It simply can't be all about print collateral 

Recently I was walking through a moderately sized expo hall with a wide variety of small exhibit spaces – tables, not booths. At one point my eye caught two tables, side by side (pure coincidence, I’m sure), just covered with stacks of literature. Each stack must have contained several hundred copies, and the piles competed with each other for the meager table space.

I’ve always liked an expo hall that runs smoothly with all the exhibitors content – busy when they should be, and happily quiet when the traffic clears out. But you know what? There’s something to be said for a fun expo hall! The booths that gather a rowdy crowd or produce a lot of laughter tend to get a lot more traffic.

After a number of years as the expo hall manager (or “concierge”?), when I was working strictly in non-profit fund development, I finally got a chance to stand on the other side of the table. Just a few weeks ago I had the privilege of representing one of my corporate clients at a healthcare conference. Having been the one to recruit and contract the exhibitors and sponsors, to assign the tables and see that each one’s display packages were available for set up, to check on everyone’s access to electricity and satisfaction with the flow of traffic – finally I got to be one of “them.”