Marlys Arnold brings a unique perspective to trade show exhibiting, with experience – as both an exhibitor and a show organizer. For more than two decades, she’s advised thousands of exhibitors through consultations and workshops for events, ranging from local consumer expos to major U.S. trade shows. She has written two books on the subject: the award-winning “Build a Better Trade Show Image” and “Exhibit Design That Works”.

A respected voice in the industry, Marlys frequently contributes to top publications and podcasts, in addition to hosting the highly regarded Trade Show Insights blog and podcast. She’s also the creative mastermind behind the Exhibit Marketers Café, an online hub for learning.

• In this episode Marlys K. Arnold discusses her wide experience in the Trade Shows industry and how it led to her writing the book “Build a Better Trade Show Image”, meant to act as a guide for creating memorable and effective exhibition participation through meaningful strategy and defined objectives. She uses a building analogy, as in how to build a house, and starts with the blueprint before anything else, to help the reader achieve their final objectives.
• The research phase for exhibitors helps to assess goals and how to measure ROI, set budgets and figure out which trade shows they ought to participate in to realize their targets. On the floor she suggests that the people at the booth have to be trained extremely well to quickly judge whether a walk-in is a prospective who deserves attention and time, or they can politely but quickly move on to the next person.
• She interviewed hundreds of exhibitors and other stakeholders and also used her own experience to determine what works on the trade show floor and what does not. On the organizers’ side, she laments that many of them are not bold enough to try new approaches that can enhance the experience and prolong the time-bound show into a digitally available extension for a longer period. These and many other suggestions on technology, AI matchmaking and pre- and post-show engagement fill this discussion.

Run time – 00:52:29 mins.

Links for Subhanjan 

[email protected] 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhanjansarkar