Posted October 14th, 2008 by richard in Installers Life
[This is the first blog post in an ongoing series discussing some of the challenges that face trade show installers, but also why we love the industry so much. We’ll also talk about some of the cool, new, up-and-coming trends, ideas and gadgetry that gets us trade show installers excited that no one else seems to understand. Shop talk, war stories, call it what you will.... here is where I’ll put up some of my ideas based on some 20-odd years of experience and get your feedback, tips and tricks; let’s start some online discussion and brainstorming in our industry for once!]
It’s hard to believe it, but I’ve been a trade show installer for the last twenty years. Our industry has changed in a lot of ways but in many ways it hasn’t changed at all.
[more after the break]
When I first started at my company we had no computers. We ordered our graphics by drawing pictures by hand on grid paper. Renderings of our exhibits were done by an “artist” using watercolor paint. There was very little in the way of audio visual equipment in booths. How things have changed! Booths today are more like works of art than booths. We can plan and execute booths using technology that we would only have dreamed about back in the 80’s.
Still, in many key ways, our industry hasn’t changed much at all. Ours is still a high paced, high stress industry where everything seems to come down to the last minute. I still can’t understand it-- people know a year in advance that they are going to participate in an event, but it always seems that it in the final minutes of setup day I find myself still trying to figure out how to wire a booth or hang a plasma screen while the client stands with a furrowed brow staring at me while on their cell phone with the salesperson.
That being said, this is still an exciting, fun, fast paced job that presents challenges on a daily basis that make for an exciting career.
How about you? When did you get into the exhibit industry? Why did you ever pick this crazy job? What changes have you seen?
