Trade Shows

I’ve been involved with customer trade shows in varying capacities across a range of markets throughout my career.  Throughout the 1990s my firm developed displays and graphics for Eastman Kodak Company’s expansive presence at mega photo/imaging shows; PMA (US) and Photokina (Europe), for several brand product lines we managed.  More recently I have been developing an array of trade show setups for  U.S. Top 50 electrical contractor, O’Connell Electric Company.

1) O’Connell Electric—WindPower Show

“We just booked a 10-by-20 floor space at AWEA’s WindPower (the world’s largest wind trade show) and we need you to ‘pull something together’ for us—we have three months”.  Well, ‘something’ turned out to be everything and seeing as how we had nothing, things were about to get interesting.

Above: O’Connell personnel posing with the Windpower 2009 booth setup (image provided).

I quickly set up a meeting with senior management and the division manager to help me understand the primary reasons for exhibiting, establish quantifiable goals, identify services to be promoted, confirm key target audiences, and establish a budget.  From that initial meeting I developed a comprehensive proposal and cost package that outlined options and comparisons from which I made recommendations.

Above: My initial concept rendering for the WindPower booth design. We later dropped the flat screen TV and vertical truss unit.

For WindPower I was responsible for show messaging and branding, displays and furniture, signage and lighting, flooring and dividers, brochures, business cards and giveaways, attendee apparel, contact data capture, and mailings, emails and phone scripting before and after the show ... concept through production ... communications, coordination and procurement.

Above: My matching schematic for the initial WindPower booth design floor plan.

My approach was simple, continue with the straightforward messaging, bold corporate branding, and story-telling brand imagery which won senior management’s approval a year-and-a-half earlier.

Above: Corporate brand identity applications for white backgrounds (brochures and business cards) and black (display panels and shirts).  I developed a simplified identity for the show that focused on the name “O’Connell” for bold simplicity and quick identification. 

Throughout the two-month production schedule I directed six creative professionals who contracted with me to help expedite the development and production of all necessary show content.

Above: Front and side panel artwork for one of the three 7-1/2-foot square freestanding displays.  Each display promotes one of O’Connell’s primary service offerings related to wind farm development.

In addition to writing copy for the show’s 25 by 11-inch foldout brochure, coordinating photo shoots between Buffalo and Albany, and managing all imagery (selection and production processing for the displays and print materials) I was managing several production vendors and working with my web developer to advance-launch the Services section of O’Connell’s new website by opening day of the show.

Above: For the 2012 show we elected to upgrade the display panel images from our expanded digital image database.  I posted a collection of images for each of the three primary services that O’Connell promotes at the show for management to narrow down.  Using their selections I then submitted several layouts of the face panels where I combined different images for effect (like the one above).  All images and layouts where posted to a website that I developed specifically for O’Connell management to be able to review and make their selections from.

O’Connell has faired extremely well exhibiting at WindPower. At our debrief meeting after the 2012 show the division manager put it into perspective this way “ In 2009 we were striving to introduce ourselves to the big players and developers within our target markets.  As of the 2012 show they are seeking us out”.

Above: After further confirming guidelines and consulting with show officials I developed a series of schematics like the one above for O’Connell personnel to reference as setup options once they were on the trade show floor.

Above: Windpower 2013 booth setup (image provided). 

2) O’Connell Electric—Trade Show Presence Upgrade

Before WindPower there was the issue of O’Connell’s trade show footprint for 10-by-10 spaces and smaller.

O’Connell: “Hey, Keith, our Technical Services Division has a trade show coming up in Buffalo.  Can you make us a couple prints for our company trade show booth from all those great photographs you’ve been taking for us?”

Me: “That shouldn’t be a problem. Can I see your booth”

O’Connell: “Sure, we have it set up in the upper conference room”

Upon seeing what the company had been displaying at shows (third photo down) I decided to go out on a limb and draft a proposal for upgrading the company’s trade show presence.  My proposal was received well by senior management and I gained approval to move forward.

Above: My approved concept rendering for a simple, classy, functional space that can be easily customized for any division of the company and to custom space limitations.

My final approved concept is comprised of five main independent structures—a seven-foot centralized truss unit with header and 32-inch flat screen TV, two six-foot vertical banner stands, and two truss counter units with graphics.  These pieces can be oriented to work in nearly any small footprint.  The industrial/construction look and feel of truss systems is what initially drew me in. Their customizability and expandability is what ultimately sold me as a solution.

Above: My new booth setup for O’Connell’s Technical Services Division at the Buffalo show (image provided).

Where O’Connell’s presentation at trade shows and special venues previously fell short of those of other companies who exhibit at the same events their new booth presence has set the bar to new heights.

Above: O’Connell’s previous booth setup for their Technical Services Division (image provided).

The new booth design and elements have been successfully adapted by several divisions within the company for use across a variety of venues.  I regularly update slide shows and satisfy requests for new banner stand images.

Above: Concept rendering for O’Connell’s Solar Division trade booth depicting division specific banner stand imagery and backdrop fabric for the center truss structure.  The flat screen TV ran a custom slideshow I developed.

Above: O’Connell logo adaptation for the Solar Division’s trade show presence.   This mark was used in the new solar brochure I developed for the show (displayed HERE) as well as on the show business cards.  It was embroidered onto shirts worn by show attendees, made into a new header sign for the center truss display, and used in the solar slideshow I developed. 

Above: 10-by-10 trade show booth schematic in which I’ve incorporated one of the three 7-1/2-foot square freestanding displays I developed for the WindPower shows.

Above: As new banner stand images are requested I provide options as both 2D photos and 3D renderings.  When necessary I incorporate them into a 3D rendering of the full booth setup as seen above.

Above: Section heading graphics for the Solar/Renewable Energy slide show. I designed all imagery, messaging, and graphics to be consistent throughout all show materials and tie directly back to O’Connell’s corporate website.