Okay, I’ll admit it off the bat: I am a tradeshow newbie! Attending Viva Fresh this past week was my first time to experience a fresh produce tradeshow and help to create a tradeshow booth from start to finish. It was a lot of work and could be stressful at times; but seeing it all come together in the end with a happy client was well worth it.
Along the way, I learned some important lessons and steps that I think are helpful to share with anyone putting together a tradeshow booth for the first time or the 100th time. These are 4 steps that can help alleviate stress and serve as great reminders, whether you are a newbie like me or an experienced pro!
- Start early.
Getting started as early as possible is the first step to build your tradeshow booth. Bumps along the road are inevitable in the booth design process, so you want to make sure you have enough time to navigate those bumps. This way, you won’t be scrambling last minute to fix an issue that could have been noticed if you started the process earlier.
- Get organized.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay organized from start to finish when planning a tradeshow booth. Organize all emails relating to trade booth discussions into one folder for easy accessibility. Keep a folder dedicated to papers you have filled out, printed off or sent to various people about the trade show booth. This is your safety net. If something doesn’t show up to your booth on the day of the show, you have the information to back you up to get you everything you need ASAP.
- Over communicate with your team.
You want to make sure you understand what your team (or your client, if you’re helping someone else create their booth like me!) wants out of a tradeshow booth. With that in mind, you need to make sure you communicate everything very clearly as well as making sure the appropriate people have ample time to approve your ideas. Talking through the concept in person or via the phone is the best way to understand what your team members like or dislike. You can tell a lot by having these discussions that you can’t always achieve over email alone.
- Check, Double Check and Triple Check before you leave.
Before you head to the big show, bring along every confirmation you have received, as well as review all confirmations to make sure all your tradeshow booth necessities are in order. Remember that folder I was telling you about that is your safety net? You need to bring this along with you to the tradeshow. It is always better to come over-prepared than under-prepared, especially to an event like a tradeshow.
As we get prepared and start thinking about upcoming shows like CPMA and United Fresh, I hope these tips will serve as a reminder for success – I know they will for me! You can never guarantee a perfect experience, but you can get close if you follow these 4 basic steps when planning to build your tradeshow booth.
