Two Great Conference Display Booth Ideas

Man it’s hard to stand out at a conference.

How do you attempt to separate yourself and be memorable in a sea of 300 different exhibitors?

In the case of the Schwab IMPACT conference I saw some great efforts.

And two were most memorable.

One firm hired a magician. He was outfitted to look just like a wholesaler, right down to the blue suit and the red power tie.  And he was engaging, bringing people in that were strolling past the booth.

Once in range he started doing close up magic tricks with them.

Clearly, turning $1 bills into $100 bills was my personal favorite.

At another booth I saw a professional artist doing caricatures. Doug owns EVENToons. At the booth he drew a digital caricature of me and it was displayed on a video screen next to the booth so the entire room could see the caricature as it was taking shape.

Once he was done, he hit print and gave me a color 4×6 print. In addition, I was able to go to his site and download the photo above.

Awesome idea!

Of course there was the usual array of folks giving out the same old trinkets and trash.

You’d think that conference attendees have had enough tote bags, squeeze balls, and bright, flashing, shiny objects to last a lifetime…..or maybe not.

In a 2011 issue of I Carry The Bag look for a feature story on working conferences successfully. It will be packed with information and ideas gleaned from 20+ wholesaler interviews conducted at Schwab IMPACT.

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