Tradeshow Survival 101

The sun is out, the weather is warm, and the birds are chirping at an ungodly hour. You know what that means – tradeshow season is upon us. And while you’re no doubt preparing layouts and product samples to build your booth, there is also that dreaded feeling in your stomach every time you think about your impending travel schedule.

Fast forward to a few weeks from now and you’re sitting in the hotel, laptop plugged into the outlet and a lukewarm coffee in hand. All of a sudden, you feel a vibration in your pocket and see the incoming call from your boss.

Oh no.

The booth setup is going disastrously and you need to run out to get supplies. You rush out to your rental car and dash to the store. But what do you buy? We asked tradeshow veterans what they would put in their tradeshow survival kit, and this is what they said:

• Batteries

• Contact lists (vendors, sales team, trade show coordinators)

• Power strip

• Phone charger

• Allen wrenches

• Box cutter

• Scissors

• Screwdriver

• Business cards

• Notepads

• Paper clips

• Pens/pencils/markers

• Stapler

• Whiteout

And as an added bonus, there was a list of additional items not just for your booth, but for your sanity:

• Comfortable shoes

• Tums

• Allergy and headache pills

• Eye drops

• Gum and mints

• Hand sanitizer

• Tissues

They also had a few tips for your time manning the booth. Including:

• Try to show up at least 15 minutes before the floor opens to make sure everything is running smoothly and test any live demos one last time.

• Always smile and make eye contact with those walking by the booth.

• When waiting for people to approach, walk around your area. This helps stretch your legs and prevents your knees from locking.

#tradeshow #industry