Build It and They Will Come

OKC booth mid-construction:

First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to anyone affected by the weather. Stay safe everyone.

Booth setup is almost over. It took six people most of three days to build our booth, but we’re pretty much set up. We’re basically part of a group that builds a little indoor city in three days, and it’s a pretty incredible sight. In case you were wondering, here’s a little taste of the “raw numbers” behind the RECon show. (I realize you probably weren’t wondering, and that when you just read “raw numbers” your eyes glazed over just a bit, but just bear with me here.) According to the ICSC, the convention takes more than 1 million square feet to house more than 1000 exhibitors, and more than 32,000 industry professionals are expected to attend (yep, it’s a big show). Our booth is 40 feet by 30 feet, and we build three rooms (two for meetings and one for storage) within that 1200 square feet of space. We also have three podiums (we call ‘em “touchpoints” in the trade show biz) for meeting and talking with attendees, along with three 40-inch touchscreen-enabled monitors running a customized program that allow us to pull up information about OKC’s retail scene for folks that happen by that want to learn more about us at the show. We have also built a custom GIS-based application for use in our meetings that allows us to pull a variety of demographic and other data depending on the area we are interested in presenting to the retailer with whom we are meeting.

On the non-tech side, we also build some casual seating areas in the booth (which will become more and more popular as the show goes on). This is because some of these seats are equipped with foot and back massagers (yes, we know what trade show attendees like). The technology in the booth is great and even though we’ve had good luck with everything in the past, with the vagaries of a trade show environment and all the accompanying power cuts, spotty internet access, the way the shippers and show handlers sling your AV equipment around and the like, you are always a little worried that it won’t perform the way it is intended. Sometimes it’s even hard to get a sig’ on your beeper. Still, at this point, hopes are high, and we will endeavor to do our best regardless.

During setup and teardown, the convention center is HOT since they keep all the AC off while the freight doors are open. Occasionally you get a balmy day in Vegas, but usually, you’re feeling the heat. Gotta drink a lot of water during setup.

Like I mentioned, we’ve built two conference rooms for our delegation’s use at more than 35 meetings. Most booths will have meeting space of some kind, and you might meet in your contact’s booth or your booth, depending on schedules and where you are physically in the convention hall (with more than 1 million square feet, it can take more than 30 minutes to go from end to end at this show). I took a walk around and found something familiar – a CVS display set up right across the aisle from the Walgreens’ booth (of course).

Tomorrow is Day 1, so wish us luck. Toodle-oo!