More often than not, it’s easy to get carried away in the flurry of activities during Halloween—dressing up for costume parties, carving pumpkins and preparing candies for trick-or-treaters.

Take a quick break and give yourself and your family a nice warm treat. Try the following soup recipe from our Nomadic’s “Family Recipes” book.

Butternut Squash Soup
By Kim Boucher of Exhib-it!

1 Butternut Squash - peeled, cubed and roasted at 475° (drizzle butter on top) for 30 minutes
1/2 cup Cream Cheese
½ Onion - medium, chopped and sautéed in butter until clear or slightly browned
½ tsp Marjoram
½ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp Curry Powder

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add ½ cup of cream cheese. Puree slightly to mix. Add 1 can of chicken broth and a little bit of cornstarch to thicken if desired (you can omit cornstarch if used as veggie dip). Right before serving, add a swirl of half & half and a mint sprig for garnish.

Happy Halloween!

Mabel Kenyon
Marketing Communications Coordinator

Impress. Attract. Influence. These are three critical verbs that define any marketing strategy at the show floor. However, it’s always “Impress” that proves to be a hurdle for a lot of exhibitors in the initial phase of building relationships with their target attendees.

Shari Worthington, a marketing strategist and co-author of the acclaimed “E-Business in Manufacturing,” believes that impressing attendees takes size.  If you want to be thought of as a major business player, go for larger booths on the show floor.  This creates the kind of tradeshow presence you need to attract and influence your target attendees. 

Mabel Kenyon
Marketing Communications Coordinator

“The single toughest challenge in creating a great tradeshow display is eliminating 97% of the words.”  (Jared McCarthy, McCarthy Creative)

For your display to be compelling, try a minimalist approach in creating your message. The fewer words you use, the more effective. Experts recommend that you come up with a strong, five-word message. It may take a lot of brainstorming, but it’s sure to get more attention on the show floor.

Keep in mind that you have only a two-second window to grab the attendees’ attention. Designing tradeshow graphics is different than designing a brochure. Less is more.

For more tips on creating show stopping displays, download our white paper, “All Eyes on You: Graphics that Work.”

According to a former marketing professor of the Harvard Business School, Thomas Bonoma, “A tradeshow offers a valuable opportunity to introduce products and services and assess preliminary customer reactions. It is an inexpensive test market with a self-selected, invited audience likely to be critical, but appreciative.”

As soon as I saw these lines from a white paper published by Catalyst, a custom exhibit house based in Chicago, I realized that Mr. Bonoma’s premise perfectly articulated the essence of trade show exhibiting.   Trade shows play a major role in testing your product or service with an audience in your target market, without spending extra dollars in advertising or focus group discussions.

And with the current state of the economy, attending and participating in trade shows makes financial sense. You have an all-in-one setting where you can promote your company’s products, gather feedback and strengthen your brand.

Mabel Kenyon
Marketing Communications Coordinator

Relying on your show organizer to publicize your event may certainly save you time and money. However, it’s definitely not a smart way to reach your target attendees.

With pre-show marketing, it’s very important that you take charge of informing your clients and prospects of your participation in an upcoming show or event. Here are some ways to help you ensure you increase the number of visitors to your booth:

Email
Broadcast an email inviting new prospects and existing clients to your event. Make sure the message has a call to action on the need to come to your booth. You can obtain lists from associations or your show organizer.

Website
Add a splash page or banner to your web site inviting visitors to request an invitation/free pass

Advertising
If your budget permits, place an ad in key trade publications. Be sure to include dates, times, locations, booth numbers, and contact information including your address, telephone, email and web site URL.

Public Relations
Generate a press release about your event and what your target attendees will expect when they visit you.

For more pre-show marketing tips, request a copy of our Event Professional CD.

Mabel Kenyon
Marketing Communications Coordinator