I’ve written about conferences several times in this blog; firstly about the effect of COVID-19 on in-person events (link here), then about life as a conference exhibitor (here), and finally about conference giveaways (here). You could easily deduce from this that I’ve spend way too much time at conferences (I have) but also that I really like them (I mostly do).
In the second blog I included the “hard truths” I had learned over the years; such as the fact that the moment you take a bite of your sandwich, your top customer will come along; and that your competitor’s booth will always look busier than yours.
As I start writing this new blog, I have not long returned from a conference and thought it might be worth sharing my thoughts and experience about conference etiquette. So that’s what this blog is focused on. These are not the documented rules and regulations put in place by the conference organizers (although some conferences have plenty enough of those). I’m talking more about the etiquette that you learn as a regular conference exhibitor.
Can you take notes when someone visits your booth?
I covered “should you sit or stand” in an earlier blog (the answer is stand, as much as you can), but a more vexing question is whether you can take notes when a visitor to your booth is describing the layout of their lab in millimetric accuracy. It seems rude to reach for your notepad whilst maintaining eye contact, and yet… you absolutely should! Even if you need to interrupt their flow, you really should take notes if it will help your memory. Both parties benefit from this, so just do it.
A side question to this is whether it’s rude to look at someone’s name badge and write down their name whilst you’re talking. This is tricky, and is the main reason that name badges with bar codes appeared at some conferences (or was this an opportunity to make money renting bar code scanners to the exhibitors? Hmmmm…).
Anyway, I find that if you don’t have a bar code to scan, the way around this is to offer your visitor your own business card (assuming you are a dinosaur like me and still use them). As they receive your card, it seems appropriate to pause to write down their name if they don’t offer you a card in return.
A side note to this side question is that the Chinese have nailed this brief completely; almost everyone in China uses the same one or two social media channels (for business and pleasure), and a quick scan of each other’s QR code has become a natural part of any business exchange. The rest of the world will catch up eventually.
Can you hang around your competitor’s booth, and spy on their visitors?
It’s likely you know some of the sales / marketing people at your competitor’s booth. You may even have worked with some of them. So, going to say “hi” is pretty natural. But the etiquette around this is well understood: Firstly, pick a quiet time, don’t go and say hello to your old drinking buddy at the competitor’s booth when there are booth visitors hanging around. You will be as welcome as the whining sound from turbomolecular vacuum pumps after a crash vent (if you know, you know).
Secondly, don’t pump your old friend for business information. You can dance around this by brining up some gossip about a third party, perhaps another competitor to you both. This can be a good ice breaker and may lead to your friend divulging a bit more than they should. Thirdly, and most importantly, if while you are chewing the fat, and a “proper” visitor to your competitor arrives at their booth, make you exit immediately. And as for hanging around close-ish but not right by their booth, hoping to overhear potential customer discussions – unless you have Jason Bourne level infiltration techniques, just don’t!
Should you leave stuff on your booth table overnight?
Tough one this. On the one hand, you may have an interested visitor that passes by just after closing is announced. But on the other hand, you are probably just letting the conference magpies pick your table clean of merchandise, with no discernible benefit. My suggestion… leave a few high-level brochures on the table overnight, plus a few business cards. Keep the merch out of view until the morning.
How much literature should you have on your table?
Following on nicely from the above, there are two schools of thought here. The first is to liberally scatter all of your company’s literature over the table, ensuring that whatever the booth visitor wants, you’ll be able to provide. The second school is to have as little literature as possible. Not to save money on brochures, but to ensure that “genuine” booth visitors are required to ask you for more information.
A conversation is always better than a brochure, and anyway you have stacks of brochures hidden under the tablecloth ready for when they are needed. For this reason I created a very high level company flyer, I leave this in large quantities on the table, but this flyer really only explain who we are as a company. For product and solution information, ask the person manning the booth, who has a big smile. And isn’t eating a sandwich (see earlier blog).
Can you pack up your booth early?
It’s Friday lunchtime, the exhibition closes in an hour. The foot traffic in the halls has really dwindled, and you fancy a well-deserved beer. Can you pack up early? Some conferences strictly forbit their exhibitors from packing up early (although some do turn a blind eye). I find that the solution is “stealth packing”. I surreptitiously start putting brochure in boxes, packing away remaining merch, closing down computers, all without creating the impression you’re about to do a runner.
You can even start switching off booth lighting and unplugging that rat’s nest of power cables. Then when the allotted finish time arrives, you just have to take down your main booth structure. I am definitely not the only one who does this – at major conferences I often observe my neighboring exhibitors doing the “stealth pack”. The art is doing it without anyone noticing your booth is gradually looking emptier and emptier. It’s like The Great Escape, but with brochures.
Can you escape for a quick “cocktail hour”?
This came up at a recent conference I attended. My colleagues and I were working hard, and realized that there was a particular time in the afternoon when all the conference attendees disappeared into the ether (probably the keynote lectures, but us lowly exhibitors weren’t invited). We wondered whether we could disappear for a beer, or other suitably refreshing conference beverage, to use that hour more purposefully than standing at our booth. So what’s the etiquette here? We decided to go and have a beer to help us decide…
What we came up with, was that as long as we didn’t either (a) smell of alcohol, or (b) have enough that it impacted on our performance as highly trained conference operatives, then we’d be fine. The sweet spot we agreed on was two beers, closely followed by some water and multiple breath mints. This did seem successful, with the unexpected positive benefit that we were even more positive and enthusiastic to booth visitors once we got back to work. So there you go fellow exhibitors, Steve at Isotopx has given you tacit permission to have an afternoon cocktail during your shift at the conference. You can thank me later, at the bar.
That’s all for this month, and apologies for the over-focus on conferences – but they’re a reach seam of material and generally enjoyed by attendees and exhibitors alike. If you’ve had any interesting experiences either as an exhibitor, or indeed as a conference attendee, then please let me know, I’d be keen to hear (Stephen.guilfoyle@isotopx.com). More soon…
