Rains | Birchard Marketing Blog:

Stop renting!
6 items to buy then abandon at your next trade show.

BY MATTHEW BIRCHARD

With rental rates oftentimes far above retail purchase prices, there are a number of trade show items it’s actually cheaper to throw away at the end of a show.

I’ve been attending and helping coordinate trade shows with my clients for more than a decade with industries as varied as trucking and vending. Over the years, it seems to me that the people really making money are the official show decorators with the contracts to rent items to exhibitors.  Trade shows are expensive, and a great deal of time, effort and budget goes into successfully exhibiting at a show.  For the uninitiated, costs can be staggering.

Rains Marketing at the Mid-America Trucking Show 2010

BY MATTHEW BIRCHARD

Each year, Matt Birchard and Jon Rains of Rains Marketing fly to Louisville, KY (pronounced ”Looaville” by some, ”Luh-vul” by others) in order to support our clients ConMet, Hallco and Daimler Truck Financial at the Mid-America Trucking Show, also known as MATS. MATS is the largest trucking show in the world, attracting approximately 1000 exhibitors and more than 70,000 attendees, showcasing products and services relevant to the trucking industry (and more than a few not-so relevant products and services, as you will soon discover).