Design and Construction Week is On in Orlando

By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter

After four year in Vegas, the NAHB International Builder’s Show and the HKBA’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show move to central Florida for Design & Construction Week .

A must-attend event for the industry, these co-located shows continue to be at the forefront of innovation, with more than 2,000 exhibitors and hundreds of education sessions. Here are a few highlights: (more…)

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Are You Ready to Talk to the Media?

By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter

1218_5360518We’re officially in trade show season, which means planning booths, putting together promotions, connecting with customers and preparing your staff for the show. One often overlooked aspect of trade show participation is the media.

When you exhibit at a trade show, you can trust in the quality and relevancy of the attendees as potential customers. You can also trust that the media that is most important to your ideal customer will be at the show, so make sure you prepare to talk with them as well.

I once supported a company at their biggest industry show. I’d set up meetings with media at the show and spent a lot of time in their booth. During a lull when I didn’t have anything scheduled, I decided to go eat lunch. When I returned, the sales rep in the booth handed me an editor’s card and told me he’d stopped to see you. I asked about the interaction with the editors, what had been shown to him and so on, just to find out that they had given him my card and sent him on his way. Throughout the show, the booth staff was so laser focused on getting leads that every time they encountered the media, they said two words, “See her” and pointed them to me.

It’s important to treat the media personnel at a show as if they are just as important as a customer … if not more. Trade media have a huge audience of hundreds or thousands of the people who you want to reach.

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Go Hands-On for Quality Trade Show Interactions

Go Hands-On for Quality Trade Show Interactions

By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter

One of the most underutilized components implemented by exhibitors at trade shows is the “hands-on” demonstration of their product/solution. Professional tradespeople make their living working with their hands, so it should not be a surprise “hands-on” product demonstrations are a favorite for this audience.

Typically trade shows like to talk about the quantitative stats…number of attendees, number of exhibitors and number of speakers. But instead of focusing on the number of people walking up and down the aisles and attending these shows, maybe we should be focusing more on the quality of the interactions between trade show attendees and the exhibitors. One of the more effective quality interactions would be the “hands-on” product demonstrations and skills competitions at trade shows. In general, booths that have some sort of demonstration or activity for their product tend to have more traffic and activity.

The first quarter of the year tends to be a busy time for trade shows targeting the professional tradesperson. I recently attended the World of Concrete Show and was amazed at the number of hands-on areas. The parking lots of the Las Vegas Convention Center were packed with manufacturer tents highlighting “hands-on” demos with everything from cutting and drilling, to polishing and breaking up concrete.

In another parking lot across from the convention center, there were as many as 4,000 spectators in attendance to watch a number of masonry skills contests, including the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500, SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER, MCAA Masonry Skills Challenge and the MCAA Fastest Trowel on the Block.

It was amazing to see the passion, enthusiasm and support shown by the attendees watching these tradespeople showcase their skills. All of these areas outside the convention center consistently had more active traffic compared to the normal booths inside the exhibition hall.

Now there are a number of factors that go into making a successful trade show, but hopefully, when you are planning your next show, a hands-on demo will be part of it!

 

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Want to Drive Traffic to Your Booth at a Trade Show?

By Sandy Bucher, Media Engineer, Sonnhalter

Photo courtesy of Viega LLC

Photo courtesy of Viega LLC

Digital display advertising is one way to drive traffic to your booth at a trade show. Depending on the size and location of the trade show you’re exhibiting at, the venue may offer this option. A client of ours recently took advantage of this opportunity at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The digital display ads appear on various screens located throughout the venue, usually near the high traffic areas such as main lobbies and secondary lobbies, entrances to meeting rooms, near the info desk or near escalators.

Here are some tips when creating your digital display ads to get the best effect:

  • Make the Text Big – designs should be simple, clear and easy to read
  • Use Bold, Non-Serif Fonts – avoid decorative or serif fonts
  • One Message – don’t present a complicated message or numerous images
  • Use Bright, Bold Colors – and design with high contrast
  • Lose the White Space – increase your logo, font sizes and images
  • Be Short and Sweet – your ad will appear for a few seconds each time, so you want it to be a quick read
  • Booth Number – be sure to add it to the ad so people know where to go

Enforce your brand, showcase a new product, offer a giveaway – digital display ads can get your message into the minds of the trade show attendees to get them into your booth where you want them.

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Industrial Reinvention

By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter

via Fabtech on Facebook

via Fabtech on Facebook

Fabtech Expo wrapped up another great show last month in Chicago. Presented by AWS, CCAI, FMA, SME and PMA, it truly lives up to its billing as the largest metal-forming, welding and finishing event in North America.

There are many great wrap ups of this show, including Fabtech’s own, but I want to share a few personal observations:

  • Chicago is a great host city for any show, but especially this one, given its rich history of amazing architecture, manufacturing and Midwest hospitality
  • There was an HUGE number of students and educators there, great news for the future of our industry
  • In the North Hall, the “Big 3” welding companies each had impressive and expansive booths, each playing to their strengths, and full of new products

In fact, new products ruled the day in both halls. We truly are on the verge of a 4th industrial revolution. Every booth seemed to burst with new, and most importantly, integrated products, system and solutions. The buzz on the floor and in the seminars was that to survive and thrive, manufacturing needs to embrace new technology.

The common perception used to be that manufacturing wasn’t an “early adopter” and that the old ways were best. But the smart companies are now realizing that the two are not mutually exclusive. Look at products like WeldRevolution, where a little-out-of-the-box thinking has led to significant gains in productivity and quality. There are a hundred more examples from any given aisle, but the message was clear: the manufacturing floor of the future will put productivity first, and results will be seen in real-time, in the palm of your hand.

Make plans to attend the 2016 Fabtech in Las Vegas, it’s sure to dazzle.

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