Planning the Perfect Healthcare Exhibit

A winning exhibit is like a strong thoroughbred horse – you need four good legs galloping together to win

Hundreds of people recently gathered in Baltimore’s inner harbor for the Healthcare Exhibitor’s Association 2018 Annual Connect Meeting, me included. Amidst the networking, the cool modern technology, and the keynote speakers there remained one elusive answer that everybody seemed to be seeking: “how do truly stunning healthcare booths come together?”

As with most meaningful and thoughtful questions the answer back can be complex and riddled with even more questions. What’s the budget? What’s the timeline? How big is the booth footprint? Will a shiny new booth driver like VR really compliment your brand’s established image or resonate with your target audience? To the uninitiated even dipping your toes into this water can be overwhelming. Yet a common theme emerges that booths are big business; so big that they take four distinct parties collaborating in harmony to execute the perfect booth every time. To learn this lesson, attendees at Baltimore’s HCEA Connect 2018 would be wise to look 9 miles to the north at the historic Pimlico Racecourse.

A winning exhibit is like a strong thoroughbred horse – you need four good legs galloping together to win. Client, Agency, Booth Vendor, and Association.

Clients

Clients – where it all originates. Great clients plan for key shows 6 – 8 months in advance. Behind the scenes the marketing team and their meeting planner should be working with their agency and booth company to finalize the booth concept, secure the booth space from the association, and plan out all related sponsorships.

Agencies

Great agencies think about more than just the campaign artwork, they are production-centric, concerned about execution details, and are collaborative. Agencies should be proactive in the concepting phase and work in tandem with the client and exhibit company to ensure their grand concept or booth driver can be constructed on time and under budget. Agencies should collaborate effectively with the association and booth vendor to ensure the artwork that is being developed is sized correctly and ready for production.

Booth Vendor

An amazing booth house is well-organized but able to be flexible when required. An excellent booth vendor will collaborate effectively with the agency and client during the concepting phase to provide material and engineering solutions on how the concept can be constructed. The exhibit vendor works with the association seamlessly and effectively behind the scenes, ensuring that all association rules are being followed and collaborating with the association to help keep overhead (drayage, electrical, internet, etc.) within the anticipated budget.

Association

Where would we be without the associations that attract attendees and organize shows? The best associations continue to attract attendees year over year and provide solid rationale back to clients on why their shows are worth a continued booth presence. Associations work in tandem with agencies to execute sponsorship opportunities and continue to keep things fresh by developing new sponsorship opportunities that fall within regulatory guidelines.

So if you’re looking for that perfect booth magic, remember that each exhibit is an amalgam of many different teams coming together. Ensure that all your teams are communicating with each other effectively and working together in a defined process towards the common goal of creating a stunning booth.

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