How can you make your Trade Show booth design more inclusive?

When it comes to trade shows, you need more than just exhibit space to navigate a successful show! Your booth is the canvas for your brand to come to life and attract prospects. Your team's ability to carefully assess your product offerings and discover ways to create engaging experiences is the key to success. Interactive demos and hands-on experimentation play a pivotal role in capturing audience interest. Know your demographic, add a playful component, and let your design be an experience! Remember, intentional booth design can make all the difference. #TradeShowSuccess #BoothDesign #EngagementMatters

Research attendee demographics, abilities, cultures. Reflect diversity in staffing and visuals. Provide multilingual materials. Incorporate accessibility. Allow room for mobility devices. Add ramps/lifts for upper levels. Have accessible seating. Evaluate potential sensory issues like lighting, sound, scents. Offer a quiet space if possible. Cater to dietary needs with labeled ingredients and alternative options. Welcome families with a kid-friendly area and activities. Exhibit your brand's commitment to diversity. An inclusive booth makes all attendees feel valued and welcomed.

I have always advise my exhibitors that it is not neccessary that a booth located at the main aisle will attract the best crowds. When designing a trade show booth, other than using bright, cheerful, welcoming color or the color of your brand identity, more open space with less obstructions / barriers should be taken into consideration. The staffs maning the booth need to be trained to be more approachable and friendly too.

Why don't more trade show exhibitors use scents to create positive attendee experiences? According to Mood Media, we are 100x more likely to remember what we smell than what we see, hear or touch. To enhance engagement and learning, exhibitors can create scented interactive zones (without overwhelming the space). In a larger booth (e.g. 20 x 30) consider near entrance points, product demo areas, and relaxation areas. Use invigorating scents like citrus near the entrance to create an uplifting 1st impression. Peppermint can boost memory and focus, so why not try it in the product demo area? For the relaxation corner, incorporate forest aromas like pine or cedar wood to relieve stress and calm nerves. Incorporating scents makes good sense!

Living in Hong Kong for 5 years and managing trade shows throughout SE Asia, I learned a valuable lesson: "listen more and talk less." To create a calm, "friction-free" environment with all attendees, train your booth staff to: 1) Ask more open-ended questions 2) Listen without judgement, without simultaneously thinking how to reply and 3) Seek first to understand then to be understood. Encouraging your booth staff to listen more and talk less will help visitors relax and share what's really important to them. This will make the booth convos more open and the post-event follow up more personalized and natural, not scripted and forced.

Here are some questions to ask attendees when seeking feedback on your trade show booth design to make it more inclusive. Request if there are any alterations with the layout to make it more accessible and request feedback around visibility of signage within the stand to ensure attendees can read the messaging clearly.