Table Covers and All Things Trade Show

Exhibit Signs with a Message

smartadmin — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:41:09 +0000

Many exhibitors try so hard to have a flashy trade show presence that they seem to forget the most important part of their booth design—letting their audience know who they are and what products or services are offered. While nice looking trade show graphics are important, it’s more important to have exhibit signs that communicate the right message. So we suggest you do the following exercise:

If you had only 60 seconds to tell a prospect what your company does what would you say? After thinking this through, audio tape your reply or write it down then use this information to build the message for your trade show graphics.

If you also want to exhibit signage for a particular product or service, do the same exercise: In 60 seconds or less describe product and its value to your audience.

The benefits of doing the exercise are many: First, it will help you avoid a visitor having to ask or guess what you do, thus bring in more qualified visitors through your exhibit signs. It will also help you avoid saying too much or too little on your exhibit signage. Remember that you only have a small window to attract an attendee’s attention. They can’t possibly read a lot as they are walking around the show floor.

Here are a few other suggestions from us to make sure that your trade show graphics work for you—not against you:

Make sure wording is very legible and not too small.
Make sure lettering and background offer enough of a contrast.
Make sure you’re working with high resolution artwork. (What is acceptable on a website or a brochure is different from resolution for high-impact graphics).

Best Colors for Trade Show Signage

smartadmin — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:20:57 +0000

There’s no denying that color creates different emotions. What we wear can lift our spirits; what colors used in office furnishings can either calm us down or energize us. The same is true for trade show signage. Some colors that you don’t want to use and other colors that you’ll want to use sparingly.

So how does a company choose the best color for their trade show signage? Do they automatically go with their company’s brand color or choose colors that will complement their brand and create the right feeling? We suggest the latter. To help you shift through the color wheel, here are some guidelines.

Orange is energetic and lively, however, its boldness could turn off some attendees. Use it more as an accent color.
Yellow is a very cheery color that can be overwhelming to some attendees, so you’ll also want to use it sparingly.
White is clean and crisp but when used as a primary color can come off as dull and boring. So be careful.
Red is another bold color, like orange and yellow, that communicates excitement and enthusiasm—all good hooks to bring in visitors.
Green has a relaxing mood associated with it, and can bring in attendees who want to escape from being too stimulated.
Purple is considered a hip color but not a popular choice for trade show signs.
Blue can leave a negative impression among your visitors since it can be dark and a bit gloomy.
Black is another color to use sparingly because it can also create a negative feeling if prominently use in your booth.

Using the right color for your trade show signage will turn-on instead of turning-off visitors—and invite them to enter your booth.

Evaluating Your Current Trade Show Display

qcrowe — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:38:58 +0000

So you have decided things have settled down a bit and now is the time to start thinking about what you can do to tweak or improve your trade show booth. You don’t want to do a full make over or buy a completely new setup. We get it. The economy is slow to improve. You have to do the trade show or people will forget about you and you always do come home with a few good prospects. In fact, getting these new prospect to stop by the booth and most importantly remember you after the show is what is going to give your business the boost it needs.

So let’s break it down to the key areas you should first address:

Does your current setup clearly tell your prospects who you are? This includes your company name, brand promise and what you do.
A good example of a clean basic booth setup
Do you have signage that specifically tells a prospect in a clear concise manner what products or services you offer?
Are your display materials in good working order?
This means no creases in your popup panels, your lights work and your table top or roll up banners still look professional and are in working order.

If your answers are no to any of the above, then you should first address these issues. Make sure whatever signage is being displayed has the correct logos. You want your customers to visually connect your logo and company name. You want to also make sure that any verbiage used on your banners, table covers or backdrop is current. No one wants to explain that this is our old product or an important change has been made that is not highlighted.

If you have not considered or do not already have your brand promise prominently displayed, consider adding one. Being able to clearly inform a new prospect about what is unique about your organization can be a deciding point for clients when selecting a new vendor. An easy way to do this is by adding a retractable banner stand to your display. Retractable or roll up banners are a great way to add your logo and brand to your current display. For less that $250, display stands are also a perfect way to include your updated offering to your current trade show booth.

If your popup panels or frame need some repair, now is the perfect time to consider replacing them. In the past couple of years, some very compelling options to pop-ups have been developed. Most notable of these is a popup frame that is covered with a fabric graphic. This combines the ease of set from the pop-up frame and takes it one step further. Fabric pop-ups are even easier to setup and tear down because the graphics do not need to be removed. These systems are also lighter and easier to transport than old style pop-ups. You might also be surprised at the cost to replace your aging pop-up unit. Most new units can be purchased for less than $1500 and some are available for less than $900. If it is in the budget, a new Fabric pop-up is a great way to update your trade show display.

Think Outside Your Booth

Now that we have the basics covered, it is time to look

outside the booth for ideas to get you noticed on the exhibit show floor. Shows continually try and sell you advertising space in the lobby, directory or other common areas. Although these can help to increase awareness we believe the jury is still out on how effective an additional sign in the hallway outside the main exhibit hall really is. Will a prospect remember your booth number and really stop? We feel one of the best things a show exhibitor can do to help existing clients and new prospects alike is to find them on the show floor. To get noticed. Find a way to get your logo or brand up in the space above your booth. Two great ideas for these are:

An overhead hanging structure sometimes referred to as a blimp
Feather Flag or Bow Flags

Fabric Overhead Signs

Overhead signs come in many shapes and sizes. The most popular shape is the circular blimp. This shape provides maximum visibility for your logo from multiple directions. Other shapes, such as triangles, squares and rectangles can be created and may fit the look of your booth better. The main idea is to ensure that your booth location can be spotted from a distance across the show floor. These overhead signs have two primary downsides.

These units don’t come cheap. An 8ft circular unit can run $1500
There is also the added cost to have the overhead installed and torn down at each show. Since the sign will hang from the ceiling of the exhibit hall the show, the contractor will charge to install and remove your sign at each show.

Feather Flags

Feather flags, bow flags, sail flags, wing flags or flutter flags are a cost effective way to raise the height of your display whether indoors or outdoors. These display units can be found up to 16ft in height. This will get the top of your flag 8ft in the air above the average booth. Feather flags come with a few distinct features that make them a great addition to your trade show setup.

Low Cost – A 16ft feather flag with all the hardware cost only $250 with a FULL COLOR graphic
Portability – A large feather flag kit is under 20 pounds and most of that weight is in the base. This light weight flag can be easily setup, taken down and transported.

Take a little bit of time to review your display and double check that it is inline with your goals can help assure that the next trade show
exhibit at is a success.

3 Sided VS 4 Sided Table Covers

qcrowe — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:11:28 +0000

First time table cover buyers are faced with several decisions when ordering their first table covers. There are different fabrics, printing options and styles to consider when choosing a table cover. One of the first choices is what style of covers will best suit your needs. Table covers come in two primary styles. We refer to these as 3 sided and 4 sided covers. How do you decide whether to go with a three or four sided table cover?

Three sided table covers are sometimes referred to economy covers or table throws. Don’t let the economy moniker fool you into thinking they are somehow cheap covers. 3 sided covers cost a little less because the back side of the table is not full covered to the floor. The back side has a small backdrop that helps hold the cover in place. Our table throw cover is a nice option if an individual will be seated behind the table or needs to frequently access materials stored under the table (think registration packets).

A four sided cover can also be referred to as a table drape. First and foremost, a 4 sided cover does exactly what it sounds like. It covers the top and all four sides of your table to the floor. The biggest benefit of this is that table drapes will allow you to store items beneath your table without being seen. Creating storage space in your display is extremely important, especially in small 10 foot x 10 foot booths. If you need to access items occasionally a slit can be cut out of the back panel to provide more convenient access. Table drapes tend to be more frequently purchased than table throws because they offer a great level of flexibility. Our most popular cover is a 4 sided table drape cover for a 6 foot table. This cover can be used on an 8 foot and still present your logo or brand in a professional manner. Contact us today at http://www.table-cover.com for more information.

Create Brand Awareness with Table Runners

qcrowe — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:05:24 +0000

Crispin Cider used banners and table runners in their booth.

Are you looking for quick and easy ways to improve the setup of your trade show booth on an affordable budget? We have 2 suggestions for you.

Table Runners – Most shows will provide a skirted table for you to use in your booth. However using the plain skirted table missed an excellent trade show brand awareness opportunity. By adding a 48″ wide table runner with your logo on the front you clearly convey to your prospects an image of professionalism and get your logo if from of your prospects one more time. According to The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance 61% senior marketing professional find brand awareness metric useful to promoting products and services.
Roll up banners – Table Banner Displays are adjustable to three sizes, which allow for multiple uses. At full display, a roll-up banner is 33″W x 80″H. A full sized roll-up looks great along side a table. The other two sizes will allow for a 33″W x 52″ display and 33″W x 30″H. The two smaller sized banners work great at a table top display, or along side merchandise. With a little creativity you can even create one graphic that can be displayed at all 3 sizes to provide the ultimate in flexibility.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Crispin Cider for their use of our roll up banner stand and table runner in their display.