What Makes a Better Trade Show Experience

0:00 So Liz, as the director of marketing operations here at Steelhead Productions, Exhibit Happy in your opinion, like what is the biggest misconception that companies have about creating a successful trade show exhibit booth event environment?

0:20 And yeah, yeah, I would say like the biggest myth or maybe the biggest hang up I think most people have is just that a successful booth.

0:30 It has to be beautiful, right?

0:31 That's the whole point is like it has to look really good.

0:34 And I think we try to teach our audience and even our clients that a great booth isn't just something that people would, that it's something that people have to engage with.

0:44 And then ultimately remember your brand by right?

0:47 Like we're big on like being memorable.

0:49 So of course the design matters, like the aesthetics you want it to like reflect your brand.

0:56 But a beautiful booth will only take you so far.

0:59 A successful trade show, you know it has to be intentional.

1:02 You know you want to support, yes, your company goals.

1:05 At the end of the day, you can talk to the right people, make conversations easier.

1:10 Think about your team there too, right?

1:12 Like, make sure that your on site team can tell, like, a clear story.

1:16 Yeah.

1:16 You know, it's interesting that you say that because I remember when we were exhibiting last year, there was a booth that was adjacent to ours.

1:24 Do you know which one I'm thinking of?

1:26 And it was, it was the hats.

1:28 Yeah.

1:29 Slings.

1:30 And like, their infrastructure really wasn't much to write home about.

1:35 But like, I had such a great experience with the engagement they were offering and how awesome their people were that it like completely sticks in my head.

1:44 And it wasn't, it didn't kick off with a beautiful environment.

1:47 No, it was like, you know, they had like a cool backdrop, but that was what it it was like.

1:54 And then their team themselves is just like, so fun.

1:57 It was awesome.

1:57 That's such a good point.

1:59 OK, so question #2 what does the Exhibit Happy so our approach mean for companies that want to have a better trade show experience in general?

2:10 Yeah.

2:11 So Exhibit Happy, I would say for people who aren't familiar with us, we're all about making the entire entire experience better, right?

2:17 Not just your exhibit.

2:19 So we always say, you know, trade shows should be fun, not frustrating, but at the end of the day, trade shows are super stressful.

2:26 You know, there are deadlines.

2:28 We had to think about budgets, logistics, your own brand standards, your sales goals.

2:33 So it's like a lot of different people are depending on all of this to go really smoothly.

2:39 So making sure you have the right partner is essential.

2:43 So for us, Exhibit Happy isn't just about, you know, a beautiful booth, it's about reducing all that friction.

2:49 And to be honest, it's reducing stress that our clients feel.

2:53 So yeah, so we're thinking about not only their brand, but who they're going to speak to again, their own on site sales team, making sure that their marketing campaign is coming out in their environment.

3:06 And then also what happened after the show?

3:08 Are we setting them up with success at the ultimate goal, right, to talk to their people in their audience after and making sure that they hit their goal?

3:17 Yeah, absolutely.

3:18 And you know, I think about how many months of relationship it takes to pull off the projects.

3:26 So unless when someone is vetting a new supplier and they're looking at a quote and they're looking at a design, those two things are very important.

3:35 But it's also critical to get to know the team that you'll be working with for months and on all of those details that you were just talking about to ensure that there's some sort of, like, synergy.

3:49 Because it would suck to have four months of stress and tension, but a beautiful booth at the end.

3:56 But the headache of getting from point A to point B, Right?

3:59 Yeah.

4:00 And I think it's like the headaches that people always like, remember, right?

4:03 It's like your experience, again, we always talk about experiences being memorable, but it's like your vendor experience is also like so important.

4:11 I love a recent case study we did.

4:15 It was with SMA America, one of our clients, and that's all like they mentioned, you know, they're like dealing with like early arrivals, late arrivals, late nights, last minute edit, you know, and it's just like kind of a headache for them.

4:27 Made the experience just not enjoyable.

4:30 What they talked about when they started working with us was like, they spoke about their peace of mind, right?

4:35 And it's like, Oh my gosh, like how invaluable is that, right?

4:39 Their whole team talked about reduced anxiety, better communication, being able just to show up.

4:46 Right.

4:46 OK, here's the keys to your your exhibit.

4:48 Enjoy.

4:49 Right.

4:49 And if they're like, wait, we don't have to worry about all these little details that we had to do.

4:53 So, yeah.

4:54 So people aren't familiar with us.

4:55 I would say that's what Exhibit Happy means.

4:57 It's like we're helping brands show up with confidence, clarity, and overall, just like less stress.

5:03 Yeah, less stress.

5:04 Something we're all looking for in the event.

5:07 OK.

5:08 So the last question, how can companies make their trade show booth or exhibit an event program more sustainable without sacrificing like brand impact?

5:20 Yeah, I think that's like the number one thing people experience with us especially is that sustainable design doesn't mean you have to do less, right?

5:29 It doesn't have to be scarce.

5:31 You just have to design it a little bit more smarter.

5:34 So for us, what that means is thinking about your overall sustainability goals, right?

5:40 So it can still be beautiful, premium, functional, memorable.

5:44 It's just making sure that you let your team know early on in the process that this is your end goal in mind.

5:50 You have goals to meet.

5:51 So it's not like an afterthought.

5:52 It's like, oh, by the way, we have all these sustainability goals to meet.

5:56 So it has to be part of the planning process, right?

5:59 So we can be smarter about making your exhibit less heavy the structure, but still making it look really beautiful using modular components, you know, making sure that the after the show, what happens to all these things in your booth?

6:13 Are they going to the landfill?

6:14 Are they added back to your exhibit house inventory?

6:18 The flooring is also such a big thing.

6:20 We partner with great vendors like Brumark who then offset all our carpet that we get through them.

6:26 So it's just really thinking strategically at the beginning and not making sustainability an afterthought.

6:33 Yeah, I like that because it really does require your supplier, whomever it is that you choose to care about and understand it as part of their business model because it's not typically something in our industry that can be figured out on the fly.

6:51 It takes like you said, those partnerships understanding how to design in the efficiencies using components that are reusable.

6:59 Like it just requires like a comprehensive thought process from start to finish.

7:05 It's not just like ad hoc.

7:08 You won't get the desired results if you kind of just try to pull it out of the hat like that.

7:12 Yeah, for sure.

7:13 And I think obviously, like our biggest example being Cox Automotive, they have like, at their core, their own corporate goals to be like net 0 by 2030, right?

7:24 And it's like they're exhibiting.

7:26 That's like a big, big, big footprint, right, that they had to figure out.

7:30 So coming over and switching over to our access model, we divert what is it 90% of their entire trade show program like from going to landfill.

7:39 So that is just such a huge help for their overall corporate goals, not even just their automotive side.

7:46 Yeah, well, and to consider that it's a 30,000 plus square foot environment and we are able to help offset 90%.

7:55 I mean, it's a big undertaking.

7:57 And yeah, you, you really it's important and imperative to understand like the suppliers comfort with that challenge because not every company is engineered to be able to support sustainability goals to that extent for sure.

8:12 Cool.

8:13 Thank you, Liz.

8:14 I appreciate your time and braveness.

8:17 Yeah.