Welcome to the Trade Show Thug Life

Being in an office day in and day out can have a comfortable routine to it. The ol’ 9 to 5, catching up with co-workers on the newest show you binged, meetings to discuss the latest TPS report (wink wink), wanting to punch the monitor when your computer crashes unexpectedly. You know, the fun stuff.

If you’re one of the lucky few, you might get the opportunity, nay the privilege to break up that daily routine with…a trade show. Trade shows, for the uninitiated, are a unique business experience. Companies travel to exotic locations like Indianapolis, Cleveland and Albuquerque, in hopes of selling their wares to a captive audience. It’s a chance to put your best foot forward, impress the customers you have and convince the customers you don’t to do business with you instead of the competition. Some people compare it to a party and who doesn’t love a party?

Can I let you in on a little secret? Behind the glitz and glamour of the trade show life, lurks a darker tale. A gritty tale, one that isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s the tale of the #tradeshowthuglife.

What is the trade show thug life, you ask? It’s the experience of the people behind the scenes, the ones who make the magic happen on the show floor. We are the marketing professionals whose job it is to condense what your company does, put it into a 10 ft x 10 ft space that is eye catching but cost effective, ship it to a large show hall miles away from your office and set it up in an attempt to draw in picky customers who have eluded your marketing efforts in every other way. We are hybrid professionals, the unicorns of your company responsible for:

• project management
• graphic design
• interior decoration
• writing
• logistics
• travel planning
• party planning
• public relations
• employee engagement
• event promotion
• customer outreach

We put in the work the months, weeks and hours ahead of events to get everything ready onsite and promoting your brand. The #tradeshowthuglife is varied and complex. When you’re on the road, you don’t know what to expect. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have…the trade show life. My hope is to share on this blog the humorous happenings of the #tradeshowthuglife to help connect with my fellow road warriors.

What is the #tradeshowthuglife? Stick around and find out!