Hello to all our readers and those looking for the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to trade show display promotional ideas.

We are going to be the issues with promoting your trade show presence and paying very particular attention to the goodies that are handed out by exhibitors and are now, almost demanded as of right by attendees.

Many people use giveaways in various disguises to attract attention and visitors to a booth at a trade show but in some cases, they are used to such great effect that they bear all the hallmarks of true marketing genius and unfortunately, at the other end of the spectrum, are so bad that whoever thought of them is probably serving up Big Mac’s at a burger bar somewhere.

We’ll be looking at the extremely funny, extremely practical, extremely useless and extremely tragic promotional giveaways that have been used in the past as well as what is on offer for tomorrow’s trade show.  We’ll be looking at what works and what definitely does not as well as how giveaways should be used and indeed, when they should not be used.

Serious and irreverent at the same time, we intend to have some fun with this too, but ultimately we are looking to make sure you capitalize on your trade show experience and make money.  With that in mind, we may have the occasional guffaw, but the lesson is there so mistakes are not repeated if they end up costing money or losing business.

So, welcome to our little blog on promotional ideas and techniques, and we welcome your stories on what has worked for you or indeed, where things have gone horribly wrong at previous events.

With that in mind, I attended an international trade show in the 1990′s and was trapped by an Indian gentleman exhibiting his company’s rubber products.  He assured me they were all made in Delhi and proceeded to provide a practical demonstration of the products which in particular, included little rubber sheaths for fitting over the ends of your fingers and were used by those working in semi-sterile conditions or when handling electronics and you needed to be insulated from static electricity.

After droning on interminably, he handed me several sample packs of these “finger cots” and I duly put them in my plastic bag full of other giveaways and promptly forgot them.  Returning home, I displayed my day’s plunder of post-it notes, freebie pens, magic markers and of course the finger cots with no idea what they could be used for.

One possible application was ruled out next morning when my brother asked me where I’d got the condoms from as I should take them back as they were far too small!