By Katelyn Moran

Through my many years of experience in planning tradeshows, I have come across every problem you could possibly imagine. Some of the more memorable disruptions include misplacing my $3,000, custom-made projection screen, broken booth equipment, losing Internet service, dealing with slow and unqualified I & D services, missing graphics, and colleagues missing-in-action. Have you ever thought about what you would do in these situations? Planning events is fun, but they can also be stressful if you are not prepared for every situation that may arise.

Scenario:
Have you ever found yourself left alone at a tradeshow booth and you’re not in sales? Has a sales person ever called you up at the last minute to cancel their attendance at a tradeshow because they had to fly somewhere for a very important sales meeting?

Solution:
Management’s support is very important in avoiding these situations. Having the Sales Manager implement a written policy will ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them in regards to tradeshow attendance. In the policy, it should be clear that each person is responsible to attend for the duration of the show. If they have to miss the show or cancel at the last minute, it is their responsibility to find a replacement for themselves.

Scenario:
You are setting up at a tradeshow and begin unpacking the cartons that contain your booth components. You discover that there are broken panels and one entire carton is missing. There is no time to return to the office to retrieve the missing carton and the broken panel is not repairable. What can you do?

Solution:
As part of the preparations in planning your tradeshow event, call the vendor from whom the booth was purchased and ask if they have an office or I & D contractor in the area where the tradeshow will take place. If they do, be sure to have their phone number handy and take it with you to the show. If the show setup is on a Saturday or Sunday, ask for their weekend emergency contact number and cell phone number. In most cases, the vendor’s offices, and especially their I & D contract workers, will have spare parts available and they typically work weekends.

By preparing for such an emergency, you will be able to call the vendor immediately and explain your situation. In most instances, the vendor can offer solutions to the problem. But, if the vendor is unavailable or unable to help, consider scouting the tradeshow floor for other contractors and ask for their help. Remember, if you have the money, any situation can be resolved.

Scenario:
What do you do when Internet service is down, rendering your demos useless?

Solution:
Preparation is again the key to working through this tradeshow glitch. Work with your company’s Marketing Department before the show to create a static demo or PowerPoint presentation. These back-up demos can save the day and a static demo is often much faster than the high-speed Internet service available to you at a convention center or hotel.

Scenario:
Have you ever dealt with unqualified I & D services? We have all had this happen to us! Contract workers seem to have no sense of urgency in setting up your booth and appear to have no clue what they are doing. A booth that normally takes 3 hours to build is now taking 9 hours.

Solution:
I can’t stress the following point strongly enough. Think about this! Who do you think would be more qualified to setup and dismantle your booth? Someone who created the booth in the first place or an I & D contractor at the show’s site? You should always use I & D services that are independent of the show’s decorators and make sure they are Union workers. In some cities, if the I &D workers are not Union, they are restricted to supervision only. Therefore, you will be paying both the Union workers and the independent contractor. I’m not saying that they are all incompetent, but the level of service you will get from using outside workers is much higher and the work is usually done much faster than if you utilized the show’s decorators.

Scenario:
What can you do when you are missing your graphics?

Solution:
For a booth that is larger than a 10x10:
Always have your graphics on a CD, or at the very least, have your logo handy. I once had to setup a 20x20 theater-style booth for a client. The booth consisted of a small screen in front with16’ high x 20’ wide graphics in both the front and back. While setting up the booth, the I & D workers informed me that they couldn’t find the two largest graphics. I called the client, who stated they had shipped the graphics. I checked with both the show’s decorators and the shipping company, to no avail. The graphics could not be located.

The only graphics the workers found with the booth were the ones of the company’s logo and the company name that goes on the top of the booth, which is visible from a distance. I decided that inserting the available graphics into the large frame left too big of an empty space. I contacted the client and explained the situation, offered my recommendation to resolve the problem, and the costs involved. The first thing I did was to have the I & D workers tear down the booth and rebuild it to a much smaller scale. By reducing the booth’s size to 14x14, the large space of the graphics frame was completely eliminated.

I then went to Kinko’s and had them print 4 poster boards with the company’s name and logo and rented easels on which to place them. I positioned the easels on all sides of the island booth. I had the workers remove the small screen from the front of the booth and I rented one from the audio visual vendor, which was much bigger. The screen did not fill the entire hole, so I also rented black skirt material from the show’s decorators and used it to conceal the empty spaces. For branding, I had a PowerPoint slide with the company’s name and logo, which was shown between presentations.

For a 10x10 booth:
You could call the company who created the graphics and ask them how long it would take for them to print new ones. Most design firms, however, will not be able to print and send replacements overnight, as printing the graphics and allowing the ink to dry is a lengthy process. One solution I found is to find a local graphics printer. They are often willing to complete a rush order and may bring the graphics directly to the show for you. It doesn’t hurt to ask! It may cost you quite a bit more money, but it’s worth the cost. If all else fails, you can go to Kinko’s and get the graphics printed on either poster boards or vinyl. Double-sided tape can then be used to place the signs around your booth.

The point is, be ready for anything! Think outside the box to solve whatever problems may arise! The tradeshow industry is highly unpredictable and sometimes everything seems to go wrong. The only thing you can absolutely control is your own actions and the quality of your own work. You can’t control the contractors, vendors, or show employees. Being prepared is your best defense against the stresses you will encounter.

Let’s face it, tradeshows are expensive and the bottom line is your company’s success. Your tradeshow booth is a reflection of your company. They must always put their best foot forward and the appearance of your booth can make or break the success of a show. It’s really quite simple - if your image from your booth is tarnished, your company does not look good.

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