How to Plan a Trade Show

Have you ever gone to a trade show that was a bust and thought you could have done better yourself? Or perhaps your industry does not yet have an “official” trade show, and you think it’s time to change that. Putting a trade show together, even if it is a small show, is no easy feat. It will require a lot of hard work, but it is definitely something that almost anyone can do. If this is something you think you would be good at, then keep reading to learn how to plan a trade show of your own.

Things You'll Need

• Deposit Money
• Sales Team

Instructions

How to Plan a Trade Show

1. Determine what industry your trade show will service. There are trade shows for pretty much every type of business or consumer interest imaginable. Larger industries may even have several trade shows held at different locations. The most important aspect to this step is to think about what your background is and what your experiences are. If you have experience in a particular industry, then you more than likely know a little something about what the trends of that industry are and, better yet, have contacts within the industry to help you get your trade show off the ground. So the first thing you need to do is to determine what market your trade show will target.

2. Decide what city would be a good place to hold your trade show. Sure, the primary reasons that people go to trade shows is for professional networking and to show off what they have to offer; but many people also go to trade shows as an escape from the daily grind. The simple fact is that people like to have fun on their trip, which is why many trade shows are held in tourist destinations with many activities to choose from. Choosing a location that has a lot of activities to offer can help push someone into making a decision to attend you trade show, as well as giving them incentive to try a little harder to get their boss to approve the trip.

3. Check with the local government for the city where you plan to hold your trade show. Ask if there are any specific permits or licenses that are required in order to legally hold an event in their city. The mayor’s office or the local Chamber of Commerce are good places to get this information.

4. Estimate the size that can realistically expect your trade show to be. There are two aspects to consider. First, consider how much exhibit space you will be able to sell. The second is to consider how many attendees will be at the trade show. These two items combined will determine how large of a space you will require to house your trade show. Most new trade shows start out small and only require a modest convention space provided by a large hotel. More seasoned trade shows may be quite large and fill out a large convention center. Consider how large you can realistically expect to be so that you will know how large of a space you will require.

5. Scout a location for your trade show. Based on decisions that you made in previous steps, you should have narrowed your search down to a specific city and venue size. All that is left now is to research available locations in the city of your choice. Most large hotels offer space adequate for a small trade show, and many large cities have special convention centers capable of hosting incredibly large conventions.

6. Set a date for your convention. Most trade shows span a three day period. It will be important to make sure that the dates you select are dates when your desired location will be available to rent. This is particularly true during summer months, when there is a surge in the number of trade shows being held. You will most likely be required to give a deposit in order to hold the space.

7. Hire a staff for your trade show. Running a trade show involves a lot more people than you think. You need people to sit in the information booth, people to handle last minute registrations, people to issue trade show badges, people to check badges at the door and people to work security, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Fortunately, most of these people will probably be included with your rental of the venue. Check in advance to know what staffing is included with the rental. If there is anyone missing, ask the venue if that can be contracted to them as well, or if they can make referrals to reputable staffing agencies in the local area.

8. Find speakers for your trade show. The exhibit floor is clearly the most visible aspect of your trade show, but it is the speakers, workshops and seminars that really pack in the movers and shakers of your chosen industry. Come up with a theme each year that touches on challenges that the business is facing, and then ask companies involved with the industry to come in and speak on the topic. Almost all of them will be more than happy to put together a presentation for their peers, if for no other reason than the additional credibility and notoriety that comes with the presentation.

9. Hire a celebrity speaker. Nothing gives you marketability like being able to drop names. Having a celebrity speak at your trade show gives you instant credibility and recognition, and it helps create a generally fun and festive atmosphere to kick off your trade show.

10. Hire caterers. You will need to provide a light lunch for those who have purchased access to the speakers and seminars (as opposed to exhibit access only). You will also want to make sure that there are plenty of beverages available in the press room for your trade show.

11. Plan your “after hours” events. Having a lot of parties after trade show hours is not really necessary because most of your big exhibitors will be throwing parties of their own as a way to help drum up business. However, as the event organizer, it is generally the custom for you to have at least one party during the trade show as a social event that is open to your exhibitors and their guests. The details of your party are entirely up to you. If you are holding your trade show in a major metropolitan area, there should be any number of professional party planners that you can contract this job out to.

12. Print your trade show publications. You should have an event guide and map for your trade show. There should be plenty of these available for everyone to get one each and every day of the trade show, if needed. This also provides you an additional place to sell advertisements, which should offset the cost and even turn a profit off of the publication.

13. Sell, sell, sell! You have a lot of selling to do. You need to sell exhibit space to cover the costs of renting the venue. You need to sell admission to attendees of the event. You need to sell signage and any number of bonus sponsorship opportunities that you can think of. This is, after all, a business, and you are doing this to make money.

Tips & Warnings

• Get a discount. Although you are not required to include rooms with the trade show, it is helpful if you can arrange a discount rate with area hotels, especially if your event is held in a hotel convention space. This gives your visitors a discount on their lodgings and helps the hotel sell out their rooms, so it’s a winning deal for everyone. You may be able to print up keepsake room keys or arrange for welcome kits to be waiting in guest rooms as well, giving you another place to sell sponsorships.