 
Sport stacking is an odd but growing game that involves quickly stacking, collapsing, and rebuilding a pyramid of a dozen plastic cups. To build exhibit traffic, sport-stacking supplier Speed Stacks Inc. brought in two record-setting youngsters at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association show in Minneapolis. As attendees ogled the demo, staffers talked about stacking and invited attendees to one of its many workshops taking place during the four-day show. There, visitors received their own 12-cup set and learned how to sport stack firsthand. Roughly 20 percent of workshop attendees also purchase of sport-stacking paraphernalia.
 To help make its in-booth presentation more dynamic, Epson America Inc. created a seemingly live presentation incorporating an on-site moderator and dozens of clients and industry experts at Print 05. While the presentation appeared to be happening in real time via satellite, it was actually a compilation of taped segments integrated with the moderator’s comments and displayed on monitors. The presenter asked questions, provided commentary, and segued between portions of the presentation, while the recorded clips seamlessly integrated into the presentation. The effect blurred the line between real time and recorded, and generated the excitement of a live presentation, versus the predictability of traditional video presentations.
 How many free pens, T-shirts, and logo-adorned bags do attendees really need? Guessing they had more than enough, Secure Computing Inc. turned these familiar trade show tchotchkes into a feel-good traffic builder with its Tchotchke Tchallenge at several of its 2007 shows. Asking attendees to drop their tchotchkes into its in-booth toy chest, the company pledged that if the container was full by the end of the show, it would donate the goodies and a $10,000 check — money Secure Computing would have otherwise spent on promotional items — to a local charity. An in-booth sign explained the effort, and booth visitors spread the word about the charitable challenge through the exhibit halls, proving the old adage that giving really is better than getting.
To debut its new name, HSM Electronic Protection Services Inc. (formerly Honeywell Security) took its cue from high-profile movie premieres. At the 2005 American Society for Industrial Security International Annual Seminar (ASIS), it rolled out a 1940s movie-premiere-themed booth, putting its new name up in the lights of a movie marquee above its booth entrance. Movie posters framed in lights featured various film genres and services from HSM, such as a sci-fi flick promoting HSM’s ability to “Journey to the Center of a Customer’s Mind.” Unlike theatre ushers, staffers encouraged visitors to talk as they sat on a red, crushed-velvet couch and barrel chairs next to end tables made with antique 70-mm movie reels. The movie-themed booth’s first showing in 2005 increased HSM’s leads 400 percent from the previous year, and, as a result, HSM used the booth at several more shows in 2006 and 2007. |
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Although Demeter Fragrance Library’s Happy Hour line of fragrance products smells good enough to drink, guzzling a bottle of perfume isn’t recommended. That’s why Demeter Fragrance satisfied attendees’ thirst by serving up real drinks alongside its scent samples at the 2006 Magic  Marketplace show in Las Vegas. To complement its mojito scent, staffers passed out the minty drinks along with mini-samples of the fragrance.Matching taste with smell reinforced Demeter’s product line and gave booth staff a chance to talk to attendees while they sipped their drinks. At closing time, the refreshing giveaway increased booth traffic by 300 percent over the previous year and doubled
in-booth sales, leaving Demeter saying, “cheers to a refreshing idea.”
The huge white bag with the lime-green-and-navy NNZ Inc. logo became the unofficial symbol of the 2007
United Fresh Marketplace show in Chicago in May. Not only were the heavy-duty bags coveted by attendees, they also served as product samples since they were made of woven plastic — one of NNZ’s many agricultural-packaging products. As an added bonus, the durable woven-plastic bag, which holds more than 50 pounds, can be used over and over, almost guaranteeing that NNZ’s name will extend beyond the show.
To promote its new downhill-skateboarding video game, the Tony Hawk Downhill Jam, Activision Inc. went out on a limb with its in-booth display. The electronic-entertainment publisher created a tree-like structure out of Tony Hawk-branded skateboards. A counter around the tree’s trunk, built using skateboard trucks, housed four Nintendo DS hand-held gaming
consoles, which allowed attendees to try out the game for themselves. A large plasma screen mounted high up the tree trunk played game footage for onlookers and drew additional people to the station. Branching out from traditional displays, Activision’s faux tree sprouted significant interest in the game.
What's The Big Idea?
Do you have a clever exhibit-related tip? Did your last exhibit have an über-cool traffic builder?
Contact Janet Van Vleet jvanvleet@exhibitormagazine.com.
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