One of my absolute favorite parts of my career so far was the work I did on trade shows. I fell in love with the idea of turning our brand and product solutions into an experience in a physical space. From my earliest involvement prepping and shipping small tabletop displays for the company’s dinky 10′ x 10′ booth to my last booth design covering 1,800 square feet, I strove every year to make sure our premium brand was represented in the most eye-catching, professional, and “premium” possible way.
In 2008, I started managing PFERD’s trade show program for all of North America, gradually becoming more and more responsible for our theme and messaging, sourcing displays and materials from the company’s headquarters in Germany
and other external vendors, designing and coordinating graphics, displays, product demonstrations, advertising, and even the logistics of crating, organizing, and shipping the booth materials so that our small crew could build these enormous structures ourselves to reduce expenses.
For a while, I considered trying to find a job specializing in trade show and event management. Perhaps even starting my own firm. Unfortunately, with the arrival of COVID-19 and a worldwide pandemic, it seems the trade show industry took a rather serious hit, with most companies scaling back their trade show budgets, or eliminating them completely, in favor of virtual solutions.
Well, it was a good ride while it lasted, and I’m extremely glad I had the experience. As I was thinking of leaving PFERD, I had already began transitioning
trade show planning and execution duties to a new member of my team. Maybe life’s just too short to be so focused on a single thing for that long.
Just testing the new comment functions. Looks pretty nice and a lot more sophisticated than the built-in WP version. Good call.