Interactive Trade Booth Creation

Spotlight : Vibram Booth at FN Platform 2018

mackenzie EXHIBIT is proud to announce that the Vibram booth at FN Platform 2018 has officially been awarded the Most Innovative Use of Space Award. We relish the opportunity to work with such inventive and creative companies such as Vibram and look forward to working with them to create many more iterations of award-winning booths in the future.

FN Platform

FN Platform is a chance for leaders in the footwear industry to gather together to share ideas and fashion-forward creations that provide inspiration for the global market. These companies represent the best-of-the-best from over 30 countries and showcase designs for men, women, juniors, and children; needless to say, competition among these creative companies is pretty strong. Because FN Platform represents a concentration of some of the most respected footwear brands in the world, it’s even more impressive that Vibram was able to so clearly stand out and win the Most Innovative Use of Space Award.

Vibram Booth

Vibram booth at FN Platform 2018 wins  Most Innovative Use of Space Award.

Vibram booth at FN Platform 2018 wins Most Innovative Use of Space Award.

The Vibram booth by mackenzie EXHIBIT drew heavily from the global nature of both FN Platform and Vibram’s international brand presence to create a design that truly represents our worldwide culture. The booth interior featured an installation with a constellation-style representation of the globe with pins placed at international hubs around the world all leading to design aspects of the Furoshiki “wrapping sole” design. This innovative structure allowed for a maximum amount of information to be conveyed in a beautiful and succinct manner and is one of the many reasons why the Vibram booth was tapped for the FN Platform Most Innovative Use of Space Award.

Striving for Innovation

mackenzie EXHIBIT is constantly reaching for new and fun ways to bring our clients’ ideas to life, a perfect example of which can be seen in the Vibram booth. Do you have an idea in mind but you’re not quite sure how to communicate it to attendees at your next trade show? Contact us and let our expert team of designers and project managers take it from here.

New Client : Osprey

mackenzie EXHIBIT is proud to announce that we have officially teamed up with outdoor industry powerhouse, Osprey, as their new trade show exhibit partner. This partnership will kick off with a booth at Interbike in Reno, Nevada this September followed by Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Denver, Colorado in November with many more shows to come over the next several years.

Image courtesy of @ospreypacks.

Image courtesy of @ospreypacks.

Osprey is one of the most well-respected brands in the outdoor industry and is beloved for creating packs and other gear that marry beautiful aesthetics with unsurpassed performance. We at mackenzie EXHIBIT are honored to have been selected after a thorough proposal process and look forward to a long and successful relationship between our two companies.

Stay tuned to see what kind of magic we cook up together!

Meet the Company : mackenzie EXHIBIT History

What does over 40 years of experience, shows across multiple continents, 50 happy and loyal employees, and an impressive list of client companies look like? Well, you’re looking at it. mackenzie EXHIBIT is a leader in the exhibit design industry, and it’s no wonder why. With an intense dedication to customer satisfaction, a passion for details, and an unprecedented ability to think outside of the box, it’s no wonder why mackenzie EXHIBIT has been in business for decades and promises to continue on the never ending road to success for many more decades to come.


mackenzie EXHIBIT History

As with most great success stories, the outset didn’t always look so shiny. Rick MacKenzie, the founder of mackenzie EXHIBIT, had already been in the trade show industry for about 10 years when he decided to strike out on his own. He had a young family to support and a mortgage to pay, but he also had faith in his dream of running his own company and was willing to put in the hours to make it happen. In 1987, Rick started Pacific West Exhibit located in now-hipster, then-not-so-squeaky-clean Yaletown in Vancouver. With a dedicated group of employees and help from his family (including then 12-year-old Jared MacKenzie, now a prominent fixture in the leadership of mackenzie EXHIBIT), this budding enterprise grew. Word of mouth continued to spread about the level of customer service and craft received by clients, and the business began to expand.

At about this time, the housing market in Canada went haywire and mortgage interest rates went through the roof. The MacKenzies had a tough decision to make — keep the house, or keep the business. With a leap of faith, they decided to sell their house to keep the business running. Looking back, they made a good call.


Just Keep Swimming

After the housing crisis, mackenzie EXHIBIT started to really find its flow. The company was about 5 years old when it hit its stride and carved out a niche in the golf industry in Canada. Take a step into Rick’s office now in our Ogden, Utah location and you’ll see that his passion for the sport and the industry continue to this day. This success necessitated a move to a larger location, which was found in nearby Burnaby, British Columbia. Since success breeds success and satisfied clients are one of the best marketing tools, mackenzie EXHIBIT continued to grow and build an even longer list of customers, which led us to a still-larger facility in 2000.

Around this time, mackenzie EXHIBIT landed a big fish — Suunto. The president of Suunto was always a fan of the work that mackenzie EXHIBIT had produced for them, so when he made the move to become president of the entire branch of Amer Sports’ winter division, he made mackenzie EXHIBIT an offer we couldn’t refuse — set up a location in Ogden, Utah (Amer Sports’ United States headquarters), and receive the exhibit business for Salomon, Atomic, and Suunto all together.  The mackenzie EXHIBIT team had already been spending a month each year in the Salt Lake City area because of Outdoor Retailer, so Rick and Jared were familiar with the location and decided to jump at the opportunity to bring in some big business.


This Way to Ogden

Jared told the big news to his wife, Mimi, and less than 3 months later they had packed up all of their belongings, sold their apartment, and set off for this new town with their 3-year-old daughter in tow. mackenzie EXHIBIT has made some serious leaps of faith in its time, and this was certainly one of them — and like the other leaps, this, too, paid off.

When the new United States-based office was set up, the company name changed from Pacific West Exhibit to the less geographically-restrictive name of mackenzie EXHIBIT, a moniker which remains to this day. This new location took up 60,000 square feet and only had three employees — including Jared MacKenzie. Everyone pulled double and triple duty to make things work, but man, did they make it work. In less than 10 years, the team managed to expand the business into the European market while doubling the office space and moving up to a 120,000-square-foot facility that now houses somewhere around 50 employees.


Looking Back while Moving Forward

Two things keep the company firmly focused on our continuing road to success: we never forgot our roots and we never think that what we’ve done is good enough. Many companies would take a glance at our client list and decide to call it a day because they’ve won the game — but not mackenzie EXHIBIT. We continue to strive to create more inventive exhibit solutions, design more beautiful trade show booths, cultivate relationships with interesting new clients, and ensure that our existing customers always feel appreciated and looked after. This dedication is what keeps mackenzie EXHIBIT in the winner’s circle and on the path of continuous improvement.


Thanks to all of our friends, family, and clients (who have become friends and family) for the past 30 years — here’s to all of the exciting changes to come in the next 30 years.

Ready to get started on creating your own jaw-dropping booth design? Contact us here and we’ll be glad to help!

Full Service Trade Show Booth Set up

Meet the Company : Jared MacKenzie

A long, long time ago in a land far, far away, there lived a boy named Jared. Ok, so it really wasn’t that long ago. And it was Canada. But there did in fact live a boy named Jared. He spent his winters haunting the runs of Whistler honing his skills on a board and, when the snow melted off, he spent his time riding a different kind of board down the street to his dad’s shop. This young skater kid was Jared MacKenzie, the boy who would become the man behind the curtain of mackenzie EXHIBIT.


Jared’s story has as many twists and turns as his runs down the slopes of his hometown mountain, and all of them are just as exciting. The directions that his wandering feet (and snowboard) took him in might make you surprised that he’s now the man running a successful international company, but in many ways, it was those unexpected detours that enabled him to find such success.

And So It Begins . . .

Jared’s father, Rick, started mackenzie EXHIBIT when Jared was a young boy. Back then, it was known as Pacific West Exhibit, or PWE for short. Starting around the time he was 12 years old, Jared would leave school, ride his board down to the skate park, and then head off to his dad’s exhibit design shop to work until around 11:00 pm each night. The shop was located in Yaletown, Vancouver — an area that is a complete hipster’s delight now, but back then it was anything but. At the end of the day as midnight approached, Jared would wrap up whatever he was doing at the shop and hitch a ride back home courtesy of one of the PWE guys and start it all again the next day. Little did he know it at the time, but Jared was building the blocks on which his entrepreneurial, hard-working spirit would one day sit.

Like many start-ups, PWE and the MacKenzie family faced more than their fair share of tribulations on the way to success. It took about five years for the company to really start to see the light, during which time the housing market went haywire, mortgage interest rates skyrocketed, and the MacKenzies had to make the difficult choice between their home and saving their company. Looking back, choosing the company was a wise decision, but they couldn’t know that for sure at the time.

One Ticket to Breckenridge, Please

Fast-forward to 16-year-old Jared. He had graduated from high school (a year early, no big deal). Snowboarding was life, the world was his delicious shucked Pacific oyster, and his fearless desire to pursue that uncharted fresh pow was driving him onward. He and a couple buddies had heard that Breckenridge, Colorado was the place to be for the snowboarding crowd, so at 17 Jared hopped on a Greyhound bus with two friends, seven snowboards, a stereo, and three fake IDs (don’t tell Rick). Jared had saved up $3,000 from working in a fly fishing shop over the summer, and with that money he and his buddies were able to snag a tiny studio apartment that the three of them would call home for the season. The guys rode every single day for the next six months, aside from the first few days after they arrived when altitude sickness set in. This was before cell phones, email, and certainly before we had Find My Phone for stalking where your family members were. The MacKenzies back in Canada had to rely on their snow-obsessed teenage son to phone home from a payphone or write them a letter, which we’re sure he did all the time and we’re sure they never worried about him at all.

The boys were known affectionately around town as “the Canadians” and spent every evening living off of 50 cent happy hour beer. After the dishwasher at their local haunt got arrested for stealing a tourist’s video camera, Jared stepped up to fill the role and used the money to keep him and his buddies running on beer and bar food. The proprietor of the establishment quickly became like family to the boys, and on the morning of Canadian Thanksgiving (yep, it’s different from American Thanksgiving), he showed up at the boys’ doorstep with bags full of groceries and took all three of them back to his home to celebrate the holiday. He made such an impression on Jared that, 20 years later, he tracked this Saint of Breckenridge down in Frisco, Colorado just to see how his was doing.

Homeward Bound

Eventually, the snow of Breckenridge started to melt and the boys missed the mountains of home. After six months, they headed back to Vancouver to enjoy their home slopes. Jared was pretty darn good — good enough to gain a few sponsors and ride the competitive circuit — but then a career-ending injury to his talus bone in his ankle would take him away from the sport he so loved. While this was disastrous for his snowboarding career, it helped to push Jared toward spending more time focused on mackenzie EXHIBIT.

The busy season for mackenzie EXHIBIT was usually during shoulder season (the awkward times between fall and winter and then between spring and summer when ski resorts twiddle their thumbs), so Jared would call upon his snow-happy friends who suddenly found themselves with some free time to help him with shows. Many of these friends earned their livings in the service industry, so they brought a very customer-centered focus to their time with mackenzie EXHIBIT, which helped to establish the exhibit company’s reputation as one of the best and most dedicated in the industry. With this, the “customer first” pillar of mackenzie EXHIBIT was born.

We’re Moving to . . . Ogden?

Then came the move to a small town with a weird name in a different country: Ogden, Utah. Let us help you connect those dots to how their now-hub came into existence. Ever since he was 16 years old, Jared would spend a month each year in Salt Lake City, Utah for Outdoor Retailer, the largest outdoor sports expo and conference. mackenzie EXHIBIT already had Suunto as a client at this point, and then they were asked to design the showroom for Salomon, Atomic, and Suunto. The parent company (Amer Sports) was so impressed that they decided to offer mackenzie EXHIBIT all of their trade show business for those three brands . . . if they opened up a location in Ogden, where Amer’s US headquarters were located.

Jared spent about 0.27 seconds considering this offer and said “deal.” Three months later, Jared, his wife Mimi, and their three-year-old daughter Ginger were living in Utah. It takes a special kind of relationship and a special kind of crazy to agree to your husband’s life-changing decision to sell your apartment and move your young family and all of your worldly belongings (packed into two exhibit shipment crates, of course) to a new city sight-unseen, but that’s exactly what Mimi did. They say that behind every great man is a great woman, and in this case I think we’d stretch Mimi’s “great” to extraordinary.

It was in this way that mackenzie EXHIBIT set up shop in Ogden with three employees (including Jared) and a huge international client to keep happy — no pressure. Even though his name was on the company letterhead, Jared pulled duty as designer, shipper, janitor — you name it, Jared did it in order to keep the ship sailing along smoothly. This complete and total understanding of the operations of mackenzie EXHIBIT makes Jared a one-of-a-kind leader who can put himself in the shoes of his employees because he’s been there, too. This gives him an appreciation for the work that everyone at his company does, which shows through in the commitment mackenzie EXHIBIT makes to each one of its personnel.

All Grown Up

In 2017, mackenzie EXHIBIT celebrated its 30th anniversary overall and its 10th anniversary in Ogden. They are now up to around 50 employees and have clients all over the world that keep them busy with trade shows throughout the year (with 60 shows in January alone). If you can’t find Jared at the office, chances are he’s driving his Porche 911 (an upgrade from his skateboard) through the gorgeous canyons that surround Ogden, hitting the links at the local golf course, or spending time with his beautiful family (which has grown by one since they first came to Utah, a son named Jack).

While Jared has found great success through mackenzie EXHIBIT, that doesn’t mean he’s resting on his laurels. What keeps him moving forward and excited to start each day is the opportunity to always strive to be better — a sentiment that sets true entrepreneurs apart from the herd. Take a stroll through the mackenzie EXHIBIT warehouse and you’ll see a forest of orange-colored exhibit shipper crates with the names of some of the most well-known and well-loved brands in the world.

Something tells us Jared and the team at mackenzie EXHIBIT are doing things right.


mackenzie EXHIBIT

There’s always cool stuff going on here at mackenzie EXHIBIT, so stay tuned to the blog for more to come!

Interactive Trade Show Booth Design

Creating a Trade Show Booth Part 3: Walkthrough

Congratulations! You’ve arrived at one of the most exciting stages of the trade show booth design process: the walkthrough. Now is when you’ll see your booth come to life, be able to walk through it (as the name would suggest), and imagine how attendees will experience the final result.

While the ship has likely sailed on making large structural changes at this point (hopefully Part 1 and Part 2 helped you sort out the big ticket items), most of the time you can still make small adjustments such as where certain products are displayed, lighting temperatures, and details like that. Let’s take a walk through the walkthrough and learn a bit more about this particular stage.

What to Expect

The walkthrough is where you really start to get an understanding of what your attendees will experience when they arrive at your booth space. This is also the time when you’ll be able to see just how transparent you’ve been with your trade show booth design company to enable them to create your dream booth. If there’s been cloudy communication, there might still be some things that need to be decided on at this point — but if you’ve been straightforward and detailed with your expectations, prepare yourself for an “oh wow” moment.

When you arrive at the booth design company’s offices, they will have cleared out a patch of warehouse space and literally built your booth. It’s a great feeling to round a corner and BAM, there it is! Enjoy this opportunity to see your vision brought to life for the first time. If some of the wall wrapping isn’t yet on or the lighting isn’t finished, don’t fret — there’s still plenty of time to finalize the details. Think of this as your chance to make sure the big picture is what you want.

Make the Most of It

This is your last chance to make any esthetic tweaks or rearrange an item or two, so make the most of it! Really take your time during the walkthrough — if you’re working with a seasoned trade show booth design company like mackenzie EXHIBIT, they know that this is a crucial stage and will let you take all the time you need.

This is a great time to bring some people along from your own company to act as guinea pigs. Choose people who haven’t been a part of the design process at all so that they have a completely fresh view and then listen to their feedback — there’s a good chance they’ll look at things in a new light and give you some invaluable thoughts to consider.

Once the walkthrough is complete, the booth company will make any final changes and then box everything up to be shipped to the trade show.

Tweaking the Trade Show Booth

Don’t give your trade show booth design company a heart attack by walking in and telling them that you want to move walls or change the entire flow of the booth — those are things that should have been addressed in Part 1 and Part 2.

What you CAN change at this point are esthetic details. If you want a picture moved from one wall to another or want to rearrange the shelves within a storage column, that can be done. A great detail to pay attention to at this point is the lighting: is it the temperature what you want? Is it pointing at what you want to showcase? Take some time to imagine the exhibit hall and space you’re in and think about the surrounding light that your booth is already bathed in and how you want your own lighting to interact.

Also stop to consider the add-ons that will need to go with your booth. Is there room behind the counter for a few stools for your employees to use? Or that corner over there — would a standing table fit well and give some room for sales people to review your catalog with potential clients? Really envision how your trade show staff will utilize this space and think about what will make their lives easier and your clients’ experience more memorable.

Say This not That

As the previous parts in this series have said, be as detailed as possible when giving feedback to your trade show booth design company. Professionals like mackenzie EXHIBIT might have been doing this for a while, but that doesn’t make them mind readers — be honest and open with your first, second, and third impressions as you walk through your booth.

Finally, let’s take one last glance back at that list of three to five crucial things you wanted this booth to accomplish. Did all of those boxes get checked? Hopefully so! If not, speak up and your booth company can tell you what is still within the realm of possibilities.

What’s Next?

We hope you’ve enjoyed the walkthrough process! It is truly one of the most exciting stages of the entire trade show booth design experience.

What comes next is even more exciting: seeing your booth in the wild. Your trade show booth design company will now make any final adjustments that you requested during the walkthrough and will then break everything down, pack it safely into crates, and deliver it to the exhibit hall. If you choose a full-service company like mackenzie EXHIBIT, you’ll also be able to have them set up your booth in the exhibit hall so that the stress on your employees is minimal and you can walk in the day before the show to a beautiful, fully-assembled trade show booth.


Ready to get started or have some more detailed questions on the booth design process? Give us a call at 801-621-7500 or email us here.


 

10 by 20 tradeshow booth rental

Creating a Trade Show Booth Part 2: Mockup

It’s been a few weeks since your first meeting with the exhibit design company, and you’ve been anxiously waiting to hear that they’re ready for you to review their first mockup of your trade show booth. What should you expect? If you go into the mockup review with the right frame of mind, the right people present, and the right set of goals, you’ll have a productive and successful meeting that will get you a giant step closer to the booth you have in mind.

My Place or Yours?

First, choose whether you want to have the meeting at your own offices or at the exhibit design company’s location. If you’re working with a remote company, teleconference is likely your only option. If the company is local to you, however, there are pros to meeting at either location. If you have a large number of people involved in the trade show process for your company, then having the mockup review at your own offices is likely more efficient. If your event team is smaller and more mobile, then a meeting at the exhibit design company’s offices is a great way to see how their operations are run and get a feel for their workload and capabilities.


TIP: You’ll also need to decide who should be involved in the meeting. Too many people, and it’ll be a circus; too few, and you might miss out on valuable insights. It’s best to include at least one person from the management team for decisions, one person from the team that will be at the trade show itself for practical input, and one person from the design team if you have an in-house graphics department.


When you sit down for the mockup review, don’t expect the first draft to be a Michelangelo-worthy masterpiece. This is meant to act as a general guide to make sure that you and the booth design company are both on the same page — you’re likely to see a lot of black and white line drawings or basic shape renderings to show placement of different booth elements and further discuss the esthetics. You’ll be able to see the bones of your trade show booth, including wall, counter, storage, product display, and table locations. If you have any special features such as a projection wall or interactive display, this will be the time to nail down where you’d like that to be.

Help Them Help You

If you see something that you’d like changed, speak up! Now is the time to convey any alterations you’d like done to the booth design, because from this point forward the booth design company is likely to start placing orders and begin initial building operations for your trade show booth.

When giving input, refer back to the three-to-five-point list we recommended creating in Part 1: Ideation. This list will keep you focused on why you’re attending the trade show in the first place and what you hope to get out of it, which will be the ultimate input needed for your trade show booth design. It’s important to refer back to this list of priorities at each stage of the trade show booth design and execution process to make sure you’re accomplishing everything you’d like to achieve through this booth.

Trade Show Booth Layout

Think through the flow of your booth and how you want attendees to move through the space. Does the design showcase the products you want highlighted? Do you have enough storage for the catalogs, t-shirts, hats, stickers, and any other giveaways you’ll be bringing? What about refrigerators or lighting or even a place for your employees to charge their electronics — do you have enough outlets? These are just a few of the things you’ll want to double check while reviewing the trade show booth mockup.

Another thing to consider is security; does your booth contain sensitive or expensive items that need to be locked up at night? Or should your products be secured to the booth in such a way that attendees can’t potentially take them away as a souvenir? Trade shows are a prime time for products to “walk away” while your employees are distracted — make sure you’re not taking unnecessary risks with the way your products are displayed.

What Comes Next?

Based on how much feedback you gave and how much needs to be changed, you’ll likely have at least one or two more mockup reviews prior to actual construction beginning on your booth. This back-and-forth with the exhibit design company is a crucial time when you can make sure that your ideas and desires are understood so that the end result is the trade show booth you’ve been imagining.

After the mockup reviews comes one of the most exciting parts of the whole process: the walkthrough. We’ll cover that stage in our next blog entry — stay tuned!


Ready to get started or have some more detailed questions on the booth design process? Give mackenzie EXHIBIT a call at 801-621-7500 or email us here.


 

20 x 20 Tradeshow and exhibit booth

Creating a Trade Show Booth Part 1: Ideation

Exhibiting at a trade show is a big decision — the time, effort, and monetary commitment are all things that you’ve taken into consideration and you’ve decided that this a worthwhile investment in your company’s future. Now that you have the green light to exhibit at the show . . . what’s next?  It’s time to design and create your dream trade show booth that will highlight all of the aspects of your company that set you apart from the competition. A well-designed and executed booth is an amazing opportunity to make your mark and establish yourselves as major players in your industry.

In this four-part Creating a Trade Show Booth series, we’ll review the different stages of booth design, creation, and installation to guide you along the process.

Set Your Budget

The first thing you’ll need to outline is your budget. Having a clearly-defined budget before your first meeting with the exhibit design company will allow you to make smart decisions when it comes to certain elements you want included in the booth. A firm budget will also give your exhibit design company clear parameters to work within so that you both can make the most efficient use of your time. After all, the deadline to ship the booth to the show will be here before you know it!


TIP: When establishing your budget, there are a couple things to consider. First, will this booth be multi-purpose? If your booth pulls double-duty as both a place to display products and to hold meetings, then you won’t need that extra conference room you’ve reserved and can put that extra money toward your booth design. Second, will this booth be single- or multi-use? If you plan to reuse this booth over multiple shows, it might be best to give more wiggle room in your budget for a booth that is able to evolve with your changing needs for each show.


Consider the Space

Now that you know what your trade show booth budget is, let’s start thinking about the physical space you’ll be occupying at the show. If you have a 10’x10’ space, simplicity is key; you’ll likely have a lot that you want to cram into a small amount of square footage, but resist the urge to go overboard. A smaller booth that is stuffed to the gills with product samples or distractions will hinder your company’s ability to clearly define itself to the passers-by.

If you have a larger amount of room to work with, for example a 30’x30’ or bigger, then you can start to get a bit more creative. Does your exhibit hall allow for two-story booths? If so, you might be able to place a meeting space on top of your booth to make the most of your footprint. A larger booth space also allows for on-site storage of catalogs, employee personal belongings such as bags, giveaway items, etc.

Before your first meeting with the exhibit booth design company, give some thought to what you want to include in your booth space from a practicality standpoint. Do you want storage? What about lockable displays? Is meeting space crucial, or is your booth purely to display products? Having a clearly-defined wish list before your meeting will help your exhibit booth design company to understand exactly how to meet your needs.

Trade Show Booth Flow

If you have an in-line 10’x10’ or 10’x20’ trade show booth space, flow isn’t something that you’ll need to consider as much because attendees likely won’t be physically entering your booth. If your booth has depth to it as with a 20’x20’ or larger, you’ll need to think about the path people should take when entering your booth. Do you want to clearly define an entry and exit point so that they travel through the booth on a path, or would you like for them to feel comfortable milling about and taking their time perusing your products?

A defined path is a good idea when you want attendees to follow either a development process or timeline — for example, if you want to show them the different iterations a product went through to arrive at the final result. You can also use this flow method if you want attendees to start out at your more entry-level products and move through up to your higher price point items. Booths with entry and exit points or a defined path require a lot of thought and careful execution, as they can create pinch-points and traffic jams when the show is at its busiest.

A free-flowing booth has a fairly open construction that allows the attendees to enter and exit the space from numerous sides of the booth and is great for companies who want to create a space with a “come in and stay a while” feel. High-top tables where sales people can walk clients through this years’ catalog or a picture wall for attendees to pose with products for Instagram are elements that you can consider incorporating into a free-flowing design.

Remember the Why

Finally, let’s think about the biggest reasons that made you want to exhibit at the trade show in the first place. Is this your company’s big entrance into the market? Have you been in the industry for quite some time, but want to really make a splash now? Do you have a new product that you want to unveil?

Make a list of your top three to five reasons why you want to attend and what your goals are for your trade show booth, and then keep referring back to them as you move through the booth design process to ensure you’re keeping your eye on the prize and focusing on the “why”.

Keep an Open Mind

As you meet with your exhibit design company, keep in mind that they’ve likely been doing this for decades and have learned the tricks of the trade along the way. When you present your initial list of wants for the booth, they might offer a different viewpoint or have some suggestions. Remember that they are offering this input to make your trade show attendance as successful as possible. By combining your dreams with the exhibit design company’s experience, together you can create your ideal trade show booth design.


Ready to get started or have some more detailed questions on the booth design process? Give us a call at 801-621-7500 or email us here.


 

Preparing for a Trade Show: 4 Crucial Steps

The weeks leading up to a trade show can be exhilarating, stressful, easy, sleep-deprived, or completely relaxed. Every business experiences the preparation stage a little differently. But pretty much anyone who’s exhibited will tell you there is one running constant for every brand at every show: blink once, and the week of the event sneaks right up on you. And if your massive laundry list of to-do items is still massive when the show must go on tomorrow, this means trouble.

We know from experience that there are a few steps you can never skip when preparing for a trade show. These steps will give you the best chance of success and the clearest line of sight to help you see show day from a mile away.

Start Early

When it comes to getting your people ready for a trade show, it’s almost impossible to start too early. Your first steps should include analyzing whether this trade show is the best for your business, and then quickly booking the booth space, starting on the budget, and booking travel if necessary. These steps should be taken care of at a minimum of six months in advance. From there, the show should be kept on the forefront of everyone’s minds – all employees should be part of the process somehow from the very beginning.

Get Organized

Your accountant isn’t the only person that has to have an eye for organization. Keep yourself tidy and task however you can, whether that be mapping out your own task spreadsheet spanning from now until the show, or something small like reorganizing your desk to be able to withstand the influx of trade show product and print materials without becoming overwhelming. At the very least you should create a company-wide comprehensive schedule tracking all timelines and clearly marking every deadline to communicate clearly how you expect to be ready by showtime. Also pay special attention to make sure all exhibit materials are scheduled for a timely delivery — you really don’t want to deal with extra delivery fees once the show has started, so prior planning is key.

Clarify Goals

Company-wide organization is also important for making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to motive and intention. You have your own reason for choosing to attend this show, but your team might not be aware of it and steer things in a different direction. Start a conversation that addresses the really important questions: Why this show and not another? Who are you targeting and what kind of action do you want them to take? What will have made the show a “success” in your mind? The answers will guide both your team and your exhibit design heavily.

Advertise

Right around the time you’re booking your spot at the show, make sure your customers (and potential customers) know you’ll be attending the show and what they can expect. A couple of months in advance is a great time to announce giveaways, contests, and tease any major launches you have planned for showtime. As long as you stay on top of your advertising efforts and give your target audience time to plan, you’ll be in a good spot and see better attendance because of it.

 

There are lots of things you can do right off the bat to prepare your company and yourself for a great trade show run. Starting with these will help you (and help us help you) design a killer booth and sow the seeds for a strong presence and flawless execution. If you’d like to get started today, contact us by phone at 1-877-381-9133 (EXT 3), or email us at carmin@nullmackenzie-exhibit.com.

Attractive Trade Show Booth Rentals

Getting your company noticed at industry trade shows is all about your trade show booth setup, design and display; however, depending on the frequency of trade show events that your company attends, it’s not always economical to invest in the purchase of attractive trade show booth equipment. Mackenzie Exhibit completely understands this; therefore, we also offer trade show booth rentals. If you’re interested in a renting a trade show booth as opposed to buying, here are 3 reasons to rent from Mackenzie Exhibit:

Plenty of options and flexibility

One of the benefits of renting an attractive trade show booth as opposed to buying is the reduced responsibility. There will be no need to stress over the maintenance and storage of the trade show booth afterwards; furthermore, you can easily change up the design every time you rent a trade show booth, allowing you to customize and configure it to suit each show. With trade show booth rentals, you won’t need to worry about sacrificing size either. The team at Mackenzie Exhibit is fully capable of meeting all of your sizing specification and requirements.

Incredible value

Purchasing your own trade show booth can become expensive if the booth isn’t being used on a regular basis each year. It can also become expensive to re-configure the booth to meet the different specifications of each trade show. One way to avoid this cost is through trade show booth rentals. Not only does renting a trade show booth from Mackenzie Exhibit save you money, it also saves you time. You can leave the graphics, floors, lights, furniture, delivery, installation and dismantling all to us. This allows you to spend more time generating leads and interacting with potential customers!

Industry expertise

When you rent a trade show booth from Mackenzie Exhibit, you’re getting more than just the booth itself. Mackenzie Exhibit will work with you to ensure you’re getting the most value out of the entire trade show event. We have over 30 years of trade show experience and expertise and we’re happy to pass along our knowledge. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that every intricate detail is properly planned for and executed.

If you’re looking for an attractive trade show booth rental to grab attention, drive foot traffic and increase sales at industry trade shows, contact the trade show experts at Mackenzie Exhibit. We can help take your trade show efforts to the next level. By leaving the design to us, you will have more time to focus on networking with potential customers and industry influencers. If you have any questions about our trade show booth rental services, please contact us or visit our website for a free quote. You can also reach us at 604-422-0025.