March 1996
Not Just A Pretty Face
Form follows function when show decoration goes beyond creating a look and feel
By Rayna Skolnik
Yes, decoration does set the tone, communicate the theme and generate excitement at a show. But it can also do much more: It can help show managers solve a myriad of problems, from exhibitor seclusion to confusing layouts to crowd control. "Because the contractors work the facilities more times than we do, they know them better, and we rely on their expertise," says Lauren Kramer-Whelan, CMP, Director of Meeting Services for the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) in Reston, VA. "Freeman has been able to pinpoint trouble spots and warn us of them."
That troubleshooting begins with the initial site inspection and intensifies as show management lays out the show and develops design concepts. What will work? What's affordable? What are the alternatives? Acting in partnership, show management and the service contractor can produce answers.
These innovative solutions to some common, and some uncommon, problems may be just what you're looking for.
SIGNS THAT WORK
Directional and informational signs tell all participants in an event what's happening, when and where. Those signs are so important to a successful show that Christine Zahn, Exhibits Manager for the New York City-based Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), schedules a separate site inspection, accompanied by her boss and her service contractor, specifically to ensure that signage is adequate.
Here are some strategies for creating signs that do what they're supposed to do:
Simplify. "Signs are often too complex," says Daniel Hoffend Jr., Executive Vice President of Hoffend Xpositions in Rochester, NY. He suggests emulating the short, concise signs used at transportation terminals -- "Baggage Claim," for example -- and adding details as people get closer to the destination. A comparable sign for show managers might be "Hotel Shuttles." The routes of the individual shuttle buses don't need to be listed until the actual pick-up point. "If there are too many words on a sign too far from the destination," says Hoffend, "people can't remember or even absorb the information."
Cut through clutter. "There are so many signs that people stop reading them," says David Cordoni, Senior Account Executive for GES Exposition Services in San Francisco. His solution: "Use something other than an easel, and turn the sign into a decorative element." For example, he might start with a wire wall -- crisscrossed wires within a metal frame -- that's 8 or 10 feet high and 40 inches wide. Sometimes tubes of various diameters are attached to the frame. The wires are black, and the tubes can be painted or decorated with graphics. Signs are then hung on the wire wall, perhaps with a color card behind them. "It's a dramatic look, and it makes it easier for people to find the signs," says Cordoni.
Reduce. Like many groups, RIMS used to post a sign outside each meeting room identifying the current session. Then Zahn's service contractor, GES Account Executive Janet Skorepa, suggested replacing those individual 22-inch-by-28-inch signs with 8-foot boards listing all the sessions in the room that day. Says Zahn, "Not only did those signs help attendees plan their days better, but they were more economical, and we saved staff time too because we didn't have to keep changing the signs."
Reuse. When Joe Boyd, Director of Sales for Freeman Decorating in Dallas, began working with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), he learned that signs were redone for each show, and not always by the same person. Boyd's first step was to develop standard formats from which designers could choose, creating a consistent look. Next, he recommended that the basic signs needed each year carry only the association logo, not the show theme, making them reusable. And he laminated those generic signs so they'd last. "We use the show theme to tailor the signs that you must change from city to city," says Boyd. "But if you don't have to redo generic signs, you can save upwards of 60 percent of your signage budget each year."
Recycle. Freeman came up with one cost-saving strategy to solve two problems for SNM. Problem one: Creating a new carpet logo every time the carpet color changed wasn't cost effective. Problem two: The expensive wooden forms for mounting cut-out letters were painted to match the back drapes, but seldom did. Boyd's dual solution: Project colored lights onto carpets and drapes through stencils called "gobos." "People are impressed and don't realize that this is a less-expensive alternative," says SNM's Kramer-Whelan.
TRAFFIC CONTROL
As important as signs are, they are not the only means of getting people where you want them. Here are some other ways to direct people to the appropriate hall, or even the appropriate building:
"Un-signs." Like Cordoni, Chris Young, Designer at Champion Exposition Services Inc. in Avon, MA, finds too many signs to be overkill. "There are so many directional banners and planters and posters that they're starting to be ignored. So we're creating directional props that are aesthetically pleasing and that attract and direct people without using any copy." For the International Sybase User Group North American Conference, for example, Champion constructed 15-foot-tall purple pyramids. "People head in that direction because they think there must be something happening," says Young. "Otherwise, why would the structure be there?"
Color codes. This technique is favored by many service contractors because it's effective and doesn't cost extra. "With larger shows -- say, 100,000 attendees -- that have several types of attendees, we actually make a rainbow of carpet at registration, and the staff directs people to the right desk based on color coding," says Hoffend. For example, association members and non-members might follow different carpet colors. With a show of that size, there could be 15,000 to 20,000 exhibitor personnel, and they could be another category. The color scheme carries through to the registration desks and signage, as well as badges.
Color coding is also helpful for multi-hall shows. The International Poultry Exposition is held at the Georgia World Congress Center in two halls connected by an underground concourse. It's especially important to convey to the many international attendees that there are two halls. Consequently, one hall is decorated in autumn gold and the other in purple. "We specifically refer to them as the Gold Hall and the Purple Hall," says Carl Mitchell, President of Shepard Convention Services in Atlanta. "We decorate each side of the main lobby in the colors of the hall it leads to." And in the show directory, each exhibitor listing is accompanied by a symbol in the color of the hall where the exhibitor is located. "We use color like an international sign," Mitchell says.
More entrances. AASA has always used three exhibit halls but has had only one main entrance. "It was a logistics nightmare," says Freeman's Boyd. "On opening day, there were 10,000 to 15,000 people leaving the general session and trying to get into the exhibits through one entrance." That also meant that there was only one aisle of prime booth space for which the association could charge premium rates. The first step was to create three main entrances. Then, to be sure that people used all three, "we took the Pied Piper approach," says Boyd. "We had a band march out of the general session and split into three groups that led attendees to the three entrances."
Fewer entrances. When Mattel held Barbie's 35th Anniversary Festival, Convention & Trade Show, it gave away a special limited-edition doll to the first 500 dealers to enter. "People waited two nights to get in," says Ken Gilbert, who is now General Manager for Shepard Convention Services in Orlando but at the time was with Freeman. "They would have broken down the doors to be first." So, although there were some two dozen entrances to the ballroom, just one was used. It was marked with a sign reading "Enter here for Barbie's 35th" and could only be reached by walking through a 1,200-foot-long maze constructed of posts with 36-inch-high polyvinyl "wings." Gilbert explains, "If you just use ropes and stanchions, people will go under the ropes. But they had to walk through the maze to get to the one door that opened, and whoever was first in line remained first."
Unusual entrances. Premier Designs Inc., a family-owned, direct-selling jewelry company, wanted participants to use the side doors, not the main entrance, to a ballroom at Opryland, says Andrea Horner, Special Project Manager and Rally Coordinator. To accomplish that, The Expo Group (TEG), Irving, TX, decorated the side doors to look like entrances to a castle. Then they designed a moat -- complete with goldfish -- and bridges that crossed the moat and led to the appropriate doors.
Lighting. Because Barbie's 35th Anniversary was Mattel's first experience with exhibits at its corporate event, says Gilbert, extra attention had to be paid to directing people to the exhibit hall. In addition to signage, there was track lighting on the truss work. "The lights were flowing and flashing, like Christmas tracer lights, and people followed them," says Gilbert. And, of course, the lights were Barbie pink.
Symbols. Arrows or footprints on the floor or the ground can lead people in the right direction, says TEG President Ray Pekowski. "You can use spray paint on carpets; it's removable. And we've used Day Glo yellow footprints on a sidewalk." But be explicit about what you want, Pekowski cautions. He once asked a supplier for vinyl "footprints," thinking he'd be getting shoeprints. But instead he got stylized "feet," with separate soles and toes -- and each toe had to be applied to the sidewalk individually.
Special-purpose areas. At Premier Designs' annual Sales Rally, the show floor is divided into several large areas. "Rather than just use pipe and drape," says Horner, "The Expo Group is creating a Victorian park with fountains and walkways. That serves two purposes -- it divides the hall pleasingly, and it's also people control because we're using the park as a gathering place for functions." The mock park also creates "white noise." Jim Miller, Vice President of Sales at TEG, notes that, because exhibitors literally ring up sales on the show floor, "we're using audiotapes of waterfalls, so people hear that, not the sounds of cash registers."
FAR-FLUNG EXHIBITS
The back of the exhibit hall and the far corners are particularly challenging. Signs and symbols reminding attendees that those areas exist aren't enough. There needs to be something to pull people there. These approaches have been effective:
Promotional deals. When Freeman switched from one entrance to three for AASA in New Orleans, "we promoted the exhibit hall as 'The Marketplace,'" says Boyd. "We did double-wide aisles at the entrances and contracted with the cart vendors at the Riverside Mall to set up, rent free, three in each aisle." Those vendors, who were selling such items as jewelry and crafts, got people into the marketplace mode. Then the association stationed its own carts, selling T-shirts, golf caps and other items that particularly appealed to attendees, in the out-of-the-way places. And those carts had periodic drawings and giveaways. "They really helped us with traffic," says Boyd. "This was the first year we didn't have any exhibitors complaining that traffic was terrible."
Special interests. At the PCBC Western Building Show, "we created theme centers on the exhibit floor to showcase some of the hotter issues in our industry," says Linda Baysari, Director of Convention and Meetings for the California Building Industry Association in Sacramento. "The centers were strategically positioned to pull people to low-traffic areas." For example, a steel-framed home was featured in one corner and recycled products in another. Cordoni at GES found yet another way to redirect traffic at PCBC. "We posted pictures of the entrants in the industry's Gold Nugget Awards competition at the back of the hall."
FACILITY CHALLENGES
"Most halls today are well-designed," says Shepard's Mitchell. "They're not the cracker-box halls we used to have." Still, that doesn't mean shows just fall into place. Each hall and each event has its own unique challenges.
Too much space. Slick, modern facilities can have too much of a good thing. When Champion was designing the American Osteopathic Association's 100th-anniversary event at the Orange County Convention Center, the concern was that the building was so stunning that it might overshadow the decoration. Also, notes Young, "The lobby is immense. You can't just hang a banner; it would be lost." Working with Paradise Productions, Champion first stretched wires between the columns at heights ranging from 13 feet to 45 feet. Then, they hung panels of Nuvoil, a sheer fabric, from those wires, creating swags that "looked very light and airy," says Young, and broke up the space attractively.
Empty space. It's the show manager's nightmare: Exhibits that don't show up or exhibit space that isn't sold. If just a few spaces are empty, lounges, business centers or food-service areas are commonly placed there. Hoffend notes that all such areas set up by the association should be clearly identified with signs and logos so that attendees realize that this is a member service and not something provided by the facility. But if a show is seriously undersold, says TEG's Pekowski, "We could reset the show so it looks tight and closed in, and perimeter drape the whole show. There could be as much as 100,000 square feet behind the drape that's not sold out."
Multifunctional space. "The service contractor can help us combine functions and save space," says Hoffend client Pat Cantini, Sales Operations Manager, Exhibits Division, for SAE International in Warrendale, PA. "For example, the main entrance can have built-in information booths where people can act as greeters, rather than having a separate booth that takes up more space." Another possibility, he says, is to build offices in and around the service area, using the front wall for exhibitor service and the space behind it for show management.
Columns. They still exist, and they have to be dealt with. The typical solution for columns on the exhibit floor, says Hoffend, is to drape them to harmonize with the show decoration; exhibitors can then hang signs or banners on them. He has even seen exhibitors carpet columns to blend in with their booths. Columns in the registration area, however, can be functional. "You can make a hardwall shell around the column and attach a 40-inch-high table or shelf all around the shell. People then use that table when they're filling out forms."
Fire codes. Because of Orlando's fire codes, Champion could not create an entryway that would obstruct any doors. The solution, says Young, was to "decorate the columns in order to define the entrance." The columns were wrapped with blue banners spray-painted with white cloud-like shapes. Then, digital prints of the show logo were applied to the banners.
Ideas like these result in a more successful show for both partners. Says Zahn at RIMS, "Our decorator constantly says, 'Here's what we'll do,' and I trust her recommendations. She's always good at giving us the best look for our money. She would never scrimp and make it look bad. After all, it's her reputation, too."
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