UNCONVENTIONNAL BLOG

Insights, advice and wisdom from our years in the industry

Latest Posts

Busy trade show floor with exhibitor staff showing visitors out

The trade show hack you shouldn’t try: suitcasing

You’re thinking of skipping the booth fee and you think nobody will notice.
They will. Suitcasing carries a hidden cost you better know about before you try it.

how i became a trade show expert

How I became a trade show expert

I spent my childhood scanning classrooms for who might stab me, who might protect me, and who just wanted my lunch money. Turns out that’s a transferable skill. Now I get paid to do the exact same thing on trade show floors, just with better lighting and free coffee.

Table covered with branded trade show giveaways including pens, notepads and promotional items at an exhibition booth, illustrating why swag strategies often fail to generate qualified leads.

Do your trade show giveaways work for you or against you?

You’re thinking of bringing swags to your next show? Think twice. It might not attract the people you want. Here’s why.

If you're a first time exhibitor start here

PreviousPosts

how i became a trade show expert

How I became a trade show expert

I spent my childhood scanning classrooms for who might stab me, who might protect me, and who just wanted my lunch money. Turns out that’s a transferable skill. Now I get paid to do the exact same thing on trade show floors, just with better lighting and free coffee.

A crowded trade show booth floor with exhibitors and visitors engaging in conversations, representing active booth management and team execution during a live event.

How to better manage your trade show booth

Exhibitors prepare for months. But then day one arrives, and by noon the booth is running itself, which means it is running badly. The one ingredient most exhibitors forget: execution needs a conductor.

A woman holding a fake brain in her hands posing in an alley of a trade show, looking at the photographer

What Neuroscience Says About Trade Shows

Most exhibitors think the problem is their booth. It rarely is. The problem is the brain. Two brains, actually. Here is what neuroscience found about what happens on both sides of a trade show encounter.