Trade Secrets for Exhibitors: What NOT to Do

Thou Shall Not Try Her. She’s put out 17 fires in the last 20 minutes and you just rolled up.

Please, for the love of everything, don’t make an enemy of the meeting organizer. This happens to me at every conference I’ve worked on… one of the exhibitor reps starts our interaction by complaining.

Exhibitor Complaint Greatest Hits

“Their booth is a better location than mine.” Yes, they paid about 12 times what you did.

“My booth neighbor’s exhibit is bigger/better than mine.”

“You spelt my name wrong.” (Um… you typed it into the form wrong dingbat)

“We thought it was first come, first served so we grabbed that corner spot and set up our 5,001 items.”

“We were told there would be 300 doctors. I’ve only talked to 12 so far.”

“No one told me set-up ended at 5. I’ll be there at 9:15, will you wait for me?”

“Why is the WiFi so slow? I need to stream the game.”

“The badge font is too small and doesn’t tell me if they are the decision maker.”

“My boxes are missing. No, I don’t have tracking info.”

“I didn’t register as an exhibitor but I’m here. Where should I set up?”

“There are 3 other companies here that sell orthotics.”

“We haven’t sold anything. No, we don’t offer a show special or any giveaway.”

“We weren’t told we needed to order electricity.”

“It’s 11:15am and they took the breakfast away. What am I supposed to eat?”

I get it. You traveled all day. You paid a lot to be here. Your boss is putting pressure on you to close sales. You’re missing dear Great Aunt Bertha’s cat’s funeral. Your office manager shipped your packages to Vegas instead of Chicago.

“Welcome to the real world! It sucks. You’re gonna love it”

-Monica Geller, Friends

We’re all doing our best out here. Starting the “hello my name is” conversation with a bitch fest is not the right move.

The conference organizer holds all the cards. She has the power to put the coffee directly across from your booth or to have the lights dim on your end of the exhibit hall. She has the power to give you an extra badge because you asked nicely, or charge you a fee plus an on-site fee. She has the power to schedule your presentation at 7am the morning after the big late night welcome reception. She has the power to call attention to your presence during announcements or conveniently forget. She can look the other way if your display is 3 inches too tall.

Be kind to the person with the clipboard.

She’s been awake since 4am and she’s from a different time zone.

She’s managing egos, buffet mishaps, and 27 WiFi complaints. She still smiled at you and asked if you needed anything.

Buy her a coffee. Or a margarita. Say thank you. Tell her she’s pretty.

Don’t start out what could be a very long 2 days with a stupid complaint just because you had a rough day.

What?! I'm just out here saying what everyone is thinking. Don't be mad.

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