2021 is upon is. But live tradeshows, the kind we were used to a year ago, are still months away. Maybe a year. Will you feel comfortable flying across the country and spending hours in an enclosed space with thousands of people, no matter how much social distancing and mask-wearing is going on? I hate to keep going back to the same topic - it's all that most people in the industry seem to write about - but it's important. All the protocols in the world won't return things to normal unless and until the actual numbers of infections and deaths go down significantly. And I suspect that will be awhile. More on that below in the "What I'm Reading" section.

 

Meanwhile, a few new things on the blog, including a cool interview with Michael F. Schein, who's new book "The Hype Handbook" is a happy, worthwhile and entertaining read. Also on the blog: how to plan in advance for when things go wrong at a tradeshow, and a short video on ways to use a tablet in your booth.

 

Soundtrack for this week's issue: XTC's "Drums and Wires." Their second album, it was the first released in the US, coming out in August of 1979. I was a music director at the time and didn't take much notice of it and it didn't get much airplay that I recall. But in retrospect, I had a friend who loved the band and I eventually dug further into their music, which is a mix of pop, art rock, new wave and punk. And delightful listening today.

Roy H. Williams:

 

The 2021 we’ve been waiting for has not yet begun.

I was reminded of this when I received a meme from a friend. It said, “Omg, what’s the first thing you’re gonna do when YOU get the vaccine shot?? You’re gonna go back home, wait a month, get your second shot, go back home, wait 14 days for antibodies, then keep wearing a mask and social distancing until community transmission reduction. That’s what.”

When it finally gets here, the 2021 we’ve been waiting for will be different than 2020, but in what way, I cannot say.

 

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Jane Friedman:

 

One of my bad habits is that when I receive what is clearly a thank-you card in the mail, I decide to open it later. But sometimes, I never do. I have one thank-you card still unopened from 2017. About six others (more recent) also sit on my desk.

I’ve often wondered what is wrong with me. I may have figured out the answer.

In his article What Makes Us Happy?, Joshua Wolf Shenk explores the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of human well-being, started in 1937.

One of the study’s subjects was a doctor and well-loved husband. For his 70th birthday, his wife solicited letters from his longtime patients, asking if they would like to write a message of appreciation. A hundred people responded, and she put these letters in a presentation box and gifted them to her husband.

Eight years later, the man had still never read the letters. He told the interviewer, “It’s very hard for most of us to tolerate being loved.”

 

Tradeshow Marketing: What Is It For? Maybe not as easy of an answer as you might think.

 

The Importance of Booth Staff Training (Webinar Replay): Back when I did things live. Maybe I should start again. A 20-minute look at why staff training is critical to your success.