Building a Brand One Trade Show at a Time

I was recently tasked by the ABC Show with looking for photos from their show from ten years ago. So, I explored. I found trade show pictures from ASTRA, ENK, Playtime, MSA, ChiTAG to name a few.

Each picture helped to remind me of where I started with my Baby Paper journey and how it progressed. The naivety. The excitement. The fear. The mistakes & triumphs.

I saw pictures of people I’ve met along the way. Some who are still very much a part of my business and personal journey. Some who’s names I cannot remember. I reminisced about the laughter, the tears and the aches and pains from setting up and working a trade show booth. The realization that fluorescent lights are not a good look for most of us.

In looking at the photos, I noted what I learned from each trade show. I learned about what products work, how to engage with customers, how to smile when you want to scream or yawn.  What was most notable is how much my booth displays evolved through the years. My office is filled with trade show displays that I no longer use, but that I swear I am going to repurpose. Some of them are just awful! The vision of them in my head was clearly much better than the reality.

Being a small manufacturer means having a very limited budget for booth displays. I would dream of ideas that were simple, easy to set up, inexpensive to purchase and ship. I look for whatever I can hand-carry into a convention hall. If it’s light-weight and can be brought on an airplane, that’s a bonus. Anything to avoid those high-priced drayage charges!

It was fun to take the trip down memory lane to remember where I started. More importantly though – where do I go from here?

For full video of my transition from beginning til today, watch our video on YouTube https://youtu.be/4wtxv4gpr-0