Roband at Fine Foods

More than 25,000 people will see the 1000+ exhibition stands at the Fine Food Australia trade show on September 5 to 8 at the Sydney Convention Centre. If your business caters to the food service and hospitality business, you can’t afford not to exhibit your wares at the largest international show for the industry. The problem will be making sure your exhibition stand attracts attention amongst the hundreds of other exhibition stands at the conference.

As with any major trade show, attendees will be keen to visit all the stands, but the sheer abundance of stands at this trade show will make it almost impossible for anyone to remember more than maybe ten individual stands when they get home after the event. Marketing and promotional tools for this event will need to be exceptionally high quality as most of the people will remember only a handful of actual exhibits and will rely on marketing materials they take away with them.

However, you can certainly take steps to ensure that your exhibition stand is one of the ones people remember from such a big event, where all six exhibition halls will be filled. You must carefully design your exhibition to make the most of the space you are allocated.

Move away from the traditional “booth” style exhibition stand with the standard blue walls and a table at which your staff stand and display your products. You do not have to create a ‘box’ or a square or rectangular exhibition stand to fill your space. Use your imagination and, together with your expert exhibition stand designer, come up with something that enhances your branding and image. You can make an exhibition stand in almost any shape, so think about something different you could use or create the exhibition stand in the shape of your company logo.

If you create a theme for the Fine Food Australia event, you can use this theme to help people to remember your particular exhibition stand. If your product “makes working in a kitchen a dream”, you could create a dream theme which you use throughout your exhibition stand and in your marketing materials. You could, for example, create the illusion of someone (in a chefs’ hat) sleeping on a mattress at floor level and then raise your exhibition stand by a few steps where people enter the “chef’s dream” which is your exhibition stand. Your staff could hand out little pillows (that show the product of their dreams). This is just one idea which would create an imaginatively themed exhibition stand that will certainly attract attention during the trade show and is more likely to be remembered long after the event. 

Creating a unique and interesting exhibition stand is essential for any trade event or show, but this show has so many exhibitors that a boring or hum drum, or unprofessional exhibition stand will simply be lost in the crowd. Using a professional designer and hiring the right exhibition furniture, accessories, signage and other equipment such as lighting and flooring, to make your exhibition stand appeal to the crowds will be well worth the investment when you gain new business from the 25,000 people with buying power who will be attending the Fine Food Australia trade show.

Pacific International Maritime Conference

The Pacific 2012 International Maritime Conference will be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour on 31 January – 2 February 2012. Pacific 2012 IMC will be held in association with the Pacific 2012 International Maritime Exposition and RAN Sea Power Conference 2012.

Pacific 2012 International Maritime Conference will provide a unique opportunity for people involved in maritime and naval affairs around the world to come together to discuss the latest developments in design, naval architecture, engineering, science and technology. Along with the Maritime Exposition, the event will provide a meeting place for industry representatives to exchange ideas and to establish new business contacts and develop existing ones.

Some of the themes, issues & ideas which will be discussed during the conference are;

•  Commercial Ship Technology
• Naval Ship Technology
• Submarine Technology
• Commercial Ship Operations
• Maritime Safety

National Careers & Employment Expo

More than 120,000 people visited the National Careers and Employment Expo last year, with 81% vowing to return in 2011. This means the National Careers and Employment Expo will bring in plenty of visitors to the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour on May 6 and 7. With 100 exhibition stands, all vying for attention, you will want to ensure your exhibition stand receives the interest it deserves.

While many schools do encourage school leavers to attend the expo, the majority of visitors are over the age of 20, which means you have to design your exhibition stand to attract the attention of older people as well as school leavers.

Exhibitors at the National Careers and Employment Expo will have the opportunity to:
• Promote your brand as a core brand for the future;
• Build relationships and network with other organisations, such as potential suppliers or employment agencies;
• Communicate with skilled candidates and graduates looking for new career opportunities; and
• Recruit directly from interested, motivated, and eligible job applicants, which could save your business thousands of dollars in recruitment costs over the year.

As well as broadcasting the variety of job opportunities your corporation has to offer, you want your exhibition stand to create brand awareness and recognition for the people who attend the expo. With thousands of people from the public expected to attend this expo every day, you can use the opportunity to market your corporation, brand, and even your products, as the focus of the future.

An interactive, technology based exhibition stand that incorporates your branding and logo into the very design fabric of the exhibition stand, such as using an innovative “box stand” design will enable you to capture the imagination and attention of passersby while enhancing your overall corporate image and brand recognition.

Your exhibition stand should allow your trained exhibition staff to interact effectively with the attendees of the expo. When you design your exhibition stand for this expo, you will want to create an easy atmosphere where people feel free to talk. You will want to consider space, furniture, and light to create the right atmosphere. Your staff may want to take notes on the people they meet who have the ‘right stuff’ and attitude to become valuable members of your corporate team.

If you will be taking your exhibition stand to the other city locations with the expo, you will need to design a stand that is easy to pack, unpack, store, and transport, without being ruined.

Finally, ensure you have appropriate marketing materials to both engage with participants and to provide information on how to contact your corporation after the event. Exhibiting at the National Careers and Employment Expo could be the best move you make in 2011 for your corporation’s branding and future employment needs.

Algologie Exhibition Stand

The Mind, Body, Spirit Festival is a huge event in the Sydney calendar and more than 17,000 people are expected to flock to the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour between May 19 and May 22 this year. Since the event is on twice a year, exhibitors who design a terrific exhibition stand now will be able to reuse the stand in November.

With 220 exhibition stands all vying for the attention of the public strolling through the exhibition hall, you need to ensure your exhibition stand sends the right message about your business. People who come to the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival are looking for answers and new ideas. If you have a creative stand design, you may find that your stand attracts more attention than you dreamed was possible.

For example, why stick to the traditional “booth” style exhibition stand. Some of the best exhibition stands in the industry are those that create a unique box-shape for the stand. You can create almost any shape using the space you have in the exhibition centre using fabric, metal, and lightweight materials.

If you sell candles, why not create a huge candle as your exhibition stand. If you read crystal balls, see if you can create a massive crystal ball effect as your stand instead of using the traditional booth. Use your imagination to create a theme for your exhibition stand that matches your business.

As well as creating interesting shapes for the walls of your booth, you can use new technology to build a complete atmosphere within your exhibition stand. You can use colours, lighting, signage, and even your exhibition stand furniture to continue your theme within the exhibition stand.

With lightweight materials, you can have furniture built to match your logo colours and even the shape. If you have an oval shaped logo, why not use oval shapes within your exhibition stand. Provide oval shaped chairs for your staff and visitors to sit on and use an oval shaped table or display shelf to hold your products and marketing brochures. You can have the furniture coloured to match your logo and company branding.

Lights are effective elements in any exhibition stand. Use lights to highlight areas or to create shadows within your exhibition stand. You can use a variety of lighting techniques to create a special atmosphere within your exhibition area for the Mind, Body, and Spirit Festival. Downlights, spotlights, and coloured lights can create a unique atmosphere, so that when people enter your exhibition stand it feels like it is the only stand in the exhibition hall.

Your signs tell your story to the visiting public. You can use more than your logo on signs to entice visitors to exhibition centre. Signage can contain text that asks the visitors questions to relate the need for your specific product or service.

The Mind, Body, and Spirit Festival in May this year will attract thousands of people and potential customers for your business. If you want to make the most of the opportunity, you will want the best design for your exhibition stand, so that people who visit the stand will remember your business.

Sydney Fitness and Health Expo

More than 15,000 members of the public including 3000 commercial buyers will attend the Australian Fitness and Health Expo in April 2011 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. As an exhibitor, you will be competing for attention among the 300 exhibition stands and three stages.

The Australia Fitness and Health Expo grows every year and the organisers expect that 2011 will be the best expo Australians have seen. The expo is not only a great way to generate customer interest in your fitness and health products, but it is a terrific way to network and build relationships with other business people in the fitness and health industry.

This means that your exhibition stand and associated marketing products can have a dual purpose: you can attract potential customers from the public, and you can offer information that will encourage the other exhibitors to build relationships with your business.

If you have a product that relates to the fitness and health industry, you’ll want space to actively demonstrate your product within your stand. You may want to invite attendees to try out your product for themselves, so you will need plenty of space around your product when you design your exhibition stand.

As well as showing off your product, the exhibition stand is the ideal place to provide information to your customers and industry leaders. Think about having banners and signs made for the exhibition to explain the features of your product or the latest trends within the industry. You can have display shelves with product brochures and informative flyers for customers to take home.

Last year, exhibitors sold over $277 million in products at the Australian Fitness and Health Expo in three days. As an exhibitor, you will want to ensure your stand looks professional and has all the details the decision makers want when ordering hundreds of your products. Preparation is the key for making your exhibition stand a success for your business, especially at the Australian Fitness and Health Expo.

The competition is intense, but the rewards of attending the expo with a well-designed stand could be immense. Most exhibitors sold an average of $236,000 products in last year, while 95 per cent of the attendees would recommend or purchase a product from the expo. Most exhibitors can generate hundreds of sales leads in the three days of the event.

The Australian Fitness and Health Expo will be an event you will not want to miss on April 15 to 17 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. Start preparing for the expo now to get the maximum benefits of this exciting marketing opportunity.

Sydney Home Show

The HIA Sydney home Show returns to Sydney in May 2011. More than 300 building and renovation companies are expected to exhibit and around 28,000 home owners and builders will be passing through the doors looking for ideas and inspiration. For 22 years the Home Show has been considered an unmissable  event for both exhibitor and visitor in the building and renovation industries.

Exhibitors will represent many of the market leaders in the home improvement industries including; furniture designers, makers and distributers, leading kitchen and bathroom solutions and the latest in home technology to name a few.

The trends in home renovations over the last few years led by home improvement shows and reality TV has fuelled interest from both the public and building/development industries alike. Many people are taking on renovation challenges themselves these days and are far more confident in taking on bigger and bigger projects. This will be reflected at the show with exhibitors offering new ideas and up to the minute developments in design and innovation in home improvement.

Held in conjunction with the Sydney Home Show this year will be the HIA Build Green Expo offering the latest products, along with advice, in the area of sustainability and green options for your building or renovation projects.

The organisers of the Sydney Home Show, EEA, Australia’s biggest and most experienced home show owner and marketer,  in conjunction with HIA, (the voice of Australia’s home building industry) are expecting to see even greater numbers in visitors this year. The show has proven to be one of the most important in the home improvement and building calendar, drawing some of the most influential people in the business both as exhibitors and visitors since its first show in 1978.

19th – 22nd May 2011
Halls 2-4, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour.

Papercrafts Festval, Sydney

On November 5-7, the Papercrafts Festival will be holding its 10th annual exhibition in Sydney. This year, Penrith Panthers Leagues Club will be hosting the Sydney event and organisers are expecting coach-loads of people to attend this popular event.

With almost 50 different exhibition stands and three workshop areas, the Sydney Papercrafts Festival has something for everyone. With so many people learning different paper crafts, like scrapbooking, card making, and origami, the festival is getting more popular every year. The festival will cater for everyone; from beginners to experts and there is something for people of every age group.

Exhibitors include: Art Stamps Australia, Stamp Antics, Scrapmatts.com, Photo Continental, Catchy Crafts, All About Scrapbooks, Scrap of your Life, Scrapapple, Kaszazz, Fantasia Scrapbooking, Practical Publishing, Australian Craft Network, Creative Era, Alice in Paperland, Memories2Remember, The Scrapbook Stash, The Paper Factory, and Sunset Designs.

Workshops will include “Cards with Copic Markers”, “Paper Sculpture Dove Wedding Table Setting”, “Change a Face Baby Mobile”, “Sunset Designs”, “Fantasia”, “Home Memory Box”, and “Paper Art Pendants”. Free demonstrations will also captivate audiences throughout the day.

Children under 14 enter the Papercrafts Festival for free and will love the children’s hands on workshops where they can create their own papercrafts for just $5 for the kits. General admission to the Papercrafts Festival is just $10, with concession holders paying $8. Considering all the events and the opportunity to purchase papers, cards, stamps, ribbons, and all the extras of any good paper craft, this is a great deal.

Exhibition Co. will be responsible for building the shell stands and also providing furniture and accessories to individual exhibitors where required. Display shelves, display cases, AV hire and custom signage can all be ordered through the organiser of the event or direct through the Exhibition Co. web-site.

As well as the various display areas, many of the exhibition stands will have their own demonstration areas where exhibitors will be demonstrating the tricks of the trade to customers. Some exhibition stands include areas where customers can make their own crafts on the day so there will be plenty to see and do for the visitors.

The Sydney Papercrafts Festival is shaping up to be a very popular event again this year and organisers are anticipating crowds who love craft attending in droves. Exhibition Co. is proud to be working with the organisers and exhibitors to create another exciting show for anyone taking part or visiting.

'Integrate' Trade Show, 2009

2009 saw the launch of Integrate in Sydney. The event was designed to bring together the industries involved in all areas of Audio Visual…….the professional world of Sound, Light & Vision. The first event was a great success and attracted many of the big names in the AV industry.

Integrate 2009 was also hailed as a world class educational event. There was a broad range of seminars, workshops and special events which coincided with the main exhibition. Through wide consultation with the industry and its professional bodies, the education program came across as entertaining and informative. It also profiled new and up to the minute technologies and techniques.

A large cross section of attendees and visitors contributed to the first show. Organisers and exhibitors agreed that all the stands and overall venue looked great. With Integrate 2010 now just around the corner, attendees and exhibitors are looking forward to another exciting and enlightening event for all those in the AV industry. The event plans to continue to develop as THE regional event for sound, light and vision.

Integrate 2010 will be held at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park, Sydney on 24th – 26th August. It is a business to business trade event and entry is free to all industry professionals.

Here are some tips to make your exhibit at the Good Food and Wine Show stand out.

1. Samples or Tasty Treats
Most exhibitors offer people samples or tasting trials at this show. Obviously, if people taste your food and like it, you will make more sales. When you design your exhibition stand, consider what you need to provide edible samples of your product. You may need an electric frying pan and electricity for example to serve something hot. You need to order in small tasting cups or plastic spoons to serve your tasty treats to your prospective customers. You may want to consider what portion size you will serve. Usually a mouthful or two is enough to give your customers a taste of your product. Ensure you provide any food or drink in a hygienic manner to your customers. If you provide a tasting sample, don’t forget a plastic bin for people to put the rubbish in.

2. Product Bags
Another idea is to offer a “show bag” that customers will purchase with a number of your products together. If you offer show bags, provide a sturdy bag that people can easily carry all day, with strong handles. You may consider going shares with another company offering a product that complements your product. For example, if you sell delicious cheeses, you may want to add some crackers to your show bag or product bag. If you can get another exhibitor to sell the same show bag at their stand too, giving you a fair share of the sale price to cover the cost of your product, you could double your sales.

3. Demonstrations
Consider arranging your stand to enable a staff member to give demonstrations of how to make your product. If you are cooking something, don’t hide this at the back of the stand, but have the staff member up front giving an active demonstration of how your product works. You may want to schedule in several demonstrations over the three days of the exhibition. You can also plan to give theatre style demonstrations of your cooking or a wine tasting show. This is a terrific way to show customers all the benefits of your products. If you plan to give a show or demonstration in one of theatres outside of your own stand, you will need to book this with the event organizers.

4. Order Forms and Online Ordering
Not everyone will be able to purchase your product at the show. If you can provide online ordering and order forms for your customers, you may make sales for many months after the actual event. Make sure you allow space to take orders on the day and space for your order forms or brochures to give to customers who want to order online after the event. This increases your sales, especially as many people can’t carry too many things at this event, so allowing your customers to place an order for later delivery works well.

5. Sales on the Day
When you sell products at the Good Food and Wine Show, you need to design your stand to allow for space to store your products. This is particularly hard if you need cold storage, so you may have to hire fridges or freezers for the event. If you sell alcohol, it is easier as people can pick up the alcohol orders at the liquor shop at the end of the day. Check with the organizers about food storage areas that you may use during the event. Don’t forget to provide ways for people to purchase your product, paying via credit card, eftpos, or cash.

The Good Food and Wine Show is a practical event that always attracts a large crowd. Make it easy for your prospective customers to remember your product by offering free tastings, product demonstrations, and product bags or show specials. Make it easy for people to buy your product on the spot and also to order the product after the show.

If you are preparing to exhibit this year at CeBIT, you will spend this week making final preparations to ensure your stand is an outstanding success. Here are some ideas to make your CeBIT experience worthwhile.

1. Plan for 30,000 Visitors
Over 30,000 people will visit CeBIT in Australia this year, so make sure you have enough business cards, brochures, and give aways. You may need to restock your selection several times throughout the exhibition, so plan how to store and restock your marketing tools. You do not want to run out of your business cards on the first day of this event.

2. Plan to Network Extensively
While you will need someone to man your stand at all times, you should also provide enough staff to network through the crowds and to visit the other stands. CeBIT offers you the chance to network with the senior level executives across a wide range of industries. You need time to make contacts and time to network with the other people attending the event. It may work well to have one or two staff members roaming the event while others provide information at the stand.

3. Offer Something Different
While the majority of exhibition stands will offer technological stands, try making your exhibition stand different by offering the crowds something a little different. Think carefully about what makes your product or service stand out and offer your customers something that brings that to their attention. You may want to try having a gelato stand at your stand while you show a DVD of your product in action. Give your customers something they can genuinely use in their business – even if it is as simple as a pen or notepad (marked with your website address), so you will get return business later on. Mouse mats, coffee mugs, and other accessories for the business desk will work well as marketing tools too.

4. Prepare Media Statements
CeBIT is one of the few exhibitions that attracts so many media attendees. Prepare some media statements, such as press releases electronic media releases for your company. If you have these ready prepared, you may get more media attention than your competitors who have not considered what to say.

5. Ensure You Present a Professional Image
Remember that CeBIT aims at the senior level executives and government people as well as retailers and distributors. CeBIT is one exhibition where presenting a total package of a professional company is essential. Be prepared to talk about what your company offers the ICT industry as a whole, as well as the benefits to individual businesses. Look at every angle of your exhibition stand and make sure nothing is out of place. Ensure your staff look professional in appearance and present a complete image that enhances your marketing materials.

CeBIT is a terrific way to network business to business across the industry. Make sure you and your staff are prepared for the event, which could make you millions in business referrals.