Life as we knew it has undergone drastic changes in just a few short months. We are reminiscing about how things were before CoVid-19 and we are looking ahead at how things are going to be post CoVid-19. It is an understatement to say this has changed how our world operates. Most trade shows in Las Vegas have been canceled or postponed to later this year. Although these will never be the same again, we know the shows must go on because trade shows are a vital component for sales, networking, industry education, and business development in any industry.
The Las Vegas Convention Center is among the first convention centers in our country to be working towards achieving the new GBAC Star Accreditation that is focused on cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention designed to control the risks associated with infectious agents, including the virus responsible for COVID-19. To receive this accreditation, a facility must demonstrate compliance with the program’s 20 elements, this is the gold standard of safe facilities.
10 Tips to Safely Exhibiting When Trade Shows Resume:
- Prior to exhibiting, ensure your staff are temperature screened and assessed for symptoms of infection. Your booth staff should also be doing this before going to your booth each day of the show.
- Using a modular system (like the ones we use) enables your booth to go up faster and easier which reduces the number of people required for the install & dismantling of your booth (maximizes distancing protocols).
- Wearing face masks are imperative not only for protecting your staff but for protecting your booth visitors and other show attendees. These also present a branding opportunity when your staff and visitors wear masks with your logo on them. Learn more about our custom face masks.
- Choosing a trade show booth design that encourages an open-floor plan and easy flow of traffic so that staff and/or visitors can adhere to physical distancing guidelines.
- Using clear acrylic dividers in conference rooms, theater seating areas, at the front or side of your booth as well as our clear acrylic sneeze guards on our counters, kiosks, and tables will make efficient use of your booth space and ensuring you are compliant with physical distancing guidelines.
- Utilizing screen technology such as our LED monitors, LEDskins, freestanding LED lightbox displays, or our iCloud digital displays so you can display your branding and messaging in the most efficient way possible.
- When feasible, display your products in such a manner that they can be well observed but do not need to be handled or picked up by your booth visitors. This can be achieved by on shelves, display counters, display podiums, display cases, etc.
- While the number of attendees will be lower due to limitations placed by the show or venue, the quality of your interactions will be higher. Come up with a new fun way for your booth staff when they are greeting visitors without having to shake hands. Some creative ways include the foot tap, the live long and prosper sign (made famous by Star Trek’s Dr. Spock), raising your eyebrows & smiling (bet you tried it just now), or when all else fails smiling and saying hello works great too.
- Asking for no more than 2 visitors to visit your booth at any one time for standard size booths (10’ x 10’ so for a 20×20 – no more than 4 visitors and so forth. A great way to manage this is setting appointments before the show. Utilizing our LVsmart Pods are a great solution to use to allow visitors to watch a presentation.
- Have sanitizer stations in your booth such as our freestanding single or double-sided freestanding sanitizer stations. Have your staff periodically disinfect your space.
Surveys are consistently showing that most attendees are ready and willing to attending trade shows as soon as possible. Adapting to our new normal and embracing the changes proactively will show your employees, prospects, and customers that you care will go a long way. It is going to be interesting to see what trade shows will look like once the resume, however one thing for sure is that Las Vegas trade shows will go on.