Simple & Organized

I love it when things are simple. I love it when peripheral tasks don't get in the way of what's most important & vital to our success.

In the world of trade shows, we can really muck things up. We write confusing booth duty schedules nobody follows anyway. We develop elaborate lead capture systems tied to our CRM's. We over-adjust our messages until both our staff and visitors are confused. We succumb to the chaos around us at the show, working ourselves to death and requiring lengthy therapy to recover.

But I really love it when people figure out how to keep things simple and organized. They understand that the focus of everything we develop, should facilitate face-to-face quality communication with our customers and prospects.

I recently found two examples of people doing exactly this, coincidentally exhibiting nearly side-by-side at the recent IFT Food Expo in New Orleans.

First, I want to tell you about my friend, Stacy Vandenheuvel, of TIC Gums. The folks at TIC Gums are experts in food texturization, adding the elements of texture to foods to make them "feel" right when we eat them. Their texture capabilities can be applied to hundreds of different kinds of foods. However, individual attendees at the IFT Food Expo are usually working on only one or two key projects at any given time. Stacy's challenge is to quickly identify their interests and focus discussions in that area.

Below is a picture of the "tool" she uses to do this. It's a simple peg board (actually one of a series she uses in her exhibit). Each peg holds a different information card, focusing on one specific textural application. There are cards for jelly beans, licorice, granola bars, marshmallows, jams, etc.

The simple, yet clearly organized array allows her staff to select a card, and move quickly into the appropriate discussion, while subtly building awareness of all the company's other product lines. I'm sure there are many other "techno whiz-bang" methods for doing this, but her's is elegant, simple, effective, and it doesn't get in the way -- no distractions here.

Almost nest door to Stacy's exhibit, I found Becky Rademacher of International Dehydrated Foods, a company that makes, well, dehydrated food ingredients of all kinds (no explanation required, I hope). Here's Becky standing next to her simple solution to a problem that plagues many exhibitors.

Becky uses the back of the door to her storage closet as her internal communication hub. She has taped 15 plastic business card holders onto the door. She fills these with the business cards of her staff. When someone stops by looking to see someone specific --- who never seems to be in the booth at that time -- she has them write a brief note. She asks them to include their text or Twitter handle, email or cell phone on the note. She then places these in the appropriate card holder, turned sideways (you can can see examples in the photo). As staff come and go, they know right where to look for messages - and they replenish their business cards at the same time. Oh yeah, that's her booth schedule and important daily reminders attached to the clip bar below.

It's another simple, low-tech solution that keeps the details organized without creating a lot of work for anybody. I love this.

In both these examples, these two young ladies have successfully streamlined their exhibit operations. They've empowered their staff by removing obstacles to communication, and made their lives easier in the process.

What other great organizational tips do you have to share?

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Bob's Best Bites
In keeping with the theme of "simple", I offer you Moochie's of Salt Lake City, UT. Simply put, it's the best (and messiest) meatball sub I've ever had. It's simply meatballs, marinara, and provolone on french bread, but the homemade meatballs are juicy, huge and full of Italian flavor. This combination of juicy meatballs and messy marinara sauce make the Moochie's sub one of the most un-green sandwiches around. At least a tree's worth of napkins were required to finish my sandwich. Frankly, I should have followed my son-in-law's advice, and brought an extra shirt to change into after eating. Located at 232 East 800 South, in Salt Lake City, it's best not to visit Moochie's at lunch time -- it's too crowded. Go during the afternoon or for an early dinner. Preferably, schedule your visit so you don't have to return to work afterward -- or bring along a spare shirt.


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