How to make your HR trade show booth as engaging as possible

HR conferences offer a great way to meet and engage with the HR community.

But when you’re in a line of five, ten, or dozens of vendors, how do you stand out? And more importantly, how do you maximize the value of your investment?

Thanks to Facebook, I recently spotted an outstanding approach from Archbright, a provider of HR and legal advice based in Seattle.

Their approach highlights three important steps in deploying a successful conference booth:

1. Use a current trend to draw in your audience.
2. Entice visitors via social channels prior to the conference.
3. Follow up after the conference to maximize your investment.

Use a current trend to draw in your audience

Everyone from researchers at Johns Hopkins University to the editors of Yoga Journal is talking about the wellbeing benefits of coloring. Archbright capitalized on the trend and brought a coloring wall to the LWHRA Annual Conference’s tradeshow floor. Their approach also incorporated the conference theme, “Get Focused—Cut Out the Noise!”

Invite visitors via social channels prior to the conference.

The day before the conference, Archbright reminded attendees that they’d be there…with the coloring wall ready and available for use. This served not only as a reminder to stop by, but also gave a large visual that made it easy to find Archbright’s booth among the others.

Follow up after the conference to maximize your investment.

Finally, Archbright used momentum from this engaging technique to remain connected. They posted “after” photos of the coloring walls displayed in their common work areas, and mentioned how members, visitors, and their team were going to finish what they’d started at the conference.

As you plan the booth for your next HR conference, look for ways to make your booth as engaging as possible:

• Use a current trend draw in your audience.
• Entice visitors via social channels prior to the conference.
• Follow up after the conference to maximize your investment.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing specific suggestions and ideas for each of these steps. Be sure to come back to get more tips for your next HR trade show booth!