Ignorance is bliss. The first time I ever produced a trade show and the first time I ever exhibited at one (in that order) I was thankfully unaware of what could go wrong - or right. Like I said, ignorance is bliss.

With education comes awareness, and with the responsibility for either producing a show or exhibiting at one comes the need to involve others. The more you learn about what is possible, the more aware you become of the myriad details necessary to the have a successful show or exhibit. Nothing stands alone.

Part of the education is determining who's job is what. Where does the responsibility begin and end for the two very different aspects of production and exhibiting? Which burdens are on the head of the show manager and which on the exhibit manager?

The association, ISS, has several jobs beginning with the decision to produce a trade show. Their job is to bring a generic audience to one location, using educational seminars and the ability to investigate a variety of suppliers as the draw. They promote these two attractions to members of the industry over a period of six months to a year.

The job of promotion includes a call for papers, seeking qualified, interesting speakers who have valuable information to present to the association membership. It also includes creating the show directory, scheduling seminars and exhibit floor time, selling advertising (and then making sure copy arrives, is proofed and printed correctly), generating direct mail pieces to reach all these different target audiences, getting them mailed out on deadline, and coordinating the various aspects into a cohesive whole.

Their other job is to sell real estate - that space defined as the trade show floor. That job also encompasses a year. In between all this is site inspections (for this and future events), meetings with hotel managers, banquet or food service managers, show decorators, show contractors, unions, transporters...and printers, copywriters, designers...and, of course, the exhibitor.

The show manager has to allocate space - determine who will exhibit where. Most managers use a system of seniority points based on the number of years a company has participated and booth size purchased. One association has a list for each size booth, so that an exhibitor who purchases a 10' space can be senior in that category, while someone who purchases an island is senior in another.  If an exhibitor waits until the show is two months off, they are at the bottom of a list of people who sent in deposits and committed months earlier. ISS, because of its size, allocates space by first paid, first placed.

In addition to providing space in which to exhibit, they must then bring the audience into the show hall using promotions, special events, cocktail parties, drawings, whatever it takes AND do it in a timely fashion. Because once the show begins, no more space can be sold, no more advertising, no more anything. It becomes an exercise in problem solving, usually because the other half of the equation - the exhibit manager - didn't do his/her job.

 The Exhibit Manager

The exhibit manager's job has a totally different focus. Once the decision to exhibit is made, they are responsible for determining company objectives, recruiting and scheduling personnel, making travel arrangements, getting the booth shipped, designing graphics. But the most important job they have is finding the target audience within the generic whole and attracting them to their booth. The onus is on the exhibiting company - not the show manager.

The second half of this job is teaching the booth staff how to interact with prospects and customers. The word "interact" is the key. This is not a 'dog and pony' show, a stage for your booth staff to tell prospects and customers how wonderful your company is. Rather, it's a venue to reach the largest potential audience in the shortest period of time and learning as much or more than teaching.

Another aspect of exhibiting, relating specifically to the show management, is fulfilling your half of the contract. Show managers begin selling exhibit space seconds after the show ends. The exhibit manager has 10 months in which to decide whether or not to participate. Obviously, the sooner they make their decision, the easier their job is. Those who wait until a week before the show opens to decide can't understand why everything wasn't perfect. The didn't get the space they wanted, didn't get the audience they wanted, weren't prepared (because they didn't educate their staff and arrived a half hour before the opening bell) and then complain.

 Teamwork