Looking back to last year's blogs on briefing a new stand designer I thought we should look how you choose between them and pick your new partner.

Hopefully by now you’ve had in at least three different stand designs from different companies.  They all look great but how do you judge them and decide who to go with?  Here’s a few thoughts on the way I’d make a decision:

Stand / Brand Interpretation

It’s very easy to look at a stand design and rule it out because your logo has been placed in a way you don’t like.  I agree that it’d be great if any designer could view your website and any branding guidelines you have and be able to interpret them correctly.  However,  designers are designers because they’re good at extrapolating ideas and taking them further than you could.  Hence, I say don’t look at the design as fixed, look at it as a complex set of elements that can showcase what you want and be changed to fit your ideals better.  So look at the designs with an open mind.  View the overall impression, the way the tall elements bring attention to your brand from afar, the way the demonstration requirements have been designed and the way the look and feel of the quality fits your brand.

It’s easy to score points for design but make sure that you’ve given them the right information to start with.

Experience

What experience have you had whilst dealing with the designers?  Were they open to ideas?  Did you speak to the designer directly or were your briefs/opinions interpreted and past on by a sales (sorry, Business Development) Manager? Did their values sync with yours?  If you were able to visit their offices/view their website etc - how does that make you feel?  Do those feelings suit you and your brand?  ie don’t expect a basic pre-packed grated cheese if you are a cheese aficionado and hunt out specialist cheeses.

Response Time

Be honest now - are you a demanding customer?  Do you expect answers immediately and to speak to the manager whenever you want?  We all should expect that level of service so think back to how quickly and in detail you got responses to your questions?  If they can’t be bothered to respond quickly when they’re trying to win your business, how are they going to be when it’s contracted?

Price

Last but not least - price.  Do check the quote in details - what does it include and what is excluded?  How many graphics are shown?  What lighting is included?  Is it sufficient for your needs?  Be very careful here - you may change your mind and need more items afterwards and these could come in very expensive so let’s hope you know what you’re comparing.Can you re-use the stand for less cost next time?  What is the cost of storage?  How easy will it be to change for the next show?

As you might have noticed I’ve  not been writing blogs recently - I took some time off over the summer to sit on a beach and contemplate my navel.  I can heartily recommend it.  I’ve come back to work completely refreshed but with a new burning desire to move onwards and upwards.  I find that I can look at situations afresh and be much more creative about how I’m going to move things forward.

I understand that not every business owner/freelancer can take 3 weeks off work but given the school holidays were upon us and everyone is growing up so quickly I tipped the scales to life and let the work stand still for a while.

So, here’s my action plan for the next month:

• • get fitter.  I’m making time to exercise first thing, following a training programme so that I push myself and don’t just workout at my usual steady level.
• • turn off the Today programme and wake up to some calming music instead (I’m fed up of the negativity of the press)
• • change my home page from BBC news to StumbleUpon (what fantastic inspiration that brings up)
• • turn off my iPod when I’m walking (I seemed to fill my every moment with news and noise and had no time to let my brain run free)
• • set up goals for each of my business ideas and prioritise which ones I’d handle first.
• • print out a weekly planner and divide each week up into the different projects/roles and make sure that I focus solely on that project that day.
• • go to a quiet place once a fortnight and consider the monthly plan and how I’m moving the business forward.

So it’s all about priorities, contemplation and focus...I’ll keep you updated on how I get on but right now it feels really positive and I really don’t think I’d have got here without taking time out for myself and my family.

I keep confessing to you all and I really have to stop this but then what value would a blog be if it didn’t reveal a little more about me and my thoughts each time?  That’s just my view though - I don’t feel I can write a regular blog without outlining my thoughts and values.  Many other people do write very plain, business like blogs and have enormous success with them.  I’m not aiming for a huge blog following but am still happy that it’s growing gradually.  So why do I do this?

Writing a blog each week can be a challenge - how to come up with ideas and how to allocate the time to post and promote it?  However, I’ve been surprised at the range of people who read it.  These range from local business people that I network with, to old clients who I’ve worked with for years and not forgetting the people I just don’t know but have found me via Twitter or SEO. So given that range of readers how do I make sure that I keep you all entertained, even if just for a 5 minute read?

I wonder how many people really have a good blog strategy and how many just write week after week?  My strategy - to keep my clients and prospects informed of my activity, my thoughts and my business values.  It’s the personal touch to my website that is hopefully, the inviting and more intimate element of my company.  But now I have these other followers should I focus solely on running a small business or go for hard core events tips? That’s my challenge -  to keep evolving the blog and keep you all interested - do let me know what you’d like to read.

So many companies outsource their social marketing to a specialist.  I’m sure this works really well to ensure it gets done and that it’s promoted effectively but is it really the right strategy for your company?  As a small business owner I’m very protective (over-protective?) of my brand and even when I employed staff I still had to oversee the use of the brand.  As such I just can’t see how anyone else could encapsulate and extoll the heart of Nutmeg.  For those that outsource I would really recommend that you use the agency as an alarm and a formatter but come up with the text, the message yourself.  Only the brand owner (be it company director or marketing manager) can really speak of the values of the brand so don’t give that away lightly.

I have to admit - this blog post is a shameless promotion but I was so impressed by the venue that I just had to mention it.  I recently visited the Quantum Hotels in Bournemouth and the wonderful Alice Smee gave me a show around the work in progress.  

Three hotels on Bournemouth sea front have recently changed hands and the new owners Quantum Hotel Group are gutting the Cottonwood  Boutique Hotel, the Ocean View Hotel and the Bay View Breeze Hotel. Stepping over the rolls of carpet, the pots of paint and the new furniture deliveries I was impressed by the vision and sense behind the plans.  The three hotels are next to each other on the spectacular Bournemouth Eastcliff.  With stunning sea views and plenty of light these hotels have already ticked off two of my event wants.

However it was the vision that really impressed me.  The three hotels are being designed to meet all needs. The basic Bayview Hotel has the value rooms.  There are no mod-cons but for position and price I see little to beat it. The mid-range Cottonwood Boutique hotel is wonderfully quirky - from the pink and gold wall paper to the deliciously comfortable seats this is somewhere you just want to sit and chill.  Last but definitely not least is the high-end Ocean View Hotel.  This is the meeting and wedding venue, with a calming serene design feel, you can use this simple backdrop to create any mood you desire.  Watch out for the wall paper in the main areas - it’s fascinating and simply has to be touched.

So that’s the buildings but what about their staffing vision - this is a hotel group that is working to empower staff and make sure that customer service is topmost in everyone’s minds.  What a difference it will make if the staff are looking out for opportunities to impress and make your visit that extra bit special.

There is a long way to go to get all three hotels fully up and running but I do recommend that you keep an eye on progress and sign up to their website to get a cheeky first look. www.quantumhotelgroup.co.uk 

I always find it a challenge to explain what I do.  So many people have their own vision of event management that as soon as I mention those words the listener disappears into their memory and assumes that what I do is what they think I do.  They activate their human listening filter. From art galleries filling their spaces with exquisite works of art, to the organisers of music festivals dealing with crowd control and highly strung band members, event management covers many areas and I have to bring clarity to explain my own particular niches.  This presents it’s own challenges as I want to come up with a snappy description of my business - encompassing all I do whilst inspiring the listeners.

It’s not easy to describe what you do - in fact I’d even say that you can’t do this effectively whilst your listeners have their own minds. They take the words you utter and filter them through their own memories and values.  The end result is a mismatch based on prejudices (good and bad).  Hence we need to work really hard to describe our roles and business in the clearest terms possible.

The first role I had to describe was one of sales and marketing trainee at Access, the credit card company.  Just mention who you worked with and suddenly you were inundated with views, opinions and issues.  The sales and marketing trainee aspect just got ignored.  As far as everyone else was concerned I could help them resolve their credit card statement issues, despite the fact that I was actually involved in market research and sales training for the terminals (no wireless electronic equipment in those days!)

I then went on to work for a company called Atex who made proprietary newspaper equipment.  As part of the Kodak group I was astounded when some visitors to a focused industry exhibition came up to me and asked if I could process their film.  Nowhere on the stand did we mention film, cameras or anything photography related but the Kodak brand was so strong in their mind that a small 20cm logo had attracted their attention.  So not only do we need to watch our words but also think about how your image is perceived through the human filter.

We can’t change the human filter - we all have it built in.  It enables us to pick up conversations from afar when someone mentions our clients or our favourite films.  It does that amazing thing where, once we buy a car we suddenly see 100s of them on the roads.  As a result I’m striving to come up with an objective but interesting description for my business so that I can automatically appeal to the interested parties and make the non-interested at least think about how events can improve their bottom line.  It’s an ongoing process and a fascinating one but one which means that I always try to tune my filters effectively when I’m talking to clients and prospects.  I’ve got to hear their needs and be able to respond and I can’t do that if my human filters aren’t fine tuned.

As a small business in tough times I’m looking at every opportunity to grow my business and find new avenues.  In the process I’ve spent some time getting trained up on government procurement processes, entering my details on their websites and looking at tenders.  It all looks very interesting and quite promising but is it worth the effort?

I have to confess that I hit a brick wall as I downloaded and started to complete a tender offer.  The level of information required and the time commitment I’d have to put in did seem excessive for the possibility of being included in a short list. It also goes against my core beliefs and ignores my strengths. Simply put, how can I get the quality of my service across in paper?  I can dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’.  I can make sure there are no errors and that my text is compelling but I truly don’t believe that I can sell my service without being in front of someone and explaining my way of doing business and show my passion and commitment.

The strange thing is - I’m a systems person - I love creating and managing systems and so I should love the objective simplicity of a form or two.  But there is something about the lack of personality, the dryness of it all that just made me give up and not take it any further.  

Personally I think you need to be committed to that way of working - it’s not something you can dabble at or do alongside another way of working.  Or of course, you could have extra staff and so allocate one person to tenders - getting them trained up on the processes and minutiae of the forms, so they know how to make you stand out.  As a one-woman company I simply don’t have the time to dedicate to it.  Having said that, if you complete these forms regularly then I’m sure they will become much easier and so the time taken up to complete them reduces.

Maybe it’s the mountain that is in front of me that puts me off - I certainly recognise the need to give equal objective opportunities to every supplier and maybe these forms do that. However, I’m not convinced when I see small businesses ruled out on the basis that their turnover is not high enough, even if they are planning to join together with associates to fulfil the project and have proven in the past that they are more than capable of managing the size of project.

No, all in all I think I’ll look for business elsewhere - after all, I want to do business with people, not with paperwork so I’m going to look for people who want to talk to me.

I’ve written before about attendance at events - the good news when some exhibitions are showing great increases in visitor numbers but also those companies that assume people will turn up without putting in any effort.  It’s the difference between the two that interests me - is it the topic that draws the audience or is it the marketing programme surrounding it?

Good topics inevitably draw people to look at an event but they won’t always get people to attend, especially if there is no call to action.  Why should they attend? What are they going to get out of attendance?  What’s in it for me needs to be very clear.

With most people inundated with information nowadays, we need to make sure that we get our events in front of the potential visitors as much as we can.  Repeating the same event invite is frustrating and will turn off your audience so it’s time to think outside the box.  How can you build a relationship with your audience and give them some information or benefit for free?  

Social media is a great help with this but it is not the panacea that some think.  Not everyone is up to date on Twitter or has the the time to read your fabulous blogs.  So you need to spread your marketing over a range of activities.  

Make sure that you have a good list to start with - don’t use the 5 year old company database that you used last time.  If it’s 5 years old probably best to tear it up and start again.  The time it would take to clear out the deadwood means it would be cheaper to buy in a specific lead database targeted at your customers.  Can you work with other media, affiliate companies and publishers to do joint promotions? But do make sure that any agreement on sharing data allows you to continue to promote the event after the initial contact.  

Once you’ve got a good database work out why this group should attend your event.  Is it chargeable?  In which case, you have to make the registration and payment process as easy as possible so you don’t loose people on the way - once a person is turned off, it’s very hard to get them back on your side.

Think about building a relationship.  Think about how you’re going to tease and encourage more interaction from your potential audience.  What do they need and how is your event going to provide that?  If it’s a small tight-knit community you’re after - can you afford to send some direct mail with a unique angle?  I’m not talking about the calendar with your brand on it but something relevant and useful to the audience that will open their eyes to your event.  If you’re after sheer numbers - as exhibition organisers often are then it’s about getting the message out as far and wide and making sure you have enough avenues for each type of visitor to engage with you.

Lastly, don’t forget it doesn’t all end once they’ve signed up - you then need to get them to the door.  Work especially hard at reminders and making their visit as easy and comfortable as possible.  Give your visitors no excuse not to turn up!

I’ve been very lucky in my working life - I’ve spent a great deal of time travelling the world at the expense of my employers.  I’ve had some great experiences and really loved the diversity and challenge of working with different cultures.  Whenever I was recruiting I always looked for staff that had stepped out of the rat race and done something different, people who had the courage to travel abroad and really experience a new country.

Your experiences definitely colour your thoughts and I remember being really surprised at a temp Event Co-ordinator who didn’t know how to call The Netherlands and even when she learnt how to do it, she was scared of making a call to another country.  Maybe I’d just become to used to this extended world of events. It had become common place for me to just call someone up on the other side of the world and ask if they could provide services for us. It also has to be said that we’re very lucky in that English is nearly always understood.  The upside is we can work very easily across the world, the downside is our language skills can flounder as it’s just too easy to fall back on English. My French and German just don’t get the outings anymore and so they’re really, really rusty.

Mind you, English as a common language didn’t always mean that working onsite was easy - often the office account managers spoke fluent English but the teams they’d send onsite spoke a bare minimum.  We always made it work - venues, other suppliers and distributors are always a great help to get the job done.But it’s not just the language that’s an issue, it’s also the culture.  From my experience British events staff are used to long hours and getting their head down to get the job done.  We grab food whenever we can but basically keep on going until we’re all done or have reached a good point to stop.  It’s not the same for other cultures where they down tools at lunchtime and expect a full meal, even if it requires a 3 hour break from the work.  Now, I love food and realise that we English don’t always respect our food properly however, when a jobs got to be done, surely everyone can put aside our usual expectations and fit in?

It has to be said I love working across Europe - the events staff are generally so friendly, speak at least 2 languages and are organised and supportive.  It makes such a difference to an event - we all know that calm in the face of challenge is a great asset in events and throwing your toys out the pram just doesn’t help.  However, if that’s what you’re faced with, then it’s up to you to appreciate the differences in culture and find a solution. My experience has helped me manage this - as you work you can learn, amend and avoid situations that might have stopped you in your tracks earlier.

Hanging signs above exhibition stands seem to flow in and out of favour with the budget holders.  They are an additional expense but they are also one of the main ways that your visitors can find you.  Amongst the mass of stands tall and short in the route from entrance to your stand what better way to signpost your presence than with a sign hung in the air above your stand?

Hanging signs come in all shapes and sizes from the magnificent lighting rigs with rotating promotional material to a simple hanging vinyl banner.  All of them serve one purpose - to shout about where exactly you are in the hall and whilst you will never know what every stand in front of you will do, hanging a good sign will help bring visitors to your stand.Height is the key to being found at many tradeshows - I would always advise clients to consider how their stand can be found from key entrances/areas of the exhibition.  This may be as simple as having a tall back wall with a logo clearly displayed but do think about the angles and the visitor flow to make sure that they match.  If, for example, the entrance is in the front left hand corner of the hall, a small triangular or round hanging sign may be much easier to see from the entrance than a flat wall facing straight forwards.  Simple signs are easy and cheap to create and should only need a couple of suspension wires to fix.

I know that you all contact your clients and prospects before an event and tell them when and where you’ll be at the show, and if possible make appointments but let’s make it easy for them to find you as well.  If you can’t get a space right at the front of the tradeshow then consider whether the investment in a hanging sign would improve your visibility and your presence on the show floor.

I have a confession to make - I struggle with Mindmaps!  Some of my associates will look back and remember the time when they tried to get me involved in a group Mindmap.  I really did try but I’m practical and detailed and I really struggled to allow my thoughts to run free and be articulated without comment.  My instinct was to make a To Do list, to analyse each option before writing it down as it felt wasteful to list irrelevant or impractical ideas.  I recognise how they help some people and even myself in a rare situation but it really brought it home to me that different people have different styles and we really need to accommodate or understand them in all aspects of business.

I have a very definite style, it comes across in everything I do: the way I do business and the way I take in information.  It doesn’t always match other peoples ideas and it definitely colours how I view the world.  I’ve learnt over the years that there are other ways of doing things (not always easy when you like to be in control!), that my staff might not have managed the project the way I would but the event was still a great success.

I now go out of my way to fill my teams with people with complementary skills, people who challenge my assumptions and look at the world in a different way. It’s not always comfortable but I’m sure it makes for a much better team.This style difference and it’s importance in the way we work was brought home to me last month when I reviewed a website for a friend - it was a great site full of some really interesting ideas but he is the classic creative (or Belbin Plant).  He’s so full of ideas and enthusiasm that his thought processes can seem chaotic to someone who likes order as much as me.  He’s not disorganised at all it’s just that he has a different style.  So should he amend his site so that people like me are not alienated by the style or am I not the right audience for his site and so it is just perfect for the clients and prospects he’s talking to?

I would always say that you need to clear about your audience and fine tune your work for that group.  However, be aware that if you have an extreme style that you may be seen as inappropriate to an audience who really could benefit from your services if only they could understand and recognise the value your offerings.  Small business owners, tend to be opinionated and so close to their brand that they can’t see beyond their immediate outpouring.  A little reflection and outside comment is a good thing so maybe we should all search out a variety of friends, colleagues and clients and ask them how they view our offering.  The big challenge is then taking their advice and objectively using it to the better of your brand.