I was in Las Vegas a couple of months ago and one of the things which really struck me was the MONSTER trade show booths and exhibition spaces – seriously, trade show booths have just come such a long way since the 1970′s when you were lucky to get a square box with enough space to swing a cat and forget about being able to sit down guys!

Now there are really excellent booth designs using 3-dimensions to really eye-catching effect; lighting has really improved a whole lot too but some of the sizes of these displays just beggars belief – some of the monster displays are larger than my house – I mean, COME ON

Someone has beaten me to the punch on this topic and I came across a great blog MonsterTradeShowDisplays which has been capturing photographs of some of these architectural creations:

This exhibition space looks like I could invite a few friends around for a black tie dinner and really demonstrates excellent use of the 3-D space which so many companies forget about and tie themselves to eye-level displays – in a crowded exhibition hall, you should think about being king of the castle too!

Another monster display is this beast which is two full stories high and is mini-exhibition space all of its own:

Talk about having an office away from the office – this comes with its own meeting rooms so you can escape the hustle and bustle of the exhibition venue and get some private time for serious business discussions with attendees rather than the shoulder rubbing and wishing you had an hearing aid to help understand one another over the rushing hum of a hall.

And finally, I liked this one because it uses the overhead space again though on a much smaller scale and yet it looks space age-like and yet gives a feeling of full functionality while providing a sense of isolation away from the rest of the venue which i think is very important when you are working attendees:

One of the trends I’ve been picking up on is the opportunity a trade show presents for creating fantastic promotional material in its own right.

You want to make a great splash – launch a product or service at the trade show and make a big noise – no holding back now, we’re talking press release (simple and easy to do and distribute); mass emailing prior to the show, buy some great giveaways, hire some booth entertainers and hot looking girls and make sure you have the whole event recorded with photographs and video.

For less than $500 you can buy a high end digital camera AND a web enabled video recorder such as the Flip – you can use these tools to record the launch or “splash” and then play it back using your web presence to host the content you have created.

By taking the opportunity to create promotional content from a promotional event itself you are maximizing the ROI on your entire trade show investment.  You also are adding attraction value to the trade show event itself – if you invite people and let them know they are going to be getting some exposure too, you are more likely to get a better response when you ask people to come and attend.  Almost everyone likes to get their face on TV and that’s another thing – if you have a big enough launch, or a product which means more jobs are being created to cater for demand – this is potentially newsworthy for local TV and press (remember those press releases!)

You are getting the best of both worlds here and only paying once but that is the point – think outside the box and you will find trade shows give you so many different ways to make them work for you – you just have to leverage the opportunity they represent with all those eyeballs watching you but be careful; attention can be fleeting so play the crowd as much as you can and make sure you give them what they want.

No-one said I couldn’t have some fun with this so while the boss is not looking I checked out Booth Babes which is a tongue-in-cheek look at what happens at conventions and trade shows around the country with an eye for great looking products and fantastic concepts and … OK I’m lying – it has pics of really hot looking babes at trade show displays so now I have to write some words but on the basis a picture says a thousand words have some eye candy too:

There is something about a great looking car with a cool looking woman spread all over it but I have never had the same reaction with tire booths until now:

While babes are one of the #1 methods of gaining attention for your booth at the event, remember when you are hiring them that you are not just paying for a pretty face and a great looking body in a skimpy outfit.  There is a very serious side to all of this – the eye catching allure is supposed to turn into a cold, hard business deal and sales and revenues for your company.

Take your time interviewing booth babes; you are looking for someone who can hold a conversation, is approachable and convivial as well as professional – yes you can have a great time and laugh and have fun BUT this is business first; you are looking for booth babes who will think business and let the attendee think whatever else is on their mind but they also need to bring the attendees around to a business demonstration or discussion and hand off to booth staff who are their to take the conversation on to a business level.

There’s no harm in looking though so knock yourself out