Become A Trade Show Sleuth
Trade show managers often feel as if they’re a combination construction foreman, movie director, and military commander. That’s enough roles for anyone, but we’re here to tell you there’s one more -- detective.
We’re not kidding. If you read the recent Tradeshow Week series on event marketing fraud, you saw how some unwary exhibitors invested countless hours and large sums of cash to participate in what looked like a very real, high profile event, only to find themselves in a strange city, begging vainly for help from mystified convention center workers about a nonexistent show.
If you’re investigating a new event, simply checking out its website isn’t enough; it might be a complete fabrication or “borrowed” from some other show. Before you do anything, we suggest making some phone calls. You might start with the convention center to confirm that the show is actually booked. From there, you might turn to trade associations, colleagues, or even the Better Business Bureau to make sure the show is for real.
On the other hand, we’re happy to say that scam shows are rare. Far more common are shows that provide good value for many exhibitors, but might not for you. You’ll want to ask a number of questions: What kind of “real estate” are you likely to get (i.e., will enough possible clients be passing through your area to warrant the expense)? Are there hidden costs, such as a “forced” move-out on a Sunday night where your labor rates are all based on double-time and your trucking company has to wait in the marshalling yard overnight? Finally, you want to stay on top of show service costs and that old devil material handling, a.k.a. drayage.
And that brings up an area where cost-conscious exhibitors need to pay
close attention. Over the last few years, a few trade shows have eliminated
the general contractor and established a flat materials handling fee.
On the surface this sounds like a terrific deal for exhibitors, but some
caution is always in order. Show organizers have touted savings for a
large majority of their exhibitors – as much as seventy or eighty
percent. But what if you happen to be in the unlucky twenty to thirty
percent? You’re better off finding out before the show.