Your Guide To Planning an Eco-Friendly Trade Show
An
increasing number
of companies recognize the need to reduce their negative environmental impact. As a result, they are looking for ways to participate in sustainable activities that will benefit the environment today and tomorrow.
This recognition has led many of them to consider green practices when planning a trade show event. Since almost every company exhibits at trade shows, this is often an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s green practices and spread the word about positive changes being made on many levels, including environmental ones.
Unfortunately, some people misunderstand what it means to be “eco-friendly” or “green.” If you’ve attended any green conferences lately, you may have noticed that attending can be costly. Marketing budgets for these shows are huge, and there isn’t a lot of money left over for environmental costs.
At best, they tend to be poorly attended and leave the environment worse off than before the show started. Unfortunately, this is all too common and can easily contribute to an “eco-unfriendly” sense of futility. It’s important to remember that green events need not be expensive or overdone in their approach, no more so than any other event ever planned by anyone for anything.
There is no reason why eco-friendly trade shows cannot reach as many people as conventional ones do – if done right, as long as you have good content, timing, organization, and promotion. Following are some tips on how to plan an eco-friendly trade show.
Be Authentic
When planning an “eco-friendly” trade show, the first thing to consider is that your company needs to be “eco-friendly” before you spend any resources on events, no matter how small. If your company isn’t already green and doesn’t anticipate becoming so in the future, it’s just not worth the effort. It makes sense to invest time and money into trade shows only when they are likely to carry an efficient use of things like marketing, booth space rentals, exhibitor costs, etc.
Plan In Advance
The next thing you need to consider is timing. You should start planning eco-friendly trade shows at least six months to a year in advance if possible. This will give you enough time to make arrangements, have your booth designed by a trade show booth company without placing too much pressure on yourself or other people involved with planning the event itself.
Focus On The Purpose
The third thing you need to do is have a clear purpose for having an eco-friendly trade show. This means being clear on why you are doing it in the first place, not just what benefits people will get from attending. It also means deciding whether your goal is to showcase how energy efficient or “green” your products are or whether you intend to use this platform as a forum for educating others about environmental issues that most people don’t know about. Remember that education can encourage action, but it’s often best to educate by promoting your own success stories rather than trying to talk down to anyone who disagrees with your point of view – they are both equally valuable ways of bringing awareness.
An eco-friendly trade show will have a positive impact on the environment and help you get more visitors to your booth. It can be a great way to practice going green without being too much in people’s faces about it. As companies continue their push for greener products and services, more people will take notice.
