Trade Show Exhibits

I reckon that I've been fascinated by trade show exhibits ever since I attended my first trade show, twenty years or so ago. I fondly recall wandering wide-eyed through the Graph Expo conference in Philadelphia ... the bustle of commerce, the bags of trinkets and brochures, the cool posters, and those amazing exhibits ... it brings back some cool memories (not to mention memories of aching feet).

Back in the early nineties, I weasled my way onto the Comdex show floor early one morning with my press pass, hours before the show opened. That was the heyday of Comdex, and let me tell you, the trade show exhibits that year were absolutely superb. Comdex back then was like a huge city within a city, spread out through the Sands and the Hilton and two or three other hotels. I walked those aisles in awe of the effort it took to pull it all off. And I dreamed of doing a photo essay of trade show exhibits one day ...

A few years later, I was working for a company that was exhibiting at a newspaper show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Through that experience, I experienced first hand what it was like to build a big trade show exhibit booth from the ground up. That company held back on a lot of marketing efforts, but when it came to that show and that booth, man, they did it right.

Throughout my career, I've had the opportunity to attend tradeshows in three different ways: as a consumer, as an exhibitor, and as a member of the working press. Of the three, I'd have to say that I've enjoyed the shows most when I've covered them from the press perspective.

Everything else is just too much work! ;)