Hey , 

 

With summer zooming by (when was the last Zoom meeting you had??), it's encouraging to see a number of inquiries into tradeshow exhibits come to light. Many companies are exploring rentals for a number of reasons: budget, eco-friendly approaches to exhibiting, hesitation about how the industry will fully return (how many attendees will show up at the next show?) and so on.

 

In this week's issue, a short video on the reasons why you might want to downsize your exhibit, a look at what to put on your "if I get hit by a bus" list; and a new podcast where we query Jim Wurm of the Exhibitor Appointed Contractors Association on how that side of the industry is doing. 

 

ALSO: speaking of Zooming by, it took me until yesterday to notice that this week was the 10th anniversary of the founding of TradeshowGuy Exhibits. July 15, 2011 was the first day after the closure of Interpretive Exhibits in Salem, where I had spent the previous nine years learning the exhibit industry, both tradeshows and interpretive. At that point, I wasn't sure what the future held. I looked for an actual job, but didn't get much encouragement. Between several months of collecting unemployment and pursuing leads - and some timely projects by a handful of previous clients - TradeshowGuy Exhibits has managed to grow and flourish for most of the last decade (the last 16 months notwithstanding!). Here's to another great ten years!

Soundtrack for this week's issue: Vertical Horizon's Burning the Days. Released in 2009, this is a decade after the band's big hit, "Everything You Want," so a lot of water under the bridge. Still, as their fifth studio album, it sounds pretty good. The band, to me, has always captured a unique sound: wistful and sad, as if something important was passing you by and you just didn't know what that was.

 

I rampaged.

I am sick of deleting unread emails every day. I unsubscribed to dozens of brands and organizations. I went full-on Kim/Kanye, severing the relationship. 

I discovered there is HUGE variance in how organizations handle unsubscribe messaging and processes. My least favorite: making me type my email address again, and then forcing me to unselect 27 checkboxes to get off the list. Boo. 

Here’s a better one:

I made a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada a while back, but don’t need email updates from them. Their unsubscribe message says: “At your request, you have been unsubscribed from our mailing list. We apologize if our email updates inconvenienced you in any way.”

Is that the MOST CANADIAN thing ever? Apologies for inconveniencing me with their email! Amazing.

I’d love to know what you think of this next one. 

I unsubscribed, and instantly received another email: “Wanted to let you know that you've been fully unsubscribed. This is the last email you'll receive from me.

If you've got a minute to hit reply, and I super understand if you don't, I'd appreciate your feedback so I can better understand why you unsubscribed and how I can make the email better.”

What do you think? Nice use of market research? Too thirsty for comments? Annoying to send an email after an unsubscribe?

 

Tradeshows Work Because It's Real Life. A look at how tradeshows work so well. 

 

Top 5 Challenges Facing Tradeshow Managers. Do these ring true for you?