An Exhibition Fit for the FIT Show

So what is a sane woman doing indoors in a half empty hall at the NEC in Birmingham on a warm summer weekend watching men (and women) at work?  Well, it is a vital part of my job at ShowOff Display to design and produce eye-catching exhibition stands for major companies in the UK and Europe.

Yes, this does sometimes mean being indoors on a sunny day at the weekend, but it is absolutely worth it; the exhibition industry is a great sector to work in. It’s creative, fast moving and fun. I’ve been in the business for more than 25 years and still enjoy every moment.

This particular exhibition was for the leading hardware manufacturer Trojan www.trojan-hardware.com. This year marks their 25th anniversary so they wanted something extra special, and following the initial consultations and design briefings, decided to choose ShowOff Display to take this year’s stand to the next level.

The FIT Show is every two years, and this year the venue had moved from Telford to the NEC. Our remit was to build an exhibition stand that would attract visitors, and ultimately bring Trojan more business.

The first job was to understand the client’s brief. What did they want to achieve? Who were they going to be pitched next to at the show? Were the staff on the stand there to discuss business or simply to meet and greet visitors?

It is ironing out these small details early on that makes all the difference as to what happens next, and helps us to get an idea of how the client wants the stand to look and feel and what image they are trying to convey. This time, Trojan favoured a modern, and very open design where visitors could walk around and through the stand, but also sit at tables to discuss business.

This time, Trojan didn’t want the usual giveaways – pens and chocolates. Instead, they wanted to keep everything crisp, clean and simple. This included having the company’s corporate branding being highly visual with the lettering on the stand in gold and white (with a touch of black) – Trojan’s signature colours. They also wanted to have their staff in white shirts and black trousers, in keeping with the monochrome business like theme.

In the 25 plus years that ShowOff Display has been doing exhibitions, one of the things I stress is that companies think about what they want their exhibition staff to do on the day. If they are just milling around then how does that reflect on the company? It is vital that staff are given clear direction and any relevant training. If you have brought in “meeters and greeters” and have a hospitality area, then make sure they also know their job. This could simply be giving visitors a drink and a snack, making small talk or discussing your latest product range.

In the run up to the FIT Show, we had organised to have a film crew in to do a time-lapse of the stand build, and the director was keen to follow the set builders doing their job. Health and safety is, quite rightly, a primary issue so, although she wanted to hang from the roof of the hall to get the best shots, clearly that wasn’t going to be possible. Instead, she did get were some great shots of the stand being put in place by a fabulous team of carpenters, painters and electricians as well as some close ups of the intricacies needed for all the finishing touches. We will let you know when the film is complete and you can take a look.

Meanwhile the FIT Show won’t be back until 2019, so we’re off to do a few more exhibitions around the UK this year. Next time I will let you in on the five biggest mistakes people make when commissioning and building a stand….and how to avoid them.

Lesley Russon, Show Off Displays