August 2015 Archives

I don't know what a petaflop is, but I do know it's bigger than a teraflop.

How did I arrive at this limited amount of geeky wisdom?

Well, it's not because I'm smart. It's because I gleaned that factoid from a back-wall graphic among aisles and aisles of less-than-successful signage at a recent trade show for companies in the supercomputer industry. (In case you're interested, flop stands for "floating-point operations per second," so now we can all act smart.)

The show would make a great location for filming the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." Attendees here were the kind of folks who send spaceships to Mars. Just about every booth in the place featured signage practically screaming at attendees about some technical aspect of the computing doohickey on display.

There were myriad oscilloscopes measuring electronic thingies, and signs pointing out the tech specs on the kinds of electronic gadgets I would be afraid to touch.

So, it's a good guess that many attendees not named "Bob Milam" actually understood what was going on with the oscilloscopes and the flop war being waged on back-wall graphics.

But before you assume those tech-spec key messages on back walls and banner stands were successful, consider this: The kinds of companies that buy supercomputers -- NASA, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, etc. -- usually don't just send the professor out to pick up whatever flop-crunching machine won't clash with his lab coat.

When spending that kind of money, decisions are generally made by a purchasing team: a user, an influencer, a finance guy, and maybe an executive. And I'm guessing not everyone on that list can operate an oscilloscope.

The same can be said in many industries. The guy or gal who buys a dump truck, for example, isn't necessarily the guy or gal who's going to drive it. And not every influencer at a food-industry show knows the difference between good and bad blowback on the breadcrumbs that coat chicken nuggets.

When deciding what information to put proudly on display in your exhibit, you need to determine who is going to read your message, what details they care about when making purchasing decisions, and -- based on those answers -- what messages you want those people to take away. Then, you need your key messages to be written in a manner that communicates something to the attendees you are targeting, no matter what their educational background.

Truth be told, the sins committed on booth graphics are many, from insider jargon to worthless slogans.

Here are a few examples of things you need to avoid if you want your exhibit and its graphics to be effective at your next show.

1. Our Ideas Are So Bright, We Shine Like Joules

Avoid words and phrases that are Greek to attendees who don't have a doctorate in physics. Sure, the guy in the lab coat understands what you're trying to say. But no matter the techie credentials of the show, there are probably people -- who are likely involved in purchasing decisions -- walking that show floor who won't. Save the confusing statistics and jargon for a product-info sheet that can be handed out (or e-mailed) and digested later with some help from a friendly computer nerd.

Determine who your market is, and explain in smart-but-understandable terms the benefit your product provides. Instead of spitting out petaflop rates on oversized, bold graphics, use more general terms peppered with some creativity. For example, if your key message is that your computers are faster than your competitors' offerings, create a NASCAR theme and boldly proclaim that in the race to crunch numbers, your computer always captures the checkered flag. That's a message even a pre-school kid could understand and retain.

Finally, let someone proof your graphics text to be sure it makes sense. If you're a techie person, let a layman read it. If you're a layman, call your IT guy and ask him to take a look and give you his feedback. Missing the mark on your messaging is an all-too-common mistake, so litmus test it before the show to avoid a crucial misstep.

2. Our Product is the Best Ever

The problem with this kind of statement is that it sounds like something the marketing department wrote. You almost expect to walk over to the competition and see its graphics read, "Nuh-Uh, Ours Is."

Everyone believes in the product they're selling, and that's great. But if you truly believe in your product, don't just say it's the best -- explain why it is the best. What specifically does it do that solves a problem for your clients? And why is your solution better than everyone else's?

At a food-industry trade show a few years ago, I saw the perfect example of this. A company selling plastic conveyor belts to the tortilla industry had a sign that read, "Eliminate Production Delays with the Power of Plastic."

Once in the booth, the staffer talked about how metal conveyor belts tend to stick to tortillas, causing the production line to be shut down. But the company's plastic belts did not stick to the tortillas, meaning the line kept going. Of course, the graphic explained it all, which is what a good graphic should do.

strong>3. Acme Widget -- Making a Difference

In the world of lukewarm, this might be the most tepid statement ever. I'm sure the folks at Acme Widget (or the people at the real company I won't name that actually had this graphic as the centerpiece of their booth) really are making a difference, somewhere. But it's not in the world of trade show marketing. Statements that don't actually say anything basically tell attendees that you don't have anything to say.

If your company is actually "making a difference," let attendees know how. Are you Greening the environment or donating money or goods to a philanthropic cause? Explain to attendees that you're "Cutting Carbon Emissions and Building Stronger Widgets." Then tell them why this is important to your company -- or better yet, why it is important to them: "Because You'll Breathe Easier With Acme's Stronger Widgets."

No matter what industry you are in, or what you want to say, make sure your graphics tell your story clearly, in words that can be understood and appreciated by any attendee walking past your booth. If you do that, your message will be heard loud and clear, like a 100-decibel note with no clipping of the waveform. (Just check your oscilloscope.)

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Personally, I have a big aversion to recommending most celebrity speakers for any franchise convention.

I think that there are very few 'celebrity status' presenters out there who get that they are being paid to actually connect with and serve their audiences. Too many times the strutting, peacockish, ego-serving celebrity will create a miserable experience for the planner, the hotel staff, the franchisor team and completely fail to genuinely and authentically connect with your franchise audience.

In fact, this kind of behavior is what inspired us to create our "No Diva" policy at Franchise Speakers.

Whenever we get a request from a client for a particular celebrity speaker, the first thing we find out is why is the client looking at this person and what do they hope that a keynote presentation by this celebrity will accomplish for their franchisees. That after all is the reason for the investment, isn't it?

The horror stories are prolific when you are in the inside of the speaking world. In fact, be on the lookout for our eBook - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Stories of how professional speakers can make or break your event.

Here's one that recently came to our attention - a $40,000 speaker who all in one engagement publically berated a waitress in front of a restaurant full of franchisees, was physically inappropriate and crass with the production staff, sold continuously and obnoxiously from the platform throughout his session and when told not to do it, proceeded to do it again the very next day! Wow! Yes, he had a well known name but at the end of it all, that's about all he brought to the engagement other than headaches and disspointment.

As a franchisee, I cared more about what I was going to actually learn that was going to help me run my business better than hearing someone talk about themselves.

So when a franchisor calls us and expresses interest in a celebrity speaker, I will find a gentle way to suggest we look at how we could maximize those investment dollars to create a more powerful and broad-based curriculum for the conference overall.

Using the same dollars to engage a fantastic, content-rich, keynote speaker, a selection of terrific, tactical, breakout trainers, a professional facilitator/moderator to create a positive, productive open forum or Panel of the Pro's session, a corporate comedian to enliven and create a 'WOW' awards event and some kind of experiential exercise like a Board Break Experience

We can stretch the franchisor or franchise associations dollars to create a memorable, fun and engaging learning experience for attendees.

Okay - at the end of the day, you still want that celebrity speaker?

Do yourself a huge favor and have someone who knows the speaking world talk directly to the speaker and check their references (recent and at least 3!) to get a feel for:

1. Were they more concerned about themselves than connecting to the group?
2. How were they to work with leading up to the event?
3. Were they prepared and on time?
4. Did they do their homework and put the effort into really understanding the business and the culture?
5. Did they spend more time promoting themselves and their products and services than they did connecting to the audience?

And if you still want to hire them, at least you will know in advance that you'll have your hands full through the process and can hopefully avoid some costly mistakes by including specific clauses in your contract that outline your significant do's and don't's before they take the platform.

Let me know if you'd like to discuss further. We are here to help! 720-304-3710.

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