Make it like a car crash at your booth

Picture this: you're on the highway going 70 mph, and out of nowhere, you're down to a crawl. You finally get to the problem area to find a minor fender bender safely off to the side of the road. Why did everyone slow down? Simple -we just cannot help ourselves. The potential scene of that accident makes us beyond curious. We have to look. Some call this "rubber necking."

The pace of attendees at a trade show is like cars on the highway. Do you know how long you usually have to catch their attention? 6 seconds. Now you know why your messaging, display and staff are so important. But what if you could cause "rubber necking" at your booth? You would slow the traffic down to a crawl. The odds of you now stopping and qualifying more attendees is greatly increased.

What are some ideas that you've seen that cause rubber necking? Here are some effective things that I've seen:

• People playing Wii (video game)
• Gambling wheels
• Product demonstrators
• Entertaining video
• Magicians (my favorite!)

The simple answer is activity plus attendee involvement is best. However, make sure that when they leave your booth that there is no question in their mind who you are and what problems you solve. Otherwise, you wasted your time.

So get out there and cause an accident.