better way.

Walk into a random trade show exhibit and play with their products. Count how many seconds or minutes it takes for a booth staffer to engage you.

Play a small game with your booth staffers, bet them to jot down creative ideas for exhibition stands. The staffer with the least ideas buys everyone drinks.

Have a contest with fellow staffers to see who can work specific obscure words into conversation when talking with visitors at your booth.

Walk the show with a colleague. Have a bet on who can count the most booth engaged in different activities but pitching their company’s sale. A third friend can count booth staffers eating or drinking. Loser buys lunch.